My latest book, "Berne and Knox, Some Early Families to 1787" is finally finished. It is a follow-up to my earlier book "Berne and Knox, Our German Heritage" which covers the early history of Berne and Knox through 1787. Both are available form my brother Ralph Miller, Town of Berne Historian, 1136 Helderberg Trail, Berne, NY, 12023. The books cost $20 each if picked up at his house or $25 if they are mailed. Checks should be made to Ralph Miller with a notation as to which book you would like.
Also a reprint of "Our Heritage" the 1977 history of Berne is available at the Berne Town Hall at a cost of $15.00. Cost for copies to be mailed is $20. Checks should be made out to Town of Berne and mailed to Berne Town Clerk, PO Box 57, Berne, NY 12023

In 1977 The Town of Berne Bicentennial Commission published "Our Heritage," a  160 page book on the History of Berne. It has been out of print for 10 years or more. The Town of Berne  has given permission to publish a second Printing through the auspices of the The Town of Berne Historian. The cost will be approximately $19.95 +$2.50 for shipping and handling. I am trying to get an idea of how many should be ordered for the first printing. All profit will be dedicated to copying the files of the Town of Berne Historian and posting them on-line. To reserve a copy please comment on this posting with your email address.If you have already done so on the Helderberg Hilltowns Facebook page, no need to comment again. Thank you.

Hungerford Burial Grounds posted on Bernehistory.org

HUNGERFORD CEMETERIES CLEANED UP AND TRANSCRIBED

Daniel Hungerford Family Burial Ground. Photo May 2011 by Gary Ovitt

Two Hungerford Cemeteries have been recently added on the BerneHistory.org site and one new one added. The Stephen Hungerford Burial Ground and the Hungerford Farm Burial Ground have been updated with new burials and photos, and the Danial Hungerford Burial Ground has been added. This is due to the work of Gary Ovitt, a Hungerford researcher. He and a small group of helpers cleaned up the Stephen Hungerford Family BG and the Daniel Hungerford Family BG and documented with photos the burials in both plus the Hungerford Farm BG.

Cleaning up the Daniel Hungerford FBG. Photo by Gary Ovitt, May 2011

RECENT ADDITIONS OF HISTORIC SITES

A large number of new pages have been recently added to the Helderberg Hilltowns web pages on the sites of historic and scenic interest in the Town of Berne.

The most historic site in the town of Berne is on the north side of Fox Creek below the bridge in the center of the hamlet of Berne. This is where the mills and factories were located that caused the hamlet to be located where it is. And yet the town turns its back on the mill site. It is as if it never existed. This would be a great area for an historic park, perhaps created as an expansion of the existing Fox Creek Park on the south side of the creek.

Fox Creek Park is located along the old road to Knox on the above map made in 1975 by Robert Lambert for an article in Our Heritage

• Fox Creek Park is below the Berne Falls in the Berne hamlet. It is reached by a short access road on the west side of Helderberg Trail just south of the bridge across Fox Creek in the hamlet of Berne. In 1977 one could still see on the Fox Creek Park side of the creek evidence of fastenings for a log dam. Perhaps they are still visible.

• Weidman's Mills - About 1752 Jacob Weidman built a log dam at the top of the Berne falls on Fox Creek to create a mill pond to power the first sawmill. By 1781 his son Peter had built a grist mill below the sawmill.

• Berne Carding and Fulling Mills - By 1797 Miner Walden Carding and Fulling Mills had been below the older Weidman's Mills. It later produced wooden shoe pegs.

• Simmons Axe Factory was started about 1825. This mill had its own dam, a log structure with stone wing walls.

• Berne Grist Mill - The Berne Grist Mill was the successor to Weidman's grist mill built by Jacob Weidman after 1750. Weidman's mill had burned shortly prior to 1832, the year in which it was rebuilt by Malachi Whipple. Whipple also built, along with Ball and Dwight, aa carding and fulling mill adjacent to the Weidman property in the 1830's. The use of these lands and their water power source was more or less esablished by the pond above the bridge.

