ALBANY HILLTOWNS website

"The Hilltowns" is a colloquial term for the four Towns in western Albany County, New York above the Helderberg Escarpment. The four Towns are Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville. They are called Hilltowns because they are in the "hills" above the Hudson Valley in eastern Albany County.

About two weeks ago I joined Facebook and started Albany County Hilltowns History and Genealogy group where members can post and exchange information on the history of the hilltowns of western Albany County and the genealogy of the people who lived there. We already have fifty members. Right off we decided to work on two big projects:

• A series of books on the history of each of the hilltowns and the families that lived there.
• A web site focused on the history of the four hilltowns and the families that lived. The idea is to have detailed information about the families, their farms, and their homes. It will also have information on the history of the schools, churches, cemeteries and businesses.
  

The web site is already up at Albanyhilltowns.com. It is a Wiki site. That means anyone can add information on their ancestors. There are web pages for individual farms, houses, and families. Under families there are pages for biographies, family stories, family history, and genealogical charts. All of these pages are to be created and edited by family researchers.

Here are some sample pages:

• Farm on Berne Lot 510.
• Historic home The Joannes Fisher House.
• Biography of Corporal Harold C. Mattice.
• Dutch barn Jacob Post Barn. Follow links from that page to other Dutch barns.
• A business Warner's Sawmill
  

ALBANY HILLTOWNS GROUP

I have started a new group in facepages called Albany County hilltowns history and genealogy. The stated purpose:

A JOINT EFFORT OF RESEARCHERS WANTING TO SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE ON THEIR FAMILIES AND THE HISTORY OF THE HILLTOWNS OF WESTERN ALBANY COUNTY: BERNE, KNOX, WESTERLO, AND RENSSELAERVILLE.

We are just about a week old and we already have about 30 members. Some of the projects under discussion are

• a series of books, one for each town, with the history of the families that lived there in 1866 and earlier (based on the 1866 Beers map and early census records). the family chapters will be written by family researchers. There will be an editor for each one to provide direction and uniformity.
  
• a web site that we can all update that will have the history of each farm, house, and business. The domain name is albanyhilltowns.com. We will be entering content shortly.

Right now one has to join facebook to participate. I just joined last week and found about 40 people I know were using it. It is fun.

I anticipate that once we get the new domain up and running there will no longer be a need to join facebook.




Here is a section of Wm. Cockburn's 1787 survey map for Van Rensselaer. In the center is the cross roads which where the hamlet of Knox is now located. In 1787 it was the farm of J. Thompson, whom I believe was John Thompson Sr. More on the family in a forthcoming post.

The other day I was searching the Altamont Enterprise digital archives for obituaries. I found the following death notice in the Apr 17 1896 edition.

West Berne - Mr. George Smoke died Tuesday of
last week [April 6, 1896]. Funeral on Friday, Mr.
Smoke was-about 89 years old-and well
known in this section. He had been in
the employ of Mr. J. D. Haverly for
years.

Smoke was one of about four Negroes that lived in the Berne and Knox area in the latter half of the 19th Century. According to census records, George Smoke was single, and worked for John D. Haverly from before 1865. I can not find him in earlier census records.

BERNESWITZER ORIGIN OF BERNE?

From the History of Schoharie County by Roscoe

We will here remark that several of the old families of Middleburgh, Schoharie and Wright were connected by marriage with the Weidmans a very old and substantial family, from a place called Berneswitzer in Germany and who settled in Berne, Albany county and gave the name of their paternal home to the settlement. Many of the families of this town, removed from Beaver Dam, once a very prominent settlement of that town.

Actually Jacob Weidman is commonly believed to be from Berne, Switzerland. There is no Berneswitzer in Germany.

OSTRANDER FAMILY BURYING GROUND

The other day I received an inquiry about the Ostrander Cemetery - which I prefer to call the Ostrander Farm Burying Ground since it was on the old Ostrander farm and was for the burial of members of the Ostrander family. (A cemetery is a burial ground for multiple families and is on ground that is not privately owned by a single family.) Actually there are two primary families buried there: Ostrander and Dutcher; I have not yet found the relationship between the two families.


The Ostrander Family Burying Ground is in the northeast corner of Town of Knox on Bozie Hollow Road. It is on the old Ostrander farm settled before 1800 by Jacob Ostrander (1773 - 1861) and his wife Catherine Kenter Ostrander (1775 - 1855) . The earliest readable inscribed stone is that of their 16-year old son James who died in 1839.


Records of early burial places on the farms in the town of Guilderland, N.Y. and surrounding towns were Compiled by WILLIAM A. BRINKMAN, HISTORIAN
Town of Guilderland, Altamont NY RD1, 1940.

