In the past I have written about the history of the town in about twenty year chunks. This time I will focus on just 1930-1940. I will be writing about local events and the lives of interesting and important local citizens, as usual. But the decade was marked by the effects of the world-wide Great Depression on everyone. It seems like the outer world impinged more and more on our little town. And the next decade, 1940-1950, needs to be dealt with separately as it was dominated by World War II.
My sources of information remain as before: the U.S. censuses, this time of 1930 and 1940; newspaper articles, primarily in the Troy “Daily Times”, “Times”, and “Times Record;” and town board minutes. This time there are no appropriate county directories, no state census, no large contemporary maps, no surviving issues of the Schaghticoke “Sun,” the local paper. At least the town board minutes are much more expansive than in the past, and the newspapers often had a social column specifically about a section of town: Schaghticoke, Hemstreet Park, Pleasantdale, or Lansingburgh (Speigletown). Plus obituaries sometimes include more information than in the past.
As the decade of the 1930’s began, several earlier themes in town history were repeating or expanding, as seen in the town records: the people of Pleasantdale continued to complain about the horrid condition of River Road and citizens of Hemstreet Park complained about the poor condition of the bridge to Mechanicville. The condition of other bridges continued to be of concern: New York State was thinking about building a new bridge across the Hoosic River at the village of Schaghticoke, and did build one across the river at Valley Falls. The electrical grid continued to expand: New York Power and Light built a new 110,000 volt transmission line through the town. Hemstreet Park and Pleasantdale each worked to establish fire departments. Roads, bridges, and the expansion of electricity and public services had all been common topics for the town board for years.
While the town of Schaghticoke had lost population from 1910-1920- going from 2,780 people to 2,177, it began to grow again thereafter. The population grew to 3,006 by 1930 and 3,246 by 1940. I will posit that while the village of Schaghticoke continued to shrink, the suburban areas of Hemstreet Park, Pleasantdale, and Speigletown grew.
In the past Schaghticoke had grown from immigration. That was not true anymore. The 1930 US census listed just a few people who had immigrated to the U.S. after 1920. One large household had come from Germany just after World War I. Chris Ehmler and his wife Anna Breiholz were listed as the owners of a $100,000 farm on Master Street. This has to be the current St. Croix Farm. I think they must have been the managers, as in the 1925 NY Census, the couple lived nearby, then they moved to North Hoosick, where they farmed for the rest of their lives. Living with them on that 1930 census were daughters Elsie and Anna, nephew Carl, Anna’s parents Yohanes and Arline Breiholz, and several hired men, all recently arrived from Germany. Max Koch told me (2023) that Chris Ehmler sponsored several German immigrants who came to the area after him, including his father, Max Koch, and his uncle William Ort. The Ehmlers bought what had been the Walter Wood farm in Hoosick.
As the 1920’s began, a number of young men in town had had potentially life-altering experiences. They were the World War I veterans. Of course they had returned from their service by 1920, but now many had married and were raising families. All of them had had the experience of leaving home going through training, and serving in the military from about 1917-1919. A few had been abroad and fought in vicious battles. I will mention several vets as I profile each section of town. I have written biographies of all those that I have been able to discover with a connection to Schaghticoke
Schaghticoke continued to have a vanishingly small number of Black residents. There was one black family living in the northern section of town in 1930. Lester Hoag Wicks, 34, worked on the farm of his neighbor Jacob Pratt. He and his wife Mary, 21, had two children: Dennis, 6 and Lester, Jr., 3. Mary and Dennis were both born in West Virginia, indicating that Lester had done some traveling, or she had had an earlier husband. Lester, Sr. was born in Easton, the son of Waldo and Mary Wicks. Waldo was a wagon painter and Mary a laundress. He and Mary had at least six children. His local birth explains how Lester ended up with a very local middle name.
Though Lester continued to work for Jacob Pratt through at least 1942, he and his family moved to Mechanicville, where he registered for the World War II draft. Lester was a small man, just 5 feet tall and 115 pounds as of 1942, and he wore glasses. Mary died in 1956, Lester in 1979. They are buried in Hudson View Cemetery in Mechanicville.
One mixed race couple lived in Schaghticoke as of 1930. The 1930 US Census listed Michael Drumm, 58 and wife Etta, living on Verbeck Avenue. Michael was Joseph Michael Drumm (1871-1940), variously listed in the census as having been born in Germany or Russia-Poland. Etta was Etta Newcomb (1866-1946), born in Pittstown, daughter of Eliphalet and Charlotte Newcomb. Eliphalet, born about 1827, was listed as either black or mulatto in the census through the years. His wife Charlotte, born about 1842, was always listed as white. In the 1870 US Census for Pittstown, the couple had five children, all listed as mulatto, including Etta, aged 2.
