One hundred-fifty years ago, on April 9, General Lee signed a surrender calling for the cessation of hostilities in the War Between the States (aka the Civil War). It’s only appropriate, therefore, that this issue of the Quarterly start off with a tribute on this sesquicentennial event.

The majority of the issue then has a centennial tribute to the village of Gilboa. In 1915, the fate of Gilboa was decided, and construction started in the village itself in 1917. Over the next several issues, we will conduct “walking tours” through the village at that time. In this issue, we will start just upstream of the site of the projected dam and look at each of the retail businesses along Main Street. There we will meet “The Business Men” eulogized in the Gilboa Monitor, 3/2/1916: The village of Gilboa is a thriving little town with more business places than a great big town. Lewis Brothers, feed dealers; and Davis & Palmer, Wyckoff, Stryker and Case who all keep stores as other merchants do; Clark, the hardware man, and Dave, the tinner too; Siebel, the barber, and Pausley, barber number two; Dunham of the Gilboa House and Wyckoff, the garage man who sells the Lizzies. Whew!  The blacksmiths Porn and Scutt who hammer on the shoes; Fuller of The Monitor, who circulates the news; Clapper, the jewelryman who will make your old watch as good as new; and Baker and Mackey who run the routes number one and two; Van Loan the butcher whose market is brand new; and Aldrich the liveryman who gives you a ride for a dollar bill or two; Doctor Persons or Billings will surely cure you; and Undertaker Brown will give you your last due.     J.O.D.

You might wonder what these people do on a Friday night: Lee Hudson gives us more information on the cinema at that time: The Hippodrome had three shows per week in Gilboa and then travelled to Stamford and Jefferson for additional seating. These movies introduced the area to names like Lionel Barrymore, W. S. Hart, Mary Pickford, Theda Bara, and Cecil B. DeMille; to movies like The Virginian, Anna Karenina, The Scarecrow of Oz; and in a 2-3 hour set with a feature and shorts on reels cranked by hand.

PLEASE LOOK CAREFULLY at the projected Honor Roll for Gilboa. This version is arranged alphabetically so you can easily check the inclusion of friends and family.

The Gilboa Monitors are also starting to be available in issue formats so that you can read the paper just like our forebears did. <<https://northerncatskillshistory.com/GilboaMonitor/>>

Gerry