Jacob Ostrander, died August 30, 1861 aged 88 years and 2 months

Catharine, his wife, died February 17, 1855 aged 80 years, 6 months

Michael Shrader, died April 1, 1855 aged 72 years and 9 months

Jemima Ostrander, wife, died September 24, 1860 aged 77 years, 8 months

Charles Ostrander, died 1872 aged 72 years

Elizabeth Schrader, wife, died ------

William Ostrander, born August 5, 1828 died December 22, 1897

Margaret Jane Ostrander, wife, born September 1, 1833 died March 26, 1895

Mary, their daughter, born August 26, 1871 died June 11, 1890

Laura, their daughter, died October 18, 1880 aged 3 years and 6 months

Grant, their son, died September 4, 1871 aged 3 years and 5 months

Peter J. Ostrander, died March 9, 1862 aged 65 years and 6 months

Hannah, wife, died September 2, 1864 aged 65 years, 1 month

James, their son, died November 4, 1839 aged 16 years and 5 months

John Ostrander, died November 18, 1862 aged 63 years

Jacob Dutcher, born 1818 died 1907

Mary Auchampaugh, wife, born 1823 died 1877

Walter Dutcher, their son, born 1865 died October 14, 1871 aged 6 years, and 6 months

Edwin Dutcher, born 1851 died 1891

Mary Brumachim, wife, born 1853 died ----------

Frederick Bradt, born 1853 died 1881

Elizabeth Dutcher, wife, born 1851 died 1899

Jacob Dutcher born ------- died ---------

Emmett Dutcher Dutcher, born -------- died --------

Charles Hyser, born ---------- died January 7, 1897 aged 49 years
He was a soldier in Co. I, 142 New York Volumteers, Civil War.

Some are buried here without stones.

Pictures of some of the stones are posted at http://www.newyorkgravestones.org/

SPRADO FAMILY BURYING GROUND

Now that the Altamont Enterprise archives are available on line I have been able to do a lot more research in both genealogy and history of Berne. Yesterday I was searching for information on the Sprado family who in the early 1940's lived on Woodstock Road, just west of the intersection with Filkins Hill Road. The family first came to my attention when I was told that there was a Sprado Family Burying Ground there owned by the Town of Berne. My mother told me she remembered the family vaguely because two girls from up on Cole Hill use to catch the school bus from the corner where our farm was, at the intersection of Cole Hill Road and Heldeberg Trail. Mother said that the girls' mother died and was buried on the farm. A couple of years ago my brother and I tried to find the cemetery without success. Perhaps there is no stone? Anyway, with the help of the AE archives I found that she was the wife of Karl / Carl Otto Sprado. Carl and Helene were both born in Germany and immigrated in 1926. I believe they first settled in New Jersey before moving to Berne. Carl farmed and sold produce through classified advertisements in the Enterprise. They had two daughters, Helen and Charlotte, who attended Berne Knox. Helene died in Nov. 1941 when the girls were pre-teens. There were also ads in the Enterprise from a Borghaus Sprado. A few years ago when I first became aware of the cemetery I got some help in research from John Travis, Albany County Historian. John told me that he found a deed that says Carl Sprado bought the property from his sister, Emma Berghaus. So there seems to be some confusion between Berghaus and Borghaus and the relationship to Carl.

ALTAMONT ENTERPRISE ON LINE

I am very happy to report that the Guilderland Public Library has now made possible on line access to the

Knowersville Enterprise July 1884-July 1888

and

Altamont Enterprise
July 1888-June 1905, July 1906-December 1976, July 1977-December 1979

The digitization of this collection was coordinated by the Guilderland Public Library.
The original newspapers are owned by the Altamont Enterprise and Albany County Post and were microfilmed by the New York State Newspaper Project and the New York State Library.

http://historicnewspapers.guilpl.org/

For further information on this project contact the library:

BOOKS ON BERNE FAMILIES:

While most of my research on Berne area families is done on the Internet, I also use a number of books written by fellow researchers.

• The Wright Families of Berne, New York, by Douglas Wright Cruger was privately printed in October 2003; 326 pages. This an extremely well documented book on all of the Wrights of Berne and nearby towns. Doug has a few books left. He can be contacted at dcruger@maine.rr.com

• Haverlys of the Helderbergs, and there many descendants, by Estella Haverly Roth and Ramona Machester Tryon. I think the first edition was 1994 and was published by the Haverly Family Association. There was an update in 1995 and 2004. For more information contact:
  Allene Slater baslater@nycap.rr.com
  

  Ramona Tryon, 108 State Route 146, Schoharie, NY 12157-4215

• There is a series of four books of old photographs of Berne and Berne families including many reminisces edited by Willard Osterhout, sponsored by The Warner's Lake Improvement Association.
  

1. Life at the Lake, Warner's Lake, N.Y. published 2004
2. Life Along the Way, Traveling N. Y. 43 Warner's Lake and Beyond, 2006
3. The Journey continues...Life Along the Way, 2007
4. The Final Journey, 2008, includes photos and stories about Camp Pinnacle, Camp Woodstock and Camp Orinsekwa

Contact Willard at 518-872-1606, or by email to purchase any of the books. willandjerri1@msn.com

• Indian Ladder, A History of Life in the Helderbergs, by Gary L. Donhardt, 2001, is an excellent history of Berne. It includes much information on the following families: Thompson, Winne, Secor, Hart, Schermerhorn, Ketcham, Van Wormer, Smith, and Van Zandt. Contact: Gary L. Donhardt donhardt@memphis.edu
  

LaGRANGE, HAVERLY, TRUAX, CLIKEMAN, CROUNSE

There are quite a few LaGrange's in the Berne Families Genealogy. Some of them lived on the Hill and many married into Berne area families. I have many LaGrange cousins. So when my brother, Ralph, Town of Berne Historian, forwarded me an email the other day from Sandra Lee Blake, I decided to devote a posting to her LaGrange ancestors.

