Bicentennial proclamation Feb. 28, 2022
Local dignitaries: Russ Pokorny, Town of Knox Supervisor, Rev. Jay Francis, Rev. Greg Town, KHS Pres. Dennis Barber, Rev. Becky Town, Sen. Michelle Hinchey, County Legislator Jeff Perlee, Congressman Paul Tonko's Representative, County Legislator Chris Smith.
Joe Burke, Altamont Library Director
and Kathy Stempel, Berne Library Director |
|
Photos courtesy of Kathy Stempel
1822-2022
Knox 200 years
Good evening, Knox residents, neighbors, friends, and our special guests this evening. I am Dennis Barber a lifelong resident and current President of the Knox Historical Society. Tonight, I will try to put into words the history of Knox over the last 200 years.
Knox was named after Revolutionary war hero General Henry Knox. General Knox was one of 10 children. General Knox was George Washington's right-hand man. He was the first secretary of war and crossed the Delaware with George Washington. Henry Knox had 13 children and is buried at his estate in Maine.
The town of Knox was erected in the NY state assembly and called “The act to divide the town of Berne in Albany County” This act was completed and 200 years ago today Knox became its own separate town.
When my mother moved to Knox after marriage in the 40's the local people would tell her all you need to know is that all there is in town are the Quays, Stevens, and Saddlemire families. Tonight, we have a current 85-year resident of the town Miner Stevens.
Well, that may have been true for the last 100 years but before them were the original settlers. Some of the names on the map of 1787 were German names such as Haverleigh, Truax, Werner, Miller, Schoonmaker, Shafer, Bassler, Zimmer, Cheseboro, Clickman, Keenholtz, Crary, and Sand. After them in the early 1800's many more German settlers came from Stonington Connecticut names such as the Abbots, Browns, Whipples, Gallups, Frinks, Tabers, Williams and Baxters. Our first town Supervisor was Malachi Whipple 1822 -1824 who by the way had 13 children. Descendants of Malachi are here this evening, Henry Whipple and Brian Whipple. Malachi is Brian's great great great great grandfather. The first town meeting was held at Henry Barkley’s home which was a store back in those days. The house sits at the 4 corners just up the road on the left. We also have descendants of 4-time supervisor William J Haverly. Mr. Haverly served in 1882, 1891-92, 1897-1902 and 1908-09. Tonight we have his grand children here Mitch Haverly and Marylyn Nicholson. Also descendants of Marshall Clickman supervisor in 1945, his son Leonard Clickman. Molly Rapp Tiffany's father was supervisor Arthur Rapp 1960-1962. And from 2016-2021 supervisor Vas Lefkaditis and the longest serving town supervisor of 42 years 1973-2015 Mike Hammond.
Knox in the early years had approximately 685 residents. The first census in 1830 showed 2189 residents, to a low of 1656 in 1870, to approximately its current total of approximately 2800 residents.
Most people were farmers growing crops such as winter wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, tobacco, hops, apples and butter. In1865 Knox had 874 cows 624 horses and 4100 sheep. Knox also had 4 large chicken farms. Currently there are only 2 dairy farms left in Knox: Ken Saddlemire and Davey Gaige. Also, the town had saw mills, tanneries, blacksmith shops and harness makers, 1 gristmill, shoemakers a few doctors and 1 lawyer. The town’s biggest industry was the making of wooden pillboxes. Started by Nathan Crary and later operated by his son John Crary, the industry lasted from 1806-1906. The Pillboxes were made from basswood trees which were plentiful in Knox. Local families would make approximately 60,000 pillboxes each year. Families would be paid 12 ½ cents per 400 pillboxes that were made. These pillboxes were sent by horse-drawn wagons to the port of Albany and shipped around the world.
The NY state legislature passed a bill in 1812 authorizing the establishment of public schools. Knox had its first one room school house in 1850 and by 1886 Knox had 13 one room school houses. Teachers were paid $30 per month. Along with teaching, they had to clean the room and build and maintain the wood stove fire. Many of the school houses have been torn down or repurposed. Two schools still remain standing, school district #5 on Ketchum Road which has been named a Historical landmark and school district #12 which now stands at the Altamont Fairgrounds. That school house sat on Quay Road near Bell Road. Tonight, we have a couple of people who attended this school house # 12, Darcy and Val Pulliam.
