Of Interest

In a piece entitled "Artist Graveyards," John P. O'Grady writes about, among other things, the Hudson City Cemetery, the family plot where Sanford Gifford is buried, and the Rural Cemetery Movement of the mid-19th century.

Photo: John P. O'Grady

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A Story from Hudson's Past

I regularly walk my dog Joey in Cedar Park Cemetery. Its curving paths and gentle hills make for pleasant walks for both of us. When we first took up the habit of walking in the cemetery, I enjoyed discovering the graves of people I'd read about and written about--such Hudson notables as Frank Forshew, the photographer; Henry S. Moul, the architect; Grace Gillette, the school board member; Henry Galster, the doctor; J. H. Luff, the veterinarian. Other tombstones inspired me to wonder about the lives of the people buried there. Such was the case with this grave marker, which I have passed many times.

Given my current interest in World War I, I was curious to know the story of this young man, a sergeant in Hudson's own Company F, who had died in Germany three months after the Armistice that ended the war. Earlier this week, quite by accident, I came upon this notice in the Columbia Republican for July 30, 1918, in a column with the head "Soldiers News."

It inspired me to devote a day or two to learning what I could about Edward Wheeler.

A search for "Edward Wheeler" in the newspapers at Fulton History yielded a superabundance of results. It turns out that, in 1922, the wealthy rector of a posh Episcopal Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey, named Edward Wheeler Hall had been the victim of a double murder, along with the woman with whom he was romantically involved--an attractive member of the church choir, who was the wife of the church sexton. It was four years before the murder was solved, and for much of that time newspapers throughout New York were obsessed with the story. (It was finally uncovered that the rector's wife and three of her male relatives conspired to hire someone to commit the crime.) After scrolling past literally thousands of articles about the violent fate of the adulterous rector and his unfortunate love, I finally discovered a series of items from the Hudson Register about the Edward Wheeler I sought. 

The first item I found appeared on the front page of the Register for June 3, 1911. It reported that Edward Wheeler, "a young man of fifteen," won first prize in "the amateur night at the Hudson theatre." Edward, the article continues, "made a decided hit with his soprano voice and his singing of 'Someone Thinks of Someone.'" His brother Perry Wheeler, who had won first prize the week before, won second prize. The article concludes: "The Wheeler boys are all vocalists, another brother George, Jr., also contesting for a prize Thursday night. Their father, George Wheeler, for many years sang in choirs and musical events about the city, possessing a bass voice of exceptional quality." 

The reference to Edward Wheeler's brothers led me to census records, to learn more about the family. George Wheeler and his wife, Annie, lived at 15 Power Avenue, in that part of the city known as Simpsonville.

Power Avenue in the 1960s
Evelyn & Robert Monthie Slide Collection, Columbia County Historical Society

When the houses of Simpsonville were documented in the early 1970s for the Historic American Buildings Survey, 15 Power Avenue was not included, probably because it no longer existed. But at the turn of the 20th century and for several decades after, it was the home of George and Annie Wheeler and their twelve children: George, Jr. (b. 1890), Harold (b. 1891), John (b. 1893), Perry (b. 1895), Edward (b. 1896), Ruth (b. 1898), Arthur (b. 1900), Rebecca (b. 1904), Frank (b. 1906), Paul (b. 1909), Ralph (b. 1911), Mildred (b. 1914).

From 1911 to 1916, Edward Wheeler's name is mentioned a few times in the newspaper, as one of "young people" who were guests at parties--a surprise party at 39 North Fifth Street, a surprise party on Partition Street, two birthday parties and a "Victrola dance" in Stottville.

39 North Fifth Street is the second house from the left in this row of Italianate worker houses constructed soon after the Civil War.

The 1915 New York State census indicates that, at the time of the census, Edward Wheeler, then 19, was working as a butcher. On February 17, 1916, the Hudson Register reported that Edward Wheeler had joined Company F. He would have been among the soldiers in this picture, taken at the Hudson Armory on June 18, 1916.

When the "F boys" were sent to Orange County in February 1917 to guard the aqueduct, a reporter for the Register was with them and sent back daily dispatches filled with droll news about the men. Edward Wheeler was often mentioned in these dispatches. On February 14, we're told he "gets his candy every day and goes all by himself to eat it." On February 24, it's reported that he is "trying to sing everybody to sleep." On February 27, we're told he hated to miss a church service but had to because he was on guard duty. On March 5, it's reported that he "had the blues . . . because he could not go to the Vails Gate minstrels." In a dispatch on March 9, he is referred to as "Doll Face." 

