By Wint Aldrich, HRH member and former Town of Red Hook historian

During Historic Red Hook’s 2024 Annual Meeting, Aldrich gave a talk about the Marquis de Lafayette and the historic Massena Estate, transcribed below.

Good to be back again in this great room! Thank you for the introduction, and thank  you, too, to Elisabeth for organizing the images and their projection, and to our friend and  county colleague Bill Jeffway, who has led the effort to document Lafayette’s visit to our  neighborhood and celebrate its bicentennial, to include reminding us of the naming of  Lafayetteville, LaGrange and individuals who were named in his honor. I myself descend  from a Vermont farm boy born just after the Revolution and named Marquis de Lafayette  Hooker—known to friends and family as Marcus. 

By Marguerite Schneider, Ph. D. Member, HRH Collections Committee

(With background details provided by HRH Member Bill Wilken for context)

Democracy. Patriotism. Service to country. The importance of family ties. Supporting those in harm’s way while being torn apart with angst at the state of the world. Maintaining a sense of normalcy during the most trying of times. The joy and hope that children bestow on the worn and weary.

These are the themes that emerged from my reading of The Wilken Family’s Collection of V-Letters (Victory Letters), written by family members and a few others to Master Sergeant Alfred Wilken while he was stationed in New Guinea during World War II. A 1929 graduate of Columbia University, Alfred joined the Army at age 34 via FDR’s 1940 peacetime draft. The letters and cables he sent and received while in New Guinea were routed through San Francisco’s Postmaster.

By Nancy Bendiner, Volunteer, HRH Collections Committee

Wint Aldrich, former Town of Red Hook Historian, said that perhaps Egbert Benson’s greatest contribution was as an historian. As the first President of the New-York Historical Society, he demonstrated his interest in the maintenance of historical records and the preservation of history.

It is documented in the Society’s records that on Nov. 20, 1804, a group assembled in the Picture Room of City Hall of the City of New York with the goals “to collect and preserve whatever may be related to the natural, civil or ecclesiastical History of the United States in general and of this State in Particular…” Benson was one of the three men who wrote the Society’s constitution. His fellow founding members included DeWitt Clinton, Anthony Bleeker, and Peter G. Stuyvesant. 

Benson’s writings are also part of his legacy and some are listed in the appendix to this article. 

Save the Elmendorph! Introduce Egbert!

Previously thought of as a mere footnote in Red Hook history, at least by locals, Egbert Benson was linked to the Elmendorph Inn in the 1970s, and a new trend of recognition commenced. First, a group was formed to save the Elmendorph from demolition, and over time efforts grew to name a new historical society after Egbert Benson. The goal became to use the Inn as a repository for Red Hook History.

Historic Red Hook is excited to announce the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of an Interpretive Plan for the Elmendorph Inn. We invite qualified consultants to submit their proposals by August 31, 2024, to help us enhance our educational and interpretive offerings.

By Nancy Bendiner, volunteer, HRH Collections Committee

When I ask Red Hook residents if they ever heard of Egbert Benson, most respond with “Who was HE?” Members of Historic Red Hook are often aware he was the namesake of the Egbert Benson Historical Society, a precursor of Historic Red Hook, though often don’t know why. In 1985, a local journalist wrote in The Pennysaver that “Most people today, outside of those in the local historical society, haven’t the foggiest idea why Egbert Benson was important locally, much less in the Country.”

By Christopher and Claudine Klose

Given our place at the center of Hudson Valley agriculture, family farms are a key waypoint on our journey. Last June, Chuck Mead called to ask: would we be interested in going through the many boxes of correspondence, business files, photographs, and more ahead of the transition of Mead Orchards from three generations of family operation to new, remote ownership? Weave the dusty threads of memory into a portrait of a very prominent Red Hook family farm? We jumped at the chance!

By Nancy Bendiner, HRH Collections Committee Volunteer.

