Timing Is Everything

Today, the Register-Star reported that the American Legion is looking to sell its building on Fairview Avenue, between Green and Columbia streets: "Hudson American Legion post seeks smaller digs." Alas, had they come to this decision five years ago, one of Hudson's oldest surviving houses might have been spared the fate that befell it.

In one of the last ditch efforts to save 900 Columbia Street back in 2011, Deborah Kinney tried to find another site for the Mental Health Association to locate their new group home. One of those sites was the property of the American Legion. It was rumored that the Legionnaires were thinking of selling their building, located a stone's throw from 900 Columbia Street, in the part of Hudson zoned for such group homes. When Kinney approached them, however, they reportedly vehemently denied that they were considering selling their building. Now, five years later, with the 200-year-old building demolished and a house of undistinguished design taking its place, the American Legion Hall is for sale.

The same bad timing applies to the Hudson City School District's plan to divest itself of the John L. Edwards School. Years ago, in 2010 or maybe earlier, back when the Hudson Area Library still owned 400 State Street, there were rumors that HCSD might want to sell the JLE. It was so easy to imagine the City acquiring the building (despite the fact that HCSD allegedly wanted something like $4 million for it) and turning it into a municipal government campus. The police department could be there, the city court could be there, the code enforcement office could be there, City Hall could be there and finally be universally accessible, and the Hudson Area Library would be the centerpiece of it all with room to expand because there would no longer be the need for a playground. 

But alas, it took until now for HCSD to commit to closing JLE, and according to their plan, the building won't be vacant and available for sale until 2020. Meanwhile, after evading the problem for close to twenty years, the City of Hudson has finally taken steps to improve the woefully lacking police and court facilities and is now committed to pursuing the adaptive reuse of 701 Union Street as the new City of Hudson Police and Court Center.

It's not likely that the NYS Office of Court Administration will be willing to wait another decade for the City to correct the shortcomings of the city court facilities nor is it likely that the Common Council, which flinched at spending the $4.3 million needed to acquire and adapt 701 Union Street, would be willing to assume the expense of acquiring an elementary school building and redeveloping it for use as the police department, the city court, and City Hall.

But to return to the American Legion Hall and its imminent sale, after Gossips published the following picture of the bell water trough that once stood at the intersection of Green Street and Fairview Avenue and wondered about the buildings behind it, a reader suggested that a closer look at the American Legion building might be in order.

I did that today.

Although it's no longer possible to see the most prominent building in the historic photograph from the same vantage point (there's a house in the way), it is possible to see that building buried within the current American Legion Hall.

The fish scale shingles and the half moon vent on the east gable of the building are still there, and the mill work medallions that appear on the original building have been attached here and there on the various additions to the building.
  
Hudson is such an endlessly intriguing place!
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

Talking of Economic Development

Since the beginning of the year, meetings of the full Common Council have typically lasted about twenty minutes. By contrast, the Economic Development Committee meeting last night went on for an hour and a half--twice the amount of time scheduled for committee meetings. Many things of significance were discussed.

The first topic was a question that also came up in the Legal Committee meeting: What is the status of Hudson's proposed lodging tax? An act of the state legislature is required before the City can collect a lodging tax, and with the change of administration, no one seems to know what has been done or is being done to bring this matter before the state senate and the assembly.

Sheena Salvino, executive director of Hudson Development Corporation, then explained a pilot on-the-job training program in the hospitality and service industries to be offered by Workforce NY at Columbia-Greene Community College. Ten interns will be employed at ten Hudson businesses for two months--April and May--during which time they will receive on-the-job training while being paid minimum wage by C-GCC. The expectation is that after the two months the interns will continue working at the businesses where they were trained.

At this point in the meeting, Alderman John Friedman (Third), who is a member of the Economic Development Committee, asked Salvino about HDC's plans for the next two years. In response to the question, the first thing Salvino mentioned was the redevelopment of the Kaz buildings at Cross Street and Tanners Lane--the abandoned warehouses that surround the building being proposed for adaptive reuse as a hotel. The City of Hudson acquired these buildings at the end of 2010. The plan at the time was that the City would raze them and either expand the Amtrak parking lot or offer the land for development. That never happened. The buildings still stand, and they have been turned over to HDC to market. Last September, the HDC board was working on a request for proposals for the property. The RFP has been completed and issued, but there is no word on whether any proposals have been received.