On Friday, July 20, 1917, Company F was formally mustered into federal service. The account of the muster in the Hudson Register tells how the mustering officer, Lieutenant Elmo Rorke, thought the muster would have greater significance if it took place in front of the Columbia County Courthouse instead of the Hudson Armory, so the company and its officers marched "in splendid manner to the Court house and there formed in front and rear rank, facing the building." The account in the Register goes on to say:

After the muster the officers gave the Register permission to have a photograph taken of the company on the Court house steps. The picture appears above, and was taken by Photographer Rowles.

In the microfilm version of the page available online, the picture had been cut out, leaving these remains.

On July 29, Company F left for training at Fort Niagara. Again, there were regular reports from Fort Niagara in the Register about the "F boys." In one of those reports, on August 25, 1917, we learn:

Edward Wheeler, Myron Hermance, and H. Akins take a row boat now and sing on the lake. They know where they are well off.

More than two decades of the Hudson Register are missing from the Fulton History database, from 1917 to 1940, so the account of Edward Wheeler singing in a rowboat on Lake Erie was the last mention of him I could find until April 7, 1943, when an article on the sports page of the Hudson Register revealed the fate of Edward Wheeler. The article was actually about Eddie Wheeler, Edward Wheeler's nephew, the son of his older brother John. In 1943, Eddie Wheeler was in the army, serving as a butcher for the commissioned officers at Fort Lee in Virginia. Also at Fort Lee was Billy Conn, the Light Heavyweight Champion best known for challenging Joe Louis in an attempt to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The article reports how the famous boxer had befriended Wheeler and asserts: "There's nothing 'swell-headed' about him and you can take that from Wheeler, who ought to know. . . . He's just an every day sort of fellow who figures he's just one man in this vast army of Uncle Sam's." The last paragraph of the article speaks of Eddie's namesake.

Young Eddie Wheeler is named after his uncle, the late Edward Wheeler, who served this country in the last war until he was stricken with pneumonia in France and died over there. . . . His remains were later brought back to this city for interment. . . . He went into federal service with Company F of this city and sailed for France in August, 1918. . . . Over there he served with the 51st Pioneers at the front and later with the Army of Occupation in Germany. . . . While on duty, he was stricken with pneumonia and died in hospital at Coblentz, France on February 16, 1919 at the age of 22 years. . . .

Coblenz is not in France but in Germany, where the Moselle River joins the Rhine. After the Armistice, Coblenz was occupied by the Third Army, a select group of troops from the American Expeditionary Forces, from early December 1918 until January 1923.

Coblenz, Germany, circa 1919

The stone that marks Edward Wheeler's grave in Cedar Park Cemetery stands beside a larger stone. On one side of that stone are carved with the names of his parents, George Wheeler and Annie Hermance.

On the opposite side of the same stone, harder to distinguish, is carved the name of Edward's brother John, who named his son after him.

John's son Edward was born on December 5, 1917, just months after Company F left for Fort Niagara. The little item discovered in the Columbia Republican for July 30, 1918, which set this whole research exercise in motion, provides evidence that Edward Wheeler had the opportunity to meet his namesake before he went overseas to the war.

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Happening Next Week

Next Thursday, August 9, Friends of Hudson Youth and Friends of Oakdale Lake are having a picnic at the lake. Stop by in the late afternoon, from 4 to 6, to celebrate summer with hotdogs, homemade pickles, and ice cream and preview the exhibition, "Oakdale Past & Future," developed by the Hudson Area Library. For more information, click here. 

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More on the Vacant Buildings Law and the Veto

Photo: Roger Hannigan Gilson

Roger Hannigan Gilson, who was present at yesterday's public hearing on proposed Local Law No. 4, has published his post about Mayor Rick Rector's veto of the law on his blog, The Other Hudson Valley: "Mayor Vetoes Law Leveling Fees on Owners of Hudson Vacants." 
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News from City Hall

Gossips has learned that Mayor Rick Rector today vetoed Local Law No. 4, the law pertaining to vacant buildings. On July 17, the Common Council voted unanimously to enact the law. The action, coming a day after a public hearing at which no one had anything to say in support or in opposition to the law, was taken in response to objections from code enforcement officer Craig Haigh to some specific language in the law. Exactly what Haigh found to be problematic is not known at this point and may not be known until the mayor issues his formal veto message.
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Ear to the Ground

Gossips has received word from more than one source that the owner of The Maker is buying the former Hudson Supermarket building at 310 Warren Street, next door to two buildings that are now being transformed into The Maker hotel complex.

