An event is being planned in Fonda on Saturday, August 27, 2022 to mark the 250th anniversary of the creation of Tryon County, the British colonial name for what became Montgomery County.
“Who Do You Think You Are?” visits Fonda and Johnstown
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
A national family history television show recently focused on a celebrity’s ancestors in the Mohawk Valley.
Actor Nick Offerman and a production crew from NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” recorded interviews at sites in the Albany area and the Old Courthouse in Fonda, home to Montgomery County’s history and genealogical collections, and the Johnstown Public Library, in the city founded by British colonial leader Sir William Johnson.
Offerman is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the sitcom “Parks and Recreation.” Researchers traced his roots to a Mohawk Valley couple, Bartholomew and Eva Pickard and their grandson, Joseph Mabee.
Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said that members of the Mohawk nation complained about Eva Pickard, “Their complaint was that she owned a tavern around the area we know today as Indian Castle which is actually in Herkimer County. They complained that she would get them drunk and have them sign away their land.”
Farquhar said there are references to this issue in documents in the Sir William Johnson papers, copies of which are at the Johnstown library. Pickard apparently was removed from her land.
Years later her grandson Joseph Mabee was able to recover a lot of that land in return for his military service with the rebels in the Revolutionary War.
By then Sir William Johnson was deceased. His family and many Mohawks and others loyal to the British crown had left the Mohawk Valley.
At the end of the TV show Offerman and relatives are seen standing on the land in question, located in the Herkimer County town of Danube west of Minden in Montgomery County.
Neither Farquhar nor Erica Wing of the Johnstown library was interviewed on camera. Farquhar, who has been with the county history department for 26 years, said, “I was OK with that because I was very nervous thinking about whether I would be on camera A lot of people were hoping the local historians would be filmed as well. I think the historians they had on did a fantastic job relating what was going on at that time.”
Offerman and history professor Tim Shannon of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania discussed Offerman’s ancestry on the TV show in an interview filmed in Fonda.
Shannon said, “(Offerman) seemed very much interested in learning about the Mohawks and their relations with the colonists there. I was glad to have the occasion to visit the Montgomery County Department of History and Archives and appreciated the staff's willingness to accommodate the film shoot.”
Originally the TV show was to start production in March 2020 but the work was postponed by the pandemic. Production actually began in September, 2021.
Farquhar credits county supervisors with foresight for creating the Department of History and Archives in 1934. There was Depression-era federal funding available to have the staff then document area history.
The staff would get copies of church and cemetery records from across the state because at one time Montgomery County and its predecessor Tryon County encompassed territory west of Schenectady to Central New York, north to Canada and south to Pennsylvania.
Farquhar said over 30 counties can trace their origins back to Montgomery and Tryon County. “That’s why genealogists and local history researchers come here to do research.”
An event is being planned in Fonda on Saturday, August 27, to mark the 250th anniversary of the creation of Tryon County, the British colonial name for what became Montgomery County.
That day there will be historical tours of the area, artisan and militia reenactors and a new promotional video for the Department of History and Archives.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette "The Class of 44"
Posted next weekend on-line Bob Cudmore dot com
Monday, August 8, 2022- The story behind the story podcast- Who Do You Think You Are? comes to Fonda.
Tuesday, August 9, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Homeless artist drawn to country homes
Wednesday, August 10, 2022-From the Archives-March 26, 2021-Episode 363-How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized. The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.
Thursday, August 11, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—Former Mayor was friends with FDR .
August 12, 2022-Episode 435-Susanne Dunlap discusses her book The Portraitist, a novel based on the life of 18th century French artist Adélaïde Labilleo-Guiard whose life went on amid the changes and terror of the French Revolution.
Take Amtrak to the Great New York State Fair
https://www.amtrak.com/ny-state-fair
The Great New York State Fair is coming. Between August 24 – September 5, 2022 skip traffic and take Amtrak to the largest fair in the state, and arrive steps away from the fun at our special New York State Fairgrounds station stop (Station code NYF). The fair is located just west of the stop in Syracuse, NY, so you don't have to wait to enjoy a day of family fun.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 7, 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO
8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 8 PM EDT MONDAY...
* WHAT...Heat index values in the middle 90s to lower 100s.
* WHERE...In New York, the Capital District, Mid Hudson Valley,
Mohawk Valley, central and southern Taconics, and Glens Falls
Saratoga Region. In Connecticut, Litchfield County. In
Massachusetts, southern Berkshire County.
* WHEN...For the first Heat Advisory, from 11 AM this morning to
8 PM EDT this evening. For the second Heat Advisory, from 11
AM to 8 PM EDT Monday.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat
illnesses to occur.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out
of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles
under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When
possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or
evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat
stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when
possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent
rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone
overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 7, 2022
Daily Gazette
Narrated tour of Schenectady’s Vale Cemetery to be offered Sunday
SCHENECTADY — When thinking of history in the Capital Region, one probably thinks of the Saratoga Battlegrounds, Saratoga Race Course…
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Amsterdam Recorder
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