This Day in Bovina for October 2021

Here is the compilation of the daily entries from the Town of Bovina Facebook page for October:

James Archibald Boggs was born 137 years ago today, October 1, 1884, in Bovina, the son of Thomas Boggs and Jane Archibald Boggs.  He would spend his whole life in Bovina and run the family farm.  James was married three times.  He married first Elizabeth Felton in 1913.  They had one son who died at the age of two months.  Elizabeth died in 1918.  The following year, James married Edith Barnhart (my great aunt).  They would have five children, daughters Anna, Mary, Grace and Helen and son Clifford.  Grace died at the end of 1929.  In early 1930, Edith died after giving birth to Clifford (he died in 1933).  James married for the third time in 1947 to Catherine Cameron Kelsey.  He died in 1972 at the age of 87. 

James with his third wife, Catherine. Taken by Bob Wyer, courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association. 

109 years ago today, on October 2, 1912, Helen Miller Blair was married to Marshall W. Thomson in Bovina. They were married for 50 years, until Marshall's death in 1962, less than two weeks after celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Helen would live another 35 years, dying in 1997 at the age of 107, two days after 85th anniversary of her wedding. Here's the invitation to the wedding, received by John Hilson and his sister Jane.   

133 years ago today, the October 3, 1888, the Delaware Gazette carried an article entitled Building in Bovina. "Alex. Hoy is preparing to build a new house on one of his lots, and A.F. Maynard a large barn. John Hastings and A.T. Strangeway are each building a new hall, and Wm. D. Thomas has just moved into a new house, which is one of the finest in that part of town." Alex. Hoy's house is now the house I live in. He owned three lots to the west of his house.

The Andes Recorder from 120 years ago today, October 4, 1901, reported that “The [Bovina] uptown creamery is now running full blast and is making 5 ¾ pounds of butter from each can of milk.”

127 years ago today, October 5, 1894, a baseball game was played at Indian Rocks.  Given that it was the Sabbath, it caused some controversy.  The Andes Recorder, when reporting this game in its Bovina column, stated that “how the game succeeded we do not know, but such actions as this should be stopped immediately.”

James, son of Alex Bryden near Lake Delaware, died in Fall Clove 122 years ago today, October 6, 1899, of spinal meningitis.  As later reported in the Andes Recorder: “He had ridden his bicycle over there and was quite warm and this may have had something to do with his illness.  The funeral was held from his home Monday at 11 o’clock, Rev. W.L.C. Samson, officiating, and the interment made here [Bovina cemetery].” He was 21 years old.  

101 years ago, on October 7, 1920, the Bovina Town Supervisor and Highway Superintendent requested that a proposition be placed on the November ballot to appropriate money for a “Steam Road Roller.”  The proposition was placed on the ballot, but the Andes Recorder later reported that on election day "Bovina taxpayers voted down a proposition to appropriate the sum of $4,680 for the purchase of a steam roller for use on the road.  The vote was a tie – 64 to 64." The appropriation was approved the following March at a special town meeting.  

Forty-one years ago today, the October 8, 1980, the Delaware County Times reported in its Bovina column that "Thirty farmer breeders from Holland arrived at the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Inman last Wednesday. The tour was arranged through the Holstein-Friesian Association of Brattleboro, VT. The farmers also visited the Dreamstreet herd at the Bond Farm in Bloomville. They left for the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisc."

118 years ago today, October 9, 1903, the Catskill Mountain News reported in its Bovina column that “Hamilton Russell of Bovina is building a fine two-story house, 22 x 44 feet, with piazza in front, and equipped with all the modern improvements.  John Tweedie is the mason and James Scott of New Kingston is the carpenter.”  This house was on Mountain Brook Road and was later the Charles Rabeler farm.

114 years ago today on October 10, 1907, the first load of freight shipped to Bovina via the new station on the Delaware and Eastern at Andes was brought to town by Milton Hastings.  Previously, items shipped by railroad had to be picked up in Delhi.

126 years ago today, the October 11, 1895, Andes Recorder in the Bovina column had the following item:  “A letter recently came to this point office addressed to, Miss Maggie, Bovina Centre, N.Y.  This shows one of the many thousands of examples of carelessness that floods the Dead Letter Office every year.”

Twenty-eight years ago today, the Bovina column from the Delaware County Times for October 12, 1993, carried this item: "Beth Rossley, club news reporter for the Bovina Happy Hearts 4-H club reports that there will be a meeting for new members from ages 8 to 18 on October 22nd at 7:30 at the Bovina community hall. Mrs. Carol Brannen is the leader."

128 years ago today, on October 13, 1893, James Coulter headed out for the Chicago World’s Fair.  In reporting this its Bovina column, the Andes Recorder noted that “others talk of going.  We say go, you will never regret it.”