Waterfall on Fox Creek
Nov. 2009, Charles Sloger

Proposals

• The park should be expanded to include land on the opposite Fox Creek Park where the historic mills and factories stood: Weidman's Mills, Berne Carding and Fulling Mills,Simmons Axe Factory, and others. Their historic sites should be marked. There should be a trail along the north side of the creek connection the mill sites.
• A King Post Truss Bridge for pedestrians might connect the two parks. Both sides could be still called Fox Creek Park; it would just be doubled in size to include the historic mill sites on the north bank of the creek.
• Perhaps the land on the south side of the Foxenkill between Fox Creek Park and Berne Town Park could be bought to expand the park. The land has not much value to its present absentee owner because of it's inaccessibility from the main Yarmchuk farm which is on the opposite bank. On the other hand, it is very accessible from the hamlet side, especially the school, and would be a valuable addition to Fox Creek Park. If the land can not be bought cheaply, perhaps a right-of-way for a trail could be purchased of would be given to the town. The trail would extend from Fox Creek Park to the Berne Town Park with access to the school.

Photo Gallery

Berne Falls, by Charles Sloger

Wooden bridge in hamlet of Berne across the Foxenkill Berne Historical Society

Wooden dam in hamlet of Berne above the bridge across the Foxenkill Berne Historical Society

Becker Bros. Mill; photo in the collection of the Berne Historical Society

Hart's Mill; photo in the collection of the Berne Historical Society

Now; Google Earth

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Other Historic Sites in Berne - Using as a basis An Inventory of Historic and Scenic Resourses In the Town of Berne compiled by Thomas Conklin for the Berne Conservation Advisory Council, 1979

• Jacob Weidman's Home Site - This was on the north side of the mill pond above the dam on Fox Creek. It is where there is a NYS Historic Marker for the home of his son, Peter Weidman. The 1979 inventory misstates the location as being where the home of his son Jacob Weidman, Jr. was located on Turner Rd. on the farm of the late Harold Lendrum.
• Berne and Knox Cheese Factory site.
• The Johannes Fisher House - called Tom Wood's Farm on the 1979 inventory.
• Lower Hotel - called the Old Hotel on the 1979 inventory
• St. Paul's Lutheran Church
• Beaverdam Reformed Church site
• West Berne
• Bradt Hollow School, District No. 17
• West Mountain Methodist Episcopal Church
• Dietz massacre site
• South Berne
• The Philo Bradley House - former residence of Justice Joseph F. Bradley who cast the deciding vote in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes
• East Berne and Lobdell's Grist Mill site
• Reidsville and Reidsville Quarry
• Thompsons Lake and Warners Lake
• The Johannes Warner House - Zeh's former home on the 1979 inventory
• White Sulphur Springs House
• Berne Town Hall

Fox Creek Park

From Albany Hilltowns

Waterfall on Fox Creek
Nov. 2009, Charles Sloger

Contents [show] 1 Location 2 History 3 Visitor facilites 4 Visitor attractions and facilities elsewhere 5 Proposals 6 Photo Gallery

Location

Fox Creek Park is below the Berne Falls in the Berne hamlet. It is reached by a short access road on the west side of Helderberg Trail just south of the bridge across Fox Creek in the hamlet of Berne.

History

 

Weidman's Mills - About 1752 Jacob Weidman built a log dam at the top of the Berne falls on Fox Creek to create a mill pond to power the first sawmill. By 1781 his son Peter had built a grist mill below the sawmill.
Berne Carding and Fulling Mills - By 1797 Miner Walden Carding and Fulling Mills had been below the older Weidman's Mills. It later produced wooden shoe pegs.
Simmons Axe Factory was started about 1825. This mill had its own dam, a log structure with stone wing walls.
In 1977 one could still see on the Fox Creek Park side of the creek of evidence of fastenings for yet another log dam. Perhaps they are still visible. There are probably a number of foundations of mills and factories along the north side of the creek.

Visitor facilites

• There are picnic tables under a small pavilion, basketball hoop, and open meadow to play in.
• There is a convenience store and restaurant at the entrance to the park where you can buy something for a picnic in the park.
• A short path provides access to the creek and view of the falls.

