The Vedder Research Library

For the past fifty-six years, these two women have served Greenville as Town Clerk. Jeanne Bear (left, married Orlie Bear, moved from CT, also on Town Board) served from 1956-1983, while Ronnie Campbell (right, married Ed Campbell, moved from Brooklyn, also tax collector 1976-1983) served from 1984-2011. Greenville came to personally know both, especially since both operated the Clerk’s office from home.

The Potter Hollow one-room schoolhouse served its community from 1853-1954, and is now the most authentic one room school house still extant in the Greenville Central School District. In an effort to preserve this building for a “perfect setting for local history presentations by students and community members,” many people worked together – Potter Hollow community members, the Greenville School Board and Administration, the NYS Historic Preservation Bureau, and, notably, pictured here, Richard Ferriolo who has striven to see this project to its fruition. The school house is being considered for the National Historic Register.

The Johannesens of Greenville Center test their winter skills about 1946 on the hill across from the Brinkerhoff house on West Road as it nears State Route 81. Enjoying the anticipation of the “schuss” are Carol Johannesen (daughter of Karl and Mary), and Carol’s uncles and aunts—Thomas and Lillian Johannesen, and Margaret and Morten Johannesen. During the 20th century, a sizeable contingent of Norwegian descent moved to the Greenville Center area (Johannesen, Nicholsen, Salvesen, Gundersen, Mickelsen, Myhre, Lien, and more), adding to the flavor that was, and is, the Town of Greenville.

Serving the Greenville area for over forty years, the Greenville Rescue Squad continues, on a volunteer basis, to serve the area’s emergency medical needs. This effort took form in 1972, with many tireless community members volunteering to serve Greenville, through active membership or helping with fundraising for vehicles or as support. This class of 1973 Medical Emergency Technicians are: (back, l-r) R. Wells, Bob Carl, Bette Welter, Ed Beechert, Paul Augstein, Cliff Powell, Bob Tyrrell, Dave Battini, Dolores Soldner, Harriet Van Benthuysen, Dave Van Benthuysen. Sitting: Liz Carl, Phyllis Beechert, Pat Caldwell, Dolly Barkman, Mickey Hauge, Eileen Wells, Evie Shea. Missing: Jack Kudlack, Pat Elsbree. The inset shows Ronnie Campbell, Frank Tiberi, and an unidentified woman during a 1983 fund-raising drive.

Almost sixty years ago, Grandpa Millard Felter proudly posed with grandchildren Ralene and Lew Knott in August 1956, at his home on Rt 32, a hundred yards south of Hill Street. Millard had owned a farm on Cedar Lane since 1910 before moving into the hamlet in 1932. Recently, Lew and Ralene once again posed with Grandpa’s still working 1950 Farmall Cub.

The selling of the American dream and the highlighting the charms of the Greenville area has been the profession of our realtors. Two of our career crafters of this calling include: (left) Anne Lafferty was born in Ireland, came to NYC from London in 1963, married her husband Patrick in 1964, and has three children—John, Eileen and Margaret. Anne moved here in 1974, started in real estate in 1978 before opening her own business, Anne Lafferty Realty on South Street, Greenville in 1983; (right) Virginia (Ginny) Mangold was born in Ridgefield Park, NJ, moved with her family to South Westerlo in 1945, graduated with the GCS Class of 1954, married Bob Mangold in 1956, and has five children—Rob, Jeff, Michael, Kim & PattiAnn. Ginny started working in real estate in 1984 before creating her own business, Virginia Mangold Realty, on North Street, Greenville, and also on Creamery Rd, South Westerlo, in 2001 and continuing until present.

The Greenville Volunteer Fire Company formed in September 1939, serving the Greenville, Norton Hill and Surprise areas. Their first vehicle, a 1939 Sanford 500-gallons-per-minute pumper, was delivered the following month, with a procession of vehicles to follow over the years since and a long history of fund-raisers that the community supported. After utilizing at least two different sites on Main Street for storage of equipment, the fire company purchased the Stevens Shop in 1957 which still houses the Greenville vehicles (2015). Besides providing safety for homeowners, the fire company continues to serve as one of the town’s most significant social centers. The inset shows the fire company parading, with their 1956 Chevrolet keeping pace, in a Greene County Fire Convention hosted by Greenville, possibly 1969. The large photo is the 2014 Installation Dinner; identifications are on the inside back cover.

