LATEST NEWS
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LATEST NEWS
Upcoming events
The next meeting of the Helderberg Hilltowns Association will be held at the Westerlo Town Hall at 7 PM on Monday, August 2. Leading off our agenda will be an update by Sarah Gordon, in person, on what's happening with the Helderberg Market.
We will then have status reports on the various projects already under discussion:
- - Fall hikes
- - Turkey Hunting
- - Marketing and Hospitality Coupons
- - Genealogy Project
- - Helderberg Hilltown Fall Festival in Knox
- - Farm Tour
We will then open the floor for other business. We will adjourn the meeting no later than 9 PM, as everybody has to work the next day.
Those who wish to post upcoming events on these pages are urged to do so themselves.
Farmers and Local Folk
- - Helderberg Hilltowns Fall Festival - October 9th from 10 am -3pm. There will be live music, activities for children, farm vendors, crafts, and more. They are seeking farm, craft, and other vendors from Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville. Those interested in participating should contact Cheryl Frantzen, Chairperson, at 872-1199, 573-5949, or by e-mail at cfrantzen@knoxny.org.
- - Hilltown Holiday Gift Bazaar - Local Artisans needed to provide beautiful works of art, jewelry & hand crafted products for holiday shopping. To be held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Hours are from 10 to 4 pm.
- SUGGESTION TO HILLTOWNS ORGANIZATIONS
- - Fundraising meals - Those of you who live in the Hilltowns; please encourage your local organizations to buy local, especially when planning fundraising meals. We need to put our money where our mouths are, and buy local produce to feed our mouths and those that come to our fundraisers. Our local organizations should be proud to advertise that the meals they serve are from local farmers.
- - Potluck meals - For Hilltown organizations wouldn't it be a great idea to have Hilltown potlucks with all dishes made from food from the hilltowns.
HELDERBERG HILLTOWNS ASSOCIATION -
Helderberg Hilltowns Association Meeting Notes June 28, 2010
Attending: Cheryl Baitsholts, Michelle Catalano, Gerry Chartier, Winnie Chartier, John Elberfeld, Cheryl Frantzen,
Zenie Gladieux, Barb Husek, Jane McLean, Jack Milner, Amy Pokorny, Russ Pokorny, Dawn Jordan, Chad Jemison,
Roswell Eldridge, Rick and Vicki Bylsmia
The meeting convened at the Octagon Barn shortly after 7 PM.
ORGANIZATION
- The group decided on a name for the organization: Helderberg Hilltowns Association.
- We need to establish an LLC and bylaws to set up a bank account and collect dues. It costs several hundred dollars to set up an LLC.
- Ongoing organizational costs will include advertising, web page maintenance, sign maintenance, etc.
- We will need to determine a budget and a dues structure.
- Offer a sliding scale? Make a list of member benefits at different levels; signs and ads, or just signs.
- We also need commitments from members to do work.
- Gallupville can be part of the Hilltowns for our purposes, although the Hilltowns are usually considered to be Berne, Knox, Westerlo and Rensselaerville.
- Guilderland Chamber of Commerce represents multiple towns; could serve as a model for us, as they are associated with the national organization (for outsiders to contact).
COMMUNICATIONS
- Use a common website for listing events. We also need a website link for support and maps, etc.
- We need to develop a logo and a motto. The logo could feature an outline of the hills of the escarpment, similar to the artwork on the outbuilding in the Knox Town Park.
- Signage:
- - We should get ordinance specifications for signage in each town.
- - We could propose community sign posts with small signs to many places/points of interest to help visitors navigate local roads. They could be placed at the top of Route 85, Snyder’s Corners, bottom of Rt. 156 in Altamont, Clarksville, Routes 20 and 158, …, or roadside signs like they have in Vermont.
- - We should approach town boards collectively to ask for funding for signs.
- - USDA agritourism money and urban development grants may be available.
- - Could we arrange for a prison shop to make signs like license plates?
- We should create news stories (like Sarah Gordon’s) to get media attention without advertising costs.
PROPOSED ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE THE HILLTOWNS
Fall Hikes
- “Hike the Helderbergs.” One per hilltown, proposed for October 2 and/or October 3.