Proposals

• The park should be expanded to include land on the opposite Fox Creek Park where the historic mills and factories stood: Weidman's Mills, Berne Carding and Fulling Mills, Simmons Axe Factory, and others. Their historic sites should be marked. There should be a trail along the north side of the creek connection the mill sites.
• A King Post Truss Bridge for pedestrians might connect the two parks. Both sides could be still called Fox Creek Park; it would just be doubled in size to include the historic mill sites on the north bank of the creek.
• Perhaps the land on the south side of the Foxenkill between Fox Creek Park and Berne Town Park could be bought to expand the park. The land has not much value to its present absentee owner because of it's inaccessibility from the main Yarmchuk farm which is on the opposite bank. On the other hand, it is very accessible from the hamlet side, especially the school, and would be a valuable addition to Fox Creek Park. If the land can not be bought cheaply, perhaps a right-of-way for a trail could be purchased of would be given to the town. The trail would extend from Fox Creek Park to the Berne Town Park with access to the school.

Photo Gallery

Berne Falls, by Charles Sloger

Wooden bridge in hamlet of Berne across the Foxenkill Berne Historical Society

Wooden dam in hamlet of Berne above the bridge across the Foxenkill Berne Historical Society

LOT 461, EAST BERNE ON JOSLIN ROAD AND BROOKHAVEN DRIVE

LOT 461, East Berne

The south half of Lot 461 in East Berne was settled in 1791 by Elisha Hungerford. The north end was settled about 1800 by Caleb Barton. Thanks to Betty Fink for a recent picture of the house built by Caleb Barton.

The Caleb Barton House is now lived in by Mavis Schanz.

SENICA SNYDER BALL

Letter from Senica Snyder Ball in Delano, Minn. to his brother Charles E. Ball in Knox, NY --written May 1, 1899
Delano May 1 99
Brother Charley How are you? Anyway, i was Just thinking it is 23 years ago today that I was married. How time goes by here. I am giting to be a old man and I do hate to git old and rinkley. But we have to take our medicine as it comes to us. I have not had very good health for some time. But I am to blame myself. I lived little too fast when I was younger and I am now reaping Evil Doings. My Ray is in ND. He has been gone over a year. He is 17 years old. So you See I am Back Whare I was 25 years ago only Better fixed. I have a nice House of furnished in good Shape. But it is no Home for me Since my wife died. A young man can stand those things Whare a old man can't.
Well Charley Who gites the old farm whare we was all Raised? I hope you will git it. Have you made a Settlement yet? What will you give me for my interest in cash?
I must close. Give my Love to your wife. Tell her to write me and I will answer. It is awful hard work for me to write. I am so nervous i can't read this after I write.
Senica Snyder Ball