110 years ago today, October 14, 1911, “The lady friends of Miss Jennie Miller made her a welcome home party .... All rejoiced that she is now able to see. Miss Miller was also presented with sum of money.” Jennie had traveled to New York the previous month for cataract surgery. This Jennie Miller was the daughter of David Miller and his second wife, Isabella Turnbull. She was the great aunt of Fletcher Davidson. Born in 1841, she died in 1925. This photo was in the collection of Celia Coulter.  

155 years ago today, on October 15, 1866, Thomas Gordon became a citizen of the United States. More information about Gordon can be found at:

https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-people-of-county-who-knew-him-will.html

Eighty years ago today, the October 16, 1941 issue of the Delaware Republican carried this item in its Bovina column: "Miss Stella Sluiter and Mrs. Mary Anne Snell, teachers here, spent the week-end in New York City." Stella Sluiter was married a couple of years later to Frank McPherson. The same Bovina column also reported that "Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hilson arrived home from their western trip the first of the week." Also reported was that "Miss Ida Lay has finished her work at the Lovett's, at Lake Delaware, and has taken a job at Delhi with the Bruce Pitchers."

Ninety-one years ago today, the October 17, 1930, the Brooklyn Times Union carried this intriguing item: "Scranton, Pa, Oct 17 - William H. Taft, aged 75, of Bovina, N.Y., who said he is a first cousin of the late William Howard Taft (ex-president and supreme court justice), and Mrs. Nellie Coe, aged 65, also of Bovina, were married today by an alderman in the courthouse here. Taft's resemblance to the late President was so great the marriage license clerk asked him if he were a relative. 'First cousin,' he said, but made no further comment." A look at the 1930 census indeed finds a William Henry Taft in Bovina, living with a servant, Nellie Coe. He was a widow, born in Vermont. Taft had a farm on Yankee Street. The house burned to the ground in 1932, shortly after Taft had sold the farm. I have not been able to confirm how Bovina’s Taft was related to the President, if he was.

160 years ago today, October 18, 1861, Christina Smith was paid 29.72 for teaching in the Coulter Brook School district between May 1 and September 30, 1861. Here’s the receipt for her payment.  1861-10-18 Teacher payment Smith

John W. Bramley died 122 years ago today, October 19, 1899, of diabetes, age 81 years. Fifteen months earlier, in July 1898, he was found passed out on the side of what is now Route 28, with his wagon and team about a mile or so ahead. Likely it was the diabetes that caused him to pass out. After his death, the Andes Recorder reported that, “He was born and always lived in this town and was one of our most extensive and best farmers.  He leaves a widow and four children – three sons John G, William and Fred and one daughter, Mrs. E.C. Dean.  The funeral will take place on Saturday at 11 o’clock from his late residence.”  He was living in the Bovina Center hamlet at his death, but spent much of his life on his farm on Bramley Mountain, which likely was located in the area of Reagan Road.

Forty-four years ago today, the October 20, 1977, the Delaware Republican Express carried this item in its Bovina column about the Bovina Girl Scout Troop 534. 

Twenty-nine years ago today, the Bovina News from the October 21, 1992 Catskill Mountain News reported that "Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Cairns and daughter, Meagan, of Dover, NJ spent Columbus Day weekend with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Len Cairns."

October 22, 1961, sixty years ago today, as later reported in the Delaware Republican Express, “Walter Reinertsen and his cousin Sverre Reinertsen of New York, were week-end guests at Walter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Reinertsen.”

Forty six years ago today, the October 23, 1975, Stamford Mirror Recorder carried this item about the new Bovina Firehouse. 

111 years ago today, on October 24, 1910, this bill was issued to the Town of Bovina for bridge decking.  This appears to be the decking for a new bridge to the Bovina Center creamery.  The bridge was completed in November 1910.  

114 years ago tonight on October 25, 1907, as very briefly reported later in the Andes Recorder, “A party was held … at Frank Coulter’s.” Frank's place was the original Coulter family farm on Coulter Brook road, just over the bridge that goes over Coulter Brook.

144 years ago today, on October 26, 1877, Andrew T. Archibald was born in Bovina.  He would marry Mabel E. Johnston in 1901 and would have seven children, including an infant who died in 1913.  His surviving children included Mary (1903-1999), George (1905-1978), Elizabeth (1906-1986), Leonard (1909-1990), Marvin (1911-1987), and Herman (1913-1983).  Andrew died in 1963 and is buried in Bovina.