- Resources for planning hikes: Dan Driscoll, Adirondack Mountain Club, Warren Willsey, Kayaking on Lake Onderdonk. Buddhist Center’s new trail is open to the public.
- Ladies’ Auxiliary groups could make picnic baskets to sell to hikers as a fund raiser.
Turkey Hunting
- Jack Milner said spring could be a better time for turkey hunts. Should it be for bows or guns? He will talk more with Dan Driscoll.
- Jack is aware of lots of locations for hunting.
- Sandy Gordon knows about state insurance for landowners for hunting.
Marketing and Hospitality Coupons
- Coupons could be distributed on Enterprise inserts for circulation of about 6,000 for $414 per day, or we could have inserts printed elsewhere and have the Enterprise insert them.
- Or we could place coupon flyers in businesses like laundromats, salons, etc. in Rotterdam, Clarksville, other surrounding communities.
- We should put expiration dates on coupons.
- We need an updated list of restaurants, etc. in the Hilltowns.
- Michelle and Cheryl to create flyer with coupons for four businesses, include April in Medusa, Palmer House, Catalpa House – have them out by August 3, good until ?
- Zenie offered to get Weichert to donate cost of first 500 sheets printed black ink on yellow paper
Genealogy Project
- Gerry wrote a project proposal outline and will email it to Zenie for distribution to the group.
- This could be linked to Berne VFD roast beef dinners twice a year as an activity that would provide exposure for our group.
- Alan Zuk is president of the Berne Fire Dep’t. Their meetings are at 7:30 the first Monday of the month except holidays. Next meeting is July 12. We could ask him to propose it to the commissioners.
- Berne firehouse has WIFI and Road Runner.
- We could offer an Introduction to Genealogy program at the Berne Library to help people prepare for the firehouse event so they will know what information to bring along.
- Many resources are available; over 45 books at the library, websites, Albany Genealogy Society, Old Heldeberg and Schoharie Chapters of the DAR, Berne Genealogy site, Berne Library, local cemeteries, ...
- We could offer a preparatory workshop at the Octagon Barn on Saturday September 25 using power point so no internet connection is needed (internet is not available there) so people will know what information is needed before they go online to do their research. We could set up a table with the history books Willard Osterhout wrote. He is working on another.
- We could develop a name, logo, T shirts such as: “Dig the Hills” or “Find your Hilltown Ancestors”
- Gerry C offered to go to the Berne Town Board to ask for use of their copier.
- We need to develop a budget to determine how much funding to request from the towns.
- A genealogy event could also be added to the Knox Fall Festival. We could add a slide show, “Then and Now” using material from Hal Miller’s website, old maps, surveys.
Farm tour
Zenie has a call in to Tom Gallagher about organizing a tour for October 2 or 9.
Other
- Zenie read a letter from Sarah Gordon describing the success of the first few weeks of her Heldeberg Market website.
- Cheryl Frantzen announced that a Helderberg Hilltown Fall Festival is planned by the Conservation Advisory Council in Knox on October 9. It will be advertised in local papers. They will have a table to promote HHA, the genealogy project and other local efforts.
- - It will be held out by the road to get the attention of passers by.
- - The new town hall in Knox might be open by then.
- - Cheryl will send her flyer to Zenie for distribution to the group and post it to Hal’s website.
- We could promote a farm to school lunch program to connect schools with local agriculture. They have had success in other communities.
NEXT MEETING
Next meeting will be held at the Westerlo Town Hall at 7 PM on Monday, August 2.
The Heldeberg Market - a new, low-cost service that markets Hilltown farmers' and home industrialists' goods online to customers throughout the Capital Region launched in June.
To take advantage of this service visit the Heldeberg Market web site. For more information please contact owner, Sarah Avery Gordon at 518-669-3446 or Sarah Gordon.
Marketing help from Sarah Gordon - I would be more than happy to host a community message board, announcements, maps that guide customers to local farm, home and commercial businesses, or other items that would help get the message out about goods and services available in the Hilltowns. I could integrate these features into the Heldeberg Market website. I think that coordinating in this manner could be very beneficial to a wide range of efforts in the Hilltowns, given that I will be pursuing widespread marketing, outreach, and awareness raising activities throughout the Capital District. Coordinating efforts would increase public exposure and create something like a one-stop virtual window into the Hilltowns.
