Hard Cider Making In The Schodack NY Region

My most recent archeology type of digging has found The Hawk looking into old farmers dumps. It was common practice for centuries to have a family landfill on ones property. I plan to write about more of my findings this fall. The pieces of one artifact I have discovered appears to have been the remnants of an old hand crank cider press.
Cider making on a small scale was common for much of the history of this country. The tools and knowledge were common throughout Europe. Hard cider drinks are still served in Pubs in England...enjoyed them on my recent visit.
Apple orchards still dot the Hudson River Valley. Many small farms had a few apple trees on them and the older varieties such as the pippen were quite durable to our weather changes. Now the need for excape from the drudges of life are as old as man. A hard cider fermented could sometimes provide such relief. This was common practice and as moonshine is of the southern regions of America cider was to us.
The remnants of the press was uncovered in Columbia County but these often hand made devices were from what I have been able to ascertain quite common. I know of atleast 3 cider makers now deceased from the Schodack NY region. All brewed their ciders during prohabition in the 1920's & early 30's. Apparently a common practice back then was what can be referred to as in the ground fermenting. Make the cider in late summer early fall put in proper container such as an earthen jug , bury in ground atleast 1.5 feet and allow to simmer. Dig up when the ground is cold and test and enjoy. As can be guessed , the in the ground method also provided for refrigeration.
The Schodack landing area was a hotbed for such activity. Alcohol Tobacco and firearms agents
did go after such activity. Small scale selling of product was not uncommon. As a matter of fact , one of my ancestors was busted for such activity circa 1931.

1968 Schodack N.Y.

The Town of Schodack is a small town south of Albany N.Y. on the opposite side of the river from the Capitol. As the crow flies it is about 5 0r so miles south. It has been a town often gone through or bypassed on the way to somewhere else. A small village of Castleton is by the river and a rural suburban composition is the rest of the town. If the reader has read my other blogs you can say history passed through as well. Did not stay long. 1968 was a tramatic year for the country , riots , political unrest , counter culture movement , war. The changes that would effect the nation would touch Schodack as well. I wanted to stop by 1968 in that sleepy town and what was Schodack of the time atleast some impressions.
Schodack was alot dirtier then. As sited by State Study and a 1967 NYT magazine article the biggest pollutors in the Hudson River Valley per capita. Paper Mill from the Fort Orange Paper Company and the Anti Corrosive metal plant poured tons of industrial waste into the river. Open sewer pipes to the river were common. Farming runoff was still common. Large fish kills were not uncommon , 100+ fish could wash up on shore in or near Castleton , making life less pleasant.
You never quite forget that dead fish smell. The environmental movement was just beginning , the first Earth Day was 2 yrs away.
Schodack was less suburban than now , farming was still a common occupation. The smell of manure , common. Outhouses were more common than one might think , I could count atleast 23 that I knew were in use. The Chatham Farmers Coop still in business. The buying and selling of cattle was not uncommon in Schodack.
Our one semi rock star was long since gone....Buddy Randell was a temporary resident of Castleton and was married there. The group was called The Knickerbockers...they were known as making songs that sounded very much like the Beatles. It was said he often used notary public services instead of copyrights. L. V. Hudson often was his notary.
The town was affected by the 60's , it had angry elements....the town voted overwhelmingly for Richard Milhouse Nixon for President. Law & Order was a common phrase heard back then. Of course the 60's had reached the hamlet of Schodack...Drugs , drinking , political unrest amongst the younger residents. From talks with people , many of the young looked forward to leaving and coming back rarely if at all. Not uncommon for small towns , even today.
Several young men left for Vietnam , some came back to resume a quiet life some never quite were whole again. Arguements among families concerning the war was common. It split people apart as it did the nation.
The sleepy little town moved on as all places do , it some ways it is a better place. For me more a place of archeology...left behind memories.

what happaned to Mohigan burial mounds in castleton new york 12033

While away I recieved an e-mail inquiry as to what happaned to the burial mounds located in 12033. My researches including old Castletonian news articles make clear that in the 19th century , the railroads were being built. There was a need for fill for the railbeds especially along the Hudson River route. The mounds were dug into rediscovered and used to fill the railbeds. These sort of situations were not uncommon back then. Many burial mounds were distroyed in the process of building , farming etc. A shame , of course......lost to history and culture.

