Local History by Dede Terns-Thorpe - An Election in Hunter

HUNTER - First, a special thank you to historian Larry Tompkins for this interesting read from a 1913 Town of Hunter election booklet.  (110+ years ago).    

Voters were listed by their residence and the party they enrolled in: Democrat, Republican, Blank, Prohibition, Void, Independent, and Socialist. 

Here are a few things to share about the book:

1. When the voter’s residence was listed as Platt Clove, there was no "e" in the name. When Postmaster Thomas Seiffert took office on August 18, 1875, it was called the Platt Clove Post Office, no "e". In recent years, Platt picked up the letter "e.". Interesting.

2. In 1913, women were not listed. It took another seven years for the 19th Amendment to pass, giving women the right to vote.

3. Edgewood, near Lanesville, was still a hamlet in 1913. Postmaster Frank Martine, the first postmaster, kept it open from 1881 until 1915. Once the post office closed, the hamlet lost its identity and it blended into Lanesville. Edgewood now has its name back in its approximate location. (Sidenote: James Rusk was the first postmaster of the nearby and very important, but short-lived, Stony Clove Post Office; 1858-1862.)

4. Elka Park, when written as a residence, did not exist until 1889 when the Elka Club opened. The homes, and businesses, en route to the airport corner (today's intersection near county route 16 and Elka Park Road) was simply considered Tannersville. The area to the east must have been called Platt Clove as the St. Francis deSalle Church (in Elka) is often noted as the Platt Clove Catholic Church. Tidbit: Renwick Dibbell, the first postmaster, was responsible for the 1893 opening of the post office. The name then was Elkapark.Post Office. It changed again to the Elka Park Post Office. That name remains today. 

Thomas J. O’Hara and Charles E. Nichols signed and swore to the accuracy of the Certificate of Copy of Enrollment.