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Orange County, NY History

Orange County, New York

We currently offer the following Orange County, NY material and plan to offer more in the coming weeks and months.  Recently we acquired a half dozen yearbooks of Port Jervis High School and are in the process of offering them as downloads.

 

Orange County material currently available

Formerly on CD-ROM; now available for download:

Minisink and Port Jervis  

Includes Stickney's History of the Minisink Region (1867) (with an all-new index), the PJ HS 1934 yearbook, and the 1922 Port Jervis City Directory. See more information on our Port Jervis and the Minisink country page.

Available for Download:

The Orange County chapter from French's Gazetteer of the State of New York (1860)

Orange County, one of the original counties, already had a lot of history when French compiled his landmark Gazetteer in 1860.  This chapter, in 12+ pages (PDF format) provides most of it, as well as demographics.  $1.75.

 French's Gazetteer -- Orange County

The Descendants of Noah Cross and Rachel Osterhout:  Cross - New York State - 1775 - 1975

This genealogy of a family that originated in Ulster County, originally published by the Cross Family Association, is now available for download.

See the Cross Family page for more information.

 

Historic Wallkill Valley for 1903 (Orange and Ulster Counties, NY, and Sussex County, NJ) 

“Historic Wallkill Valley” was a more or less annual production for several years at the beginning of the 20th century.  Printed on expensive paper, with color on some advertising pages and abundant photos it was clearly an expensive undertaking, and contained many ads for area businesses as well as articles.  The articles in this issue included several about Walden, some material about cemeteries in the area, Wesley Grove (Neelytown), articles about historical incidents and locales, an article about Montgomery, various in memoriam articles, and an article about Mount Beacon with its cog railway.  There is even a review of the previous issue of “Historic Wallkill Valley” – something one does not often see.  150+ pages, PDF format, download now for $5.00.

 Historic Wallkill Valley

 

The Dutchess and Orange Counties chapters in Mather & Brockett's Geographical History of the State of New York (1848)

Only a dozen years before French's Gazetteer, but a world of difference!  Treatment of these counties in the six pages allotted is fairly comprehensive in its treatment of the county's physical geography, somewhat weaker in terms of the history and definitely a little spotty in coverage of the towns that comprised it.  The two counties are grouped together by the authors.  We also include the two page summary of New York State land grants for background in this download.  6++ pages, PDF format, download now for $2.75

 Dutchess and Orange Counties from Mather & Brockett

Port Jervis High School yearbooks

Port Jervis High School 1934 yearbook, "Twin River Valley".  Available now as a download -- click HERE for more information.

 

 Port Jervis High School "Senior Memoirs" for 1938 (138 pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

Port Jervis High School "The Victor" for 1955 (112+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

 Port Jervis High School 1955

 

Port Jervis High School "Victor" for 1956 (118+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

 Port Jervis High School 1956

 

Port Jervis High School "The Venture" for 1957 (114+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

 Port Jervis High School 1957

 

Port Jervis High School "Venture 59" for 1959  (116+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

 Port Jervis NY High School 1959

 

Port Jervis High School "Venture" for 1961  (118+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.00.

 Port Jervis High School yearbook for 1961

 

Port Jervis High School "Senior Archives" for 1962 (120+ pages).  Available now for download for $4.50.

 

 

Port Jervis High School "Archives" for 1963.  Coming soon.

Westbrookville Cemeteries

 

Town of Mamakating, Sullivan County, New York, Collected by Gertrude Barber (1934). 

Westbrookville (erroneously called West Brookville by the compiler; the hamlet was named for the Westbrook family, an old Dutch name found in Ulster County and the Hudson Valley in general) is located very close to the Orange County/Sullivan County line.  Included in this compilation are two cemeteries:  the Westbrookville Cemetery, and another cemetery in the Westbrookville area, which the compiler describes only as an “old, deserted cemetery”.  We do not have specific location date for either cemetery, regretfully.  Presumably there are families from both counties included in this compilation.  Please see our Town of Mamakating page in Sullivan County for more information.

 

The Indians by Abraham G. Bevier (1846)

The full title of this work is “The Indians, or, Narratives of Massacres and Depredations of the Frontier, in Wawasink and its vicinity, during the American Revolution, by a Descendant of the Hugenots.”  It will surprise few that this short volume offends modern sensibilities.  There are very distinct good guys and bad guys in the author’s scheme of things, and while the rare mention of a good deed by a bad guy is here, far more common is the excusal of less-than-good-guy behavior by the ostensible good guys as the sort of thing that, well, good guys just sort of do, and that it is actually moderately humorous that they do it.  It does take some getting used to.  Nonetheless, to have a real sense of how people in the 1840s viewed their cultural history, one needs to understand the mindsets of the people of the 1840, as well as the mindsets of those who lived before them who passed along the facts and legends of their own forbears. 

As well as views of the Indians that would be unpopular with most today, the author adds some material on treatment of the Tories after the Revolutionary War.  While some may be encouraged that the treatment of Tories was not much more humane than treatment of the Indians had been, the author’s prognostication that the ill feeling toward Tories would have completely faded away in a few years from the time he wrote the book, the Publisher recalls his own grandfather, born in Neversink, NY in 1872, referring to a neighborhood in Neversink as a “nest of Tories” as late as the early 1950s.  Predjudice indeed suffers a long and difficult death.  See our Ulster County page for more information.

 

 

Orange County was one of the original counties of New York State.  In 1798, Rockland County was taken from it.  You may wish to check our Rockland County page for localities that were involved in the transfer.

 

We offer a large number of New York State titles and are continuing to accumulate more.  CLICK HERE to return to our New York State page

 

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