KKK in Castleton New York 12033 Circa 1928

I will be pushing off to England next week and I wanted to get this blog down cause you never know. Got two digs going at present but this one has been sticking in my gut for quite a while.
With the recent discovery of an interview I did a number of years ago on this topic I think it high time I wrote something down to preserve these memories for they are essentially forgotten in the Town of Schodackas with the rest of the nation. I will leave the history of the Klan in the 20th century to other histories such as Wikipedia etc. The fogginess of the event made reasearch difficult. I suspect people who remembered these events felt a sense of shame or let sleeping dogs lie as one women in Schodack Landing said to me. Certainly acceptance of such events has greatly changed in the intervening 80yrs.
I am still not as sure as I would like to be on various areas sometimes because of contradictory memories people had of the event and I suspect the Great Depression and looming war erased a need to remember. So much else to occupy ones thought process. However , lets put down some of what I know before it's all forgotten.

1. Why did the Klan have a rally in Castleton NY. ? The Presidential race that year was between Herbert Hoover and Al Smith. Al Smith was of the Catholic faith. There were strong anti Catholic feelings in the country at that time. Similar fears were seen in the 1960 election involving JFK. This rally was to protest Al Smith as a Catholic running for the office. Several rallys were held of this nature in America at the time. Have read microfilm accounts of these type of events near Boston Mass.

2. Where was the Rally held. Main street of Castleton is right along the Hudson River. This event was held on the Heights above the Main Streetof Castleton exactly where is the problem.Onthe southern end of the village or the northern end.I have searchedHudsonstreetnorth along the Castleton ridgeline to Boltwood. It is my considered opinion that it took place near Boltwood & Seaman Avenue in the towns North Hill area. It was referred to as the North Hill back in those days by many residents. One of the deciding factors was the view from this area overlooking Albany NY , the States Capitol. This is where Al Smith himself resided.

2. Why was small Castleton NY a choice for a rally. Lack of police wasoneeason. Castleton at the time did not even have a uniform Fire Dept. It was split between the Northern and Southern sides of town. Also the Catholic church sits above the Main St. at the time with a large Catholic Cross on top of the spire. This could be easily seen from the train station located on MainSt.. An
inviting target and a beacon for those who's fear and loathing was on the surface. It was also easy to gather people for this rally , train brought many some by car . Rt.9j which runs along the main street was a major road to places south including NYC. in those times of poor roads.

3. Did they burn a Cross? No it appears they built a large Bonfire....perhaps big enough to be seen as far away as Albany. Remember there were much fewer streetand building lights back then so a large blaze could be seen for quite a distance. It could also serve as an addition factor of intimidation to those in the surrounding areas.

4. How many people were involved? One of my sources was Peter Stohl formed teacher at near by Maple Hill High School. He said that it was the biggest Klan rally held in NYS. I can't independently varify that but a reasonable estimate was 250+. Yes of course local people were involved but so were many others from around the country. Of course this was not something one admitted to a then young interviewer asking strange questions about personal involvement in such a Rally. But gleaning what I could allows me to make a fairly reasonable assumption as to size.

Final thoughts : The Town of Schodack was a rural outpost back then , Schodack just beginning to aquire paved roads .No central school system existed. Little access to modern medicine as a matter of fact birth at home with a mid-wife was not uncommon. There were several out houses still within Village of Castleton. Many more in the farm areas of Schodack proper. Our major innovation of running Town snowplows through the night during storms would not start untill the next year. There was no town police force only the occasional State Trooper. So.....come in and raise a rally exploiting peoples fears of a minority religion or a change of political thought was easier then one might think. We are a media rich society , they were not. But in thinking this piece of history over , it seemed a painful topic when I explored it for a political science paper many yrs ago. I did not want to leave it behind though , as an example of what can happan so I leave this in my obsure blog so it not be a totally forgotten moment.

Sources : Peter Stohl , Former teacher Maple Hill High School
Vivian Ingalls: Former teacher MHHS
Charles Tobias Harris Town Resident
Douglas Hudson Former NYS State Senator
Lewis V. Hudson Former Supervisor Town Of Schodack
Pauline Jennings Former Resident Town of Schodack
Elmer Henniger Former Teacher MHHS , Former Schodack Town Justice
A.Downey: Fromer Resident Town Oof Schodack.
George Andrews: Former Resident Town of Schodack
Ronald P. Kunicki Former Resident Town Oof Schodack