Russell and Abby Carlsen (inset) have invited connoisseurs of the antique world into Carlsen Gallery since 1983. Conducted a half-dozen times a year at this regionally known venture, Carlsen Gallery attracts hundreds—in person, by telephone, and online. Russ has lived in the Greenville area his entire life and graduated with the GCS Class of 1967. Russ and Abby have two children: son Josh, serving as Gallery Administrator at Carlsen Gallery, and daughter Kayla. Russ’s parents Tom and Catherine had operated the Trivet Antique Shop on Shipley Road in the 1960s and 1970s, thus immersing Russ in the antique world. The photo shows Russ auctioneering at a January 2016 auction on his Rt 32 structure, a mile north of Freehold, the current location from which the Carlsens have operated since September 1991.

The Office Force, along with the Elective Officers, pose in front of the Pioneer Building in July 1958. Front row: Marion Bryan, Frances Hladik, Cynthia Ford, Marie Shaw; Second row: Beryl Horton, Shirley Teator, Gail Welter, Phyllis McKnight, Ann Milett, G. Irene Tompkins; Third row: Anne Youmans, Joan Tallman, Anne Pollack, Loretta Lounsbury, Joan Kinscheaf, Sabina Barber, Wilma Ingalls, Helen Nordlund; Fourth row: R. C. O’Keefe, C. Homer Hook, Charles Thomas, Harry A. Backer, Carl Schultz, Walton Nordlund, David Elsbree, Maxwell S. Palmer, Pierce W. Stevens, George C. Morgan. The insurance company had its start in Greenville in 1856 as the Village Fire Insurance Company, enduring until about 2000. In 2003, the Town of Greenville purchased the building for its Town Hall.

Jack and Maureen VerPlanck pose beside the stone monument at the town park in Norton Hill thirty five years after its installation. The inset shows Jack and his mother Viola, in a photo from the June 2, 1983 Greenville Local issue, at the unveiling of the monument and plaque in honor of John I. VerPlanck (inset, father of Jack). John I, as he was familiarly called, was a life-long Norton Hill resident, well-known businessman, and beloved character about whom many stories are still told. An unrelated plaque on the back of the monument reads: Flowering Trees / In Memory of / Jimmy Adams / 9-52 to 1-82. Adams was a son of Norman and Edna (Ingalls) Adams, beloved nephew of Len and Claribel (Ingalls) Gardiner, and an aviator at Freehold Airport before a tragic accident claimed his life in St. Croix. The park is located at the intersection of SR 81 and New Ridge Road.

Fifty-six years after forming in 1962, the Freehold Volunteer Fire Company Auxiliary continues to uphold an original bylaw to “render assistance to the Freehold Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. in every way possible and create a feeling of good fellowship among our members.” Charter members included president Dodie Maxwell, vice-president Norma Busch, recording secretary Mildred Mangold, treasurer Barbara Baron, chaplain Margaret Charlton, guard Mabel Brokaw, as well as regular members Sandra Noirot, Ethel Hempstead, Theora Henderson, Marge Harr, Eleanor Tegtmeier, Marjorie Allen, Dorothy Collins, Doris Hempstead, Marjorie Bennett, Joan Blakeslee, Caroline Dreher, Natalie Maxwell, Lillian Simpson, and Rosemarie Preisner. This 2017 Annual Dinner shows: Front: president Roseann Dudley Beck, vice-president Dodie Maxwell, treasurer Theresa Hoch, recording secretary Maryanne Rarick; Back: Donna De Rose, Pat Rubin, director Michele Weidman, Bonnie Staunch, director Tracy Mauriello; Absent: Barbara Licata, director Anna Dudley, Amanda Dudley, chaplain Liza Vanderpyle. The inset shows the Freehold Auxiliary at a Greenville parade.