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West Mountain

WEST MOUNTAIN Thanks to Katie Jean Bensen the history of West Mountain has been substantially updated. West Mountain was first settled starting about 1790. By the 1930s many farms had already been abandoned due to repeated cropping with buckwheat, barley and rye. Soil erosion was commonplace. Most of the farms on West Mountain were bought by the Resettlement Administration in the 1930s.  Lewis Sherman House, Lot 400; taken say 1937. No longer standing. From collection of Nicole Pelepzuck Cross Much of the land, up to 80% had been deforested for farming. Federal money was used to purchase the unproductive farmland for just 2 to 4 dollars per acre. The government helped to move many of the farm families to other areas. However, several farms remained in the possession of the farmers. A few of these included the William D. Wood farm, the Crosby farm, Peasley farm, and the Sherbin farm. Katie Wood, wife of William D. was approached by the Resettlement Administration during the 1930's and asked to sell her farm, to which as history tells, she answered with a solid 'No". In the early 1940's, the Federal government granted the NYS Conservation Department a 99 year lease for what is now much of the Partridge Run Wildlife Management Area. The sum of $1.00 was the price for the lease, with three purposes stated for the land, forestry, wildlife and recreation. Over the next 20 years the total land accumulation through the Dept. of the Interior and the Division of Lands and Forests brought the total acreage to 5,478. BERNE SCHOOL NO. 3 Location Berne School No. 3 was a half mile north of the Rensselaerville town line on Lot 401 on West Mountain. Interior of the Berne schoolhouse 3 along with the teacher, John Pelepzuck, Jr. and Josie. Picture from the collection of Nichole Pelepzuck Cross History Due to the location of this school so close to the Renssesselaerville - Berne town line, this school was jointly operated by the Towns of Rensselaerville and Berne. It would be a careful but educated guess to say that the school started sometime between 1795 and the very early 1800's. Being situated on lot 401a it is safe to say the land was donated by John Crosby and John Crosby Jr. who occupied lot 401 in the year 1795 to the mid 1850's. Even though the Town of Berne was set off from Rensselaerville in 1795 it seems this school continued to be referred to as a Berne and Rensselaerville District even into the last years of its operation. Students from both townships attended this school well into the 1930's. This school had many district numbers and names over many decades it was in operation. In addition to being the Berne school No. 3, it was also the Rensselaerville District School No. 23. (In 1816 this school was known as # 12 Berne.) The school also bore other names such as Peasley School for the Peasley family living nearby. Blanche H. Peasley was the Enumerator in the early 30's and Wallace A. Peasley the Trustee in 1936. It was also called the Baptist Church School due to it's proximity to the early Baptist Church, and West Mountain Schoolon it's insurance policy.[1]. The label "West Mountain School" as referred to in the History of the Town of Rensselaerville, People made it Happen Here, by way of an insurance policy is believed to be inaccurate and referencing not this school but another that existed close to the town line, District #19. Mis-numbered on the 1866 Beers map of Berne. In 1933 this school was District #3 Town of Berne and Rensselaerville, Supervisory District #2. with Blanche Peasley as the Enumerator. This information was taken from the original school census of 1933. The school was disolved on July 15, 1944. Falling down in 1976, the building is now gone. From School Census August 30, 1933: District no. Three Town of Berne and Rensselaerville. Supervisory district no. Two Albany County, J. Edward Smith District Superintendent. Trustee Herman Malin of Rensselaerville. Enumerator Blanche H. Peasley. Rensselaerville. According to this school Census / register all students in the district, from birth to 18 were enumerated. They are as follows: Theodore Apanasowich, Henry Malin, Richard Malin, John Pelepzuck Jr. Josephine Stephanawitz, Elizabeth Salzer, Joseph Salzer, Richard Weidman, George Pelikan Jr. West Mountain School Unknown West Mountain School Can anyone identify this West Mountain School near Rensselaerville? According to the note on the back, at the time it was taken it was abandoned and soon to be torn down for as part of the land project that eventually became Partridge Run State Wildlife Management Area. Notice to Choose Fence Viewer Letter concerning a fence dispute. Contributed by Nichole Pelepzuk Cross. Letter concerning a fence dispute. Contributed by Nichole Pelepzuk Cross. Notice to Choose Fence Viewer.Town Law section 363 ante P 639To John Pelepzuck Persuant to section 363 of the Town Law you are hereby required to choose within eight days after service of this notice a fence viewer to act with Avery Zimmer a fence viewer I have chosen in determining the dispute which has arisen between us concerning the division fence between our lands; and if you fail to do I shall choose both of said fence viewers as authorized by law. Dated this 18th day of May 1937 Wallace A Peasley Sources ↑ People Made It Happen Here, History of the Town of Rensselaerville ca. 1788-1950, Published 1977

Recent items added to Helderberg Hilltowns site

Barbecue and yard sale
Berne-Knox-Westerlo Sports Boosters will hold a fund-raising barbecue and yard sale Saturday Sept. 18, from 10am to 5pm. at Berne Town Park. The chicken barbecue will begin at 1pm. Each dinner will cost $9, and will include a half chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, and dessert. Members of all 21 teams are participating, from the fall, spring, and winter sports seasons.

History

NEW CEMETERY PAGE

Sept. 2006, Allen Miller

A page has just been created for the two stone Eli Miller Family Burying Ground at the foot of Cole Hill in the Town of Berne.

RECENT BIOGRAPHIES

Wife of Ellery Shufelt and his children

Ellery Shufelt, of West Mountain, was born 1895 one of nine children. He never got beyond the fourth grade and could not read nor write. Ellery was called to service in October of 1918. Ellery married his wife Beatrice in May of 1933. They had four children. The family was one of the last families to live on West Mountain in the 1930s when they were squatters during the time the federal Land Recovery Program were buying up abandoned and marginal farms. (Read the article on Partridge Run State Wildlife Management Area for more information about this period in the history of the Berne.) Both Ellery and his wife were stricken with TB. In the biography of Ellery Shufelt is a very interesting Altamont Enterprise article on his family and their hard scrabble life.

Ellery Shufelt and family

These photos were taken by Arthur Rothstein, the well known photographer for the Farm Security Administration.

