Land Trust Buys Granite Mountain New Superintendent in Beacon

[FREE] Serving Philipstown and Beacon Women's March: See P. 19 JANUARY 27, 2017 161 MAIN ST., COLD SPRING, N.Y. | highlandscurrent.com House Sale Delayed Land Trust by Colonial-Era Buys Granite Zoning Mountain Town Board comes to rescue Pays $1 million for 358 by giving up 8 feet acres in Putnam Valley By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong By Michael Turton lame it on the Crown. he Hudson Highlands Land Trust Using Dutch lanes made from has purchased three properties to- BNative American paths, the British Ttaling 358 acres on Granite Moun- government of New York in 1669 created a tain in Putnam Valley for about $1 million, postal road from Manhattan to Albany. In and intends to turn the area into public 1703, the provincial Assembly turned the parkland. road into a “common general highway” The parcels include a network of infor- and extended its right of way 33 feet from mal trails, which HHLT Executive Direc- the center on both sides. tor Michelle Smith said need to be im- Early New Yorkers called it the Queen’s Amy Walter of Garrison waited at Hammarskjold Plaza with a group organized by proved before being opened to hikers. The Road, after the reigning monarch, Anne. Planned Parenthood to start the Women's March on Jan. 21 in New York City. While site features numerous low stone walls, an But as George I, George II and George the group had registered to be in the first rank of marchers, an influx of unregistered indication that the land was likely farmed III succeeded Anne and each other, the participants delayed the start for nearly three hours. For more march photos, see in the past, she said. narrow highway with the wide right of Page 19. Photo by Anita Peltonen Putnam Valley Town Supervisor Sam way was recast as the King’s Road, used Oliverio was effusive about the purchase. by mail carriers, travelers and armies in Jurisdiction over the unwanted six- Thomas Whyatt, who had moved to Mon- “I love the idea of having a functioning two wars. When the American Revolution mile length devolved to the Town of tana. The house includes a cottage wing, conservation park right in the center of ended royal rule, it became the Albany Philipstown. Thus, the recent discovery constructed around 1900 as a pump house town,” he said. “This is a recreational plus Post Road. that a historic building edged into the for a water system on Saunders Farm but for all of our residents and a tremendous Though its name changed over the 313-year-old right of way became the later converted to living space. The cot- environmental coup for Putnam Valley. “ years, the 33-foot right of way didn’t — town's problem. tage-pump house extended into the right The transaction was funded through a not even when New York State rejected It came to light in October when Brett of way 6.5 feet and the Whyatts found that number of sources, said Smith. It marks some stretches of the road, including six Waszkelewicz and Marissa Shapiro they could not conclude the sale until they the first time the Garrison-based group miles in Philipstown, while incorporating sought to buy a home at 848 Old Albany settled the encroachment issue. has purchased land outright; it has ar- others into Route 9. Post Road, in Garrison, from Robin and So they asked (Continued on Page 7) ranged for conservation easements on (Continued on Page 18) New Superintendent in Beacon Are You Kidding Me? School board hires Teach for America. He was assigned to teach fourth- and fifth-grade students administrator from Ithaca in Baltimore and led a summer program during his five years there. By Jeff Simms He next moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was an elementary he Beacon City Board of Educa- school principal while pursuing his mas- tion has hired a school adminis- ter’s and doctorate in education admin- Ttrator from Ithaca as the district’s istration and supervision at the Univer- new superintendent and was expected to sity of Virginia. He earned his doctorate announce the appointment at its Jan. 26 in 2012. meeting. Landahl and his family moved from Matthew Landahl, a deputy superin- Virginia to Ithaca in 2013 when he was tendent for the Ithaca City School Dis- hired as the district’s chief elementary trict, is expected to begin on July 1. The schools officer. In 2014 he became its details of his appointment had not been chief academic officer. released by press time, but he earned Following the contentious resigna- $150,000 annually in Ithaca. tion of Barbara Walkley a year ago, the Landahl, whose mother was an el- Beacon school board in August hired the ementary school teacher in Chicago for search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and 