From Sandra Lee Blake, Herndon, VA t37traveler@fastmail.fm

I am the great great niece of Menzo Haverly of Berne. My mother is Dorothea LaGrange, daughter of Ethel Martha Truax LaGrange and Schuyler LaGrange. My mother is the last living LaGrange who actually spent much of her childhood on the LaGrange homestead on LaGrange Lane off Ostrander Rd. in Guilderland. My grandmother, Ethel LaGrange is one of the three daughters of Elva Haverly and William Truax. My grandmother, Ethel Truax, took care of Uncle Menzo in his home in East Berne during the 1950s and 1960's until he passed away. I clearly recall visiting his home every Sunday and talking with "Uncle Menzo" as a child. At the time he was blind and spent his days sitting in a platform rocker in the darkened living room of his home. I remember the sleigh bed, coal fired kitchen stove my grandmother cooked on, and heavy empire style furniture in the dining room. Most of all, I remember the one time I was allowed in the barn and saw a fabulous horse drawn sleigh. I also remember his neighbor just down the road, a woman named Lillian Westfall. I would very much like to contact Marilyn Miller Figel who submitted the obituary clipping of Elva and William Truax. I have much geneaology info on the LaGranges, but until a few days ago I had only sketchy information on the Haverly/Truax branch. I do have two original photos of Elva and William Truax and their three daughters. I would be happy to share any information and photos I have with any interested parties.

When my sister and I cleaned out my mother's house in Glenmont, NY about 5 years ago, there were boxes and notebooks and photographs of LaGrange geneaology that my mother had collected and traced. We donated these items and an antique dress of Ethel Truax's to the Albany County Historical Society. (My mother is still living but in the late stages of Altzheimer's; she is in a skilled nursing home near my sister in Carmel, CA.

I sent Sandra a report on hundreds of Berne ancestors of Dorothea LaGrange. Here is her reply:

Good Grief! OUR FAMILY TREE IS MORE OF A THICKET THAN A TREE! My mother had told me that cousins married cousins and that there were double
cousins in the family.

I am still printing the volume on the Berne area ancestors of Dorothea LaGrange. Reading through it I can fill in a coupe of bits of info now:


Ref. 1

Dorothea LaGrange was born on November 9, 1917 and married George Albert
Lee (b. Oct 22 1916 in Atlanta, GA to Rev. William Arthur and Emma Gertrude Brown Lee) on August 22, 1941. He just died on July 16, 2008. They later divorced and my mother took back her maiden name and moved from Watertown to Glenmont, NY in the early 1980s. They had two children: Sandra Mae Lee born Oct 10, 1947, and Glenda Rae Lee, born June 9, 1953. Sandra married Mark Addison
Fowler (b. Knoxille, TN on June 30, 1947). They divorced in 1989. They had three children: Erika Allison (b. Oct 19, 1969); Christian Addison (born Nov. 19, 1972), and Matthew Everly (born Oct 18, 1980).

Ref. 6
Ethel Martha Truax died on July 2, 1972 in Watertown, NY. She married Schuyler LaGrange on October 23, 1912. Schulyer passed away on Dec. 19, 1948 from Parkinson's Disease. Their two children were Dorothea and Clayton.

Ref. 8 & 9
Jacobus LaGrange's wife's maiden name was Engeltie Veeder. In addition to Myndert, they also had a daughter, Antje, born April 21, 1728. On Aug. 10, 1748 she married Jellis LaGrange, son of Christian LaGrange & Catalynte Dumont LaGrange. They had 3 children- Peter, Margert and John.

There is some crazy stuff going on back here - first cousins marrying, names repeating to the point of distraction....

In the next exchange, Sandra replied:

Thanks for the info and explanations. I am going to forward some of the Berne area information to a contact in Texas who actually stared all of this. Out of the blue last week I received a letter from a Richard E. Smith of Richmond TX asking for info on
his ancestors Gillis de la Grange, Omie de la Grange and Johannes de la Grange. I called him, and it turns out he is a Truax also. He plans to visit the Albany, NY area. I mentioned Berne and Guilderland as family places.

The Truax family and the LaGrange family were intermarrying in the 1700s, then again in the 1900s. Small world.

He had contacted the Dutch Settlers Society in Albany, who gave him my address. My mother was/is a lifetime member and gave me the same as a birthday gift one year. After sending him some LaGrange info, I got curious and began poking around on line. I googled "Menzo Haverly" at 3AM. My jaw dropped when I hit the Hudson-Mohwak Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Tuax site through www.schenectadyhistory.org - and there on the third page was my grandmother's name. then followed the Haverly family info - and there was what I was looking for - Josiah, son of John Haverly, married Esther, daughter of Jacob and Mary Saddlemire, and their children were: 1. Livernus; 2. Menzo; 3. Elva, aforementioned as the wife of William J. Truax, and 4. Etta.

Also - Olive Truax, who married Roy Crounse - I remember both of them well - Olive was blind when I knew her as a child, but I remember visiting them at their farm, which I believe was in Altamont. They had a daughter, Esther, who married Otto Schultz. They had two sons, Carl and David. Otto and Esther have passed away within the past ten years. They lived in the area, but I don't remember the town.

