Blog

Back in mid-October, the FCHS received an email from Teresa Hirsch, a volunteer with the US WWII Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. Margraten, the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands, is the final resting place of 8,301 American soldiers who gave their lives during World War II. The cemetery also includes the Tablets of the Missing, containing 1,722 names of men whose bodies were not recovered but were declared killed in action by the US War Department. According to the cemetery’s page on the American Battle Monuments Commission website: “Unique to the cemetery is the connection with the Dutch people. Since 1945 members of the local community have adopted the grave sites of our fallen. They bring flowers to the cemetery and research the life of the service member as a way to honor their sacrifice.” The waiting list to adopt a grave site at Margraten is about 400 people long.

Terry, who is based in Indianapolis, was searching for a photo. Every other year, the cemetery hosts an event during Dutch Memorial Day weekend called “Faces of Margraten.” Photos of the fallen men buried there are placed next to the white cross marking their burial, or their name on the Tablets of the Missing, “bringing visitors face to face with their liberators.” Fields of Honor, an online database that contains the names of about 28,000 American soldiers who have been buried overseas in American Military Cemeteries, includes listings for Margraten. There are five Fulton County boys who are buried there, or whose names are engraved on the Tablets of the Missing. Of these five, only one was missing a photo: S/Sgt Michael A. Ravasio, Jr.

Included in Terry’s email was a clipping from the November 15, 1943 Morning Herald, reporting Sgt. Ravasio’s status as missing. He was 23 years old.

The FCHS is a wonderful repository of many records that are valuable to researchers, genealogists, and those interested in our local history. The museum’s collection of Gloversville and Johnstown High School yearbooks is quite impressive, dating back to the early 20^th century all the way up through 2004, with only a few years missing here and there. So, armed with a piece of scrap paper and Sgt. Ravasio’s years of birth and death (1920-1943), we were able to estimate what years he would have been in high school, and what year he might have graduated. There he was in the 1938 graduating class, listed with the nickname “Bubbles” and living at 93 W. Fulton St. in Gloversville. His quote: “I try hard but I’m not appreciated.”

Feeling quite grateful to have been this lucky in researching Sgt. Ravasio, our next step was to take a look at a set of scrapbooks put together by Fulton County Bank employees. These contain newspaper clippings of Gloversville men announced missing or killed in action (and they are mostly chronological and mostly dated). We found the article noting his MIA status in the scrapbooks, but no photo. Unable to find one on the wonderful newspaper website fultonhistory.com (not connected with Fulton County in any way, but it contains thousands of pages of historic newspapers that are free to access), we went to the large bound volumes past issues of newspapers that reside in our small research library. We lugged the massive November-December 1943 volume to a desk, sat down, and opened it at random to begin the search. We didn’t have far to look. There, on the page we had opened to, was Sgt. Michael Ravasio’s photo under the words, “Reported Missing.”

The photos were scanned and sent to Terry. Now Sgt. Ravasio’s images are included in his listing on Fields of Honor and will be placed next to his name at the next Faces of Margraten event.

Following is a brief sketch of the five Fulton County men buried in Margraten Cemetery in the Netherlands. Much of this information was gleaned from the Fields of Honor database, and further research was conducted in local newspapers. Each name is linked to the listing on Fields of Honor, where you can see photos of the men, along with their headstone or name on the wall.

S/Sgt Michael Angelo Ravasio, Jr.
July 31, 1920 – November 3, 1943

Michael was born in Gloversville, the only child of Michael A. Ravasio, Sr. and Mabelle Ravasio. He graduated from Gloversville High School in 1938 and worked at General Electric before enlisting in Utica on August 22, 1942; his draft card indicated his “semiskilled occupations in manufacture of radios and phonographs.”

Ravasio was part of the 368^th Bomber Squadron, with the 306^th Bomber Group, and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. While flying his sixth mission, targeting U-Boat yards in Wilhelmshaven in the northwestern corner of Germany, his B-17 collided midair with another B-17 over the North Sea. All crew members of both planes, twenty men total, were killed.

