Appendix - 1950-1959
Memorabilia Related Research Material
Contents
1950-11-30 Rites Held for James Coxon, 81
Red Rock
RITES HELD FOR JAMES COXON, 81
Native of New York Had Been a Successful Farmer Here
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Correspondent ELIZABETH HITCHCOCK Phone Chatham 2-6273
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James Coxon, 81, respected resident of Red Rock and a retired farmer in this community, died Sunday at the Birdolla Nursing Home, Chatham.
Born in New York city, Mr. Coxon had spent the greater part of his life farming and until his retirement 15 years ago conducted a successful farm in Red Rock. His wife, the former Iva M. Howes, of Red Rock, died in 1940.
Survivors include two sons, John, of Red Rock and George of Schenectady: two daughters, Mrs. Florence Canham of Chatham, and Mrs. Jennie Mastrangelo, of Albany, and five grandchildren.
Services were held Wednesday from the Chatham Rural Chapel with interment in the Red Rock Cemetery.
E. B. Gifford and Son, Chatham, had charge of funeral arrangements.
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Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Lamoree, Franklin Jr. and Clifford of North Utica called at William Lamoree's Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Osterhoudt of Poughkeepsie spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Ford and family.
Mr. and Mrs. William Syre and Charles Henderson were Thanksgiving dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Dewitt Brown in New Concord.
Thanksgiving dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Ford and family were Mr. and Mrs. Harry Symes of Schenectady, Mr. and Mrs. Chester Ford and Mr. and Mrs. John Helliwell.
Mrs. Elsie Black, Mr. and Mr. James Black, Walter Tischner and James Harding were Thanksgiving dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Black and family in Liverpool, N. Y. They also called at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Lamoree in North Utica.
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Lamoree and two sons of North Utica and David Robinson of Rotterdam spent the weekend at Mrs. E. Black's.
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Belding of Canaan, Arthur Belding and daughter Ruby had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. William Lamoree on Thanksgiving day.
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Transcribed from The Chatham Courier, November 30, 1950
1950-12-22 Chatham Area Auction Acquires Property on Rt 203
From the later deed to Empire Livestock Marketing Cooperative, Inc:
BEING the premises described in a deed from Clarence L. Bailey and Sara S. Bailey, husband and wife, bearing date of Decenber 22, 1950 and recorded in the Colunbia County C lerk's Office on December 22, 1950 in Liber 299 of Deeds, Page 199.
1994-09-07 Chatham Area Auction Sells to Empire Livestock Marketing Cooperative, Inc.
See deed in my files.
1999-08-23 Auction Co-op Dissolved
See above.
1952-11-08 Red Rock Bridge Recalled
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Recalls Span At Red Rock
Editor:
Chatham Courier
In answer to Mr. Frank Bailey's inquiry last week as to the covered bridge in Red Rock, Mrs. Wesley Parke who spent most of her life in that village, recalls as she expresses it, "a rather queer bridge" that spanned the creek at the place mentioned by Mr. Bailey. It had wooden sides made of crossed timbers which were painted red, but was not covered.
Mrs. Parke, with a little chuckle, recalled one winter's day when a young girl, she with a group of youngsters was riding down hill, their ride taking them over this bridge. One boy, William Thomas, now. living in Pittsfield purposely rolled off the bob-sled, slid through one of the openings in the side of the bridge and dropped to the ice below just to scare the girls.
Another bridge similar to this one in Red Rock once spanned the Punsit creek on the property of Alfred Terrell, however, the sides of this bridge were boarded up, painted red but not covered. Mr. Bailey undoubtedly crossed this bridge also with his father Dr. William Bailey, for according to the late Mrs. Ada Schrader, "Dr. Balley called professionally on one Chester Smith who once lived at this place. Speaking of bridges there were once twin covered bridges spanning the creek at Valatie.
Sincerely Mrs. Frank P. Rundell Sr. Spencertown, N. Y.
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Transcribed from The Chatham Courier, November 8, 1952
1954 Chatham Area Auction Photo
Photo at chathamnyhistory Instagram post.
Liked by columbiacountyhistorians and 6 others
chathamnyhistory: Do you remember the Chatham Auction?
In another great photo by local commercial photographer Howard Gibson, we see a scene from the Chatham Auction in 1954, labeled with the name Mr. Coxan.
{Edit: family of Mr. Coxon confirm that he was the auctioneer during this time period, but is not in the photo. It's possible the photo was mislabeled or partially labeled at the time it was taken, or when archived. This is a good reminder that these things aren't always what they seem!}
Do you have memories of the Chatham Auction, or recognize any faces here? Please feel free to share your recollections in the comments!
View all 4 comments
jhcoxon: Sure do remember the Chatham Area Auction! Dad was auctioneer and manager in the early fifties when the auction moved to it's new location on Rt 203. That's not Dad in the picture.
chathamnyhistory: @jhcoxon thank you for sharing! I (the volunteer posting) remember the auction, but not that far back. It's very possible the photo was mislabeled either when it was taken or when it was archived. I'll update the caption!
jhcoxon: @chathamnyhistory It appears from the building construction to have been taken before the move to new quarters but I don't remember when that took place. I think the auction was held on the fairgrounds before the move but I'm not positive on that.
chathamnyhistory: @jhcoxon wonderful, thank you for sharing your knowledge!
This photo was not taken at the new facilities so I'm guessing the 1954 date is wrong. Judging by the nature of the crowd this may have been taken at a meeting discussing the incorporation of the Auction in 1947. - jhc
1956 Bob Mabey Buys His First Truck
THERE COMES A TIME IN A MAN'S LIFE, it is often written, when you are so beat down, it looks as if you're never going to get up again. As Mabey recounted, he came home to his little kitchen table, sat there in his t-shirt with his wife, and he just lost it. He had hit rock bottom, he said. "Here I was, no mom or dad, a wife, a child, no job. I just did not know what to do."