My parents moved to Voorheesille in 1950. We lived in the house that my grandmother, Ethel Truax LaGrange, had built for herself However, she wound up caring for Menzo Haverly and moved "up on the hill" The house is still there, and was relatively unchanged as of 5 years ago. It is a white bungalow with a detached garage and sits just before the "Y" in the road (either rte 85 or 185 I think) where the Altamont Rd forks to the left. If you continue straight, you head toward the Army depot and Guilderland. The house is about 1/4 mile from the old Voorheesville
Central School. Heading toward Altamont it was (perhaps still is) the first house on the right. There are houses on the hill behind it. The land to the right of the house as you face it used to be an old apple orchard owned by Belle and Allen Hurst who lived in the white farmhouse on the right by the bridge over Vly Creek at the school. He was a justice of the peace and had an active orchard just up the Altamont Rd.
In the winter the Hursts would flood the low spot at the lower end of the old apple orchard so the kids could ice skate there. Coming from Berne, you'd take New Salem Rd., then turn left onto 85 or 185 just past the school. House is on the right as described above - in case you want to see some Truax property that you probably never knew existed.

And in the next email:

Nicholas and Mary Ann's daughter Mary married Franklin Clikeman (not Clickman). For more info on this family offshoot go to:
http://www.patcrosbie.com/ancestry/lagrange.htm

Nicholas and Mary Ann's daughter Catherine married Myndert LaGrange on Nov. 17, 1880. Their son, Schuyler married Ethel Truax. My mother often spoke of how much she admired her petite and pretty grandmother, Catherine LaGrange. I have a picture of her feeding chickens and another of her at the LaGrange home (not the homestead,but another one on LaGrange Lane in Guilderland) with her husband, two children, Schulyer and Viola, and a horse handler with a horse. Apparently the LaGranges were breeders of Morgan horses...

"HAMLET" OF BERNE IN 1795

Actually, there was no hamlet of Berne when the town was founded in 1795. The major buildings would have been the Weidman sawmill and gristmill plus the home Jacob and Elizabeth Dietz Weidman shared with the family of their son, Peter.

Weidman mills and home

It was about 1750 or 51 when the Jacob Weidman moved his family from Greene County to settle near the families of his wife's brothers. Weidman built his home on the north bank of Fox Creek, just above the upper falls in what is now the hamlet of Berne. By 1755 he had built a dam (of logs?) along the top of the falls to create a pond to harness the water power of the creek. Below the falls he built the first sawmill in the Helderbergs; a waterwheel would have operated a vertical saw blade that moved up and down. Within a few years a gristmill was constructed below the sawmill.

Bruce Wideman, a Weidman descendant and researcher, shared with me information from the early deeds and leases for the Weidman family. The earliest is a scrap of a 1774 lease for the mill land. This is one of the earliest Van Rensselaer leases for land in the Helderbergs.

On 3 March 1787 Steven Van Rensselaer deeded outright 261 acres to Jacob Weidman. This was most unusual, since Van Rensselaer did not ordinarily sell his land. Still, even in this sale, Van Rensselaer kept all rights to the mills, milldam, and millstream. Included in Jacob’s purchase was all of the land on both sides of Fox Creek from the sawmill east on both sides of the Helderberg Trail (State Route 443) to its intersection with today’s Tabor Road. The 1787 map shows Jacob owning the southern 165 acres of lot 598 and his son Peter owning the northern portion of the land.

18 December 1790 Jacob's son Peter leased an additional 30 acres of lot 597, which was called the "Mill Lott." This is to the west of lot 598 and includes the lower falls and the land on which the gristmill is shown on the 1787 map. Based on this, I conclude that Jacob operated the sawmill and Peter operated the gristmill.

The 1790 Federal Census for Rensselaerville, which at that time included Beaver Dam, lists for Jacob Weidman: 5 Free White Males over 16, 3 Free White Males under 16, and 5 Free White Females. There are separate households nearby for all of his children except Peter. By studying the number and ages of the occupants of Jacob’s household, I conclude that at the time of the 1790 census, Peter and his family were living with his parents.

Jacob Weidman’s house is shown on the 1787 map as being on the south side of the Helderberg Trail just east of the mill. That is the site on which Peter later built his own home, as shown by a New York State Historical Marker that says:

WEIDMAN HOME

THE LARGEST HOUSE IN BERNE

WITH TEN FIREPLACES

BUILT BY PETER WEIDMAN

IN 1800, STOOD

ON THIS SITE

Our Heritage says, "When the surveyor’s map of the Van Rensselaer’s estate was drawn in 1787 it clearly indicated that Jacob Weidman’s house and barn were already built on the Tabor Road location and that the grant was then owned by Jacob Jr. who also rented an adjoining tract of land. The footpath drawn on the map is approximately the same route as the present Tabor Road." While the map does show a house and barn on what is now Tabor Road, on a tract owned by Jacob Weidman Jr., it also clearly shows the house and barn of Jacob Weidman as being above the falls near the sawmill and gristmill; it was an easy walk to work.

The last record of Jacob and Elizabeth is 28 November 1794 when Jacob sold the 261 acres in lot 598 to his son, Peter, and presumably retired. In the deed Jacob refers to Mathias Shultes as being the son of his wife Elizabeth, so she must have been still alive. (The next to last record for Jacob and Elizabeth is 3 March 1794 when Jacob and Elizabeth sponsored the baptism of their great-grandson Jacob W. Ball.)

I suspect the large Peter Weidman home was actually built prior to 1790 by his father, Jacob.