Ninety-five years ago today, on October 27, 1926, this bill was issued from the Standard Oil Company of New York to the Town of Bovina Highway Superintendent W.G. Coulter for "Furnishing and Applying Standard {6100 gallons of} Liquid Asphalt," for a total of $640.50.  

112 years ago today, at 1 pm on October 28, 1909, W.J. Doig, of Bovina Center, had for sale at an auction the following items, as advertised in the Andes Recorder:  “5 cows, 2 horses, surry, rubber tired buggy, 2 buggies, 2-seated buckboard, lumber wagon, truck wagon, mowing machine, 3 set single and 1 of double light harness, heavy work harness, bobs, 2-seat pleasure sleigh, 2 cutters, buffalo and lap robes, blankets, whips, harrow, cultivator, grind stone, chains, crow-bars, sledge hammers, whiffletrees, hay rigging, straw from 95 dozen oats, 10 barrels apples, 3 piece parlor suit, stoves, bedsteads, springs writing desk, 2 bracket lamp, hall rack, hall map, etc.”  The Recorder later reported that the sale could not be completed on the 28th and was continued on election day. Doig was selling these items before heading out west to Crested Butte, Colorado, which he did by mid-November.  He settled in Gunnison, Colorado, where he was a coal miner, a rancher and then a hardware merchant.  He died in California in 1939 and was buried in Colorado.

Seventy-eight years ago today, October 29, 1943, was the start of two days of distribution of "War Ration Book No. 4." These were issued at the Bovina Center school (now the Bovina Library). People coming for their new book were asked in the Delaware Republican Express to "bring War Ration Book 3 properly filled out." The paper went on to note that "Applications for War Ration Book 4 may be secured at the stores or at the Post Office or the schools. Fill out only one application for each family group."

138 years ago today, the October 30, 1883, the Stamford Mirror reported in its Bovina column that "On Monday last the family of John Hastings, was much frightened at the appearance, without wagon or driver, of the horse which John had left home with a short time before. Friends at once started out to find John and met him near the village, and learned that his horse had kicked and caught his foot behind the cross-bar of the thills and then tried to run. The wagon was overturned and John thrown out, and the harness broken, so that the horse became loosened from the wagon and soon arrived at home without doing very serious damage."

Ninety-three years ago on October 31, 1928, Mrs. Leon VanDusen held a Hallowe’en party Wednesday for the pupils of the primary room of the village school.

Bovina Ex-Pat: Isaac H. Maynard – Lawyer, Judge and Politician

Isaac Horton Maynard
from Munsell's History of Delaware County, 1880

Isaac Horton Maynard was a grandson of the early Bovina settler Elisha Maynard. Born on April 9, 1838, in Bovina, he was the son of Isaac Maynard and Jane (Falconer) Maynard. He spent his childhood and early adulthood in Bovina, leaving to attend Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was valedictorian of the class of 1862. From there, he came back to the area to study law in Delhi when he was admitted to the bar in 1865. 

Maynard didn’t move very far from Bovina. He settled in Stamford where in 1869 he was elected Town Supervisor for the Town of Stamford. He was re-elected in 1870. In his second year, he also served as chairman the Board of Supervisors of Delaware County. He continued his political career at the state level, serving as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1876 and 1877. He was elected County Judge and Surrogate of the Delaware County Court from 1878 to 1885.

In 1883 he tried for statewide office when he ran for Secretary of State of New York. He was the only candidate defeated on the Democratic ticket. In 1886, he was appointed First Deputy New York Attorney General. In 1887, he was appointed to national office as Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and remained in office until the end of the First Cleveland administration in 1889.

Afterwards he was appointed Deputy New York Attorney General again. At was at this point that his career took a major hit when he became involved in a case of electoral fraud in Dutchess County. In November 1891, he was counsel to the State Board of Canvassers. The Republican State Senate incumbent, Gilbert A. Deane, had received more votes than his Democratic challenger Edward B. Osborne. The Dutchess County Board of Canvassers did not allow thirty-one votes because of stray ink marks on the edges of the ballots, though many thought the marks could have been made in the process of printing the ballots. Osborne was declared elected, but the Republicans challenged the County Board's decision in court, and on December 5, the judge ordered the thirty-one votes to be counted and instructed the County Clerk to send the corrected result to the State Board. Another judge ordered a stay of the first judge's decision. On December 19, the New York Supreme Court vacated the previous stay, and the County Clerk mailed the corrected result to Albany.

On the same day however, the appeals court stayed the Supreme Court’s decision. The county clerk traveled to Albany and went to Isaac Maynard's home demanding to have the corrected result returned to him. They went to the New York State Comptroller's office, and Maynard retrieved the letter from the incoming-mail pile and handed it over to the county clerk. Subsequently, the original result was canvassed by the State Board, and the Democratic candidate was declared elected, giving the Democrats a majority in the New York State Senate.

