Looking Back in Philipstown

250 Years Ago (February 1776)
Maj. Gen. Charles Lee and a contingent of the Continental Army arrived in New York City from Boston to defend the city against British attack. Col. William Alexander, with 1,000 men, came from New Jersey to serve under Lee.
Andrew Allen and Thomas Lynch, delegates from the Continental Congress, met in New York City with Lord Drummond, representing the king, to see if some "accommodation" could be reached.
Gen. George Washington wrote to the Committee of Safety of New York, asking it to send any weapons it could spare to his camp outside Boston.
Eager to join the fight against the British, the carpenters building military frigates in New York City left their posts to volunteer. Congress reassured them that the boats were equally important to the cause.
James Duane, a delegate from New York, noted that Congress was debating the Continental Army's pay, enlistment lengths and whether one colony could use another colony's troops for defense.
150 Years Ago (February 1876)
James Nelson of the South Highlands, who had an impressive numismatic collection, showed off a bronze medallion he had acquired that depicted Gouverneur Kemble (1786-1875), a co-founder of the West Point Foundry. It was dated 1837, when Kemble was seated for the first of two terms in Congress. The medal was 3 inches wide with a relief of Kemble in profile; the reverse had his name and birthdate.

Benjamin Ireland, who suspected his nephews, Jake and Al Ireland, and a neighbor named Williams had stolen a "skip" of honey he valued at $50 [about $1,500 today], persuaded the constable to obtain a search warrant. No trace of the stolen sweets was found, but one nephew was angry enough at the intrusion that he assaulted Ben near Patterson's store in Mollyville [Nelsonville]. Ben then obtained a "peace" warrant that demanded the constable jail the nephew to keep the peace.
A gust of wind blew down C. Manning's chimney, which damaged his roof.
Granville Roberts had left his 3-year-old grandson, Willie, in the kitchen for a few minutes to go upstairs when the boy began to cry and climb the steps. Roberts hurried down and found the tablecloth on fire.
Asa Truesdell, who had run his meat market for 30 years, died at his Fair Street home at age 73. He had advertised the market for sale, saying it was the oldest business in Cold Spring and generated $30,000 [$900,000] in annual sales.
Elias Post sued Ichabod Hunt for cutting wood on his land. After hearing testimony for nearly the entire day, a jury awarded him $4 [$121] in damages.
A son of Mr. Hayden of Garrison was brought to Cold Spring on a railroad handcar after he accidentally cut off some of his toes with an ax.
James Schegel asked Officer Delaney on a weekend to detain Isaac Levy and his son for assaulting him with a club and threatening him with a revolver. Delaney suggested he wait until Monday to obtain an arrest warrant, but by then, Schegel had decided not to press charges.
Mrs. Freley was hanging clothes on a line at West Point when the wind swept her off her feet and down a slope, where she fractured her skull on a rock.
About 30 ferry passengers were stuck at Garrison for half a day because the river was choked with floating ice.
1st Lt. Robert Warren, 29, a Cold Spring native, died at Camp Douglas in the Utah territory of apoplexy [stroke]. He had joined the Union Army in 1862 and fought during several major battles in Virginia.
The Cold Spring Recorder shared the story of a 7-year-old named Dusty who was running with friends on the cakes of ice in the river when he fell in. Rather than return home wet and face punishment, he removed his clothes, put them on a pile of bricks and waited, naked, until they dried.
A high tide overflowed onto the lower end of Main Street, leaving behind blocks of ice that froze fast to the ground.
The water pump at the corner of Parsonage and Bank streets was out of order.
The Rock Street building used by the street commissioners as a tool house w...