1795 roads in the hamlet

Helderberg Trail was only a horse trail in the early years of Beaver Dam. By the time of 1787 survey it had been upgraded and realigned to make it passable to wagons. It would have crossed Fox Creek between the upper and lower falls on a one lane wooden bridge. There would not have been the T shaped intersection at the junction of Rts. 443 and 156; rather, the road going east across the bridge would have gone straight ahead and up the slope then curving right to join the present alignment.

The 1787 Van Rensselaer survey map shows the only road to Knox being a combination of the present day Turner Road and Tabor Road. There was probably a trail down the southern bank of the Fox Creek on a similar alignment with the present access road to Fox Creek Park but the map is not very clear. Certainly by 1795 it continued on down to the flats where there would have been another single lane wooden bridge crossing the creek.

The Johannes Fischer House

The first meeting of the Town of Berne was held in the home of Johannes Fischer. This is now the home of John and Linda Clemmer at the end of Stranahan Lane, which approaches the house from the rear. The Fischer home faced the old wagon road to Knox which crossed Fox Creek on a bridge on the flats below the Weidman mills.

The Johannes Fischer House, built by 1789

Piter Fischer, father of Johannes, probably homesteaded his farm in the 1740’s. About 1750 he married Dorothea Ball, whose father, Peter, may have had the next farm to the west. They were among the earliest settlers in Beaver Dam (now Berne), and settled on choice valley land. Perhaps the Fischer House was built before 1789, when it is said to have been the site of the first “Town” meeting, called to propose that the Town of Rensselaerville, (which then included Berne and Knox), be separated from the Town of Watervliet. Fischer operated an inn and store from his home. Farmers bringing their grain to Weidman’s gristmill would buy supplies and spend the night before making the long journey home.

In 1790 Fischer was one of the few local families to own slaves. It was generally the earliest settlers, who had settled on the best valley land, who were prosperous enough to afford them. About 1812 Fischer built a large, one-room brick building to house his three slaves, plus the slaves of travelers staying in his inn. Conveniently located behind the slave quarters is an outdoor brick beehive oven. There are slaves buried in back of the Wood Cemetery. In 1827 slavery was outlawed in New York State. The slave quarters and oven still exist.

An 1854 map of Berne shows J. Wood living in the Johannes Fischer House and also a J. Wood in the Jacob Fisher house across the road, built in 1829 by the son of Johannes. Perhaps John M. Wood, of Dutchess County, owned them both. Col. Wood moved to Berne before his marriage in 1832. Although the 1855 census indicates he was not a property owner, Berne Historical Society records say that his young son, Thomas, inherited a portion of Col. Wood’s farm in the 1840’s. The 1866 Beers map shows P. J. Wood in both houses. This was actually Thomas J. Wood, son of John. In 1878 the Cheese Factory Association built a cheese factory nearby on land given them by Tom Wood.

SHULTES AND BALL FAMILIES OF BERNE

This post is lifted directly from the latest weekly newsletter of my distant cousin, good friend, and great family researcher, Terrell Shoultes:

“I have found that the study of family genealogy over the past 8 years (now 33 years) has brought many of my ancestors back to life. It is fascinating to look at an old b/w photograph and stare into the eyes of kinfolk who lived over 100 years ago. Genealogy has taught me that as long as we are remembered, we are never dead.”

Terry Shoultes - Dinner speech to the Lake Worth Rotary Club in 1983

It is my usual practice during the time between the end of summer camp and the beginning of the new school year to do genealogy research and update my SHOLTES-SHOULTES-SHULTES computer database.

My genealogy database (as of August 1, 2008) contains the following:

Total number of individuals = 33,109

Total number of marriages = 11,564

Average lifespan = 58 years 5 months

Earliest birth date = 100 A.D.

Total number of generations = 69

Total number of difference surnames = 5,610

With more people in the house and my computer office serving as a bedroom, my usual schedule of late night/early morning research has been modified. Even so, I have been able to read, process, and discover a wealth of new information. I have also been able to write contributing articles for research documents, magazines, newspapers, and various websites.

The picture at the beginning of my weekly letter was provided courtesy of the Ball family of Berne (Albany County), New York. During my trips to Berne between 1977 and 2005, I had a chance to meet a few of those in the picture:

#2 - Clyde Alexis Sholtes (11Jul1904-21Jan1997)

#10 - Clyde Lawrence Ball (14May1888-10Mar1991)

#13 - Alta Mae (Sholtes) Ball (12May1891-25Sep1996)

#29 - Mildred Alberta (Ball) Wright (06Jan1913- )

#30 - Gertrude M. (Ball) Deitz (13Oct1916-16Apr2008)

The same Sholtes farmhouse as in the 1927 picture as it appeared in 2005

The original farm tract of approximately 160 acres was established in 1786 by Johan Jacob Scholtes (12May1761-1Feb1852) and his wife, Mariah Fisher (abt1760-1Jun1839). In his last Will and Testament published in 1840, Jacob Scholtes declared the following:

Fifthly, I give and devise unto my Grandson, Jacob Scholtes, all that certain piece or parcel of land situate lying and being in the town of Knox, in the county of Albany, and the State of New York, and known as distinguished as Lot number six hundred, in the manor of the Rensselaerwick, and bounded on the south by lands of Peter Marselis and Gerardus G. Marselis, and on the east by lands of said Peter and Gerardus Merselis, and the north by lands of Philip Sternburgh, and on the west by lands of John Stiner, and supposed to contain one hundred and fifty acres of land be the same more or less, to have and to hold the same unto him, his heirs and assigns forever, provided he pays and performs the bequests and legacies herein before given and bequeathed unto his brother, Gedion Scholtes.

