Local History with Dede Terns-Thorpe - Haines Tribute

This information was written by Nancy Haines McGowan. On September 10, 2025, the Haines family will pay tribute to the Town of Hunter's earliest history. The plaques and signage will be placed near the headstones of those historical citizens.

Evergreen Cemetery Tannersville, New York

Today we are gathered to recognize and pay tribute to the earliest settlers of today's Town of Hunter, many of whom are buried here at Evergreen. The oldest known internment here dates back to 1806.

Nearby once stood the First Methodist Episcopal Church (Union Society), a beacon of faith and community.

Also nearby is Dibbles Dam, where the Olmstead Settlement flourished. There, in 1794, the first gristmill began turning, soon accompanied by a tannery. These were essential lifeline 

that sustained the hardy pioneers in the remote wilderness. Life in the early 1800s Catskills was tremendously challenging. Winters were brutally cold with heavy snow and piercing winds, with unpredictable summer droughts. Wolves and mountain lions prowled the thick forests.

Pioneers, among them Samuel, Elisha, and John Haines, and Gershom Griffen, who arrived around 1780, labored to establish their own farms in dense forests. The primitive paths were clogged with stumps and logs. Early settlers depended on bob-sleds pulled by oxen as time went on.

The first town of Hunter meeting occurred at Daniel Bloomers' home in 1813 at which Daniel Bloomer and Woster Perkins were presiding justices. Daniel became the first Town of Hunter Supervisor.

In the 1830's, the Bloomer family along with many others headed west. His young son, Edward is buried here at Evergreen Cemetery, a small marker on his grave.

Among those interred here at Evergreen Cemetery are individuals who served as early Assessors, Poor Masters, Fence Viewers and Commissioners in the Town of Hunter - John Wilson, Duncan McGregor, John Wilson, Samuel Haines and others, shaping the Town's earliest civic life.

The determination of the earliest settlers, under the harshest of conditions resonates through the generations. We honor them still as founders of a community born of courage, faith, and perseverance.

Thanks for reading. Have a happy and safe Autumn.

Take care,

Dede Terns-Thorpe/Hunterhistorian@gmail.com