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^outll oi tlh e a v fountains The Historical Society of Rockland County Vol. 37, No. 4 October-December, 1993 The Trial of Benedict Arnold Leonidas Hubbard: Explorer The Mysterious Francis Wheaton Hiking through History IN THIS ISSUE Leonidas Hubbard: Explorer of Labrador......................................................... Page 3 Ninety years ago, Leonidas Hubbard, the assistant editor of Outing magazine and Congers resident, led an expedition into the unchartered regions of Labrador. An thony X. Sutherland recalls those fateful days and months. The Mysterious Mr. Wheaton...................... .........................................................Page 8 When the Suffem Village Museum acquired a watercolor done by local artist and mis sionary Francis Wheaton, Josephine Watts sought to answer the question of why his scenes nearly always depicted sheep. Hiking through History..........................................................................................Page 13 Charles Holbrook, Supervisor for the Tbwn of Clarkstown, regularly jogs along a trail that hugs the Hudson shore and leads past several historic sites. Book Review — Footprints in the Ramapos.....................................................Page 17 COVER PICTURES. History Month opened with “The Trial of Benedict Arnold,” held at the Old ’76 House in Tappan on October 1. The evening was filled with revelry, boos, cheers, fine drinks, and tasty food prepared from late 18th-century tavern recipes. John Haring (Kevin O’Malley, Esq., left) hammered away at the defense while General Benedict Arnold (Stanley S. Ward, right) pleaded his case for handing plans to West Point over to British Major John Andre. Despite additional pleas from Peggy Shippen Arnold and her daughter, the crowd in attendance voted in favor of the prosecution. Photos by Lee Brod. SOUTH OF THE MOUNTAINS (ISSN 0489-9563) is published quarterly by the Historical Society of Rockland County, 20 Zukor Road, New City, N.Y. 10956; 914-634-9629. Single copy price is $2 plus 75 cents postage and handling. While all efforts are made to ensure accuracy in the articles, the society assumes no responsibility for opinions and conclusions expressed or implied by contributors. ©1993 The Historical Society of Rockland County All rights reserved Exec. Director: Debra Walker, Ph.D. Chairman of Publications: Albon P. Man Senior Historian: Thomas F.X. Casey Stable Typographers, Pearl River, N.Y. Editor: Marianne B. Leese Printed by Print Sprint, W. Nyack, N.Y. 2 Leonidas Hubbard Explorer of Labrador by Anthony X. Sutherland or many years now I have been aware that there was some connec tion between the Village of Hav- Ferstraw and Labrador in Canada, but without ever pondeiing the matter any fur ther. It just seemed that the two places wrent together for some reason though they are worlds apart. It was not until recently that I finally discovered what may have been lurking in my subconscious all the time. Quite by accident I discovered that Leonidas Hubbard, a waiter and adventurer, who died while exploring Labrador in 1903, was buiied in Mount Repose Cemetery in Haverstraw. I found reference to this in a book entitled The Lure of the Labrador Wild, written by Dillon Wallace and published in 1905. For one who thought he knew all the celebrated individuals of North Rockland, the discovery that a noted explorer was buried in Haverstraw came as a pleasant surprise to me and immediately sent me to work to find the missing pieces. Now it is 'v y i perhaps time to reintroduce this forgotten explorer and martyr to the cause of geography, to the present generation of Rocklanders. At the time of his ill-fated expedition to Labrador, Leonidas Hubbard was an editor Full of expectation, Leonidas Hubbard looks forward to his trek into the wilds of Labrador. 3 for the outdoors and nature, and it was the outdoors that he wished to dedicate his life. In 1899, with supposedly only $5 in his pocket, he came to New York City and found employment contributing articles to the Daily News and the Saturday Even ing Post, including one noteworthy article on the preservation of Adirondack Park. Around 1900 Hubbard contracted typhoid fever, which forced him to spend a period of time convalescing in Wurtsboro. After his recovery he took on a position as assistant editor of Outing and probably at that time began to live in Congers. It was in the late fall of 1901 while walking MS in the Shawangnnk Mountains near Wurts J- . L boro with his friend and fellow journalist Dillon Wallace that Hubbard first men tioned the idea of going to Labrador. Prior to that, Hubbard had made trips to the interior of Quebec and the northern shores of Lake Superior. The interior of Labrador, explained Hub bard to