The Knoxville Academy located within the village was a place where students studied for entrance into college so as to qualify them to be a teacher or a business owner. The Academy was open from 1836-1869. The original use of the building was the site of the first Masonic Temple in the Hilltowns.
Churches were a huge part of the community in the early days. Records show Knox's first church was said to be a Lutheran Church started in 1750 and in 1828 a new larger church was built. The church burned down in 1930. A Presbyterian church started in 1802 and when membership declined they joined the new Dutch Reformed Church in 1842. There were 3 Methodist churches formed in 1840: 1 in the villagewhich burned down in 1932, and 2 outside the village. A Baptist church was said to have organized in the early 1800's.
The town's only fire company was formed in 1948. They converted the school district # 6 building into the first firehouse in town. In 1967 the town converted school district # 2 building into a firehouse for the township area of town. The first fire truck was a 1922 American LaFrance pumper and the first tank truck was a 1946 Brockway with a capacity of 2200 gallons of water. Here tonight we have life longtime resident who knows most everything about Knox and especially about its cemeteries and who also served as chief of the Knox Vol Fire Company for 25 years Lou Saddlemire. Another lifelong resident and now a 60 year member of the Knox Vol Fire Company Bob Stevens. In 1949 the women's auxiliary to the Knox Vol Fire Company was formed.
Records say that Knox had a library of over 400 volumes in 1824 but all records of the town were burned in 1850. Knox also had a castle located on Old Stage Road where Camp Love Joy was located. The Castle, built by Edward Cassidy in 1889, would be turned into a YWCA in 1899 then later turned into a fresh air camp till its closing in 1949 when it was torn down.
There are also 36 cemeteries within the town.
Seventy-seven men volunteered to join the union army during the Civil War with many never returning home.
Anti-Rent wars took place in the Hilltowns from 1839-1866. This was a protest by the tenant farmers against the owner of the land Stephen Van Rensselaer. Van Rensselaer had divided the land into 120 acre plots. Tenants after working 7 years on the land were required to go off the hill to Albany in January to pay rent in the amount of ten bushels of wheat as well as four fat fowl. After Van Rensselaer failed to collect the rent due, he turned the land over to speculators. Walter Church bought all the leases and was determined to collect all rent due. Church organized the sheriff and a militia to march up the hill and take over these properties and to collect rent. Tenants would disguise themselves as Indians and ride horseback at night blowing horns to warn other tenants of the militia coming to take back their land and to collect back rent owed to Mr. Church, thus starting a rebellion.
Around 1850 a wooden plank road was built so horses and wagons could carry produce and other cargo to Albany. Around 1887 a stage coach carried people from Berne and Knox to Altamont to catch the train.
The Knox Cave is also a large part of the history of Knox. A 1787 map shows the cave, but many local people say Indians discovered the cave 200 years before. The cave has six levels and is more than 100 feet down. Mr. Robinson purchased the cave and the house next to the cave. Lights were installed in 1933 and the cave was open to the public. In 1935 Mr. Robinson built a roller-skating rink next to the cave opening. Many dances were held there. In 1953-54 extensive work was done in the cave in an attempt to commercialize it and guided tours began. There are several large rooms with a wedding taking place in 1958 with over 150 people attending each wearing a hard hat. Over the years the Knox Vol Fire Company has made several rescues at the cave.
There were 2 hotels in town: one on Rt. 146 across from the highway garage called the Township Hotel and another one at the intersections of Rt. 146 and Beebe Road. Old bars and restaurants were scattered around town. The Township Hotel is the oldest dating back to the 1850s and still in business today. Allens Tea room operated from 1900-1925 and then became the Foxenkill Lodge. It is currently The Babbling Brook, at the west end of town. Wayside Tavern was near Thompsons Lake. The Highlands Farm on Rt, 156 is currently closed. Finally, Merrimens Tea House located at the west end of the village was open from 1927-1941 serving breakfast lunch and dinner. People from all over the state would visit until its closing because of WW2.