Dau. of Ellery Shufelt

Ellery Shufelt Cutting Buckwheat

TURNER BURIAL GROUND The Turner Burial Ground is located on West Mountain within the boundaries of the Partridge Run NYS Wildlife Management Area on Bradt Hill Rd; in the southwest corner of Lot 468. It is named after George Turner (1783-1833) who emigrated from England and settled on West Mountain in 1832. The earliest known burial was 1812; last was 1937. It seems to have been a community burying ground from the beginning, as there are many different names of early farming families who lived in the immediate vicinity. 100 by 140 feet. This cemetery was restored in 2003 as part of Berne Heritage Days. It is mowed regularly by the Town of Berne. It is surrounded by a stone wall in fair condition. The stone wall was repaired in the summer of 2009 by the Town. The front stone wall was rebuilt in the summer of 2010.
Rebuilt stonewall, 2010

Rebuilt front stone wall, 2010

Rebuilt front stone wall, 2010

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NAMES FOR THE TOWN OF BERNE

• Colony of Rensselaerwyck - In 1629 most all of the land in Albany and Rensselaer Counties were part of the Dutch Colony of Rensselaerwhyck which had been granted in that year to Kiliean Van Rensselaer, a wealthy Dutch Merchant.
• Rensselaerwyck Manor - When in 1664 the English wrested control of the Dutch Colonies in the New World they continued to honor the Van Rensselaer land grant, which now became known as the Rensselaerwyck Manor.
• Beaverdam - About 1740 the first settlers in the what is now the western half of the Town of Berne said they were from the Beaverdam. (These homesteaders were actually squatters since they did not lease the land from the Van Rensselaer owners.) Marriage records in both Schoharie churches and churches below the hill say the bride or the groom was from Beaverdam or Beaver Dam. And, of course, about 1765 when the first church was formed in the area, it took the name "The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the Beaverdam." ("Dutch" signified that the congregation was "Deutch", i.e. German.)
• Town of Watervliet - In 1788 the Town of Watervliet was created; it consisted of all of what is now Albany County except the city of Albany, and part of Schenectady County. For the next two years folks who a few years later would live in Berne were from Watervliet.
• Town of Rensselaerville - In 1790 the Town of Rensselaerville was created from the western half of Watervliet. The result was that in the 1790 federal census everyone who lived in what are now the Towns of Berne, Knox and Renssselaerville were listed as being from Rensselaerville. In 1791, in a Van Rensselaer deed for the Reformed Church farm, the church was called, "The Reformed German Church of Beaverdam in the town of Rensselaerville," thus acknowledging the change in the name of the town.
• Town of Bern - In 1795 the Town of Bern was created from the northern two thirds of the Town of Rensselaerville. Rensselaer town officials selected in 1790, lived in what is now Berne; and when Berne was created they became the town officials of Bern and kept Rensselaerville's official journal. For them it was a merely a change of name and a reduction in size. The first use of the name Bern for the area is when the Town was created. Records for churches below the hill continued to say people from Bern were from Beaverdam for the next decade before they finally got use to using the name of Bern. In 1797 the Reformed Church officially became "The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bever Dam." They gave up changing the name of the church every time the name of the Town was changed.
• Town of Berne - Our Heritge, the 1977 Bicentennial history of the Town of Berne, says the spelling of the town name was changed from Bern to Berne sometime in the late 19th century. The middle of the 19th century would have been more correct, since it was spelled Bern in the 1850 federal census and Berne in the 1860 census. 

Planning Committee Survey Results for Types of Businesses in Berne

''Many businesses were personally favored by respondents.  A local farm produce center was the most favorable to have in Berne.  Other highly favorable businesses were animal shelter, antique/flea market, bakery, bed and breakfast inns, book store, convenience store, fish farm, garden center, grocery store, local farm butcher, medical offices, pharmacy, Helderberg tourism, and winery. Many of the other businesses had 50% or more favorable support.  


Most of the large scale businesses such as big box retail stores, big box warehouse, hunting farm, and an industrial power plants were opposed or strongly opposed.  


When asked where they would accept commercial development in Berne, the most common answer was along Route 443, followed by along Route 85 and in or near a hamlet.  Along Route 57a and anywhere in Town was favored by less than 20% of respondents.  There were about 12% who said that commercial development should be nowhere in Town.''

Editor's comment.- If we want local farms and businesses we must support them with our by buying locally. It does no good to say it would be nice to have a convenience store, a grocery store, a local farm butcher, a farm produce center if we do not spend our money locally to show that we really support them.