This page recognizes three contemporaneous professional lives in Greenville. With a combined 120 years of service to the Greenville area, John Bensen, Lou Kraker, and Mark Wilcox pose with the Greenville pond area in the background. Upper right, John Bensen grew up in the Rensselaerville & South Westerlo, graduated from Greenville in 1968. He married Jeanne Wilcox in 1972—moving to Greenville in 1974 and raising two children (Christy and A.J.). John started a self-service car wash and established his Greenville Saw Service in his basement in 1974, becoming a business anchor across from today’s Catholic Church. John’s list of memberships and contributions to area organizations is a lengthy one, most notably, Past President of Kiwanis, Troop 42 BSA Committee member, and Past President of the Ag Advisory Board. Lower right, Mark Wilcox was raised in Oneonta, found his way to Greenville in 1982, married Renee Fairchilds, raised daughters Kaela and Morgan. Mark worked at and then owned Greenville True Value, and purchased NAPA from his partner. He later built /owns the NAPA store beside the Catholic Church. Mark’s lists of contributions is a lengthy one also, most notably the Rotary Club, the Town Park Committee, being Santa at the Old-Timers Party, and the lighting of the Christmas trees in Veteran’s Park. Lower left, Lou Kraker was raised in the Preston Hollow area, graduated from Middleburgh, married Karen Kiefer (children Seth & Stephanie), started working in Greenville in 1973, independently owned the Mobil Station in 1980, and built Lou’s Automotive on Rt 81 in 1990. Lou’s contributions also are many, most notably fifteen years service as Town Board member and also his current service as Town Justice. All three have served on the Greenville Town Board.

Over the course of her adult life, Doris Blakeslee Hempstead (1922-2002) compiled one of the largest private genealogy archives in the region. Taking information from an obituary, a wedding notice, a request for genealogical help, a trip to an area cemetery, a church record, a Fifty Years Ago clipping in the newspaper, etc., Doris would enter the information and the source on a 3x5 index card, add to a pile, and sort into the pile needed for the time. Over the course of more than forty years, Doris had amassed 50,000 cards which were alphabetized by the Greenville Local History Group ten years ago. Upon her death, Doris’ children—Sharon, Rhonda, Gloria, and Rich—passed along the collection to Town Historian Don Teator. In 2018, in hopes of better visibility and utilization, the 50,000 card collection was transferred to the Greene County Historical Society. The photos show Doris, two scenes of open drawers showing the 38 feet of cards, and the collection’s recent placement in the Vedder Library of the Greene County Historical Society.

Thurman C. Vaughn, Sr. (1888-1971) celebrated his 80th birthday in 1968 with his wife Mildred (Stone), along with five of his sons: back: Virgil, Thurman Jr, Thurston (Toot); front: William (Bill) and Robert on the ends. The sons were the children of Thurman and first wife Charlotte Elliott. Virgil married Anna Babcock, had one daughter Barbara, and lived in Clarksville. Thurman Jr married June Carlson, was a vet in the Delmar/Clarksville area, and raised four children: John, Kathy, Laurie, and Tom. Toot married Betty Winn, lived in South Westerlo, and raised seven children: Millie, Walter, Roger, Cheryl, Lena, and Curt, as well as Ken Friss from Betty’s first marriage. Bill married RoseAnn Spidalieri (GCS teacher), was Greenville’s Postmaster as well as running the IGA store on Main Street, Greenville, and had one daughter Diana. Bob, aka as Murphy, married Marjorie (who had daughters Norma and Marsha from her first marriage) and managed the IGA store before working at Bryant’s. Absent for this reunion was a sixth son, Everett, who married Dottie McArdle, lived in Ballston Spa, and had three sons: Ralph, Billy, and Kevin. The Vaughns were, and are, anchors of the Greenville community, or in the communities in which they lived. The inset shows the some of the grandchildren at a Cousins’ Party on the Fourth of July about 1958 at “Auntie’s” (Fradelia Vaughn). Back: Bobby, Barbara, Ralph; Middle: John, Tom, Diana holding Laurie, Kevin and Kathy; Front: Mildred, Roger, and Walter.

The left photo shows a dressed-for-Sunday Frances (Fanny) Goodrich Phinney, standing on the Freehold-East Durham Road (today’s County Route 67), one mile west of Freehold in front of her house across from today’s airport. The second photo, taken approximately 1935, is a lighthearted depiction of country living, with Fanny on the left and her sister-in-law Mary D. Phinney Lennon “making repairs” to the road. Fanny had married Osman Phinney in 1916, bore no children, and endured his tragic death in 1939. She became a Freehold fixture—maintaining the farm and 150 acres, helping Phinney family members, supporting her nephew Virgil’s airport project, and living a dignified life until her death in 1981. Her grand-niece Linda Phinney Matthews still resides on land formerly owned by Fanny.