Friedman also wanted to know if HDC had conceptualized any kind of comprehensive redevelopment plan for the waterfront. "The history of the last four years," Friedman said, "has been one of squandered opportunities." He went on to say that he wanted the HDC board to get to work and city government to give them as much support as possible. He asked Salvino, in the next thirty days, to come up with a  "blueprint for waterfront development."

The discussion then turned to specific waterfront projects: the Ferry Street bridge, the Furgary Boat Club, the LWRP, and the Dunn warehouse.

Regarding the Ferry Street bridge, Salvino advised that to achieve the goal of replacing the Ferry Street bridge the City must make a concerted and sustained effort to demonstrate that the bridge is critical to the City's economic development and vital for the health and well-being of its citizens. A press conference calling for help from county and state officials was not enough. Alderman Rick Rector (First Ward), who chairs the Economic Development Committee, and Friedman agreed to work with the mayor, who promised during her campaign to have the Ferry Street bridge reopened in her first year in office, to structure a plan to bring attention to the Ferry Street bridge and lobby state and federal officials for assistance in its reconstruction.

The future of the Furgary Boat Club was discussed briefly. Members of the committee were uncertain about the status of the asbestos and lead-based paint testing being done on the structures. It has been more than six months since the Common Council passed a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Ambient Environmental, Inc., to complete the testing, and no one seems to know if the project has been completed and if the report has been received. Members of the committee also determined that they needed to study the Resource Evaluation done by the State Historic Preservation Office, which determined that the Furgary site was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The status of the City's Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan, which has been in limbo since November 2011, was also discussed. It will be remembered that a condition for approval of the LWRP by the NYS Department of State was Holcim transferring ownership of ten acres of land south of the "deep water" dock to the City of Hudson. That was back in May 2013. In October 2013, The Valley Alliance revealed that 4.4 of those ten acres already belonged to the City because they had been illegally sold to Holcim (then St. Lawrence Cement) in 1981.

Map: TVA website

Since this revelation, all of Holcim's property in Hudson has been sold to A. Colarusso & Son, but there has been no apparent effort to acquire the remainder of the requisite property or to get the Department of State to move on approving the LWRP. Salvino reported last night that Bonnie Devine, the DOS staffer who worked on our LWRP, no longer has the same position at the Department of State, and consequently our LWRP is "in the gray area"--an orphan for which no one at the state level seems to have responsibility. No one at the local level seems to be assuming responsibility for it either.

On the topic of the Dunn warehouse, Salvino reported, "The [adaptive resuse] study is done. Now the City has to decide what we're going to do with it." After an audience member suggested that the City needed to make a request of proposals, Rector and Friedman agreed to work with Salvino to draft an RFP for the Dunn building, to be completed by April.

The final topic taken up by the Economic Development Committee was broadband. Alex Petraglia, who has been involved with the county broadband initiative, made a presentation about municipal broadband and the benefits of the City investing in IT infrastructure. The idea is for the City to pursue an open access model, installing the fiber and having providers compete to provide the service. The project is now in the exploratory phase. Salvino suggested that in order to move forward, "Everyone needs to be confident about why we are doing this," noting that at least 50 percent buy-in by Internet users in Hudson is necessary for it to make sense to pursue the project.

Friedman asserted that broadband, making high-speed Internet service available throughout the city, was even more critical to Hudson's economic success going forward than the Ferry Street bridge. The Economic Development Committee will continue to discuss the possibility of a municipal broadband initiative at its next meeting on March 17.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

Tentative Settlement Reached

If you are eager to learn the outcome of Tuesday night's Common Council executive session, John Mason has the story today in the Register-Star: "Hudson approves settlement in Von Ritter case." Mason's report also provides a summary of von Ritter's protracted legal battle with the City.

Back in the summer of 2012, von Ritter put the property that is the heart of the dispute on the market. Asking price: $4 million. Now it seems the price has risen to $6 million. Here's how the listing at Coldwell Banker Prime Properties describes 221-228 Tanners Lane (capitalization and punctuation are as found): "Unique property. Railroad Frontage, In the River revitalization Area. Appx. 1,800 feet from the Hudson River. Zoned Industrial/Commercial/ Warehousing. Walk to Hudson Train Station, Hudson River, Riverfront Park, Boat Club, and State Boat Launch Site. Currently under review for rezoning to allow for High rise condo's. Unlimited possibilities."

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

See (and Hear) It for Yourselves

Gossips reported the highlights of last night's Common Council meeting 22 hours ago. Now you can watch the entire 22-minute proceeding in Dan Udell's video of the meeting.