Michael and Etta married about 1892. The 1900 US Census for Pittstown listed Etta as black, but their four children were listed as white. Her father Eliphalet lived with the family. The 1905 NY Census listed Etta and her children as black. They ended up having six daughters. In the 1910, 1915, 1920, 1925, and 1930 censuses, the whole family was listed as white. In the final US Census in which they appear, the 1940 US Census, Etta is again listed as “negro.” It would be fascinating to know how Michael and Etta viewed themselves, and how their neighbors viewed them and their children.
Michael died in 1940 and Etta in 1946. They are buried in the Millertown Cemetery in Pittstown. Etta’s birth year is given as 1870 on her tombstone.
Tombstone of Joseph Drumm and Etta Newcomb at Millertown Cemetery
Of course a major influence on the town and its people during the whole decade was the Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of October 1929. Republican Herbert Hoover was President until January 1933. Though there was economic devastation in the country, along with lots of unrest, there was little governmental action to alleviate any of it. This was just not the President Hoover’s philosophy. I have found it very difficult to figure out exactly how people in town were affected by the economic upheaval from 1930-1932. Sadly, there are not issues available of the local newspaper, the Schaghticoke “Sun.” I have read the Troy “Times” and “Times Record” and the town board minutes. The 1930 US Census was taken too early to show any increase in unemployment, but the 1940 US Census gave extensive information about people out-of-work, if they were seeking work, if they were working in one of the government relief programs, etc. I will begin with the actions of the Schaghticoke Town Board during the period, both connected to the Depression and otherwise.
Walter Raymond Lyons was elected supervisor of the town of Schaghticoke in the fall of 1929. He served from 1930-1933. He was a life-long Democrat. I am not sure why a Democrat was elected in a normally Republican town in fall 1929. The election was just a few days after the stock market crash, before anyone could have predicted its outcome.
Supervisor Walter Lyons was born in Pittstown in 1891, the son of farmers Richard Lyons and Sarah Flatley Lyons. The Lyons had moved to Schaghticoke by 1905. The 1915 NY Census listed Richard, 50; Sarah, 48; Walter, 24; and his sister Monica, 21. Walter had already been elected a Justice of the Peace/town board member in 1914, when Job Doty was the Democratic supervisor of the town.
Walter married Marguerite Cunningham in 1917. They had one child, son Walter Raymond Lyons, Jr., in 1922. Walter became a dairy farmer, specializing in Guernseys. At the 1928 Schaghticoke Fair, he won 18 premiums for his cattle, second in number of premiums to Dr. George Little, also of Schaghticoke. His farm was on Pinewoods Road in Melrose. When Walter became Supervisor, his fellow town officials were all Republicans. In 1931, Democrat Ralph Baucus was elected Town Clerk over John Richards, publisher of the “Schaghticoke Sun”, and Democrat Herbert Baucus over H.B. Simons as Assessor. The town board minutes show that Walter and the Justices of the Peace, who made up the Town Board, agreed on almost all issues, despite party differences. Justices did act in a judicial capacity, but also served as Town Board members.
At the time, Rensselaer County had a County Board of Supervisors, like Washington and Saratoga Counties do now, with each town supervisor representing his town. Walter was appointed to head a special committee of the board which was to receive suggestions to improve the administration of highway projects. New York State appropriated money for road building and improvement to each county, which had to decide how to spend it. Walter fought hard to get money to improve the whole length of River Road, a perennial problem. He succeeded, but New York State came in and vetoed all but money for the length from Pleasantdale to the Koolkill, at today’s Irish Road. He also advocated for a law which would have New York pave and maintain all farm-to-market roads in the state. This would provide a real relief to farmers. New York had already built a mile of experimental paved road in the town and it worked well.
Walter was defeated in the 1933 election by Leroy Nible, “popular Melrose garageman”, 994 to 791. The other Democrats were defeated too. This was despite a pre-election meeting with 200 people, the “largest Democratic caucus in the history of the town.” (Troy Times Oct 3, 1933) Walter continued his involvement in county Democratic politics for the rest of his life. He had also been a member of the Rensselaer County Civil Works Administration- passing out federal employment relief money. At the end of 1934, the supervision of the administration of this money- called TERA- Temporary Emergency Relief Administration- passed to a citizens’ committee. Walter was not considered eligible to serve as he was so political.