Wallace, was one of the last unex Mina Benson Hubbard, drawing by J. Syddall, plored regions of North America. Hubbard from bookplate in A Woman’s Way through Unknown Labrador. claimed that not much more was known about Labrador than was known when it was discovered by John Cabot some 400 for Outing, a popular adventure magazine years before. What Hubbard had in mind in New York City, and was living on 32 was to explore the Lake Michikamau Friend Street in Congers with his wife, region and the George River that flows Mina Benson Hubbard, a native of Canada. northward into Ungava Bay. Only the He also lived, or had a summer home, in Koksoak River had been explored; the Wurtsboro in Sullivan County, New York. others were only vaguely mapped. But neither Wurtsboro nor Congers were For the next year and a half Hubbard his native home. made preparations for the trip with final Leonidas Hubbard, Jr. was born on a approval coming from Outing magazine in Michigan farm on July 12, 1872 and came January 1903. A large map of Labrador from a family that could trace its Dutch hung on the wall of his home in Congers, and English roots back to the 17th cen- which Hubbard and Wallace, who would tury. In 1893 he began his studies at the accompany him on the trip, studied University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and intensely. after graduation in 1897, started working Hubbard planned to reach the North for a Detroit newspaper, covering mostly west River Post of the Hudson Bay Com local political nes. His love, however, was pany, located inland from Rigolet at the 4 end of Hamilton Inlet and at the mouth laid to rest in Haverstraw. Wallace of Grand Lake, by the spring of 1903. From recorded: there, they would travel by canoe and por We laid him to rest in a beautiful spot tage to the George River via Grand Lake, in the little cemetery at Haverstraw, at the the Nascaupee River, and Lake Michi very foot of the mountains that he used to kamau. He hoped to reach the George roam, and overlooking the grand old River the end of August, in time to observe Hudson that he loved so well. The moun the Naskapi Indians gathered there for the tains will know him no more, and never annual caribou hunt. They then would again will he dip his paddle into the placid proceed down the river to a Hudson Bay waters of the river; but his noble char Company post on Ungava Bay and return acter, his simple faith, a faith that never to New York by boat. wavered, but grew the stronger in his hour On July 15, 1903, Leonidas Hubbard, of trouble, his bravery, his indomitable accompanied by Dillon Wallace and a will—these shall not be forgotten; they half-blooded Cree Indian by the name of shall remain a living example to all who George Elson, left the Northwest River Post for the George River, 150 miles in the interior. Using what appears now to have been faulty geological survey maps, the party went up the Susan River rather than the Nascaupee River. This mistake would prove costly, taxing their food supply and energy. They were within sight of Lake Michikamau on September 15 but with a dangerously low food supply, decided to abandon their original plan and go back the way they came. They saw no Indians or caribou herd, and during the entire trip managed to kill only one caribou. The trek back to the Hudson Bay Com pany post became a race for survival. Unable to find much food other than some fish and an occasional bird, their situation became desperate, especially for Hubbard, who was left in a makeshift hut while the other two continued on. Later Wallace was also too weak to go on and had to be left, leaving Elson to get help. Finally Elson managed to reach the post, and a rescue party set out in the snow for Wallace and Hubbard. Wallace was found alive but Hubbard had already died many days before. Hubbard’s body was recovered in the spring and brought back to America and The ragged and almost barefooted Hubbard. 5 love bravery and self-sacrifice. that is all. I think the boys will be able At the time of the expedition, Hubbard with the Lord’s help to save me. was a Sunday school teacher at a church Mina Benson Hubbard was determined in Congers, and apparently this church that her husband’s work would not go used Mount Repose in Haverstraw as a unfinished. So in a bold decision and resting place for its members. accompanied by George Elson and other During his Labrador expedition, Hub scouts, she went to Labrador in 1905 in bard kept a diary in which one can find an attempt to complete her husband’s several references to both Congers and work. Her experiences were recorded in Wurtsboro. On October 8 he wrote: her book, A Woman’s Way through How I wish for that vacation in Unknown Labrador, published in 1909.

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