31 July 2026
Looking Back in Beacon 150 Years Ago (July 1876) 100 Years Ago (July 1926) 50 Years Ago (July 1976) 25 Years Ago (July 2001)
Highlands Current Audio Stories
About
Editor's note: Beacon was created in 1913 from Matteawan and Fishkill Landing.
Officials planned to set off $450 [about $14,000 today] in fireworks on July 4 from three canal boats anchored in the Hudson River.
Five steam tugs owned by the New York & Eastern Transportation Co. were idle at the Newburgh docks for lack of business.
John Hadfield, the 7-year-old son of Levi Hadfield, drowned in a well at Walsh's brewery in Matteawan.
A tailor working at Fishkill Landing was walking along the railroad when he saw the southbound train coming toward him. He stepped onto the other track and was killed by a northbound train.
The Highland Hospital in Matteawan planned an addition measuring 22 by 24 feet.
Benjamin Ellsden, a newly hired police officer in Newark, New Jersey, and the brother of the Rev. Robert Ellsden of Matteawan, was shot and killed as he and his partner attempted to serve arrest warrants on three brothers accused of extortion.
Robert Allen, 22, of Walpole, Massachusetts, drowned in the Hudson, while trying to swim across. His body was spotted by a ferry passenger.
A mason working on the third floor of a new building at Groveville dropped a brick that hit another worker in the head, causing a serious injury.
The First National Bank of Fishkill Landing installed an iron cresting around its counter.
Because of the heat, a Matteawan judge held court outside, under the trees, with the jury sitting on a timber bench.
A Fishkill Landing woman was arrested for using profane language.
The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad reported that, although it used a single track over 130 miles, it had not had a serious passenger injury or train collision in 30 years.
William Kasher, 20, was swimming across Fishkill Creek at Glenham with Albert Shrayer, 11, on his back, when he became disabled by cramps, and both drowned. They were workers at the Stewart mills.
William Ackerman was driving a wagon in Poughkeepsie with a passenger, Sarah Ackerman of Fishkill Landing, when he stopped to deliver a pot of butter. He put the reins on the dash to tie up the 4-year-old colt when it sprang, throwing Miss Ackerman and the butter into the road and running over Mr. Ackerman. The horse pulled the upside-down wagon until it struck the bridge. No one was seriously hurt.
Members of the nativist Order of United American Mechanics Lodge No. 52 of Fishkill Landing participated in the Fourth of July parade in Newburgh, pulling a four-horse wagon with 13 young ladies. Another four-horse wagon contained girls from its Juvenile Temple, representing the states and territories of 1876.
John McGinn of Fishkill Landing was arrested on charges that he stole soda crackers and canned corn from a merchant's storeroom.
Martha Waddle was sentenced to Randall's Island for stealing $20 [$625] and jewelry from the home of Jacob Hawks.
The Hudson River District Eclectic Medical Society held its annual meeting in Fishkill Landing. [Eclectic medicine combined conventional treatment with plant and herbal therapies.]
A fire engine from Perseverance Co. No. 1, on loan to Fishkill Landing while one of its fire trucks was being repaired, returned to Poughkeepsie with thanks from city trustees.
Several people prevented a distraught Rosetta Greenwood, 40, from throwing herself from Long Dock. She had earlier tried to strangle herself with a shawl.
Entrants in the Newburgh Bay Regatta included, in the third class, the 18-foot Catboat Uno and 20-foot Catboat Thetis, both from Fishkill Landing.
The Rev. Michael McGuire, assistant pastor at St. Joachim's, resigned as chaplain of the Beacon Kiwanis Club after Margaret Sanger, president of the American Birth Control League, spoke during its annual Ladies Day luncheon at the Holland Hotel. Sanger and her husband, J. Noah Slee, owned a summer home in Fishkill. McGuire complained: "Kiwanis teach unselfishness; she preaches selfishness at the expense even of God's laws in nature."
While digging a cesspool on his 8-acre property at...
Officials planned to set off $450 [about $14,000 today] in fireworks on July 4 from three canal boats anchored in the Hudson River.
Five steam tugs owned by the New York & Eastern Transportation Co. were idle at the Newburgh docks for lack of business.
John Hadfield, the 7-year-old son of Levi Hadfield, drowned in a well at Walsh's brewery in Matteawan.
A tailor working at Fishkill Landing was walking along the railroad when he saw the southbound train coming toward him. He stepped onto the other track and was killed by a northbound train.
The Highland Hospital in Matteawan planned an addition measuring 22 by 24 feet.
Benjamin Ellsden, a newly hired police officer in Newark, New Jersey, and the brother of the Rev. Robert Ellsden of Matteawan, was shot and killed as he and his partner attempted to serve arrest warrants on three brothers accused of extortion.
Robert Allen, 22, of Walpole, Massachusetts, drowned in the Hudson, while trying to swim across. His body was spotted by a ferry passenger.
A mason working on the third floor of a new building at Groveville dropped a brick that hit another worker in the head, causing a serious injury.
The First National Bank of Fishkill Landing installed an iron cresting around its counter.
Because of the heat, a Matteawan judge held court outside, under the trees, with the jury sitting on a timber bench.
A Fishkill Landing woman was arrested for using profane language.
The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad reported that, although it used a single track over 130 miles, it had not had a serious passenger injury or train collision in 30 years.
William Kasher, 20, was swimming across Fishkill Creek at Glenham with Albert Shrayer, 11, on his back, when he became disabled by cramps, and both drowned. They were workers at the Stewart mills.
William Ackerman was driving a wagon in Poughkeepsie with a passenger, Sarah Ackerman of Fishkill Landing, when he stopped to deliver a pot of butter. He put the reins on the dash to tie up the 4-year-old colt when it sprang, throwing Miss Ackerman and the butter into the road and running over Mr. Ackerman. The horse pulled the upside-down wagon until it struck the bridge. No one was seriously hurt.
Members of the nativist Order of United American Mechanics Lodge No. 52 of Fishkill Landing participated in the Fourth of July parade in Newburgh, pulling a four-horse wagon with 13 young ladies. Another four-horse wagon contained girls from its Juvenile Temple, representing the states and territories of 1876.
John McGinn of Fishkill Landing was arrested on charges that he stole soda crackers and canned corn from a merchant's storeroom.
Martha Waddle was sentenced to Randall's Island for stealing $20 [$625] and jewelry from the home of Jacob Hawks.
The Hudson River District Eclectic Medical Society held its annual meeting in Fishkill Landing. [Eclectic medicine combined conventional treatment with plant and herbal therapies.]
A fire engine from Perseverance Co. No. 1, on loan to Fishkill Landing while one of its fire trucks was being repaired, returned to Poughkeepsie with thanks from city trustees.
Several people prevented a distraught Rosetta Greenwood, 40, from throwing herself from Long Dock. She had earlier tried to strangle herself with a shawl.
Entrants in the Newburgh Bay Regatta included, in the third class, the 18-foot Catboat Uno and 20-foot Catboat Thetis, both from Fishkill Landing.
The Rev. Michael McGuire, assistant pastor at St. Joachim's, resigned as chaplain of the Beacon Kiwanis Club after Margaret Sanger, president of the American Birth Control League, spoke during its annual Ladies Day luncheon at the Holland Hotel. Sanger and her husband, J. Noah Slee, owned a summer home in Fishkill. McGuire complained: "Kiwanis teach unselfishness; she preaches selfishness at the expense even of God's laws in nature."
While digging a cesspool on his 8-acre property at...