It was nearly a year before the Ravasios heard anything from the War Department after the initial notice that their son was missing in action. The September 29, 1944 issue of the Morning Herald reported: “Army to Deliver Air Medal of Missing Son to Parents.” Michael Sr., living at the Gloversville Hotel (he and Mabelle were no longer together by 1940), would travel to Rome, NY to receive the medal. It was given for “exceptional meritorius achievement while participating in five separate bomber missions over enemy occupied Continental Europe.” The War Dept. didn’t refer to S/Sgt Ravasio’s status in this communication, and so Michael Sr. was hopeful that his son may still be heard from as a POW. Unfortunately, he was eventually declared dead and his name was later added to the Walls of the Missing at Margraten.

S/Sgt Ravasio’s father, an Italian immigrant and World War I veteran, died on December 7, 1944. Mabelle remarried to Richard Bruce, also a veteran of WWI, the couple living in Mayfield until his death in 1968. Mabelle died on February 20, 1970 at the Fulton County Infirmary. The newspaper indicated that there were no known survivors.

Pvt. Kenneth R. Miller
1924 – March 30, 1945

Information about Pvt. Miller is scant, though he did have several siblings and so it is likely that there are surviving descendants. Miller served in the 53^rd Engineer Battalion, 8^th Armored Division, C Company. He died on March 30, 1945 of wounds received in action and was awarded the Purple Heart.

On August 7, 1945, the paper reported that his mother, Nellie, received a letter from one of her son’s Army buddies. Included was a publication called “The Buffalo Chips, known as the 8^th Armored Division’s own newspaper.” The first platoon of Miller’s company constructed a memorial footbridge over Radbusa River in Stod, Czechoslovakia, in memory of Pvt. Edwin H. Battzes, Pvt. Kenneth R. Miller, and Pfc Ray J. McCormack. They had all been killed by artillery fire in Germany.

Sgt. Richard Morgan
December 22, 1922 – February 23, 1945

Richard Morgan graduated from Gloversville High School in 1939 and worked at the Gloversville Knitting Co. before enlisting in Buffalo on May 8, 1942. Sgt. Morgan served as squad leader for the 115^th Infantry Regiment, 3^rd Battalion, 29^th Infantry Division, M Company. He arrived in England in October 1942 and participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Morgan saw action at Brest and St. Lo; he was wounded June 13, 1944 and was sent to a hospital in England. While he recovered, Morgan was awarded the Purple Heart. He forwarded it home to his parents.

Morgan returned to active duty within a month. In a letter to his family in Gloversville, Morgan mentioned that he had passed through Aachen, Germany after it had been captured that October. Other letters mentioned various locations in Germany that he traveled through. Early in October 1944, he was promoted on the battlefield to Sergeant.

While crossing the Ruhr River with his men in a movement against the town of Broich, Sgt. Morgan stepped on a mine and was struck with shrapnel. He died of his wounds on February 23, 1945.

Richard wasn’t the only Morgan son to lose his life in WWII. His brother, Pfc Keith Morgan, was also killed in action on April 8, 1945 and is buried at the Lorraine Cemetery in St. Avoid, France. Curious as to why the two brothers chose to be buried overseas, rather than at home, I turned to some local newspapers. On September 25, 1962, the Leader-Herald published the article, “Gold Star Mother Visits Sons’ Graves in Europe.” Carrie Morgan, living at 74 Spring Street, “explained that her sons had told her that the only way they would come back to the US is alive. ‘That’s why I had them buried overseas and I have no regrets,’ she said.” It wasn’t until later that she learned the two brothers could have been buried together in Margraten, which is why Keith was in France. The trip was sponsored by the group Gold Star Mothers; all Carrie needed to pay was her airfare.

Besides Keith and Richard, Carrie and her husband Cady also had four daughters: Dorothy Carr, Bernice Eschler, Gladys Falter, and Janice Glover, as well as 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Keith left behind a widow, Frances Hollenbeck, and daughter Phyllis Edwards.

Pfc. Paul H. Rowley (“Packey”)
July 7, 1909 – April 2, 1945

The oldest of the five men buried in Margraten, Rowley was born on July 7, 1909 in Troy, NY. Known as Packey among his friends, he worked as a bartender and had a relatively good run as an amateur boxer in local fights. In October 1928, he signed on with manager William Jones from New York City, who believed “that Gloversville has a champion in the making.” Packey won 24 successive amateur bouts and one professional 4-round fight before making his formal debut into the professional class when he signed on with Jones.