There was, however, still that spark, that drive, those memories of that little kid in Portlandville, that kept him scratching and clawing upward. And it was the point in his life when he knew he had to take matters into his own hands as he had done countless times before. But first he got a little help from his friends.
It is now 1956 and Bob needed to keep his little family going. He managed to scrape together a job as a bus driver for Chatham Schools making $18 a week. He also drove a garbage truck for Jimmy Leonard. He cleaned bathrooms.
Through the intercession of Juanita's aunt and uncle, Hazel and John Van Tassell, Bob got a job driving a milk truck for them hauling milk for farmer's throughout Columbia County while he also held down the school bus job. Claiming "he'd do anything for money" then, he would split his day between the bus run with kids and the milk run where he would deposit the cans at the co-operative in Hillsdale.
"As the cans were dumped and steam cleaned, I had to retrieve them and retrace the route to get them back to the farmers for the next day's run."
John Van Tassel was not well and it was at this juncture that he and Hazel asked Bob if he would like to buy the milk run. They said that they'd pay him a percentage for every 100 pounds he hauled, but he would need a truck.
All he needed was a truck. Just a truck and he'd be in business.
The truck cost $600! In 1956, that was the sum one would pay to go to Princeton University for a year. Today, that same tuition is $48,580. A decent truck today might cost the equivalent of that tuition. But having it would mean for the first time that Bob could "control my own destiny."
Imagine the wheels turning in young Bob Mabey's mind trying to get those wheels! Imagine him trying to figure out how in the hell he was going to come up with such an astronomical figure.
This was it. This was that make or break time in an entrepreneur's life when you have to fish or cut bait. It's that time when you have to dig down hard in your mind and heart and make a decision that would either enrich you or bankrupt you. Mabey — down so low that he couldn't remember what up looked like, but stoked by the experience of a man who had seen much that had toughened him - took the leap. Like many of his escapades, he probably figured what could he lose? He'd been in the stockade, penniless, left at a home for kids. How could this be so bad? ...
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Copied from Bob Mabey, A Life Lived Hard. A Life Lived Well. (Privately published, designed & written by Rich Kraham. Given to me by Steve Mabey Sr. jhc)
1958-07-31 Red Rock Community Picnic at Coxon's Field
Red Rock Auxiliary Adopts New By-Laws
————— ROSIE E. HITCHCOCK Correspondent Phone Chatham 2-6213 —————
The newly formed Ladies Auxiliary to the Red Rock Volunteer Fire Company held a special meeting Monday evening at the firehouse, Mrs. Charles Pultz, president, presiding. The revised set of by-laws was approved and adopted, and meeting dates were set for the second Wednesday monthly from April through November, inclusive. There are now 35 charter members in the organization, and letters have been sent to all residents of the fire district inviting them to join. Any lady within the district is welcome to Join. A food booth will be conducted by the ladies at the firemen's carnival August 22 and 23. ————— NEW DAUGHTER —A daughter, Paula Lynn, weighing six pounds and 15 ounces was born July 14 in Columbia Memorial Hospital, to Mr. and Mrs Roger Pultz. Mrs. Pultz is the former Judith Horvath of Janesville, Wisconsin. The grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Albert Horwath of Janesville, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pultz of Red Rock.
SET PICNIC DATE
—The Red Rock Community picnic commemorating the 130th anniversary of the church will be held Thursday. August 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Coxon's Field. All residents of Red Rock and former members of the church are invited to attend. Rev. Oscar Arnold of Lebanon Springs is presently serving as pastor of the church.
—Weekend guests of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kurutz were Mrs. Marge Ellsworth and Miss Nancy Polacek of New York.
—Rev. and Mrs. Richard Henderson and son of Willingburgh, Va., called Thursday on his aunt, Mrs. William Syre. Mrs. DeWitt Brown of New Concord. also called at the Syre home.
—Mr. and Mrs. Roland Choquette and family of North Adams spent Sunday with her mother, Mrs. Charles Shufelt.
—Lewis Bemiss of the U. S. Air Force spent several days with Mrs. George Doyle and, family before returning to California.
—Mr. and Mrs. Harry Symes of Albany and Mr. and Mrs. A. Osterhoudt of Poughkeepsie spent Sunday with Mrs. Kenneth Ford and family.
—Recent callers at the Lamoree-Belding home were: Mrs. Harry Miller and Mrs. Richard McGee of New Britain, Conn.; Mr. and Mrs. John Gallup of Bloomfield, N. J.: Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Levy of White Plains; Mrs. Fred Higgins and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Beebe and son of Castleton-on-the Hudson.
—Mrs. Mollie Blass and son George of Chatham called Saturday on her brother, James R. West.
—Ruby Belding called recently on Mrs. Mary Feger in New Britain, Mrs. Anna Southard and Miss Elizabeth Messinger in Chatham, and at the Finney, Curtis, and Shaver homes in Flat Brook.
CHURCH NEWS
—The Sunday sermon pointed out that the Christian should leave an' "Empty Sepulchre" in the world. The sixth and seventh Chapters of Acts were studied Thursday night.
—Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Ortner and family are vacationing at their home here. Mr. and Mrs.Rathjen and family are still with us; and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Michel are spending a few days at their new home here.
—Mr. and Mrs. William Fredrickson of Cincinnatus, N. Y., spent the weekend with the Lee family.
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Transcribed from The Chatham Courier, July 31, 1958
— revised 2024-07-24 jhc