The Plan and the Reality a Century Later

This morning, after reading the 1914 article about the plans for Oakdale Lake, DPW superintendent Rob Perry confirmed that much of what was said about the lake before it was created is true today. The Oakland Park Improvement Company said the lake was going to be about 5 acres, and GIS software finds the lake to be 4.72 acres.

They said there would be "a method of letting out any part or all of the water," and indeed there is a drain that conveys water from Oakdale Lake into Underhill Pond. Perry provided the photograph below and explained that it "depicts the westerly discharge of Oakdale after an obstruction was cleared. The net result was a drop in lake elevation of about a foot." 

   

He added that the discharge from that pipe, which is continuous, is easily visible from a path on the west side of North Sixth Street (over the guardrail) that leads toward Underhill Pond. "Once you are about 20 feet in or so, it is on your left and down."

What didn't turn out the way the planners envisioned is the depth of the lake. The Oakdale Park Improvement Company promised a lake that would "not be over five feet deep so that it will be absolutely safe for children to skate and row on." Perry reports, "There are depth measurements on the Youth Department docks detailing depth in excess of 12 feet." He also recalls, "A mature maple slid down the southern escarpment during heavy rains in 2012. All but a few branches remain submerged."

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

Much to Do Tomorrow Night

There are a number of important meetings and gatherings taking place tomorrow night, Thursday, February 18. Frustratingly, they are happening concurrently, so inveterate meeting goers must pick and choose.

At 6 p.m. at City Hall, the Common Council Economic Development Committee has its monthly meeting. Advance word is that a topic of discussion will be improving broadband service in Hudson.

Also at 6 p.m., there is a meet and greet with Democratic Congressional candidate Will Yandik, just down the street from City Hall at Peter Jung Fine Art, 512 Warren Street. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP and to arrive no later than 6:15, which is when Yandik is scheduled to speak and answer questions. 

At 7 p.m., the principals of Redburn Development are meeting with the residents of lower Allen Street at Stageworks, 41 Cross Street. They will be presenting their plans to convert the former factory building now theater into a limited service boutique hotel. The purpose of the meeting to address the concerns of people living in close proximity to the proposed hotel about increased traffic and other impacts to the neighborhood that may come with the proposed new use of the building.

Also at 7 p.m., Hudson FORWARD holds its monthly community meeting at the Chamber of Commerce, 1 North Front Street. As he did a year ago at a Hudson FORWARD meeting, Victor Mendolia will make a presentation about the weighted vote and its inequities. 

It will be remembered that last October, Mayor William Hallenbeck vetoed a resolution, which had narrowly passed in the Common Council, authorizing a referendum that would have been the first step toward achieving in Hudson the constitutional standard of one person, one vote. At the Common Council organizational meeting in January, Council president Claudia DeStefano announced her intention to establish a "bipartisan committee to examine ward boundaries" for the purpose of making a proposal to be presented to voters in a referendum in November 2016. It was not clear if the ultimate goal was to create voting districts of equal population, thus eliminating the need for the weighted vote, but Gossips has heard nothing of this committee since the intention to form it was made known.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

As One Visitor Sees Us

Over the weekend, a very nice account of a visit to Hudson, with many photographs, appeared on the blog ArianDavidPhotography. The post is called "Hudson NY: Charm Re-imagined."

Thanks to a few Facebook friends for bringing this to our attention

Tonight at City Hall

Two things happened at the Common Council meeting tonight that merit coverage. The first had to do with the order of business on the agenda.

After all the pro forma things that happen at every meeting--the call to order, the moment of silent reflection, the Pledge of Allegiance, the roll call, the agreement not to read the committee reports but to put them on file--Council president Claudia DeStefano called for a motion and a second to go into executive session. Executive session means that all the audience members have to leave the room and mill about in the lobby until the aldermen finish discussing whatever is too sensitive for the public to hear--in this case, some unspecified litigation. The motion came from Alderman Rick Rector (First Ward), the second from Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), but a protest came from Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) who pointed out that executive sessions typically happened at the end of a meeting not at the beginning. 

DeStefano explained that the executive session had to come first because "there are people here to discuss this," probably referring to attorney Victor Meyers who was present. Friedman countered, "There are citizens here to witness the public part of the meeting." Going into executive session is usually accomplished by a simple voice vote. Tonight, it was roll call vote, and everyone except DeStefano voted no. So, the executive session, which turned out to be about Heinrich von Ritter's seemingly perpetual lawsuit against the City of Hudson, was postponed until the end of the meeting.