The news inspires me to share this still from the 1959 movie Odds Against Tomorrow, showing the supermarket building as the only anomaly in an otherwise intact, although probably then unappreciated, 19th-century streetscape.

Just as a reminder, this is the house that once stood on the site.

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Don't Miss Out

Gossips rarely mentions events so far in advance, but this one merits being an exception. Girlgantua Jones and Didi Barrett? Two of my favorite people. Former mayor Dick Tracy? The mayor during my first term (the first of only two) as alderman for the First Ward. Secure your place on the bus before it's too late!

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In the National News

USAToday and other sources are reporting that earlier today former President Barack Obama announced his endorsement of eighty-one Democratic candidates in the midterm elections. Although it comes as no surprise, it is good to know that one of those eighty-one candidates is Antonio Delgado.
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Vacant Buildings, Silent Hearing

Mayor Rick Rector held a public hearing this afternoon on Local Law No. 4 for 2018, the law that will require owners of unoccupied buildings to register their buildings and pay an annual fee for keeping them in an unoccupied state. When Gossips arrived at City Hall, admittedly a few minutes late, Rector was declaring the public hearing closed. About fifteen people had shown up for the hearing, among them a few aldermen, Council president Tom DePietro, code enforcement officer Craig Haigh, and Roger Hannigan Gilson who writes The Other Hudson Valley, but apparently they had all come to hear what other people might have to say about the law because no one present made a single comment.

Had I arrived before the hearing was closed, I would have made a comment. As it was, I shared it with Rector after the hearing, and I share it now with readers. It has to do with the "vacant building plan" that an owner must submit to the code enforcement officer for approval when registering a vacant building.

The law states: "The plan, at a minimum, must contain information from one of the following three choices for the property." The first of those choices is a demolition plan, and the last is a rehabilitation plan. In my opinion, those options are presented in the wrong order. The City should be encouraging rehabilitation and discouraging demolition. For that reason, the choice now presented first--demolition--should be last, and the choice now presented last--rehabilitation--should be first.
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Inventive Erratum

Recently, I discovered this item in the Columbia Republican for July 31, 1918. I share it not only because it very cleverly turns a typographic error into an opportunity to advocate for a favorite cause but also because it provides insight into the typesetting methods of a hundred years ago--indeed of forty years ago--that would allow a line or two of type to end up in the wrong column.

We know from the 1905 publication Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., that the Republican had "the largest and best equipped newspaper, job printing and bookbinding plant" in the area, featuring "the latest Mergenthaler Linotype" machines. The linotype machine, which was invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in the 1880s, produced lines of words (hence the name "line o' type) as single strips of metal called slugs. The slugs were then assembled to make up a page of the newspaper.

If you're interested in typesetting and newspaper composition before computers took over, you may want to watch this video, filmed on July 1, 1978: "Farewell, Etaoin Shrdlu." It chronicles the last day linotype machines were used to produce the New York Times and in the process explains in detail how they worked. 
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Of Interest

The former St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, at 428 State Street, which was converted into a private home a few years ago, is now being marketed for short-term rental on Airbnb. Click here to watch a video promoting it.

Thanks to "Cgl Bgl" for bringing this to our attention

Beyond Buildings

Fifteen years ago, when Hudson's preservation law was first enacted, the primary concern was for the preservation of the authentic design and architectural features of buildings. In the law, the notion of preserving the character of a historic district seems to have all to do with preserving the historic character of individual buildings and ensuring that any new construction in a historic district be compatible with the historic character of the neighborhood as a whole. These are the principal tenets of the law:

• Properties that contribute to the character of the historic district shall be retained, with their historic features altered as little as possible;
• Any alteration of existing properties shall be compatible with their historic character, as well as with the surrounding district; and
• New construction shall be compatible with the district in which it is located.

The preservation law has been interpreted to apply to fences, but on a couple of issues, which are turning out to have significant impact on historic neighborhoods, the law seems to be silent. Those issues are curb cuts and retaining walls.

In a comment on this blog, former First Ward alderman David Marston sharply criticized a neighbor for his "suburban curb-cut driveway on one of Hudson's oldest blocks." On Friday, the Historic Preservation Commission accepted as a communication a complaint from another neighbor about the same curb cut and driveway and its inappropriateness in a historic district.

Although this particular curb cut has raised objections from the neighbors, it's hardly the first curb cut to be introduced into a historic district to provide off-street parking for a resident. According to Chapter A331-1 of the city code, all that is required to create a curb cut for a driveway or parking pad is permission from the Department of Public Works.