Sarah Avery Gordon
Sarah Avery Gordon Environmental Consulting, LLC
D/B/A Heldeberg Market
371 Hamilton Street, 2nd Floor
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 669-3447
Sage Consulting
SAGEnvironmental Consulting
Heldeberg Market
History
- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR RHS GENEALOGY PROJECT
Last fall Rensselaerville Historical Society started a pilot project to scan and upload their genealogy books to RHS Genealogy Files on this site. Half of the books have now been scanned and the pages are ready to upload. We need about 25 volunteers to help us. This can be done from your home computer whenever you have an extra hour or so to help us. No time pressure, no deadlines. Please contact [[mailto: halned1@gmail.com Hal Miller]] if you can help. Eventually we would like to upload all Hilltown Historical Societies files to the site.
The Hilltowns Genealogy on the Berne Historical Project site has recently been updated recently. There are about 80,000 individuals. If you or your ancestor is from the Hilltowns and should be included but is not, let me know. Also, the files have much more information than what is posted on line. I will be glad to run off an ancestor or descendant report.
Many thanks to Betty Fink for researching and creating biographies of Hilltown families from information in Landmarks of Albany County. Recent biographies include the families of:
- Jacob Hochstrasser (1730) of Germany who was the first supervisor of both the towns of Rensselaerville in 1790, and of Berne when it was broke off Rensselaerville in 1795.
- Alexander Mackey of New Paltz who was in the Revolutionary War who with his brother William were among the early settlers of the town of Rensselaerville.
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Recent Additions
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FOUNDING OF BERNE
Letter to the Editor of the Altamont Enterprise, May 9, 1902.
Mr. Editor:
As to the information on Towns that has been offered, I have some evidence that has not been seen as yet. I refer to the old town record book of Rensselaerville and the records of the town of Berne, continued in the same book from April 7th 1795 to April 12th 1853, Jackson King suprervisor and C. H. Bell town clerk in 1853. The book is in a good state of preservation although over 112 years old.
The first entry for the town of Rensselaerville is on April 6th 1790, the Town being taken from Watervliet, March 8th, 1790. Jacob Hochstrasser was supervisor and Israel B. Spencer, town clerk. They both held office until April 7th, 1795. On April 15th 1794, a special town meeting was held to divide the town, (in accordance with an act passed by the legislature) and Berne was taken from Rensselaerville, March 17th 1795, and on april 7th 1795,the first town meeting for the town of Berne was held at the home of Johanis Fisher, innkeeper. The same place is now owned and occupied by Thos. J. Wood, just north of the village of Berne. At that town meeting the same persons were elected supervisor and town clerk that had served in Rensselaerville for the past five years, viz. Jacob Hochstrasser supervisor, and Israel B. Spencer town clerk. We also note that Johannis Fisher and others in that locality during the course of a few years lived in three towns, viz: Watervliet, Rensselaerville and Berne. Knox was taken from Berne Feb. 28th 1822, so that the people who lived in the north part were in four different towns. In 1814, 3 school commissioners and 5 inspectors were elected for the first time in Berne. In 1817 slavery was abolished. In 1819 there were 25 licenses and permits granted to sell liquors in Berne. Price $5. In 1833, 2 justices of the peace, the first in Berne, were elected, viz. Henry Weidman and James Parish.
Who can inform us who Jacob Hochstrasser was, where he lived, etc.
- Geo. E. Shultes
JACOB HOCHSTRASSER
by Harold H. Miller
George E. Shultes asked, "Who can inform us who Jacob Hochstrasser was, where he lived, etc.,"
The first supervisor of Rensselaerville and Berne was the Jacob Samuel Hochstrasser, b. ca. 1730 in Brenshcelbach, Hamburg, Germany, son of Samuel. About 1754 in Germany Hochstrasser married Maria Elizabeth Merselis. I now identify Jacob as the first Justice of the Peace of the Town of Berne; he was called Jacob Hochstrasser, Esq. and his son was Jacob Hochstrasser, Jr.
Jacob must have immigrated with his brother Paulus. The earliest record of the Hochstrasser’s in the Albany area that I have found so far is the Oct. 1765 Albany Reformed Church baptism of Paulus, Jr., son of the brother of Jacob, Paulus, Sr. and his wife Elizabeth. Since two of Jacob’s children were baptized in the same church in 1768 and 1771, it appears that the family initially settled near the city of Albany, perhaps in Guilderland or maybe even Knox.
