Oak Hill and Vicinity Column by Historian Mary Lou Nahas - Hometown Heroes Banner Program

Those serving in WWII were noted on an Honor Roll sign

Stanton Winnie’s father served in WWI

By WWII women were enlisting in the military.  Ellen Kellum Hulbert grew up in Oak Hill and returned after her service to marry and raise her family here.

The Town of Durham is proud to announce the start of the Hometown Heroes Banner program recognizing service men and women from Durham who have served or are serving our country in a branch of the military.

The program is made possible by ARPA funds which paid the startup costs.  It will begin this spring.  Janet Partridge, Town Clerk, and Scott Hulbert, councilman, will oversee the program.

The banners, which will be 24” wide and 48” long and in full color, will each honor a specific Durham Service man or woman and will include their picture, rank, era of service, years of service, branch of military and sponsor’s name.  Banners will be displayed on poles throughout the hamlets in the Town of Durham from May through November of each year.

To be eligible, an honoree must have been born in the Town of Durham or have lived in the Town. Honorees must have served in the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard).

Family members or loved ones may sponsor a banner.  The cost of each banner is $225. A 4 x 6 or larger photo of the veteran needs to be submitted with the application.  Proof of service in the United States Armed Forces must be provided.  The Town of Durham will be the owner of the banners, will maintain custodianship of them, and ensure they are hung each year.

Businesses may sponsor a banner by contacting the Durham Town Clerk by email, townclerk@durhamny.com or by calling 518-239-6122 ext. 1.

Deadline for submission of the completed form, proof of service, photo and payment is March 15.  There will be no exceptions.

Mike Hayes in his book Oak Hill Voices from an American Hamlet noted that ”starting with the Revolutionary War, residents of Oak Hill have served in every military conflict in the history of the United States.  The strongest representation was in World War II when 28 men and women of Oak Hill were in uniform.  All but one of them lived through their term of enlistment.”  If we listed those from other hamlets the numbers would be grater. 

Many of the first residents in the Town of Durham were Revolutionary War Soldiers.  Every early account seems to note that fact.  For the Bicentennial a committee developed a list of the Revolutionary War Soldiers and where they were buried in Durham Township.

Name Capt. John Newell     West Durham

Capt. Aaron Thorpe Oak Hill (upper)

Dr. William Cook Oak Hill (lower)

James Utter Saybrook Hill

Eliakim Stannard Goff (Wright Street)

George Wright Brunos’ (Wright Street)

David Francis Stone Bridge

Capt. Asahel Jones Durso’s

Thomas Smith Strong Road

Augustus Pratt             Segelman’s (Pratt Road)

Selah Strong Union Cemetery

Daniel Kirtland Union Cemetery

Obed Hervey Hervey Street

Abiel Baldwin Hayward Rivenburg’s’

Jarius Chittenden Hayward Rivenburg’s’

John Cleveland Stone Bridge

Capt. Daniel Cornwall Cornwallville

George Flower Oak Hill (upper)

John Hull Meeting House Hill 

Capt. John Cowles Meeting House Hill

To tell the stories of all the soldiers would take much more than a newspaper article.  I hesitate to mention any of them because I cannot write the story of all of them.  The banners will help tell the story and, in the future, I hope others will want to publish such a book or at least find a way to tell their stories.  Today I’ll share a few stories from each time period.  

Capt. Dan Cornwall was born in Connecticut about the year 1753.  He came to Cornwallsville in 1788. His first log house he built some 30 or 40 rods S.W. of the present house.    It is thought to on a site probably just west of the center of the Village:  In the Shadow of the Catskills by Karen R. Rivers we learn that he experienced some trouble in getting good title to his land, being obliged to pay for it twice over, before his right was undisputed. When his family reached their new home, they were far away "out west" to the friends they left behind. But they brought their faith and their religious principles with them. He and his wife Rachel were both members of the Congregational Church in Connecticut, and very soon after the formation of the Presbyterian Church in Durham, they both united by letter on the 13th of January, 1793.  He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and commanded a company of Connecticut volunteers, and drew a pension as long as he lived.  When he became old and venerable, he was often appointed Moderator at the annual town meetings. He died on Christmas Eve 1843, and, his wife died May 8, 1855, nearly one hundred years old. They had six children

George Flower, another soldier in the Revolutionary War, emigrated from New Hartford, CT to Oak Hill where he owned a wool-carding mill connected with a dye house and fulling mill.  George Sr. had ten children    He died in 1827 aged 86.  His oldest son Abner was town supervisor and succeeded his father in business.  Jervis, another son, was an intellectual man and a great musician and good farmer. Ambrose, another son, occupied his father’s homestead and possessed remarkable skill in playing the flute, the fife, and the clarinet.  Daughters of George Sr were Mrs. Roxie Fordham, Miss Maria Flowers, and Mrs. Lucinda Henderson.  They were in their eighties in 1884 and were “much respected.” A descendant, Roswell Pettibone Flower became governor of New York and a wealthy man.   I feel close to them because they owned the property where I now live.

In May 1970, Mrs. Harry Ketcham a member of the Meeting House Hill Chapter of the daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), took on the project of refurbishing of that cemetery. In the fall of 1973, Ken Mabey, head of the Social Studies Department at the Greenville school, volunteered to work with her.  He was joined by three other teachers, Vincent Seeley, Ivan Sargant and William Ransom.  Fourteen teen-age boys worked including Bruno Dobies, Harold Estep, Robert Lampman, and Steven Lewis.  Also, Steve Dynsink, Mark Jardine, Kevin Ashely, Martin Sargant, John Armstrong, Brian Schwartz, Barry Rasmussen, Alan Beechert, Thomas Mabey and Dennis VanderBeck. 