He was named a member of the county Board of Equalization in summer 1935. He served on this board, off and on, for many years. In 1958 there was a big disagreement about his re-appointment. Other Democrats charged that “his sympathies have not been with his party” and they wanted a different Democrat appointed. Walter also served for many years as a Melrose fire commissioner.
Meanwhile, Walter was involved with his fellow dairy farmers. In 1939 a new Troy Milk Producers Cooperative was formed. The following year Walter was elected a director. He was also involved with a similar group, the Hudson Mohawk Bargaining Agency, which negotiated with the state over milk prices during World War II.
Walter and wife Marguerite were very involved with the local grange in Melrose, and were faithful parishioners at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church. Marguerite died in 1957 and Walter in 1966. He left money for the education of his grandson, Walter III, who lived in California, and to the church. I do not know where they were buried and am surprised it was not in St. John’s Cemetery, given his generous donation to the church in his will.
So returning to Walter and the town board. For the most part, the men all got along well, voting the same way on issues. The board met in the rooms of the Charles Waldron American Legion post in the village. As 1930 began, the board asked engineer Thomas Lawson to inspect all of the bridges in the town. By May, he had come up with a list of needed repairs and the town solicited bids for their repair. The bids, which ranged from $5000 to $8,500, were referred to him for inspection. The board voted to accept the low bid, with the exception of Supervisor Lyons. The town board also met with the board of the town of Pittstown to discuss repair of the bridge from Johnsonville to Schaghticoke across the Hoosic River.
Engineer Thomas Lawson, born in West Virginia in 1873, had graduated from RPI in 1898 and moved right into the faculty, rising to be head of the department of Civil Engineering. He married Mary Lawrence in 1899. They lived in Troy, where Thomas served on the city’s Harbor and Dock Commission. It would be interesting to know if he “moonlighted” in any other communities as a bridge inspector.
Garnett Baltimore, 1st Black graduate of R.P.I.
Interestingly, the town, represented by highway superintendent Emlen Sherman, hired a different R.P.I. engineer to survey new streets in Pleasantdale several times in the 1930’s. He was Garnett D. Baltimore, the first Black graduate of RPI. Mr Baltimore (1859-1946) graduated from RPI in 1881. He worked on major canal projects early in his career. Then he became the City Engineer for parks in Troy, where he designed Prospect Park. He also laid out housing developments in the city of Troy. It seems as though a small project like laying out a couple of streets in Pleasantdale would have been sort of a retirement job for him.
The town board minutes were dominated by discussion of roads and the highway department. In 1930, the highway superintendent, Emlen Sherman, got a salary of $7 per day. Common laborers got 45 cents per hour. The men driving 1 ½ ton trucks got $4.50 per day; the man driving the Insley Gas Shovel would get from $6 to 7 per day, depending on his ability. A day was defined as eight hours, and the drivers were to oil and take care of their trucks on their own time. There were 42 road districts in the town- clearly a holdover from the early days when one man living in each district was put in charge of maintaining roads there. The total appropriation for roads was divided among the districts. The town supervisor himself was paid a set percentage for administering the various funds the town controlled, for example 1% of the amount of the General Fund. In 1933, probably as a result of the Depression, Supervisor Lyons took a 10% pay cut, and was now paid $250 for handling the General Fund, $148 for handling the School Fund, etc.
Throughout 1931-1933 the town continued to buy new trucks for the highway department: in May 1931 an International Harvester truck for $4285, in August, a Model E Riddel Grader for $2800, in March 1932, two International 3-ton trucks at $4000 each, and in March 1933, a 1 ½ ton International truck for $685.
The first mention in the town board minutes of the economic woes of the Great Depression was in January 1932, when Derrick Lohnes was appointed welfare officer. Derrick Lohnes (1881-1942) was born in Pittstown, the son of John and Sarah Lohnes. John worked at the Powder Mill. As of the 1900 US census for Pittstown, Derrick worked at the Thompson Mill as a starcher. He married Mary Heaney in New Jersey in 1901. They had one son, John D. Derrick continued at the mill until at least 1920, though he and Mary moved to the part of the village of Valley Falls that is in the town of Schaghticoke. The 1930 US Census listed him as a decorator of private homes, a real change in occupation, and the 1940 US Census as a painter.