From Revolutionary War times, the Elmendorph Inn, in the Village of Red Hook, New York, has witnessed history. So have the residents of its immediate neighborhood, which includes Cherry and Graves Streets. Today these roads are fairly unassuming, short, and mostly quiet except at noon and during the village’s late afternoon rush hours.  The question is sometimes asked of rooms, what would walls tell us if they could speak? Recently, my question has been, what if Cherry and Graves Streets could tell us their stories? What secrets and surprises could we learn? Over the decades, what “evidence” has survived and where can it be found so that we know what really happened? Or can we? This is what I discovered. 

By Christopher and Claudine Klose

History records events based on verifiable sources. Legend conveys stories handed down through oral tradition, often factual, or a mix of fact and fiction, sometimes out of whole cloth, (Archbishop Usher’s calculation from the Bible that Earth was created on 4004 BCE is an all-time favorite!).

For more than 400 years, Red Hook has been caught between the two, as people debate how the town got its name. 

The Place for Red Hook Stories Past, Present and Future

By Claudine Klose, Board Secretary and Collections Committee Chair and Chris Klose, Programs Committee Member

People frustrated in their search of the past often exclaim, “If these walls could talk!” The green nineteenth-century clapboards of Historic Red Hook’s new StoryStudio, at 5 Cherry Street, stand silent, of course. But within them lie the archives of more than 250 years of Red Hook history.

A mid-year update from Thea Burgess, Board President and Communications Committee Chair

July marks the halfway point of not only the summer but the year itself. Looking back over the first six months of 2023, I realize that Historic Red Hook has achieved a number of milestones we want to celebrate.

This year, Historic Red Hook joined other local organizations in creating and signing a sustainability pledge to guide our future practices.  This commitment is a component of Red Hook Together's mission to attain the designation of a Certified Audubon Sustainable Community for the Town of Red Hook.

Historic Red Hook to host Then and Now Festival, Saturday June 3

By Rick East, Trustee

Local residents passing by the Elmendorph Inn each day may think of our historic group, Historic Red Hook, as a bunch of old codgers sitting around debating the minutiae of dates and historical events. (Although we do like to brag about the fact that Red Hook is home to the oldest Society for the Detection and Apprehension of Horse Thieves. (We have their earliest meeting minutes in our collections, and yes, their group still meets today! )

But Historic Red Hook is much more than that. Our mission is to engage the community in conversations about Red Hook’s unfolding story. We accomplish this by collecting, preserving, and promoting Red Hook’s history, maintaining the historic Elmendorph Inn as a community center, creating dynamic public programs, and partnering with local community organizations. 

By Christopher Klose

Before the widespread adoption of television in the early 1950s, radio was still king. Faithfully each week, millions upon millions of Americans tuned in “same time, same station,” to Guiding Light or other favorite “soap operas,” so-called because they were “brought to you” by Ivory soap (“99 and 44/100 percent pure”) or other popular brands. Everyday stories kept listeners entertained.

By Nancy Bendiner

As one travels down Prince Street today, one may notice the unassuming and well kept building at #10 that proudly wears a sign: “RED HOOK GRANGE” in bold red letters, with “No. 918” just below. Built in 1850, according to records in the Dutchess County Parcel Access records, there have been a few alterations over the years but not many. In those records, it is listed as a “former Village building.” 

The sign was recently repainted, according to Lisa Ross, whose family purchased the building from the Grange in 2012. The sign stands, she says, as a symbol of what the building has stood for over the years, a building that was once the “people’s town hall.” It was the location of the fire department and ambulance station, possibly in the 1940s. When anyone mentioned the Grange, she said, people knew what that meant and where it was. Though the Grange organization in Red Hook is gone, her family donates the downstairs space so local groups can have meetings, “for the good of the community.” Some of those who have used the space include the Little League and the Red Hook Sports Club. The upstairs space is rented. 