Seventhly, I give and bequeath unto my Grandson, Jacob Scholtes, son of my son, John I. Scholtes, all the horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, farming utensils, and the rest and residue of the personal estate and effects which I may have at my decease, after the payment of ten dollars to each of my sons herein before given and bequeathed to them, and after payments of my debts and funeral expenses.

Jacob Sholtes, the grandson referenced in his grandfather’s will, was born at Knox (Albany County), NY on June 3, 1817. He grew up on the farm and eventually became the owner and operator of the enterprise.

Jacob Sholtes married three times to: 1) Mary Ann Haverly (16Mar1824-22Dec1847); 2) Christina Weidman (16Feb1826-15Aug1849); and Angelica Schell (28May1828-13Nov1906). He was the father of twelve children.

Jacob Sholtes (3Jun1817-3Sep1891) - Angelica Schell (28May1828-13Nov1906)

In 1851 following his marriage to Angelica Schell, a new farmhouse was constructed. It is said to have taken two years to complete. The original house remained standing until around 1910. The barn (see picture below), built by his grandfather in 1800, was dedicated with a historical marker by Berne Historical Project members Harold Miller, Al Deitz, and me during the Berne Heritage Festival of 2005.

To my knowledge, there is one survivor remaining from the family photograph taken in front of the Sholtes farmhouse in 1927. It has been my pleasure to meet, write to, and otherwise communicate with my cousin, Mrs. Alberta (Ball) Wright since I started researching the family genealogy back in 1975. At the age of 92 when I last visited her home, she recalled many family memories and details.

IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE ON PLANET JUPITER? ® - July 24, 2005

After cleaning up, Al and I drove over to the residence of Alberta Ball Wright, daughter of the late Clyde L. Ball (14May1888-10Mar1991) and Alta Mae Sholtes (12May1891-25Sep1996). When I first discovered the Shoultes link back in 1977, Alta Sholtes Ball was my nearest living relative at 86 years of age. We met Mr. & Mrs. Ball in 1977 and videotaped another visit in 1987. Al Deitz is their grandson. Alberta Ball Wright is one of the charter members of the Berne Historical Society. We enjoyed a delightful afternoon of family discussion and regretted having to leave so Al and I could attend a church supper at the Berne Dutch Reformed Church (established in 1834 and the church where our ancestors worshipped).

I have spent the past two weeks researching an outstanding publication of pictures assembled by Willard Osterhout (also one of my longtime PLANET JUPITER readers) of East Berne, NY. His publication is titled THE JOURNEY CONTINUES … LIFE ALONG THE WAY published by the Warner’s Lake Improvement Association in 2007. For those who have roots in the Albany County Helderburg region, the book is highly recommended reading. If you are interested, send me an email and I’ll tell you how to get in touch with him.

I honor the memory of Mrs. Wright’s father at the end of this letter by transcribing a newspaper article written about him in 1980. Please take the time to enjoy some family history.

“I CAN SEE 90 YEARS”

Clyde Lawrence Ball was born near the village of Altamont (Albany County), New York on May 14, 1888; the son of Charles Eugene Ball (11Jan1856-21Sep1951) and Minnie B. Onderdonk (16Feb1862-7Mar1948). This story was written by Carol DuBrin and appeared in THE ALTAMONT ENTERPRISE issue of February 1, 1980. It was my great pleasure to meet Mr. Ball during vacation trips to New York in 1977 and 1987 and I have a treasured videotape of our 1987 visit. If there were ever a role model of duty, honor, integrity, and family values, Mr. Ball shines as an example for all Americans to emulate. He died on March 10, 1991 at the age of 102 years.

With a little sketched map of where I was going, I drove up the hill from Altamont, around the sharp turns in Berne, out of that hamlet to Switzkill Road and left out along that to three residences clustered on a little knoll around a bend in the road.

There live the Clyde Balls on land that has been in his family since the turn of the century. On each side live their daughters with their families. What a wonderful way to live the "golden years", with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren near at hand!

I went out there to visit a man much respected and admired -- "a lovely man," as my husband said, who has served his community and his church well over the long years -- a family man, a good friend, a helpful businessman, an excellent teacher.

Sitting in his favorite rocker, his charming wife knitting nearby, we reminisced over the experiences of a lifetime. "I can see 90 years," he mused as we chatted, joined briefly by both daughters. With their help we wove a life-pattern of love and service, filling it out with the little incidents that somehow stick in our minds and color the whole.

To begin with, the Balls were rural Altamont folks living on a farm on the hill above the village where the Altamont Reservoirs collect village water. That was back in 1888. Doc Barton drove his rig up the hill on May 14 to deliver the first of the two Ball children. Two years earlier, the young couple had rented this farm on shares from the owner, a certain Mr. Schoonmaker. They worked hard and the farm prospered as little Clyde grew.