Meanwhile, Derrick was active in the Odd Fellows and Masons. Mary was active in the Methodist Church. Derrick was appointed a town constable in 1925. By 1929 he was a tax collector for the town of Schaghticoke, so he was already working for the town when named Welfare Officer. He also served on the village board of Valley Falls. I would imagine that he welcomed the town job during a time when he may have had less work as a decorator. He died at home in 1942, Mary in 1954. His obituary described him as a “contract painter and paper hanger.” They are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933
On March 14, 1932, Walter Robinson, chairman of the Rensselaer County Relief Fund briefed the Schaghticoke Town board about relief work in the county. This was well before the federal government had taken any relief action, which only began after the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President in March 1933. So where did the money come from? Well, Roosevelt was the Governor of New York beginning in January 1931, before he was elected President. At once he began to explore how government could help those suffering economically. He said that people were asking why “Government cannot and should not act to protect its citizens from disaster.” He said, “the serious unemployment situation…has brought to our attention….the need for some sort of relief to protect those men and women who are willing to work but who through no fault of their own cannot find unemployment.” He was not in favor of what was called “the dole”, or “direct relief”, but rather some sort of work program. “American labor seeks no charity, but only a chance to work for its living.”
Harry Hopkins
In October 1931 the NYS Legislature passed an act creating the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), appropriating $20 million to start. The executive director of the program was Harry Hopkins, who would go on to head similar agencies for Roosevelt after he became President. It would begin with direct relief, but move on to work relief as soon as possible. The work relief jobs were supposed to be “socially useful”, not duplicate normal municipal work nor interfere with private industry. Workers had to pass a means test, and would be paid the prevailing wages in cash. (quotes from “The NYS Temporary Emergency Relief Administration” by June Hopkins, Armstrong Atlantic State University)
So at the March 1932 Schaghticoke Town Board meeting, the board appropriated $5,000 for relief work, which it said would be administered by the county work relief bureau. The money was to come from existing appropriations: $1500 from the snow and miscellaneous fund, $500 from the bridge fund, $1000 from the general town fund, and $2000 from the general highway fund. Just three days later, the board met again to rescind that appropriation, which was apparently illegal. Perhaps this was because taxes were collected separately for the different funds, and were meant to be spent in specific ways. The money was instead to come totally from the General Fund, and would later be reimbursed. Welfare Officer Derrick Lohnes received hundreds of dollars to distribute each month. So perhaps the county was administering the money, but it was distributed through the local person. This is clear evidence that citizens of the town were suffering. From what I can tell, the town had to pay the county a pro- rated amount to administer the program, but was reimbursed for the relief money itself by the county, with state funds.
The town had always tried to take care of the destitute through its history, but the amount spent was clearly growing. The Troy “Daily Times” noted on March 15, 1932 that in February welfare relief had cost the town $750, compared to the usual amount of less than $200. A county welfare representative would be at the Pleasantdale school and the Hemstreet Park firehouse to interview those seeking relief, and a state representative at the town’s office in the village of Schaghticoke.
Relief work, as opposed to just relief payments, began when spring 1932 arrived. On April 22 the board met in special session to discuss the work the men were doing. It was decided that some would be put to work cutting brush.
In May 1932 the board transferred $650 more into an emergency relief fund, and in August $100 into a fund for Veterans’ relief, which would be under the control of the commander of the American Legion, who would have to submit vouchers. In November, Derrick Lohnes submitted $662.69 in bills, and Allen Herrick, commander of the Legion, submitted $27.76. In January, Herrick submitted almost $60 more- so his fund was being quickly depleted.
County official Walter Robinson returned for a board meeting in March 1933. The board decided that the town highway superintendent Emlen Sherman would be in charge of road work done with relief workers, and Derrick Lohnes in charge of the number of days each man would work, at 35 cents per hour. Regular town employees received 40 cents per hour, with truck drivers receiving more, depending on which truck they drove. Apparently the rate was raised to 40 cents for the relief workers and 50 cents for the town workers, as in December, the town board petitioned that the relief workers receive the higher amount. Monthly appropriations to Lohnes and Herrick continued through the year.
In May 1933, the federal government under the new Roosevelt administration established the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which began by granting $500 million to the states, replacing TERA. The town slipped up in the relief paper work, and $1200 which was refunded to the town by NYS under the Temporary Emergency Relief Act was misspent on highway work. The town had to borrow the money to spend it properly, along with $1000 more for emergency relief in October. In November, the town reimbursed $276 to the county for administration of relief work to Walter Robinson, its pro rata share of the total of $2035 for the whole county. It also borrowed more money, $4000, in anticipation of taxes to be collected.
The Troy “Daily Times” noted on October 31, 1933 that “relief workers were converting hitherto untaxable land to building lots” by constructing a trunk sewer line “from the Hudson River east across the Schaghticoke Road to the marsh lands north of Oil Mill Hill”, creating 500 new building lots. This would be in the city of Troy, but workers could have come from Schaghticoke as well.