In January 1892, Maynard was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals to fill a vacancy. Two weeks later, his connection with the Dutchess County election problem became known to the public. The New York State Legislature, having a Democratic majority, continued to support Maynard, but public indignation never subsided.

In January 1893, Maynard was re-appointed to the Court of Appeals, to fill another vacancy, although the Bar Association had urged the Governor against it. At the New York state election that fall, Maynard ran on the Democratic ticket for a full term on the Court of Appeals. Not only did Maynard lose the election, he dragged down the whole ticket, leading to a Republican victory. 

Maynard continued his legal practice in Stamford and made frequent trips to Albany. It was while on one of these trips in 1896 that he died suddenly of a heart attack in his room at the Kenmore Hotel in Albany. Maynard was buried at the Woodland Cemetery in Delhi.

October 1921 - 100 Years Ago in "That Thriving Town"

Here's what was happening in Bovina a century ago, as reported in the pages of the Andes Recorder. 

October 7, 1921

·         Frank Miller and wife motored to Andes in their new car Saturday evening.

·         The Bovina state road has been almost impassible the past summer and now the State is having the holes filled with loose stones and gravel.

·         Jacob Gerkins, who has been living on the Alex Bryden farm, has rented a farm on Cabin Hill.  A number of the neighbors made them a farewell party last Wednesday evening.

October 14, 1921

·         Charles J. Russell has purchased a Dodge car.

·         John M. Campbell is putting up the foundation for a new house which he will erect on his farm.  South Kortright carpenters will do the job.

·         Mrs. Elizabeth Irvine, Mrs. Sloan Archibald, Mrs. John Blair, Mrs. Fred Thomson and Mrs. Cecil Russell were on a shopping trip to Kingston last week. 

·         The legal machinery has been set in motion by the New York Conference for the sale of Methodist church and parsonage in Bovina Center.  The membership has been reduced to a mere handful by deaths and removals.  For the last few years no services have been held in the church. [The parsonage is now the home of Chuck and Betty McIntosh.]

October 21, 1921

·         Thos C. Strangeway has the frame up for his new residence in Bovina Center [now the home of Jim and Peg Hilson].

·         Alex Myers is painting and finishing the interior of new house of Gustave Lifgren up Pink street.

·         Mrs. John M. Miller, of Walton, is visiting in town.  Her two daughters, Shirley and Leila, were here over Sabbath.

·         Wendell Ormiston and family, of Goshen, spent a few days the past week with his mother, Mrs. Thomas Ormiston.

·         Elliott Thomson has sold his house in Bovina Center to George Decker for $2,500.  Mr. Thomson will move to rooms in Mrs. Julia McPherson’s house.

·         John Blair and wife were called to Glen Spey, Sullivan county, last week by the illness of their daughter, Mrs. Marshall Thomson.  She is now improving. [This is Helen Thomson, who lived to be 107.]

Bovina Farm Sold

            George Decker has sold his farm, located near Lake Delaware, in the town of Bovina, to Harvey Wickham, of Shavertown.  The sale includes the personal property on the farm and the price is reported to be $6,000 for the farm and $1,500 for the personal.  The farm is the former Thomas Purdy place and Decker had erected a $3,000 house thereon.  Mr. Decker will move to Bovina Center.

October 28, 1921

·         Walter G. Coulter is having his mill re-shingled.

·         Elliott Thomson, who sold his house to George Decker, is moving to rooms in part of Sloan Archibald’s house.  Mrs. Harry Robinson and Mrs. Robert G. Thomson, of Bainbridge, are here assisting.

·         A surprise party was held at the home of Edith Liddle last Saturday evening for Frances Bell.  Games were played after which refreshments were served.  Then each girl went home to dream of Gobblins and ghosts.  

Bovina Has a Runaway

Horse of Paul Furhmann Takes the Thills and leave Wagon

            Tuesday morning as Paul Furhmann, who recently purchased W.C. McDivitt’s farm, was on his way to the creamery his horse attached to a buckboard, started to run on the hill above the U.P. church.  Just above the old Lauren hotel, now owned by T.C. Strangeway [now the home of Jim and Peg Hilson], the outfit collided with a tree and the wagon stopped but the horse continued up Maple Avenue and onto the flat above.  Mr. Furhmann was thrown out but the wagon remained right side up and the milk was not even spilled.  No one was injured and the damage was broken thills.

Boost the committee

            The first number of the Bovina Lecture course has already been given and the next one will soon be here.  Everyone was well satisfied.  Now lets try to boost our lecture course committee by having every seat sold again this time.  Chew less tobacco and gum and give it toward something that is really worth while.