Lincolns Funeral Train Passing By Schodack

Circa April 24/25 1865 President A. Lincolns funeral train passed through the Town of Schodack. This is easily accessed public history. A distant memory of the Kennedy assassination was of Sunset. All the church bells tolled , long and slow through Schodack. A sad national mourning was occurring. The same was taking place back then only on a slower time scale.
The train was heading for Albany.....people as they had in other places lined up to see the slain President. The one thing I have heard from the Great Grandchildren of residents of the area was people felt a need to pay their respects. I believe the train passed along the tracks on the eastern side of the town. It passed by some of my ancestors farm land. The timetables were published so the average person knew of the appx arrival time . Some farmers and laborers stopped work early , schools were let out early, people dressed up in "Sunday Best". Family's rode wagons , saddled horses or walked to the tracks. It was told to me that it was not uncommon to see people with a bible.
The train moved slowly , men removed their hats , many prayed. The weight of the war hung heavy in the air...and now a dead President. Even with a Congressional Medal of Honor winner from Schodack a Patrick McEnrow , an immigrant from Ireland who had for a time settled in the town we had suffered like all parts of the nation. Many unemotional hardened people from a hard life shed a tear as the train passed by. History came to them slowly passed us by it was over. Or was it One thing expressed to me by a couple of older people was they felt the story was passed down in all most religious terms. The secular and the political merged. The churches were full the following Sunday. There was a need to find meaning .
A final note , it appears that at sundown the church bells tolled in Schodack as they did in other towns the funeral train had passed through. A final goodby , a last moment to reflect as one finished the chores of the day.

The First Plane Landing In The Town Of Schodack

The Schodack area never had an airport within it's limits. There was a light plane crash in the late 1950's at the former Harris apple orchard near Muitzeskill. It was crop dusting the apples when it hit a power line and went down. There has been a number of helicopters landing within town but this rememberance goes back to the early days of flight. To the Wright Bros. As was told to me by older residents many years ago probably the late 60's.
Flight was in it's early stages. The date I am talking about was circa 1909. The first attempt to fly from Albany to NYC was made around this time. The pilot was following the Hudson River as his main navigation device. Apparently, engine trouble of some sort began to occur. He chose to land the plane just outside the Castleton Village limits. According to witnesses to the event the plane flew off the Hudson River route and flew across the village. This was no doubt a major sight. An actual flying machine as they were often called back then attracted real attention. The pilot was looking for a place to land . As this was the only choice back then as airports or airfields were practically unheard of. It was not uncommon for many years to land in farmers fields especially hay fields. There was not much choice , even into the 1920's. He landed off the now Maple Hill Road. That area was all farm land into the early 1960's before housing developers began to build the suburbs on this part of the town.
The landing was apparently successful. Pilot lived and was uninjured. Walked to the nearest phone and called his sponsors. Mechanics sent down by train that afternoon. A Pierce Arrow Automobile was sent to pick up the pilot. As can be imagined this was an event...big.....event. Word got around and people walked , drove , saddled up horses to go see this marvel of the Wright Bros. The farmer who owned the land decided he had a money making opportunity. By late afternoon he set up a rope fence and charged a nickel admission charge. By late morning of the next day {probable early summer} the mechanics fixed the problem , tested the engines and the Pierce Arrow returned to Schodack from Route 9-j. Remember these were dirt roads back then. Grass was cut and packed down by several local children and adults to make a better runway. The engines reved up the mechanics held onto the wings for a brief moments to add power to the take off like a catapult action. The plane took off to applause and returned to the Hudson River route and flew south.
Modern technology had arrived and left. By the way the Pierce - Arrow was a big deal as well. People went back to their lives as farmers and teachers and mechanics etc. As time went on it was essentially forgotten. Massive War was on horizon. The first transcontinental flight was 2 yrs away with multiple stops and crashes , aero planes were to become major weapons in a few more short years later. Appx 19 yrs later the first non stop transatlantic flight would take place. I recently talked with a Mrs Rowley of Queens , NY. She saw Charles Lindburg fly over their family farm in Ireland on that historic flight. She was a young child and that was the first plane she ever saw. Her Father lifted her on his shoulders to seemingly be closer to this then epic event. This was probably how this event felt to those that witnessed it. A few recalled it as we landed on the Moon the first time. From 4 winged open cockpit aircraft to space travel , to me still an amazing leap within single lifetimes. Remembered and related in the early 20th Century.

My Sources , My Family , History

With the passing of William F. Buckley this week , a political figure of some weight in the latter half of the 20th Century I began to cast my mind back to my own family. Buckley made it to 82yrs. My family is both blessed and cursed in many cases with long {sometimes to long] lives. My last greatgreat aunt died at age 102 in 1991 for instance. My father was wellinto his 50's when I was born {surprise}. Hence some of my sources. Old relatives , family reunions etc. My aunt , I spoke of, husband was a pilot in WW1. 72nd Aero Sq. James grave is marked as such near Chatham. Those were some stories I remember as a kid listening to. So you see my sources are from the oral traditions as well as others. Probably my interest in history and archeology stem from those discussions as a youth and later.
My career choices took me in other directions but I always return to what was. As a matter of fact I have come to believe we carry history with us. In the nature vs nurture arguement our ancient relations have their say , in both our gene pools and in the history they were part of. So I sit here pecking away , putting down some small find or thought. Adding a small side street to some tiny town in this gene pool of the web.