Because the assistant city attorney, who is counsel to the HPC, was not present on Friday, discussion of the complaint and how the HPC might respond was postponed until its next meeting, on August 10. If the HPC is going to consider the impact of curb cuts and driveways or parking pads in historic districts, it should also include retaining walls in that consideration.

When work on this retaining wall on Prospect Avenue at the end of Rossman Avenue commenced a month or so ago, I asked code enforcement Craig Haigh why it hadn't come before the Historic Preservation Commission. It was being constructed in a historic district and was affecting the character of the neighborhood. Haigh explained that retaining walls were considered landscaping, and landscaping was not within the purview of the HPC. He advised me that the preservation law would have to be amended if retaining walls were to require a certificate of appropriateness.

Curious, I searched Chapter 169 of the city code and located the words landscaping and wall. Each appears only once, in a seldom referred to section of definitions (Chapter 169-2) which was added in 2005, when the preservation law was "amended in its entirety." The word landscaping appears in the definition of the term exterior. (The underscoring is mine.)

EXTERIOR  The architectural style, design, general arrangement and components of the outer surface of an improvement, as distinguished from the interior surfaces enclosed by said outer surfaces, including but not limited to the kind of texture of building materials and the type and style of windows, doors, lights, signs, sidewalks, landscaping and other exterior fixtures.

The word wall appears in the definition of improvement. (Again, the underscoring is mine.) 

IMPROVEMENT A building, structure, pavement, parking facility, fence, gate, wall, sign or awning, work of art of other object constructed by humans.

The defining statement in the preservation law about certificates of appropriateness begins (again the underscoring is mine): "A certificate of appropriateness is required to carry out any exterior alteration, additions, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction. . . ." Could the two definitions cited, particularly the definition of exterior, be used to argue that retaining walls as well as curb cuts and parking pads should be the purview of the HPC?
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Not Until Next Week

If curiosity drove you out to the intersection of Routes 9G and 23 today to see what was happening, and you discovered nothing, Bill Williams of 98.5 The Cat provided the explanation this afternoon on Facebook: "Roundabout Construction, Where are all the workers?" Apparently the actual work won't begin until later this week or next week, which should come as no surprise. After all, when the project was announced, it was said it would begin in August, and August doesn't start until Wednesday.

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Another Faso Misstep

Back in 2013, the Livingston Planning Board approved a 190-foot communications tower--a taller, bigger, and more visually intrusive tower than the one that's there now--to be built by Eger Communications on Blue Hill, in the Olana viewshed.

Photo: Jonathan Simons

The Olana Partnership and Scenic Hudson filed a legal challenge to overturn the approval and succeeded in getting a ruling that the FCC review the proposed tower under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservatioon Act of 1966. That review has not yet been completed. Now, the Register-Star reports that Congressman John Faso is calling for the construction of the tower to proceed: "Faso calls for FCC to move forward with Eger tower replacement in Livingston; almost three years of waiting for a proceeding."
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An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Last week, Hawthorne Valley announced the installation of six destination charging stations for electric vehicles located on lamp posts in the middle of the school parking lot. The stations are available for public use, free of charge, and were installed in partnership with Tesla.

It may be time for the City of Hudson to consider installing electric vehicle charging stations in some of its parking lots. There was talk of doing so a year ago, when then First Ward alderman Michael O'Hara wanted the City to apply for a NYSERDA Clean Vehicle Infrastructure grant. Installing the charging stations was to be one of the four "High Impact Action Items" that would qualify Hudson to become a Clean Energy Community and get some grant money.  

Last year, the EV charging station initiative stalled, as did the effort to make Hudson a Clean Energy Community. But this year, Rich Volo (Fourth Ward) took up the cause, and, at the July Common Council meeting, he announced that the City had completed four of the ten "High Impact Action Items" and would now be considered a Clean Energy Community by NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Agency). EV charging stations were not among the four items that qualified Hudson for this status.  
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Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

During the dog days of summer, meetings are likely to be canceled for any number of reasons but most commonly for want of a quorum. This week, there are only three meetings scheduled, and they all fall on the same day: Wednesday, August 1.

• At 3:00 p.m., the mayor will hold a public hearing on Proposed Law No. 4 for 2018. The law would require owners of vacant buildings to register those buildings and pay an annual fee for each year a building stands empty. The hearing takes place in the Council Chamber at City Hall.