A stream came down the hill past the farm. As a five year old, Clyde remembers going out in the field to pick golden dandelions for his mother. They looked bigger and yellower on the other side of the creek. And so the lad carefully picked his way on stepping stones, leaping to one large rock and then to the further shore.

He gathered a great bunch of the bright flowers and headed for home, jumping to the big rock, then down to the step-stones -- but he missed and fell into the deep, rushing water. He could not swim or gain a foothold against the current.

A passerby saw him struggling and reached out, hauling him safely to shore as his flowers floated on down the creek! Which was worse -- the loss of his pretty dandelions or the cold wet clothes sticking to him and weighing him down as he hurried back to the house?

It was long about that time that Altamont decided it needed a village water supply. After much study it was decided that part of the Schoonmaker - Ball farm was the ideal spot. And so the first reservoir was laid out and dug, to be fed by that same stream little Clyde had fallen into.

The field had been pasture land for the Ball horses. They had not yet been removed the day the retention dam was closed. It started to rain. It not only rained, it poured -- and the family had to rush out into the storm to drive the horses to safety beyond the waters reach. The reservoir filled in that one day.

Living near all that water, the hired man figured young Clyde should surely know how to swim. So he decided on a no-nonsense approach. He went with the lad to the reservoir, picked him up and threw him in! Two years older than when he had fallen in the creek, Clyde faced with the choice of sink or swim, swam. And he soon learned to enjoy it.

The reservoir became his summer recreation spot! It also offered great bullhead fishing. Clyde remembers that first fish he caught -- it got him with one of it’s' spines and the sore burned mightily, giving the youngster a healthy respect for the fishes defense mechanism.

Apparently, the reservoir provided just the right growing conditions for the bullheads as Clyde recalls the day the dam was opened and the water drained for cleaning. All the area farmers came with grain sacks and left with them full of the wriggling, flapping fish they had scooped up.

It was when Clyde was seven that his sister Hazel was born. That completed the small family circle. Hazel was a baby but Clyde attended school -- District School No. 4 (still standing but altered with additions). It is the yellow house above the George Walk farm on Route 158.

He can remember part of one year when he was the only student (and the school was scheduled to include grades 1 through 8). Clyde used a shortcut through the fields to school. His father insisted anyone could follow his train as it was paved with the lead pencils the lad lost as he skipped along!

Much of the farm is now under water. With great frugality the family had saved a bit of money and they decided to buy a farm of their own out beyond Berne where some of the family already lived. The new farm had 100 acres and a house on the road -- the cost, $1,450. The year was 1899.

Still, crops had to be harvested at the Altamont farm and much work done to arrange for the moving, so it was set for the following spring. On the other hand, when the move was made, they would want to be able to get the seed crops planted right away.

To manage this, the father and the hired man went early one morning over the hills to the new farm to plow and prepare the land.

One day, young Clyde was sent by his mother to take the men their mid-day meal. Along with the packed dinner was a bucket of good thirst-quenching milk from their own cows. To make the trip, Clyde harnessed up the family's small two-wheel cart and set out letting the horse go at a good pace. The little cart bumped and swayed, jiggled and bounced along behind the frisky horse.

They made the trip in good time for the men's lunch. The food arrived in fine shape but the trip had been too much for the milk -- it had turned to a fat lump of butter! All the liquid had slopped out as the cream churned itself on the bumpy road!

The spring of 1900 saw the young family move to their new home. Clyde and a friend, Frank Witter, were given the job of driving the livestock, six or seven cows and about 30 sheep, from one farm to the other.

They started right after an early breakfast, following the roads, the two lads herding their flock along. At mid-day, they were still some distance from Berne. By mid afternoon, they reached the little community.

At that time, there were sidewalks through the village. And the sheep chose to follow (better than the gardens) as the boys pushed on, past the houses, the stores, around the bend, out of the community and on to the farm where they arrived about 4 p.m.

Clyde's aunt lived in the house on the knoll where he now resides and she had the boys in for dinner -- ham and eggs. "Boy did that taste good!"

New home, new school and this one was just down the road apiece. His new teacher was Myron Shaver, and a good one he was. Clyde liked him immensely but the teacher that followed was not so dedicated, so Clyde elected to walk the several miles back into Berne to go to school. There he met Alta Sholtes, his future wife. Her home was where "His" Farm Fellowship is now located and it was just down the road from the school. Still if it was a cold or stormy day, she would get her horse and ride quickly across the field, dismount at the school door and send the horse running back to his barn again, Mrs. Ball recalls. (She has been busily knitting on a sweater for a great granddaughter all the time we were conversing).

Way back there in the country, sister Hazel became very ill and developed deadly pleurisy. A specialist, a Dr. Etting from Albany, was informed of her serious condition. The doctor packed his black bag (all doctors had them then), caught a train to Altamont, hired a horse and carriage at the village livery stable, and drove up the mountain to Berne, out the Switzkill Road to the farm, and there, operated to drain the fluids which were flooding Hazel's lungs. She recovered beautifully.

In our recollections we now reached the high school years. There was no high school up on the mountain. The nearest was the Altamont High School on Grand St. in that village. In order to attend, Clyde had to board in the community. He lived with the Gene Sturgess family during the week and only made the long trip home on the weekends.

The two years he attended high school, he made a bit of money working for Dr. Barton, the same doctor who delivered him and his sister in the Altamont hill farmhouse. He remembers caring for the doctor's horse -- a big white that he washed down daily. Summers, Clyde worked on the farm.

