Looking Back in Philipstown

250 Years Ago (November 1775)
Gen. George Washington sent Henry Knox, his newly appointed chief of artillery, to New York City and Fort Ticonderoga to secure cannon, mortar, shells, lead and ammunition to continue a siege of British-occupied Boston. "The want of them is so great that no trouble or expense should be spared to obtain them," Washington said. Knox and his brother arrived in New York City on Nov. 25 and left three days later for Lake Champlain.
150 Years Ago (November 1875)
Johnny Mead broke his ankle while playing leapfrog with classmates from the Rock Street school.
Tim Dunn nearly lost his ear when a chain slipped loose while he was loading filters aboard the schooner Norma at the foundry wharf.
John Meisenbaher opened a Shaving and Hair Cutting Saloon.
Hamilton Brown of Garden Street left home on a Friday morning, telling his wife he was headed to Glenham to look for work and would return on an afternoon train. Five days later, there was no sign of him. Investigators learned he had withdrawn all his funds from Fishkill Savings Bank, including a small sum in his 5-year-old son's name. (The Cold Spring Recorder reported that Brown returned home on the following Thursday, although it did not explain his absence.)
William Warren, 14, employed by Mr. Ferris in the ice business, was sent home with the team and an empty wagon. On a nearby lane, he encountered the Cronk boys cutting down a tree. The Cronks said Warren told them: "Let 'er go, I can hold the horses," but William said the brothers let the tree fall just behind him, spooking the horses, who knocked a gate from its hinges and left him "demoralized."
The Recorder suggested that, unlike in other parts of the state, and against the wishes of the "best class of our citizens," local police too often released suspects before trial for lack of evidence.
Gen. Tom Thumb (aka Charles Stratton of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who was 3 feet, 4 inches tall), 37, and his wife, Lavinia Warren, appeared at Town Hall for two performances as part of a world tour. Tickets were 25 cents [$7.50]. The bill also included Minnie Warren and Major Newell, with songs, duets, dances, dialogues and comic acts and sketches. Stratton's small carriage and ponies were driven through the streets to draw attention to the shows. [P.T. Barnum "discovered" Stratton when he was 4 years old; he became a sensation in the 1840s after the showman taught him to sing and dance.]


A Poughkeepsie man named Michael Mullen was arrested at Garrison's Landing on a Saturday night and accused of stealing a satchel from a fellow passenger on the 4 p.m. train. After Mullen had been held at the Town Hall jail for two days, the satchel owner said he couldn't identify him, and he was released.
Thieves stole a beehive with 30 pounds of honey, valued at $25 [about $735 today], from outside the Nelsonville residence of Malcomb Evans.
Mrs. Charles Cooney of Breakneck, after returning from a trip to Cold Spring, built a fire to boil water. The stovepipe, which extended through the floor above the kitchen, sent sparks into the woodwork and her modest home - worth about $100 [$3,000] - burned to the ground.
Joseph Dore Jr., 6, was warming himself by resting his feet on a hot-water boiler when the lid tipped, scalding both feet.
William Hustis lost 11 sheep overnight in the North Highlands to fatal injuries inflicted by wild dogs. David Hustis had earlier lost 17.
Capt. Joshua Cronk was brought to his home on Fair Street after suffering partial paralysis on his left side while lying at anchor in Peekskill Bay to wait out a gale. The Recorder suggested that the cold and anxiety led to the attack.
The same gale blew a 500-pound wagon in a semicircle around Thomas Jaycox's barn while spinning it around.
The post office announced it would close at 10:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
Village officials said the owner of a black lace veil could claim it at Town Hall.
Thomas Reed completed a map of Putnam County from his own survey ...