• At 5:30 p.m., the Common Council Youth, Education, Seniors, and Recreation Committee meets at City Hall. At this meeting, youth director Nick Zachos and Sher Stevens, who directs programming at the Senior Center, typically report to the committee. Beyond this, no agenda is available for the meeting.
• At 6:45 p.m., the Common Council Housing and Transportation Committee is scheduled to meet at City Hall. This committee has not met since its chair, Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), broke her ankle in late May. There is the possibility the meeting for August 1 will be cancelled as well.

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The Great War: July 30, 1918

One hundred years ago, the front page of the Columbia Republican reported that the Allies were pushing ahead through France, American troops received an ovation when they arrived in Italy, and a recommendation was before Congress to raise the upper age for eligibility for the draft from 26 to 45. The front page of the paper also included this item, reporting the words of the commander of the German military.

The item in the news for July 30, 1918, that gives the best insight into life at home during World War I, however, appeared on page six, where it was reported that a Kinderhook woman, with the unfortunate name of Newcomer, was caught hoarding sugar and flour.

During the war years, the limit for purchasing sugar was two pounds per person per month. Today, it is estimated that the average American consumes more than six pounds of sugar each month, although it's somewhat rare to see people actually buying bags of sugar in the supermarket.
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More Land for Sale

In recent days, Gossips has reported on the City's land swap with HCDPA and HCDPA's possible sale of all its property and the actual sale of 213 Columbia and 214 Prison Alley. Now there's more land for sale, and the City, it seems, is being viewed as a potential buyer. The land in question is three parcels on the north side of Strawberry Alley, which runs behind Robinson Street. The County is looking to sell the three parcels and is offering them to the City of Hudson before they are auctioned off. There's a story behind how the County came to own the land, but it's not entirely clear why it still does.

Once upon a time, these parcels belonged to the Hudson School District, decades before the consolidation that created the Hudson City School District in 1966. They were part of the grounds of the Charles Williams School, which opened in 1924. 

The building ceased being used as an elementary school in 1970, a little more than a decade after John L. Edwards Elementary School was built, and in the late 1970s, Columbia County started using the building as an office building. The Sheriff's Department, the Planning Department, the Health Department, the Office for the Aging, and the Mental Health Department all were located there. Signage that still exists indicates that the parcels now for sale were used for parking when the building was a county office building.

In 2003, ownership of the school building was transferred from the County to the City of Hudson. The County needed a parcel of City-owned land in the 300 block of Columbia Street in order to build its new office building at 325 Columbia Street, so the City took ownership of the school in exchange for the land on Columbia Street. For reasons unknown, the three parcels on Strawberry Alley were not part of the swap, although a fourth parcel closer to the school building, on which there is a garage structure, was conveyed to the City. 

In 2011, when the City sold the school to Steven Johnson and Walter Sudol, who established the Second Ward Foundation there, it retained ownership of the parcel where the garage is. It is not known if the City actually uses the garage for any purpose. Now the County wants to sell the three parcels west of the garage and is looking to the City as a potential buyer.

Dunworth Mews, Notting Hill, London|Wikipedia

Given the current interest in promoting infill housing and developing new housing on vacant or underused sites within residential areas, these three lots might be the perfect place to create a little row of houses whose design would mimic that of a mews. How charming would it be to have an address on Strawberry Alley? The people in the neighborhood might not be very enthusiastic about it, though, since they seem to have claimed these lots as a parking and vehicle storage area.  

Photo: Linda Mussmann

Photo: Linda Mussmann

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Not to Be Missed

Yesterday, Brownstoner published an article about our own beloved National Historic Landmark: "From Ruin to Restoration: Saving the Picturesque Legacy of Hudson's Dr. Oliver Bronson House."

Photo: Susan De Vries|Brownstoner

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Change on the HPC

Yesterday's Historic Preservation Commission meeting was the last for David Voorhees, who has served on the commission for twelve years, during some of those years as its chair and for most of them as the historian member of the commission. At the end of yesterday's meeting, Mayor Rick Rector commended Voorhees for his years of service on the HPC, saying Voorhees could be proud, driving up and down the streets of Hudson, of the good work he has done in preserving the city's architectural heritage and historic character. Rector indicated he had begged Voorhees to stay on the commission for another term, but Voorhees declined. Responding, Voorhees explained, "It's time for me to move on. I have my institute [Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early New York History], and I want to devote my whole time to that."

As someone who has been watching the Historic Preservation Commission from its beginning, first as concerned citizen and since 2010 as The Gossips of Rivertown, I too wish to commend and express my gratitude for the knowledge and uncompromising judgment Voorhees brought to the HPC.
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