This is the second in a series.
In researching Palenville, luck brought me to some 1899-1900 Palenville Zephyr newspapers, an actual old-style hometown paper. I would relate it to other old papers that covered small-town events, small personal historical tidbits; they gave the reader a little history that could be enjoyed again, many years later.
Tidbit: The Palenville Zephyr started in 1898 and appeared to concentrate on local history.
The Zephyr said the Rowena Memorial School was erected in 1899-1900 and was a gift of L. W. Lawrence in memory of his wife, Rowena Benning Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence presented the Union Free School No. 3, to the Town of Catskill, N.Y., at the cost of $50,000. It opened in November 1900, with O.F. Payne as principal and Adah J. Overbaugh as an assistant.
A July 1899 Zephyr said, “Through the courtesy of architect John A. Davidson (from Newburgh), it has been our privilege to see the plans of the Rowena Memorial School. We were prepared to see the plans of a fine building, but these far exceed anything we had imagined.”
The Mason was George W. Holdridge, from Catskill. The Carpenters, McElvery & Getty, from Brooklyn. The building is 71 feet across the front and 63 feet deep. It was built of granite from the “Empire” quarry in Catskill. It was roofed using Merchant tile by James Ackroyd of Albany. The heat was installed by “Thacher Furnace Company” of New York. Brock Van Orden and Edison Post, Amos Post’s able workers, at well digging, quickly finished driving the school’s well.
The Zephyr said that the busiest spot in town back in 1899 was the Rowena school site. It said a gang of men worked for James Holdridge for the past two weeks, completing the foundation walls. The Zephyr said these walls were the heaviest, most substantial, ever laid in the State. Once the lumber was delivered, the contractors started primarily hired residents as employees.
The headquarters for the crew was at the near-by Winchelsea Cottages.
The paper said, “On July 1, 1900, Rowena School was formally adopted by the University of the State of New York and is now under the control of the Board of Regents.”
It went to say, “There were enrolled during the term of thirty-seven weeks, one hundred and seven pupils, as follows: Grade 1, 15, Grade 2, 14; Grade 3, 14; Grade 4, 5; (no Grade 5 listed) Grade 6, 8; Grade 7, 14; Grade 8; 18; Academic Dept—9; total, 107. There was not a break of a single day during the two terms” It continued, “The teaching force was increased to three teachers: Principal, O. F. Payne; intermediate, Miss Carolyn L. Francis; primary, Miss Ada J. Overbaugh, of Catsban.”
The paper said that the people of Palenville knew they could never repay Mr. Lawrence for his goodness to them and how much they appreciated what he did.