In Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow – Patriots Park

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During the Revolutionary War Major John André of the British Army was captured, disguised in civilian clothing, at this site by three Patriot militiamen. They found papers on him that implicated him in espionage with Benedict Arnold, a high-ranking officer of the Continental Army. After a military trial André was executed; Arnold defected to the British and lived his remaining years after the war in England.

A memorial was erected on the site in 1853, on land donated by some members of the local African American community. It was one of the earliest monuments to honor any event of the Revolutionary War. Later it was expanded and incorporated into Brookside Park, a late 19th-century Beaux-Arts residential development by the firm of Carrère and Hastings. Still later it became the campus of two different girls’ boarding schools, one of which was attended by Lauren Bacall. It became a park and took its current name in the middle of the 20th century, and all buildings but the gatehouse were demolished.

Note the statue commemorating Andre’s capture in the top left corner of the first picture.

It has a special meaning for me. For a long time in the 1990s and early 2000s I pretty much lost interest in photography. Then I left my camera in a taxi in Geneva, Switzerland in 2010 (I eventually got it back thanks to the effort of one of my sons-in-law), but before I did, I bought a new camera: a Panasonic Lumix LX-3 and somehow it reignited my interest.

I had a serious illness in 2020 and wasn’t able to get around much. After I recovered this was the first place I went to take some pictures.

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Taken with a Sony A7IV and Nikon Nikkor Micro 55mm f3.5

A History of The Faith Lutheran Brethren Church

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On October 26th, 2024, the Briarcliff Manor Historical Society (BMSHS) in collaboration with the Faith Lutheran Brethren Church organized the next presentation in our 50th Anniversary series on Briarcliff Manor Houses of Worship. Rev. Anthony Karlik told us about the history of the church.

He described the Church of the Lutheran Brethren as originating in Norway around 1900 when an assembly of Lutherans felt the need to reject several former beliefs as incompatible with their newfound spirituality. The Church was formed in Fergus Falls Minnesota in 1900. Pastor Tony then went on to describe how members of the Church had emigrated to the United States, initially to the cities, but later to the suburbs including Briarcliff Manor. Eventually there was a need for a physical home, a Church building. This led to the telling of the incredible story of the construction of the present Church, which was built entirely by members of the Congregation! Pastor Tony gave an impressive presentation. He spoke with passion and without reference to notes or other guides (e.g. Powerpoint Slides). The participants seemed to enjoy the presentation and asked a number of questions.

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Every year the church organizes a pumpkin patch. It was operating before, during and after the presentation. It seemed to be doing well.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8

A stone wall

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This ordinary picture of a somewhat unassuming wall is all that remains of what was at various times the site of three different bodies that played important roles in the history of Briarcliff Manor:

  • The School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture.
  • Pocantico Lodge
  • Miss Knox’s School
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The building that housed these three entities remained more or less the same (see below). It was just the occupants who changed. It burned down during the occupancy of Miss’s Knox School and was not rebuilt. The attractive Tudor revival building seen in the background in the second picture above is called The Manor House. It was built later (in 1925) and I’ve already posted about it (See: The Manor House).

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If you’d like to know more about this story, take a look here: The School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture/Pocantico Lodge/Miss Knox’s School. Notebook 2024 – 11

Taken with a Sony RX100 III

A Walk through Peekskill – McGregory Brook

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I was walking back down it was much easier going down than going up) along Central Ave. to catch my train I heard the sound of running water. I looked across the street and noticed a pocket park with a couple of benches, and an information board (see below). In case you can’t make out the rather small text it reads:

McGregory Brook flows from the hills just east of Peekskill to the Hudson River at Riverfront Green Park. Kitchawank people, of the Wappinger confederacy, inhabited the area surrounding McGregory Brook and nearby Annsville Creek prior to Dutch settlement, led by Jan Peeck.

King William III of England granted 1,500 acres to Hugh MacGregorie in 1692, and the brook became the boundary between the original settlement known as Peekskill and surrounding Van Cortlandt lands. Numerous mills and factories diverted McGregory Brook for power, including Dain’s Lumber Company, Naylor Brothers machine shops, Mackellar’s Mills, and Union Stove Works. For many years, Peekskill residents drew water from the Tan Yard Spring, which also surfaced near this site.

Today, McGregory Brook enters a series of culverts at Field Street, flows beneath Downtown Peekskill, and emerges just east of this site. Remnants of industrial infrastructure can still be seen from the footbridge overlooking the waterfall.

Although McGregory Brook is no longer visible on most maps, FEMA’s 100-Year Flood Map clearly shows the pathway of McGregory Brook from Penelope Pond to the Hudson Riverfront. The lack of sunlight inhibits the brook’s natural ecosystem. While few fish, amphibians, or aquatic invertebrates inhabit the brook, filamentous green algae thrives on its surfaces, likely supported by nutrient enrichment from stormwater runoff and other sources.

For more information about Peekskill’s waterways and all of its natural features, explore the Peekskill National Resource Inventory at www.peekskilnri.com. For more information on Peekskill’s rich history, visit the Peekskill Museum at 124 Union Avenue.

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Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

Gettysburg. A Journey in time

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The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society where I volunteer is located in the same building as the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. Occasionally the library has to dispose of books. When that happens anything that seems to relate to history comes our way first in case we’re interested (which we often are). This fascinating book came along recently. It’s perfect for someone (like me) who’s interests combine history (particularly military history, and even more particularly the US Civil War with photography)

Its title is Gettysburg. Journey in Time and it’s by William Frassanito. He was educated at Gettysburg College and did his graduate work in American cultural history in the Cooperstown Graduate program. While at Gettysburg College, he was a guide for three years at the Gettysburg National Park. He served with the U.S. Army in both Germany and Vietnam, and in Vietnam, where he won the Bronze Star, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as an intelligence analyst.

In his conclusion Frassanito writes:

For more than a hundred years, the Gettysburg photographs have remained in a confused and neglected state. Their value as historical documents was realized well before the turn of the century, but their value as historical source materials was basically left untapped. A large number of the views were arbitrarily attributed to the famous Mathew Brady; captions and dates were vague and often incorrect; significant relationships between scenes went unnoticed; and although the views appeared time and time again in monumental works such as Miller’s ten-volume Photographic History of the Civil War, for all practical purposes no one thought to question the credits or the captions, or otherwise thought to treat the Gettysburg photographs as a distinct series.

By identifying the confusion that has existed, and by substituting order for that confusion, I have attempted to demonstrate what can be done – and indeed, what must be done – with historical photographs if they are ever to be accurately employed by students of the past.
The value of the early photograph is manifold. It is a unique document rich in information. It provides a dimension to the study of history available nowhere else. Moments in time have been captured and preserved, and it is for us today to be aware of the fact that unless such images are gathered, researched, organized and used to the fullest, we will be doing ourselves, as well as the photographers who recorded them, a great injustice. The loss, however, will mainly be ours.

Warning: some of the posts below depict dead soldiers on the battlefield, which may be disturbing for some.

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The Gateway to Evergreen Cemetery, July 7, 1863. O’Sullivan.

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The Thompson House, Lee’s headquarters during the battle of Gettysburg. Brady, July 15, 1863.

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Scene looking northward toward Cemetery Hill from the crest of Little Round Top. Brady, July 15, 1863.

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Confederate dead at the edge of the Rose Woods, O’Sullivan, July 5, 1863.

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Dead Confederate soldier, Gardner, July 6, 1863.

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Dead Confederate soldier at sharpshooter’s position in Devil’s Den. O’Sullivan, July 6, 1863.