The second newsworthy item was a brand-new resolution introduced in the eleventh hour by three aldermen: Garriga, Abdus Miah (Second Ward), and Robert "Doc" Donahue (Fifth Ward). The resolution, which was so new that only the aldermen had copies of it, was read aloud by DeStefano. The gist of it was that it authorized the construction of a ramp, to be built "in accordance with developed plans," that would provide universal access to Promenade Hill.

Those "developed plans" are the ones drawn up by DPW superintendent Rob Perry at the request of Garriga and presented to the Public Works Committee at the end of May 2014. Those plans, reproduced below, give very little idea of what the ramp will look like once it is built by DPW workers at the entrance to Hudson's most historic park at the western terminus of the city's main street.

Rector, who has served on the Council since April 2015, wanted to know if the design referenced in the resolution had ever been approved by the Council. "Is it something the City can be proud of?" he asked.

Friedman said SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) had "shot down" the design people wanted (Option 1 shown below), suggesting that as a consequence we are stuck with the alternative (Option 2 shown below). Would that it were. What we are likely to get is neither of the alternatives presented to SHPO. Both were conceptualized as part of the City's unsuccessful grant application in the Consolidated Funding Application process.

What was finally proposed in that grant application (and is shown in the drawing below) was estimated to cost $60,000--three times the amount of money the City has allocated for the project.

Miah, who claims that the discussion of the ramp has been going on since 2010, argued that the ramp project has taken so long that it should be pursued now without consideration for design and appearance or the impact of the ramp on a National Register listed historic space. Most of Council agreed with him. The resolution passed with 1,753 ayes and 275 nays. Only Rector and Friedman voted against it.

Also tonight, the mayor's proposal to amend the zoning code to make hotels a permitted use in the R-S-C district was referred to the Legal Committee. The resolution commending the Friends of the First Presbyterian Church for restoring the church's major stained glass window and the resolution in support of raising the age of criminal responsibility both passed unanimously.  
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

The Origin of Oakdale Lake

Last month, Gossips stumbled upon a little news item promoting the advantages of ice skating on Oakland Lake which mentioned incidentally that Oakland Lake was an artificial lake. Gossips set out to learn more about the creation of the lake, and yesterday Norma Chepaitis Shook, who grew up near Oakdale and still lives in the neighborhood, sent Gossips the link to an article that appeared in the Columbia Republican for Tuesday, October 27, 1914, and carried the headline "Busy Improving Beautiful Suburb." The article begins: "The Oakdale Park Improvement Company, of which Arthur Farrand is president and Walter J. Watson secretary and treasurer, is not letting the war abroad interfere with its effort to boom Hudson and improve the beautiful plot of ground that it has opened up east of Underhill pond on the Farrand property."

The second paragraph of the article provides information about the lake.

This article, published in the fall of 1914, tells of the plans for the lake, which were not carried out until the following summer. It is not known if they succeeded in engineering "a method of letting out any part or all of the water," but it seems that they failed in creating a lake that was "absolutely safe for children to skate and row on." Oakdale has been the scene of several drownings over the years. The plan to make some of the amenities available only to property holders apparently was pursued. Jack Connor told Gossips that the title to his house on Glenwood Boulevard includes a covenant that he can "build a gate in the fence to allow access to Oakdale."

Click here to read the entire article about the Oakdale Park Improvement Company's plans, which mentions that the lots are "restricted" and "no house costing less than $3,500 can be erected" and speaks of the design for the park, then on display in the window of Leavitt & Smith's drug store, which was the work of Herman W. Merkel, "landscape architect of the Zoological Park, and the Bronx Parkway Commission of the city of New York," who "speaks with unqualified praise of the beauties of the local company's property and the possibilities of a most artistic city section."

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

The Bronson House in Context

This Saturday, February 20, architectural historian Peter Watson begins his two-part lecture series on Alexander Jackson Davis, the preeminent 19th-century architect whose work distinguishes the Dr. Oliver Bronson House. Part 1, "Picturesque Transformations: A. J. Davis Reinvents Hudson Valley Architecture," takes place at 4 p.m. at Stair Galleries, 549 Warren Street. In this slide lecture, Watson will examine Davis's work at the Bronson House in the context of a small group of related commissions in the Hudson Valley, which includes Blithewood, Montgomery Place, Locust Grove, and Knoll-Lyndhurst. In each of these often decades long projects, Davis and his clients transformed an existing Federal style house and grounds into "a fully immersive Romantic environment organized into a series of 'landscape pictures' following the practices of English landscape gardening." Watson posits that these Hudson Valley projects, which he calls "picturesque transformations," are "the key to understanding Davis's identity as an artist and designer and his self identification as 'Architectural Composer.'"