This page recognizes two contemporaneous professional lives in Greenville. Left, Ken Dudley, son of Lester and Mae Dudley, was born in 1945 in Westerlo, moved to Freehold in 1954, and would have graduated with the GCS Class of 1962. Ken married Anna Marie Trombley in 1974 and raised their children: daughter Donna Mae (m. Adam Klob, ch. Colby, Molly, Monte) and son Brian (m. Amanda Robisch). Ken started Tip Top Furniture in Freehold in 1978 (seven years earlier in Ravena), a destination furniture store that serves a regional area. In 1987, Ken and Anna bought the Freehold Country Store which serves as a community anchor. In addition, Ken is a life member of the Freehold Volunteer Fire Company, served as a Greene County Legislator for twelve years, and started the East Durham Flea Market in 2018. Ken takes pride in his community service over the years: Kiwanis, GCS School Board, M. J. Quill Irish and Sports Center. Right, Stanly R. Ingalls, son of Randall and Cornelia Ingalls, grew up Norton Hill, graduated from GCS in 1966, and served in the Navy SeaBees. He was deployed to Vietnam from 1969-1970. In 1970, Stan married Ellen Bush who passed away in 1985. They raised three children: Megan (m. John Lafferty, ch. Eian), Genevieve (m. Tom Howley, ch. Ellen and Olivia Hagan), and John (m. Jeanette Partington, ch. Alex, Clare and Noah). In 1990, Stan married Helen Campbell who passed away in 2017. Stan has spent his entire life at GNH, the business his grandfather Stanley L. Ingalls started in 1937 in Norton Hill. In 2004, as President and CEO, Stan moved the Norton Hill anchor store into the former Ames location in Greenville. GNH also serves the Windham and Latham communities. Among several other awards over the years, in 2005, Stan was named Lumberman of the Year by the North Eastern Retail Lumbermen's Association, an honor also bestowed upon his father and his daughter Genn. Stan has been an active member of the Asbury United Methodist Church for 38 years, serving on the board of Trustees, on the Administrative Board, and as the Chairperson of the Finance Committee. Stan was also instrumental in the planning and building of the UMC Daycare center which continues to serve the community.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Alexander “Zan” Bryant Jr. shaped Greenville more than any other person. Born in 1932 to Al and Pearl Bryant, Zan graduated from GCS in 1950. He married Carol Thompson, enlisted in the Marines, and served in the Korean War. After being discharged in 1954, he joined his father in the family store. In 1961, Al and Zan had the vision that would turn Greenville into a regional shopping destination. This started modestly as a new supermarket, occupying the front of today’s Tops Plaza. They would expand it numerous times until it became Bryant’s Country Square containing the largest volume independent supermarket in New York State and numerous other shopping opportunities, while providing employment for thousands of local residents. He would partner in opening Greenville’s first self-service gas station as well as its first sewer treatment plant, bringing in Ames Department Store, State Bank and Dollar General, among others, while developing businesses countywide. Later, Zan would partner in developing residential properties, including Turon Road, and culminating in starting Country Estates that would grow to provide homes for 150 families. Photos: Zan as Marine, Zan with father Al, early store in 1961, expansion of plaza.

Stanley Maltzman, left in center photo, wishes George Story, right, a Happy 100th Birthday, at a February 2020 Community celebration at the Freehold Fire House Community Room. Since then, Maltzman has celebrated his 100th birthday, allowing the Greenville area to wish these two centenarians best of wishes. Both spent productive years in Freehold. Maltzman spent most of his adult years sketching and painting scenes of nature and area vistas, and still doing so. George spent all his years in Freehold, still visiting the eponymous nursery that was the center of his life and was, and is, a community resource for gardening needs and goodwill. The left photo shows Maltzman standing beside his former business sign in Freehold, while the right inset shows George from a 2005 calendar photo

One might argue that the heart and soul of Greenville’s Four Corners is the Greenville Public Library. A library or library association has functioned in Greenville at various times since the town’s formation over two hundred years ago. The current site hosted the Greenville Academy in 1815 until its razing in 1905 for construction of the current building in 1906. It use as a school ended with centralization in 1930/1932 and then re-utilized as a school in the 1960s as emergency space. In 1957, a town vote established this building as the town’s library. The friendly and helpful faces upon entering: clerk Phyllis Wolf (retiring Fall 2021, after many years of service), Library Director Barbara Flach (director since 1991), and clerk Bethany Best; missing clerk Jodi Omoto. The Library Board of Trustees include: Joan Smith, Carol Schreiber, Kathie Quackenbush, Margaret Finch, Jerry Adinolfi, and Melissa Palmer. The inset shows the pre-1906 Academy Building.