The Civil Works Administration was the federal agency in charge in 1933-1934. Its major purpose was to get the many unemployed nationwide through a tough winter. In January 1934, the CWA employed more than 4 million workers nationwide. (The Great Depression, Robert McElvaine) The program ended quickly though, riddled with monetary abuses, but the Federal Emergency Relief Agency continued to provide direct grants to the needy. TERA, with an administrative office in Hoosick Falls, continued through the end of 1934. I have to note that the initial abuses in the CWA remind me of the problems with the first grants PPP- given out in 2020 for pandemic relief, which were distributed in haste and, in some cases, carelessly.
In December 1933, Walter Robinson, now county chair of the Civil Works Administration said that 25 projects for the county had been approved, which could employ 350 men from the Temporary Emergency Relief Rolls. They would be grading roads, improving parks, painting, and doing repairs. Russell Hurd, a town board member, was designated a committee of one to determine what projects in Hemstreet Park would be good to do for the unemployed of that area or any other unemployed in the town.
As I said earlier, Walter Lyons was defeated in the 1933 election for supervisor by LeRoy Henry Nible, “popular Melrose garageman”. LeRoy was born in Pittstown in 1900 or 1901, the son of farmers Orville Nible and Olive Brust Nible. He was the grandson of Henry, or James Henry, Nible one of the last two surviving veterans of the Civil War in the area. The Nibles all moved to the town of Schaghticoke by the 1925 census, where Henry and his wife Christina lived next door to son Orville and his family. Henry lived from 1843 to 1941- so lived to see his grandson LeRoy’s election.
In 1924 LeRoy married Alice Loman, daughter of Isaac and Georgianna Loman of Pittstown at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Melrose. They lived on Main Street in the village of Schaghticoke as of the NY 1925 Census, with LeRoy’s occupation listed as “auto machinist”. LeRoy’s sister Marian had married Walter Herrington, who was also a garage mechanic.
ad from the Troy newspaper 1931
According to “Melrose: then and now”, LeRoy bought Henry Stearns’ blacksmith shop in Melrose, razed it, and built the auto garage that is there now, just south of the former Esquire Drug. The 1930 US census listed the pair, along with LeRoy’s younger brother Arnold. (In 1939 Arnold and his wife Marjorie built the home on Avenue A later lived in by the Somnitzes for many years. It had been the site of the tennis court of the Taylors, next door.) A 1931 ad in the Troy “Times” listed LeRoy as an associate dealer of DeSoto automobiles.
Melrose Garage, photo from Betty Haviland
He and Alice were both totally enmeshed in the social life of their community. They were active members of St. John’s Lutheran Church. LeRoy was also a very active member of the Melrose Fire Department. Alice became very involved in the Order of the Eastern Star, the female version of the Masons, rising to be the grand matron of the district, and then becoming active in the Mary E. Purvis Club, an organization just for former O.E.S. officers. During World War II, she was the Red Cross chairman in the area. She also served as the Melrose correspondent for the Troy “Times Record”, writing from at least 1959-1964, when she died.
LeRoy served as town supervisor from his election in 1933 until 1947, guiding the town through the Depression and World War II. At the same time, he was in charge of assembling the new Melrose fire truck in 1933, assistant fire chief in Melrose by 1936, then fire chief by 1940. He was also active in the Rensselaer County Association of Fire Chiefs. Of course as supervisor he was a member of the County Board of Supervisors, acting as chairman of the group for part of his tenure.
from the Troy Times Record
During World War II, LeRoy was the County Defense Council Chairman in 1942, and enlisted in the National Guard in 1944, serving until 1946 as a Sergeant in the 3rd Truck Company of the Quartermaster Corps. At the time of his draft card in 1942 he was described as 5’7” tall and 185 pounds, with brown eyes and hair and a ruddy complexion. In March 1945 his truck company was activated for emergency delivery of coal. He was one busy guy. Business was especially tough for people doing auto repair during World War II with tires, cars, and gasoline all strictly rationed.
At some point LeRoy and Alice separated. I have a map locating homes of Melrose Methodist Church parishioners c. 1960, where she is noted as “separated.” Alice died suddenly in 1964 and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. There is a listing in the Glens Falls city directory for 1957 for Leroy H. Nible and his wife Blanche. He was working at a diner. Ancestry.com records that LeRoy Nible died in San Diego, California in 1986.
History of the Town of Schaghticoke 