Part 2, "A Tale of Two Houses: Two Centuries of Change at the Bronson and Vanderpoel Houses," takes place on Saturday, March 12, at 5 p.m. at The School (Jack Shainman Gallery), 25 Broad Street in Kinderhook. In this lecture, Watson will explore the evolution of the Bronson House and the Vanderpoel House, both in their original design attributed to Hudson "master mechanic" Barnabas Waterman (1776-1839).

The talk will begin with a consideration of the historical Barnabas Waterman and "the construction of the 20th-century Colonial Revival lore surrounding him." This will be followed by a comparison of the plans, elevations, construction, and millwork of the two houses, "allowing attendees to judge for themselves."

Watson will then employ a series of digital renderings "to illustrate the specific manner in which these two quintessential Columbia County houses were altered over time to reflect the changing needs and tastes of their owners, highlighting the difficult restoration choices facing past and current stewards of these properties."

The lectures are sponsored by Historic Hudson in collaboration with the Columbia County Historical Society. Tickets for each lecture are $15 if purchased in advance at historichudson.org. If purchased at the door, they are $15 for HH and CCHS members and $20 for nonmembers.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

A Post for Presidents' Day

Three years ago on Presidents' Day, Gossips recounted the presidents who had visited our little city through the years. That post, "Presidents in Hudson," identified four presidents who had visited Hudson: Martin Van Buren, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Addenda to that post had to be published when it was learned that Harry S. Truman visited Hudson in 1952, Woodrow Wilson stopped here briefly in 1916, and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison visited Hudson together in 1791, before either one of them was president. Now it seems yet another president may have paid a visit, albeit brief, to Hudson.

A year or so ago, Alan Levine contacted Historic Hudson and in turn Gossips, hoping to learn more about this photograph.

The photograph is labeled "From the Rowles Collection," which led Levine to Historic Hudson, and it was pretty certainly taken at the northern end of the Hudson train station.

Photo: Historic Hudson

But who is the person at the back of the train--the person the crowd has gathered to see and hear?

The presence of the men in three-piece suits and bowler hats, who are watching the crowd instead of the man speaking from the train, suggest that these are the Secret Service and the man speaking is the President of the United States. But which one? His height and girth suggest that he is William Howard Taft, who stood six feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. The man at the train station in Hudson resembles the man in the picture below, who is William Howard Taft, welcoming a visitor to the White House.

Photo: Library of Congress

What may be more compelling evidence that the man in the photo from the Rowles Collection is President Taft is the railroad car. Taft had his own special railroad car, which is featured in all of the following pictures. The car in the Rowles Collection photograph appears to be the same car seen in these pictures.

Photo: Denver Public Library 

Photo: Library of Congress

Photo: Feeser's Studio

Two questions remain: When did William Howard Taft visit Hudson, and what was the occasion?

Note: The image Alan Levine shared with Gossips and gave permission to publish is a rare photograph. The glass negative no longer exists. For this reason, Levine asks that if you wish to use the image you contact Gossips, and I will put you in touch with him. 
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

Hudson in 19th-Century Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary--a reference book that was far more familiar in the 19th century than it is today. This morning, Laura Margolis sent Gossips two gazetteer entries for Hudson--one from A Gazetteer of the World, published in Edinburgh in 1850, and another from the 1895 edition of Lippincott's Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World, published in Philadelphia. Both entries are interesting reading but even more so when read together. Judging from these two gazetteer descriptions, Hudson seems to have made great progress in the forty-five years between 1850 and 1895. 

The first entry is from A Gazetteer of the World, 1850.

The following entry is from the 1895 edition of Lippincott's Pronouncing Gazetteer.

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

The House with the Mansard Roof

The site plan review initiated on Thursday to convert 260 State Street from five apartments into eight short-term rental units and a commercial space inspired Gossips to investigate the history of the house that has piqued the curiosity of quite a few Hudsonians. Mostly, it's the mansard roof that inspires inquiry, for it suggests that once upon a time a person of some affluence owned the house. A little research at Fulton History, that remarkable database of old newspapers, and in census records has revealed who that person probably was.