The Mamas were a choral nonet of Greenville area women who performed gratis for area and regional events. With a nod to the 1960s rock group The Mamas and the Papas, this group originally formed in 1972 as The Mamas Without the Papas. The photo in 1977 shows, left to right, Marcy Bostrom Cunningham Hynes, Brunhilde Miller Simpson Sutton, Gail Parks Welter Biskupich, Susan Anthony Von Atzingen, Joan Kelly Baumann Smith, Jeannette Singer Rose, Ginny Eufemia Mangold, Carol Baumann Schreiber, and Elena Fuentes. Elena served as the early leader of the group—the newcomer who could play guitar and teaching vocals. Carol, Bruni, and Jeannette had replaced original members Barbara Van Auken, Cathy Quackenbush, and Sharon Adinolfi. During their seven years, the Mamas rehearsed every week during the school year and performed for Rotary, the local resorts, anniversaries as well as the College of St. Rose, the Cerebral Palsy Telethon, and other regional benefits.

GCS students pose for a strings group photo, possibly as early as 1936, in the gymnasium/auditorium. According to an identification on the photo back, seated: Merle Powell (Class of 1933), Geraldine Wood (1937), Dorothy Huested (1940), Muriel Stotesbury, Muriel Burdick; standing: Janet Lacy (1936), King Hall (1936), Leta Arnold (teacher). Powell’s date of graduation suggests that he might have been on hand to accompany.

Town of Greenville Supervisor Paul Macko’s gaze sweeps the view of Greenville’s Four Corners his office provides from the Town Building, formerly the Pioneer Insurance Company. Paul was born in Greenville, the second child of Andy and Eva Macko, graduated with the GCS Class of 1973, and worked at Sunny Hill Resort until 1981 before working at NYS Department of Corrections until 2007. “Retirement” led to serving on the Town Board for a term. Macko was first elected as Supervisor in 2010 and is now serving his seventh term—the second longest Town Supervisor service in town history. Accomplishments of Macko’s tenure include the much talked about but finally completed sewer system; an upgraded and expanded water system; improved and expanded sidewalks, especially on Main Street and north to Country Estates Rd; a substantial revision of zoning laws; an update to the Comprehensive Plan; plans for a water tower replacement; and, dear to his heart, full support of Greenville’s Beautification project (decorative lighting, planters, banners, the Ducks and auction, Prevost Hall development, etc.) The list of Town Supervisors since 1900, in reverse chronological order: Paul Macko 2010-current, Kevin Lewis 2008-2009, Aldo Cardamone 2004-2007, Brian Wickes 2000-2003, Chris Martens 1996-1999, William Maxwell Jr 1991-1995, Frank Tiberi 1986-1990, Kenneth Huemmer 1982-1985, Len Cuifo 1980-1981, Ed Murphy 1978-1979, Andrew Macko (Paul’s father) 1970-1977, Curt Cunningham 1969, Fred Flack 1964-1968, Arnold Nicholsen 1954-1963, David Horton 1949-1953, Stanley Ingalls 1940-1947, Robert Van Houten 1922-1939 (longest tenure), Harrison Gardiner 1920-1923, Lewis Hoose 1914-1919, Truman Ingalls 1910-1913, Henry Botsford 1902-1905, and O. C. Stevens 1900-1901. One inset shows part of Main Street’s new sidewalk during construction starting from the four corners; the other inset shows a decorative post with the distinctive Greenville Duck banner in front of Town Office.

Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, an internationally known art instruction destination, has graced Greenville’s South Street at the Greenville Arms for over forty years. Starting in 1982, sisters Barbara and Laura Stevens transformed the business model of the country inn (established in 1952 by their parents, Ruth and Pierce Stevens) to the establishment found today, which includes an art school. In 1989, Tish and Eliot Dalton continued and expanded this business, the first ones to use the name of Greenville Arms 1889 Inn. In 2004, Kim and Mark La Polla became the most recent owners, even expanding the palette of instruction with Fiber Art workshops as well as offering a shop with chocolate, espresso, and art supplies. In 2020, daughter Adina and son-in-law Zeke Pease joined the team. Greenville Arms currently offers 35 workshops a year, showing the Greenville environs to hundreds of students and instructors from around the world. Photos: business sign, sisters Barbara and Laura Stevens, watercolor from an Arms artists with Laura in chair on righ, Tish and Eliot Dalton, Mark La Polla, Zeke & Adina Pease & Kim La Polla.

photos courtesy of Barbara Stevens; the La Polla family