Today I would describe Knox as a bedroom community because most people work off the hill and do their shopping on their way home from work. With the invention of automobiles, the town no longer had to be self-sufficient. Knox now has an updated firehouse with modern equipment and we have ambulance services. We have an up-to-date town hall with a community room as well as a beautiful 70-acre town park with the most modern handicapped accessible playground. Knox is and always was a great place to live and grow up. Thanks for listening.
Knox 200 years
Good evening, Knox residents, neighbors, friends, and our special guests this evening. I am Dennis Barber a lifelong resident and current President of the Knox Historical Society. Tonight, I will try to put into words the history of Knox over the last 200 years.
Knox was named after Revolutionary war hero General Henry Knox. General Knox was one of 10 children. General Knox was George Washington's right-hand man. He was the first secretary of war and crossed the Delaware with George Washington. Henry Knox had 13 children and is buried at his estate in Maine.
The town of Knox was erected in the NY state assembly and called “The act to divide the town of Berne in Albany County” This act was completed and 200 years ago today Knox became its own separate town.
When my mother moved to Knox after marriage in the 40's the local people would tell her all you need to know is that all there is in town are the Quays, Stevens, and Saddlemire families. Tonight, we have a current 85-year resident of the town Miner Stevens.
Well, that may have been true for the last 100 years but before them were the original settlers. Some of the names on the map of 1787 were German names such as Haverleigh, Truax, Werner, Miller, Schoonmaker, Shafer, Bassler, Zimmer, Cheseboro, Clickman, Keenholtz, Crary, and Sand. After them in the early 1800's many more German settlers came from Stonington Connecticut names such as the Abbots, Browns, Whipples, Gallups, Frinks, Tabers, Williams and Baxters. Our first town Supervisor was Malachi Whipple 1822 -1824 who by the way had 13 children. Descendants of Malachi are here this evening, Henry Whipple and Brian Whipple. Malachi is Brian's great great great great grandfather. The first town meeting was held at Henry Barkley’s home which was a store back in those days. The house sits at the 4 corners just up the road on the left. We also have descendants of 4-time supervisor William J Haverly. Mr. Haverly served in 1882, 1891-92, 1897-1902 and 1908-09. Tonight we have his grand children here Mitch Haverly and Marylyn Nicholson. Also descendants of Marshall Clickman supervisor in 1945, his son Leonard Clickman. Molly Rapp Tiffany's father was supervisor Arthur Rapp 1960-1962. And from 2016-2021 supervisor Vas Lefkaditis and the longest serving town supervisor of 42 years 1973-2015 Mike Hammond.
Knox in the early years had approximately 685 residents. The first census in 1830 showed 2189 residents, to a low of 1656 in 1870, to approximately its current total of approximately 2800 residents.
Most people were farmers growing crops such as winter wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, tobacco, hops, apples and butter. In1865 Knox had 874 cows 624 horses and 4100 sheep. Knox also had 4 large chicken farms. Currently there are only 2 dairy farms left in Knox: Ken Saddlemire and Davey Gaige. Also, the town had saw mills, tanneries, blacksmith shops and harness makers, 1 gristmill, shoemakers a few doctors and 1 lawyer. The town’s biggest industry was the making of wooden pillboxes. Started by Nathan Crary and later operated by his son John Crary, the industry lasted from 1806-1906. The Pillboxes were made from basswood trees which were plentiful in Knox. Local families would make approximately 60,000 pillboxes each year. Families would be paid 12 ½ cents per 400 pillboxes that were made. These pillboxes were sent by horse-drawn wagons to the port of Albany and shipped around the world.
The NY state legislature passed a bill in 1812 authorizing the establishment of public schools. Knox had its first one room school house in 1850 and by 1886 Knox had 13 one room school houses. Teachers were paid $30 per month. Along with teaching, they had to clean the room and build and maintain the wood stove fire. Many of the school houses have been torn down or repurposed. Two schools still remain standing, school district #5 on Ketchum Road which has been named a Historical landmark and school district #12 which now stands at the Altamont Fairgrounds. That school house sat on Quay Road near Bell Road. Tonight, we have a couple of people who attended this school house # 12, Darcy and Val Pulliam.
The Knoxville Academy located within the village was a place where students studied for entrance into college so as to qualify them to be a teacher or a business owner. The Academy was open from 1836-1869. The original use of the building was the site of the first Masonic Temple in the Hilltowns.
