There’s a lot of history in them thar mountains

JEWETT―There is always a different beginning and never exactly an end to the stories woven by Jewett Town Historian Elaine Warfield.

The agelessness of her tales is the beauty behind not only her latest book but also Jewett History Day, happening on June 13, coinciding with and being an integral part of America’s 250th birthday this year.

Jewett History Day unfolds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jewett Municipal Building along Route 23C.

“This is more about our town than how our country was formed, but it’s a good way for us to celebrate 250 years and introduce Jewett’s history to people here who may not be familiar with it,” Warfield says.

The event offers a variety of activities, including a wool-spinning demonstration on an aged spinning wheel, a quilt show and live fiddle and banjo music.

Local chronicler Gerry Loucks will be sharing antiquarian artifacts from his vast collection. Ed Brandt, weather permitting, is sliding in on an old ice-harvesting sled. And Warfield is giving a gravestone restoration display.

Weathered binders of photographs can be flipped through and members of the local volunteer fire companies and churches are coming, along with “whatever else I pull from my barn and attic,” Warfield says, laughing.

Visitors can have their personal histories recorded for posterity, drinks and snacks are on the menu, and tribute will be paid to Jewett veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War.

There are also door prizes to be won, such as Timeless Jewett, New York: A Walk Through History, the second book in a three-part series, accumulated, authored and published by Warfield.

Part One intricately details the inhabitants of Jewett cemeteries. Part Three will be a treasure trove of diaries, journals and ledgers, with Warfield busily researching even as she seeks more writings from within the community.

The latest tome is 412 pages―narrowed down from nearly 450 pages―containing 600 photographs with misty memories of the past that aren’t actually as far from today’s Jewett as they might seem.

On the cover of Timeless Jewett is a sepia picture of an endlessly curious little girl and her mother, both named Eloise, living on the Lawrence farm, located just off Route 23C, a few stone throws from the municipal hall.

Walking the genealogical trail, the mother is grandmother to the late Robert Lawrence―a generational son in a once-sustaining family farm. The little girl grew up to be Robert’s mother.

“Bob’s wife, Dena, kindly let me see her family album. It is remarkable what you can find,” says Warfield, barely finishing one recollection before breathlessly transitioning to another involving Marguerite Mallory.

“The amazing thing about Marguerite is she kept diaries, around the turn of the 19th century until she died at 80 years old,” Warfield says.

Marguerite Mallory married Merritt DeLong. They had a daughter, Alvena, who married Elwood Hitchcock, a noted writer and Jewett town historian, preceding Warfield, passing away in 2004.

Marguerite’s journals did not reflect that Alvena would live to be 103, passing in 2021, among the most revered residents of Jewett.

“The family let me borrow Marguerite’s journals,” Warfield says. “She wrote down everything that was going on each day in her life.”

“It took all day to take a wagon to Haines Falls which now takes a few minutes. It really gives you a flavor of those times,” Warfield says.

Everything is ultimately intertwined, not the least of which are America and the town of Jewett, where a piano from the legendary Mountain House resort was lamentably splattered to smithereens.

There is a guy named Rodney Woodworth who, “was home one day, as a kid, and heard music coming from a distance,” Warfield says.

“Suddenly he saw a wagon coming up the road. A relative of his, Santford Beach, was on the back of the wagon playing a Grand Piano,” she said.

“The way the story goes, the Mountain House wanted to get rid of the piano and Sant, as they called him, played it all the way from Haines Falls to a house on Colgate Road, here in East Jewett,” Warfield says.

Many years later, a collector of vintage instruments journeyed to Jewett in search of the piano, tracing it from the Mountain House, discovering discordant reality about the incredibly rare keyboard.

Precise details have faded into antiquity but, “at some point, whoever was in possession of the piano wanted it out of the house,” Warfield says.

“It was so monstrous, they took a sledgehammer and smashed it into a million pieces,” Warfield says, grimacing. “Given where it had been, It would have been pretty much priceless.”

Jewett History Day is expected to be packed with similar reminiscences and figments not of the imagination. There is no charge to attend. Telephone 518-589-6229 for information.