By Claudine Klose

In the summer of 2014, then-Town Historian Wint Aldrich received a phone call from a Mrs. Juliet Moynihan of Houston, Texas, inquiring whether he knew anything about a Red Hook Academy. She had inherited from her grandmother a lovely sampler stitched by a “Juliett Wheeler” at the “Academy in Red Hook.” Later that year, Juliet Moynihan generously donated the sampler to Historic Red Hook, bringing with it the remarkable story of how she had acquired it.

Juliet Moynihan’s orphaned grandmother, Marie Jordan, had been raised by a foster mother, Ella M. Higbie, in Fairport, New York. Ella’s parents were Nathan Higbie and Mary A. Wheeler. In Ella’s old age, she had moved in with Marie Jordan and left her the Wheeler sampler. Juliet had been told that Mary Wheeler had made the sampler but noting that it bore the inscription “Wrought by Juliett M. Wheeler,” she had searched for information on a Juliett Wheeler and found nothing. Fortunately, Historic Red Hook was able to identify Juliett (Juliette) as the older sister of Mary A. Wheeler.

By Thea Burgess, HRH President

Those who knew James Budd Hardin understood he loved the Hudson Valley, especially Red Hook where he grew up. Jim’s attachment to his hometown remained extremely strong although he lived in Washington, D.C., for 44 years. His Hudson Valley books were close at hand on a lower shelf of his bookcase in his living room, recalls his nephew Michael Hardin. Because Jim owned over 3,000 titles, this within-reach placement symbolizes how much he treasured our area. His connection to Red Hook is exemplified by the generous bequest he made to Historic Red Hook. Michael and his mother Teresa Marie Hardin and the widow of Jim’s older brother, the late Peter Warner Hardin, recently visited the Elmendorph Inn and delivered a check for $25,000, a gift from Jim to his hometown.

The Historic Red Hook Board of Trustees met on January 7 to update last year’s strategic priorities to carry the organization through the end of 2023. After considering Historic Red Hook’s past goals, examining our accomplishments in 2022, and considering our immediate needs, the Trustees agreed upon the following priorities:

Our overall goal for 2023 is to increase recognition of HRH as an accessible resource for meeting local needs through strengthening our community’s overall sense of historical identity, character, and belonging. We will achieve this goal by…

By Thea Burgess, HRH Board President

When Patsy (Braig) Vogel-Hansen, former Historic Red Hook trustee and current collections committee and archives volunteer, was in high school, she recalls students being let out of classes early because of bad weather. It wasn’t a snowy nor’easter. Rather a major storm line threatened the town’s apple crop. The severe winds and hail would mar the yet-to-be harvested fruit. Students along with parents and neighbors and others in town converged on the orchards to help the farmers pick their produce and save the apples that fall. That story, to me, is the essence of Red Hook.

By Nancy Bendiner

Nancy is a longtime volunteer on the Historic Red Hook Collections Committee

When Bill Stagias donated two portraits to Historic Red Hook (HRH), I was moved by the faces of the two people portrayed who stare with solemnity into what was their world. A young woman and man, whose names were handwritten by a now-deceased family member on the glass covering the images: Henry V. Shaw and Mamie Shaw.

Henry and Mamie’s portraits found a place on the wall in the family home. They were honored, yet over time the details of who they were and their lives dimmed with each new generation. According to Mr Stagias, a descendant, family lore suggests they were a married couple.

The Collections Committee at Historic Red Hook often seeks to learn more than initially known about the items that come our way. Sometimes it is possible to discover glimpses of what Red Hook was like at the time an object was created. We go back in time, and the object speaks to us, offering a story about people, places, and long gone eras. Sometimes, new questions are raised whose answers for now remain elusive.

By Claudine and Christopher Klose

Although closed this year, we have welcomed visitors to the Archives Room by appointment, continued our research, and prepared for moving the collections to their new, more accessible home in the StoryStudio.