Churches were a huge part of the community in the early days. Records show Knox's first church was said to be a Lutheran Church started in 1750 and in 1828 a new larger church was built. The church burned down in 1930. A Presbyterian church started in 1802 and when membership declined they joined the new Dutch Reformed Church in 1842. There were 3 Methodist churches formed in 1840: 1 in the villagewhich burned down in 1932, and 2 outside the village. A Baptist church was said to have organized in the early 1800's.
The town's only fire company was formed in 1948. They converted the school district # 6 building into the first firehouse in town. In 1967 the town converted school district # 2 building into a firehouse for the township area of town. The first fire truck was a 1922 American LaFrance pumper and the first tank truck was a 1946 Brockway with a capacity of 2200 gallons of water. Here tonight we have life longtime resident who knows most everything about Knox and especially about its cemeteries and who also served as chief of the Knox Vol Fire Company for 25 years Lou Saddlemire. Another lifelong resident and now a 60 year member of the Knox Vol Fire Company Bob Stevens. In 1949 the women's auxiliary to the Knox Vol Fire Company was formed.
Records say that Knox had a library of over 400 volumes in 1824 but all records of the town were burned in 1850. Knox also had a castle located on Old Stage Road where Camp Love Joy was located. The Castle, built by Edward Cassidy in 1889, would be turned into a YWCA in 1899 then later turned into a fresh air camp till its closing in 1949 when it was torn down.
There are also 36 cemeteries within the town.
Seventy-seven men volunteered to join the union army during the Civil War with many never returning home.
Anti-Rent wars took place in the Hilltowns from 1839-1866. This was a protest by the tenant farmers against the owner of the land Stephen Van Rensselaer. Van Rensselaer had divided the land into 120 acre plots. Tenants after working 7 years on the land were required to go off the hill to Albany in January to pay rent in the amount of ten bushels of wheat as well as four fat fowl. After Van Rensselaer failed to collect the rent due, he turned the land over to speculators. Walter Church bought all the leases and was determined to collect all rent due. Church organized the sheriff and a militia to march up the hill and take over these properties and to collect rent. Tenants would disguise themselves as Indians and ride horseback at night blowing horns to warn other tenants of the militia coming to take back their land and to collect back rent owed to Mr. Church, thus starting a rebellion.
Around 1850 a wooden plank road was built so horses and wagons could carry produce and other cargo to Albany. Around 1887 a stage coach carried people from Berne and Knox to Altamont to catch the train.
The Knox Cave is also a large part of the history of Knox. A 1787 map shows the cave, but many local people say Indians discovered the cave 200 years before. The cave has six levels and is more than 100 feet down. Mr. Robinson purchased the cave and the house next to the cave. Lights were installed in 1933 and the cave was open to the public. In 1935 Mr. Robinson built a roller-skating rink next to the cave opening. Many dances were held there. In 1953-54 extensive work was done in the cave in an attempt to commercialize it and guided tours began. There are several large rooms with a wedding taking place in 1958 with over 150 people attending each wearing a hard hat. Over the years the Knox Vol Fire Company has made several rescues at the cave.
There were 2 hotels in town: one on Rt. 146 across from the highway garage called the Township Hotel and another one at the intersections of Rt. 146 and Beebe Road. Old bars and restaurants were scattered around town. The Township Hotel is the oldest dating back to the 1850s and still in business today. Allens Tea room operated from 1900-1925 and then became the Foxenkill Lodge. It is currently The Babbling Brook, at the west end of town. Wayside Tavern was near Thompsons Lake. The Highlands Farm on Rt, 156 is currently closed. Finally, Merrimens Tea House located at the west end of the village was open from 1927-1941 serving breakfast lunch and dinner. People from all over the state would visit until its closing because of WW2.
Today I would describe Knox as a bedroom community because most people work off the hill and do their shopping on their way home from work. With the invention of automobiles, the town no longer had to be self-sufficient. Knox now has an updated firehouse with modern equipment and we have ambulance services. We have an up-to-date town hall with a community room as well as a beautiful 70-acre town park with the most modern handicapped accessible playground. Knox is and always was a great place to live and grow up. Thanks for listening.