30 years, earned a degree in history Associates (HYA) to recruit candidates. Haldane Coach Joe Virgadamo reacts as he watches his boys’ varsity basketball squad from Grinnell College before joining HYA organized (Continued on Page 3) battle Putnam Valley on Jan. 18. More sports on Page 20. Photos by Richard Kuperberg Sr. 2 JANUARY 27, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com Family Trails Why I Love Genealogy With this issue, The Current introduces “Family My paternal grandfather, Oscar B. Porter, Trails,” by Valerie LaRobardier, a professional genealo- was a photographer and his wife Emily was gist and president of the Dutchess County Genealogical his colorist — she added flair to his black- Society. Every other month, Valerie will discuss strat- and-white portraits. My grandmother also egy and resources for research in Dutchess and Putnam worked as a writer for the newspaper in counties and answer queries from readers. She can be Aroostook County, Maine. reached at [email protected]. It was there that she began researching her family tree. This was during the 1920s, when By Valerie LaRobardier there were far fewer resources than we are y love affair with genealogy began as a child, blessed with today. After documenting five paging through my grandmother’s photo al- patriot ancestors, Emily became a charter Mbum, getting to know relatives far away and member of the local Daughters of the Ameri- long gone. can Revolution (DAR) chapter. My father later added to her work. O.B. and Emily married in 1905, about the time an- Oscar and Fanny (Robinson) Porter around 1952 other Oscar — Oskar T. Jo- hansson — kissed his wife projects, but my dream became to leave my work in con- and children goodbye in Sweden to travel struction management to become a full-time genealogist. to the U.S. He worked his way across the When the recession hit and my day job dried up, I gave country until he found a place that “felt it a go. Over the years I have built a steady clientele. For like home”: Wyoming. My mother, their the most part, they are people who have gotten fairly far third daughter, was born and raised along on their own, usually back to the early 1800s, and there. Before World War II she came to hit what genealogists call a “brick wall.” Washington, D.C. to work for the govern- Understanding the history of the area where your ment and met my father. ancestors lived, whether Philipstown or Beacon or else- And that is how I came about. Have you where, is critical to genealogical research. I live in Dover, ever wondered about the sheer improb- which puts me with easy striking distance to many re- ability of any of us coming into existence positories. I regularly make day trips to the courthouses, in the families and bodies that we do? libraries and archives of Putnam and Dutchess counties, How many junctions and choices through as well as those in nearby counties, New York City, Mas- the ages went into our parents being so sachusetts, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. You can’t find Emily Porter is shown "colorizing" a black-and-white photo around 1918. placed to bring us into this world? everything online. I grew up in Wyoming Just as I have followed my grandmother and father and Montana and came in genealogy, I followed my father and grandfather into east to attend Barnard. construction. While that trade involves predictable re- I married and we moved sults with predictable deadlines, in genealogy you may to Dutchess County to be looking for a record that does not exist. Charging for raise our three sons. I got time spent on a search that turns up few or no results serious about my family was always difficult for me, although people are paying history when I bought a for your time. Still, I attempt to narrow the search to the computer with an inter- most likely areas and tackle multiple projects in each re- net connection and began pository so that at least one client will come out a winner adding to what my father for the day! and grandmother had col- Dutchess and Putnam counties (the latter was detached lected. I joined our county from the former in 1812) are a patchwork of diverse eth- genealogical society and nicities. As a result, I have worked on projects focused on artful cooking / event planning picked queries from online Quakers, Palatines, freed slaves, Huguenots and Catholic message boards to research Irish, among many other groups. There is never a dull 845-424-8204 and learn. I found I had a moment. In addition, I recently became tribal secretary flair for solvingmysteries. and genealogist for the Schaghticoke First Nations; in www.freshcompany.net Thus it began.

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