The only Hochstrassers shown on the 1787 Van Rensselaer survey map of the western half of the Rensselaerwyck Manor (Berne and Knox) are Jacob's sons Paul b. 1759 and Balthazar living near what is now East Township, in what is now the Town of Knox. Balthazar's 1786 Schenectady marriage record to Catherine Achenbach, says he was born in Germany; since he was born 31 Dec. 1764, their father Jacob and his brother Paulus, Sr. must have immigrated in 1765. This is contrary to the legend in Our Heritage, the history of Berne written in 1977, that the Hochstrassers came to Berne with six other families led by Jacob Weidman in 1750.
Buried in the Beaverdam Cemetery is: Judith, wife of Jacob Hochstrasser, Esq. died April 10, 1789, aged 18 yr. My initial thought was that, because of her young age, this could not be the wife of the elder Jacob, Sr. who had earned the title of Esq. due to his prominence and success in the town; however, the younger Jacob would have been identified on her tombstone as Jacob Hochstrasser, Jr. Surprisingly, I found an 18 October 1788 marriage of Jacob Hochstrasser and Judith Hone in the First and Second Presbyterian Church in NYC. She was probably his third wife.
The 1790 federal census has Jacob Hochstrasser listed in the Town of Rensselaerville near his son Baltus in the area that is now the Town of Knox.
From 1793 - 1797 Jacob was one of several men who represented Albany County in the New York State Assembly.
SQUIRREL COMMISSIONERS
From the Altamont Enterprise Nov. 8, 1888
Rules passed by the town of Rensselaerville in 1794, and in force when the Town of Berne was organized from part of the town of Berne on March 17th 1795
In the early part of the town history … the following action [was] taken:
Whereas, squirrels of all kinds are deemed destructive animals and do much damage in wheat, corn, etc., it was thought proper by the freeholders and inhabitants of the town to provide for their destruction as follows: Resolved unanimously that one penny be allowed for every squirrel scalp of any of the squirrel kind which shall be killed within the bounds of the town, between this and the annual town meeting, and that Commissioners shall be appointed to receive said scalps, who, before they enter upon the business of their respective office shall take and subscribe the following oath: I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will faithfully execute and perform the trust reposed in me as a Commissioner for receiving squirrel scalps, and that I will as far as in my power lies fulfill the law of said town in that case made and provided;
And be it further Resolved by the people of the town that each of the commisioners [sic] aforesaid shall provide himself with a blank book, for the purpose of entering therein the persons names who shall deliver any squirrel scalps, and the number delivered, and that each of the commissioners shall strict enquiry make of each and every person or persons who shall deliver the scalp or scalps, of any squirrels, whether they were killed within the limits or bounds of the said town, and if upon examination it be found that they were not killed within said town, no allowance shall be made for the same, and that the scalp with the ears of the head of the squirrels be delivered and the commissioner or commissioners on receiving the same shall immediately cut or clip off the ears of the scalps so delivered and destroy the same by burning or otherwise. It is farther Resolved by the authority of the people aforesaid, that each commissioner at the next annual town meeting appointed for that purpose, shall exhibit the books containing the persons names and number of squirrels scalps by each delivered, to the Justices of the peace of said town, who have the conducting of such town meeting and the approving of the same, who shall give a certificate to each commissioner, of what shall appear to be his just due, and that whenever a just amount is rendered, and the sum of money ascertained; which the squirrels scalps amount to, then the said sum shall be raised and levied on the said town as other Contingent town charges, and the money when collected to be divided among the said commissioners, agreeable to the amount by them exhibited, who shall without delay pay each respective person or persons the sum each is entitled to.
And be it further resolved by the authority of the people aforesaid, that the foregoing resolutions become a law of said town and that the town clerk enter the same on record and that he transcribe and transmit without delay a copy hereof to each of the commissioners appointed to receive squirrel scalps, and that he charge the said town with the expense.
By order of the people
David Devoe, justice, Peter West, justice, David Crocker, justice, Jacob Hochstrasser, justice April 1794
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Civil War Project
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Hill towns during the Civil War
Even though it was not a battleground, the Civil War had a devastating effect on the hill towns. Hundreds of men from the hill towns volunteered to join the Union army and sacrificed the life or limbs in a cause in which they fervently believed.
