I’ve been working on researching and documenting the older homes in our Town. I have about half a dozen, at present, in various stages of research, locating the details and documentation on the original owners and their lives. This week, I’ve done most of the digging on a home at 244 Gardnertown Road. The current owners had contacted me to see what I could find. I was intrigued as this house is only two away from where some cousins of mine grew up, plus I know many of the family who previously lived there in my youth. What I discovered is fascinating.
From my youth, I knew this as the home of the Abbott family. But, they were not the original owners and when I began looking, quite the story unfolded. It will take a few articles to capture all the details, so here we go.
I began by looking at the various maps of the area over the years. I find it amazing how accurate these old maps are if you overlay a Google Earth map on top. The skill of these early surveyors was superb. Well, looking at the map from 1903, the name on this parcel is Isaac Rollof, showing it to be 9 acres. Drifting back to the earlier 1875 map, the name is G. Habermiyer. Going further back, to the 1864 Farm Map, the area associated with where this house stands was noted as being owned by D.W. Fowler, having a total of 72 acres. This was the first time the icon for a house appears in this location.
If you have ever done genealogical research, you learned to be creative with the spellings of names as they are often recorded as a variation of the correct spelling. I began with Isaac Rollof. I found articles, documents, etc. which listed the spelling as Rolof, Rollof, and Rolloff. Even in the death registry, in his entry, the name is spelled three different ways. But, from the registry, I learned his parents, Ernest and Charlotte Rolof, were both born in Germany. From other records, Isaac was born in New Jersey, in September 1846.
In 1871, he married his wife, Emily Fairchild. For most of their lives their residence was 45 Benkard Avenue, in the City of Newburgh, but sometime in the late 1890’s, they moved to the farm on Gardnertown Road, with Emily’s mother, Amanda Fairchild. They became members of the Gardnertown Methodist Church and were valued members of our Town. Interestingly, at this time, Gardnertown Road was referred to as the old road back of the Powder Mills sometimes.
Isaac was diagnosed with acute tuberculosis on June 24, 1902, and succumbed to the illness on August 25, 1902, at his home on Gardnertown Road. He was an accomplished individual, being a machinist by trade. He also had strong moral values. On February 8, 1868, he had become a member of the Newburgh Order of Good Templars, a temperance association. He voted the Prohibition ticket from 1874 on, believing this the best means of protesting the liquor traffic.
What we are seeing is the birth of the suburban commuter. In all the articles, his obituary, the selling of the property, and so on, the mention of being able to reach the property by trolley is stated. The quote from the obituary, giving details for the funeral, provides the guidance “Friends can go by trolley leaving here at 10:15”.
Most of Isaac’s family lived in the Patterson, New Jersey area, but he was buried in Walden. His widow, Emily, decided to quickly sell the farm and posted it for sale in February 1903. In the advertisement, she states “Country Residence, Beautiful Surroundings, 2 ½ miles from Newburg, near trolley line, Will sacrifice for cash”. Again, the reference to the trolley line, which was becoming at the time the major means of traveling about the Town.
This quality piece of land didn’t last long on the market and was quickly purchased by Lewis T. Vernol, and his wife, Effie Treadwell Vernol. Lewis was a bookkeeper by profession and they lived most of their lives together in the City of Newburgh, at 22 Courtney Avenue. Now they were making their move to have a better life in the rural country.
Sadly and tragically, Lewis T. Vernol, passed away at the young age of 39, at Courtney Avenue, very shortly after he purchased the property. He had been in good health, and become ill only four to six weeks prior to his passing. According to his obituary, he experienced stomach issues which forced him to bed. These quickly spread to his kidneys and liver. On April 25, 1903, he left us, leaving a young widow and small daughter.
Effie Treadwell Vernol did fulfill their dream and moved to the farm on Gardnertown Road with their daughter. But, the country life apparently wasn’t her cup of tea. Reading through later records she was very active socially and contributed much to our community and society. On July 16, 1906, she sold this property to J. W. Abbott.
What we’re seeing is the beginning of the development of our Town with the new availability of quick public transportation. When I began this research, I didn’t realize how much of our Town’s history would be reflected in this beautiful home. So, next there will be a second article to provide the details of the Abbott family, and then another to better estimate when the original house was erected, which appears to be by D. W. Fowler, somewhere in the mid 1800’s. Stay tuned!