In 1907, the one-room school above his family's farm needed a school teacher and 19 year old Clyde got the job. He has saved that first teaching contract (and all subsequent ones) and it shows that he received $280 for that year of teaching. He was paid in three installments -- a third in the fall when money came in from the school taxes, a third in January when "public money" became available, and the last third in June as they finished the school year.

He had grades one through eight, taught all the subjects and did his own janitor work! That was the beginning of 23 years of teaching in one-room schools.

Summers, Clyde went to Middleburgh to school himself, to upgrade his own education. He also clerked in a store (at 15 cents an hour). Later, he sold insurance and, because he was so good with figures, assisted people with their income taxes. Mathematics was his joy.

"We were going together when he started teaching school in Berne," Mrs. Ball recalls. "One winter day we were in a crowd of young people all going to a party up on West Mountain at the top of Sickle Hill. A storm developed and it snowed so hard there was no way we could get home that night. The whole party stayed at an aunt’s house. She had 21 of us for a pancake breakfast the next morning!"

"Of course there were no telephones to let our families know," Clyde added. "Later we had three phone companies here in Berne alone: the West Berne Telephone Co., the Jerome Burst Telephone Co., and New York Tel. And we could use them for 10 cents a call."

"We came back home after breakfast. We couldn't see the roads and the horse got off in drifts so high he was up to his neck and he had to fight his way out."

Clyde Lawrence Ball and Alta Mae Sholtes were married at the home of her parents (the Sholtes farmhouse on Rock Road) on Thursday June 1, 1911

In 1911, Clyde and his Alta were married. They rented a big two room apartment (one up, one down, privy attached in the rear) in Berne for $5 a month. There was no electricity or running water. They carried that by the pailful from the well outside.

Here, their first daughter was born. They moved to bigger quarters, a home owned by the Wood family. There, their second daughter was born. They would tease her by saying, "Oh, you were just born in the woodhouse!"

While Clyde taught that one room school, his sister Hazel attended there -- also her future husband. then his own children grew and he had daughters Gertrude and Alberta in his classes!

When they came to school they never addressed their father as such -- always "Mr. Ball" or "Teacher". It must have been hard to remember!

"Dad was a good teacher," they recall. And, in fact, he inspired Alberta to go on and become a teacher herself -- as his mother had been and her father before her.

A family treasure is grandfather Onderdonk's old school bell. First used in 1860, the bell has been engraved with the names of the family teachers: Charles L. Onderdonk, Minnie Onderdonk (Clyde's mother), Clyde L. Ball, Alberta Ball Wright, Ruth Wright DeWitt, and Jean M. Wright. The last two are Clyde and Alta's granddaughters.

Usually the bell sits in a place of honor at the Berne Historical Society. Right now, it has been borrowed back so that a great granddaughter with a broken leg in a cast can use it to ring for help!

A desk from the old Berne one-room school sits on the Balls' back porch, lacy ironwork supporting a double seat. The outhouse from the school is up in the field behind their house.

I've seen a number of these little buildings converted to the modern day use of shelters for kids waiting for their school bus at the end of long rural driveways. I wanted to put one we had to such use but my city-bred husband was appalled at the thought. So on windy below-zero days, I would drive the girls down our long lane to the road and wait for the school bus with them. No way could we see the road and watch for a coming bus from the house.

Clyde remembers that school discipline in those days went on the assumption that to "spare the rod would spoil the child." He says that wouldn't work now.

Then, it was expected and it usually did the trick -- and without the child ending up hating the teacher, either. Clyde was so popular with one of his little students that when he changed schools she went to live with her grandmother just so she could still "go to school" to him!

From 1916 to 1920, Clyde served as Berne town clerk. Later he was justice of the peace. In that role, he had one exciting incident when a lawbreaker threatened to kill the police, the judge, and others he was angry with.

During the First World War, Clyde had a third responsibility, as a member of the local draft board. In the Second World War, he served on the ration board.

Clyde taught almost continuously from 1907 to 1947. In 1930, he had been asked to teach in the Berne-Knox High School. Of all the former one-room teachers, he was the only one certified for both elementary and high school teaching.

"He was a good and kind teacher. I wasn't too good at business math and he would stay after school to help me," a friend told me of her former teacher.

"Good with figures." Clyde was the treasurer of St. Paul's Lutheran Church for 50 years and was honored when he retired from that position nine years ago. Sixty years a Mason -- a director of the Maccabees -- a member of the Cemetery board.

At home, Clyde and Alta's lifetime of devotion continued. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a big party at the Grange Hall. Their 65th wedding anniversary at St. Paul’s, coming up on June 1 is number 69. And their family grew and the generations were added so now there are fourteen great grandchildren for Alta to knit for!

And of a winters evening, Clyde and Alta sit in their comfortable living room and play a game of dominos, looking back together over a good life in the Helderburg hill country.

But they have seen much more -- many trips to Michigan taking grandchildren to and from college -- even a fast summer tour of the U.S. with their friends (and relatives), the Harry Gibbs, back in 1955 when they went west by the northern route and came back through the South. Memorable was the drive along the California cliffs above the Pacific Ocean.

Great memories -- family, friends, service to church and community -- such are the 90 years Clyde Ball can look back and see.

We had a great visit!