Proposed book on the Civil War
The year 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Several hundred Hilltown men served in the Union Army with a casualty rate of maybe 25% killed or injured. It had an big impact on the Towns and their families. We are writing biographies on each soldier. Information from the biographies will be used to produce a book on the lives and families of Civil War veterans. Publication is targeted for 2011.
The book will be in three parts:
- The events leading up to the war with emphasis on why the men in upstate NY seemed compelled to join the army of Father Abraham.
- The history of the units and their battles.
- Biographies of the Hilltown men. Individual biographies could be authored by family researchers.
Thanks to many people, especially Betty Fink and Pam Molle, a list of Hilltown men in the Civil War is complete, and biographies have been started for each of them. Right now some of the biographies consist of just the basic facts gleaned from Civil War Records.
The book editor will be Michael Grant Hait Jr.. Michael lives in the Washington DC area and has access to the National Archives; he is currently writing a book on Civil War soldiers and is experienced with an on-demand publishing.
Go to left column Category for the Civil War pages to see what information we have collected so far.
HELP NEEDED ON CIVIL WAR PROJECT
We need one or more volunteers for each of the towns to flesh out the biographies. If you see something below you think you might be interested in, contact me before beginning so I can coordinate who is doing what and prevent duplication.
- One of the sources would be the Hilltowns Genealogy posted on the Berne Historical Project web site. This can be done by anyone familiar with how to update biographies in this project. It is not difficult and I can help you learn.
- If the men lived until the latter part of the 19th C. or longer, I would like on line newspaper archives, such as the Altamont Enterprise, or Albany papers posted on the http://www.fultonhistory.com/ Fulton History] site, searched for additional information, such as obituaries.
- We also need someone with access to census data, such as that posted on Ancestry.com and other sites, to add census information for the Civil War men.
- Family researchers are asked to write or contribute information on their ancestors who served. We need copies of photos, letters written home from the soldiers, death notices, pension requests, military papers, medals, pictures of tombstones, family stories, etc.
- An article needs to be written about each of the units in which Hilltown men served including the history of the unit and the major battles in which the unit fought.
- A list of Hilltown men by unit is needed for the appendix. It should also have a summary of each one's fate (KIA, wounded, captured, died in prison, died as a result of wounds, life-time disability, unrelated death, unknown). All of the information for this assignment is in the biographies as currently written.
- We need someone to take photos of the headstones of Civil War veterans to add to their biographies so we will have them available for our book. This should be done by cemetery. Volunteer to do a cemetery and I will try to get you a list of the CW men buried there.
HELP NEEDED ON HILLTOWN VETERANS
One of the many projects that I am pushing is the collection of the names of the men and women who served in various wars. I was wondering how we could do that. Rich Hungerford came up with the idea of searching the Altamont Enterprise archives which are on line. Another great newspaper archives is Fulton History site which has the archives of dozens of upstate New York newspapers.
On line newspaper archives are invaluable to librarians, historians and family researchers. They are a wonderful source for researching local history, such as the who served in what wars, the history of a local organization, such as a library, grange, church or fire department.
If someone wants to write a biography of a grandparent or great grandparent, just search on their name. In fact each article mentioning their name came be copied and pasted into a digital scrapbook on a person or event. Then that could be used as a source for writing a biography.
OTHER HELP NEEDED
- Someone to add Van Rensselaer Lot numbers to each of the towns pages. This is a very simple task that takes no special computer skills. Let me know if you can do this and I will tell you how.
- A volunteer with knowledge and an interest in Westerlo to participate in this site and post articles. There is a book on the history of Westerlo, that if we can get permission, it would be great to have some of the items from it posted here. It would also be very nice to have someone scan old photos and documents from the collection of Westerlo Historical Society. There is also a wonderful compilation of cemetery records done a number of years ago by then town historian Thurman Bishop, Jr. For starters, his description of the cemeteries and their location should be added to the site. He also listed veterans who are buried in Westerlo cemeteries. These veterans should be listed on the Westerlo pages. We need someone to take photos of the headstones of Civil War veterans to add to their biographies so we will have them available for our book.
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