In 1981 there was a dedication of a bronze marker in Memory of Private John Hull, Continental Line, Revolutionary War.  Born in Durham, CT Nov. 20-died in Durham, NY Oct 29,1832.    A stone for Capt. John Cowles was also honored.

In May, 1861, Reverend Henry H. Bates entered military service at Glens Falls with an idealistic hope of the good the Civil War would do, but the horrors of battle and his own experiences broke his spirit.  He survived the conflict and came to Oak Hill to recuperate.  When news reached Oak Hill that the war had ended, legend has it that he rang the church bell to spread the news.  In January 1868 he died in Oak Hill where he was minister of St. Paul’s Church.

During the Civil War, Nathan Augustus from Oak Hill became an infantryman in Co K 120th NY Volunteers.  He was wounded at Gettysburg, survived his wound and was present at Appomattox Courthouse when Lee surrendered to Grant.  In 1865 he returned to Oak Hill where he went to work at an iron foundry as a molder.  He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery

Leslie Wade (1893-1974) served in WWI.  He was a life-long resident of Oak Hill. He played football, married a local girl, owned a house across from his parent’s home, had one son, worked primarily as a painter and wall paperer often with Alfred Tripp Burnett, had many friends in Oak Hill and Vicinity, was a poet, planted a garden, cooked, was a talented photographer. He lived life on his own terms.

His son Leslie Wade Jr. served in WWII.

Carl Ratch was born in Cornwallville, the son of Helene and Otto Ratsch.  He attended grade school in Durham Center and graduated from Greenville High in the class of 1930.  He was the Editor in Chief of the Greenville Gargoyle, the paper of Greenville Free Academy that year. After graduation, he gained a year of business experience with the Hazel Atlas Glass Co, living on 27th Street in Long Island City and riding the “L” to work in NYC.   Ratsch then returned to the Catskills to start in a small way, as he wrote, “a progressively growing printing business that has formed the foundation for the Big Acorn Press.  The print-shop through its various stages of growth has been variously known as the Butterfly Press, The Tillson Rural Press (Ulster County), and the Rural Press, East Durham.  Several months before the war, Carl purchased The Prattsville News, only to discontinue it in February 1942, to enlist in the Army”.
He saw service in the Pacific Area during World War II as an Operations Sergeant in the famous 77th Division and was awarded a Bronze Star for acts of bravery.  While away Carl always dreamed of coming home to live and build his business.  He regularly wrote letters home as well as stories, some of which he incorporated into his pamphlet Return to the Catskills: “Interesting facts of Geography, History, Legends, Nature and Seasons in the Catskill Mts.  Copyright 1946.  By Carl Ratsch, Veteran of World War II.  Published by Big Acorn Press, Oak Hill, NY, selling for 25 cents a copy.”  [I paid $15 for my copy a few years ago.]

According to Mike Hayes in Oak Hill:  Voices from an American Hamlet, “When Carl got home, he and Ernest Millet, his sister Helena’s husband, built the Big Acorn Press just as Carl had imagined

In ads Carl frequently wrote about himself and his business: Carl named one column “The Kernel of News from Oak Hill and Vicinity” in which he reported daily happenings of the local residents:     - Francis Birchett, Sheldon Ives, and Carl Ratsch had a ride Sunday afternoon in Carl’s Model “T”.  A bumpy ride was had by all.  

Eugene Kellen told Hayes he remembers Carl when he was Sunday School teacher at the Methodist Church. “We had a little group Carl organized called the Acorn Boys.  He like to name everything he did with an Acorn in it.

Carl died in 1990 and is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery.  The building which housed his press is private home, currently for sale.

By WWII women were enlisting in the military. One of them was Helen Kellum Hulbert who grew up in Oak Hill, returned after her military service, and raised her family here.  Many of her relatives still live in the area.

Elizabeth DeWitt who grew up in Oak Hill enlisted in the Army during WWII, although her ancestor Lucas DeWitt who was an original settler of Oak Hill, once called DeWittsburg, did not serve his country in that way.

East Durham has had its share of Hometown Heroes: to name only a few Pat Kellegher, Neil Kellegher, Colin Kelly, Dermot Gavin, Rusty Sala

Many Durham Residents saw service during Viet Nam:  Doug Thompsen was one. Tim Leahy Sr., from Oak Hill, was awarded a Purple Heart for his service. Bill Carr, former town supervisor, and councilman Nick Nahas served in the Military during the Viet Nam.  The lists of those who served more recently gets longer:

Patrick King, Gene Every, Rob Armstrong, Larry Armstrong and Chris Stegner all served in the navy.  Chris just retired after 20 years.

Council Person Joan Breslin was in the Army from 1985 to 1993.  Her son Rudy also served until last year.  Bill Hurd  from Oak Hill served in the Army, Tim Leahy Jr. in the Marine Corps.

The sons of Joey Van Holsteyn, highway superintenden,t plan a career in the military; one son just finished basic training and the other plans to enter the military next year when he graduates from high school.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it calls to our attention all of those over the years who have been and continue to be Hometown Heroes.  When the banners start to go up next year, think of all who have served.  Contact Janet Patridge with questions about participating in the Hometown Heroes Banner Program.