Mansard roofs, a distinctive feature of Second Empire design, were popular in the 1860s and 1870s. Often, as may have been the case with 260 State Street, third stories with mansard roofs were added to houses to make them appear more fashionable and grand. The person who owned 260 State Street when mansard roofs were all the rage was William F. Ball.  

Before 1870, U.S. census records didn't indicate street address. They only assigned a dwelling and a family number for each entry. In 1850, William F. Ball, then 24, whose occupation was listed as painter and his birthplace England, was living somewhere in the First Ward with his wife, Mary. By 1860, Ball had settled in the Second Ward. His occupation is still given as painter, and he and Mary now have four children--William H. 9, Mary 7, Eliza 5, and Charles F. one month. A domestic named Anna G. Grant completes the household. No street address is indicated in the 1860 census, but it's nice to think that at that point the Balls have taken up residence in the house on the northwest corner of State and Third streets.

On March 12, 1867, a notice in the Hudson Evening Register gives a clue about what sort of painter Ball was. The notice announces the dissolution of the partnership of Ball & Baker.

According to the notice, Ball disposed of his interest in the painting business but retained his interest in the sash, door, and blind business. A year later, the business formerly known as Ball & Baker has a new name: Builders' Furnishing Depot, and the following advertisement appears frequently in the newspapers. (Note that in 1868 the numbering on east-west streets in Hudson had not yet been changed. Hence 133 Union Street is "Near Third Street" not between First and Second streets, as it is now.)

In 1868, William F. Ball is mentioned in the Hudson Evening Register as an alderman for the Second Ward, and in April 1869, he is one of the "property owners and taxpayers in State street" who signed a petition to the mayor and the Common Council "to open a sewer on the north side of State street, between Second and Third streets, on Roap [sic] Alley."

   
In the 1870 census, the address of William F. Ball household is given: 94 State Street, which undoubtedly was the address of the house before the introduction of "hundred blocks" on Hudson's east-west streets. The value of the house is given as $4,000, and Ball's occupation is listed as brewer. The Balls now have six children. The eldest son, William, is now 19, and his occupation is listed as "house painter." Perhaps he works for his father's former partner, Henry Baker. The eldest daughter, Mary, is now 17. The second daughter, whose name was given as Eliza in 1860, is now listed as Alida, and she is 15. Charles, a newborn in 1860, is now 10, and there are two more children: George 7 and Hattie 4.

In 1880, William and Mary Ball are still living at 260 State Street, and Ball's occupation is still listed as brewer. Two of their six children--William H. and Alida (or Eliza)--presumably have grown and moved on. Still at home are Mary 27, Charles 20, George 17, and Hattie 14. 

On February 3, 1891, the Hudson Evening Register reported that William F. Ball had leased a building on Warren Street and "will fit it up in good style and stock it with a fine line of groceries." On March 21, 1891, the Register reported William F. Ball & Son grocers had opened. The 1900 census reveals that the son who became his father's partner in the grocery store was Charles. The census records for 1900 show William F. Ball, now a widower, still living at 260 State Street with his son Charles, now 39, and his daughter Mary, now 47, whose name appears as Mamie, Charles's wife Josie, and Charles and Josie's two children: William 14 and Arthur 10.

Four years before the 1900 census, on October 28, 1896, a happy event took place at 260 State Street, when Ball's youngest child, Hattie, married Avery McNaughton of Rochester, in "an interesting ceremony." The wedding was reported in the Columbia Republican for November 5, 1896.

The newly married couple must have settled in Albany, because on April 17, 1906, the Albany Evening Journal reports that "Mr. and Mrs. Avery McNaughton and nephew, Harold Smith, spent Easter with Mrs. McNaughton's father, William F. Ball, of Hudson."

On January 15, 1908, William F. Ball died at the age of 82. The Columbia Republican announced that the funeral would be "from his late residence, 260 State street." His obituary in the Columbia Republican provides more information about his life.

As evidence of William F. Ball's long association with 260 State Street, fifteen years after his death, a report of the house having been sold, which appeared in the Columbia Republican for March 13, 1923, notes that "the property was formerly known as the William F. Ball place."

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK
    

Recalling the 1960s

Inspired by Lynda Blackmon Lowery's memoir, Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, which will be presented this afternoon at 3 p.m. at Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School, a group of Hudsonians who had been actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, gathered last Thursday, February 4, at the Hudson Area Library to recall and share their experiences. Dan Udell recorded the event, and the video can now be seen online.

COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK

Remembering Daniel Ulf Nilsson

The obituary for Daniel Nilsson appears in today's Register-Star.