Rowley enlisted in Utica on January 22, 1944 and was assigned to the 36^th Armored Infantry Regiment, 1^st Battalion, 3^rd Armored Division, A Company. He arrived in England only seven months after enlisting, and was in active combat for eight months. Rowely was wounded three times: January 12^th, February 2^nd, and April, 1945. He died of his wounds in the Paderborn area of Germany on April 22, 1945. Survived by Rowley was his wife Alma, and three sons, James, Edward, and William.

Lt. Douglas H. Baker
1921 – November 29, 1943

Douglas Baker was the only son of Michael and Goldie Baker; he had two sisters, Dorothy and Muriel. Lt. Baker was a Bombardier with the 8^th Air Force, 548^th Bomber Squadron, 385^th Bomber Group. In October 1943, he was mentioned in news stories “as having shot down a Messerschmidt 109 over Germany. At that time he was a member of the crew known as ‘Weider’s Wildcats.’”

By November he was flying in a B-17, nicknamed “Who Dat Ding Bat.” While flying toward Bremen, Germany on November 29, 1943, the pilot stated that he had only a 30-minute gas supply left and dropped out of formation somewhere over the Zuiderzee, planning to try to reach England to refuel. The plane was last seen going down through the clouds near Texel Island. The plane was apparently shot down over the English Channel and the entire crew drowned. Lt. Baker’s name is listed on the Wall of the Missing at Margraten.

His family was heavily involved with the Bleecker St. Church of Christ, and on June 23, 1947, the church installed a new organ and dedicated it to three of the congregation who lost their lives in the war: Fenton Brown, David Cominole, and Douglas Baker.

Terry sent along the link to short video from the 2018 Faces of Margraten Tribute, which you can watch below. She wrote: “It is rather a wonderful tribute.  And in this day and age of photos of everything everywhere, it seems to resonate with the younger generations as well.”

Many thanks to Terry and all of the wonderful volunteers, researchers, and Dutch families who work so hard to ensure that these brave men, who gave the ultimate sacrifice, continue to be remembered and honored throughout the generations.

The history of the Mountain Lake Electric Railroad that ran from Gloversville to Bleecker will always be dominated by the disastrous crash on July 4, 1902. A day of holiday merry-making ended in a tragedy resulting in multiple injuries and loss of life.

In March 1896, the newspaper announced that a company had been formed to build a railroad “up the mountain,” from Gloversville to Mountain Lake. Those involved were “among the prominent representatives of the largest business interests in this city and Johnstown, and are fully possessed of the energy and enterprise which is necessary for the successful completion and operation of the new road.”

It was not uncommon for railroads to create their own destinations. Not only did it encourage people to take the train and spend money on the fare, but once they arrived at these destinations, they spent money on food and entertainment. These dollars would also go to the enterprising railroad company who dreamed up and built the spot. The FJ&G RR, for example, constructed Sacandaga Park, which served tens of thousands of guests every summer and became known as the “Coney Island of the North.”

The Mountain Lake rail began at the corner of Main and Fulton in Gloversville. The ride up promised a view of the Catskill Mountains to the south and the mountains of Massachusetts and Vermont to the east, “while the general view of the Mohawk Valley and surrounding country furnishes a beautiful panorama.” The train carried riders directly to the back of the newly built Mountain Lake Hotel. It ran four double truck open cars with two GE motors of 100 horsepower each. The cars ran until 10pm each night. The Mountain Lake RR Company also owned a stone quarry, which the new rail would service. The quarry included good mountain stone and polishing marble, and plans were being discussed to connect the FJ&G RR for this purpose.

The newly constructed Mountain Lake Hotel offered live entertainment and dancing and special dinners – promising a perfect little getaway from the city not only for locals but for travelers from all over New York State.

On July 4, 1902, the park at Mountain Lake on Bleecker Mountain was packed. About 1,600 people purchased tickets for the electric trolley that would bring merry-makers up the mountain for a day of fun and relaxation. The last trolleys usually left at 10pm, but because of the scheduled fireworks, the park was open a bit later and there was a much larger crowd still at the lake by the time the display was over. A crowd of 300-400 people waited for a ride back to Gloversville.

Two cars, #1 and #5, carrying a total of 130 passengers, started their trip down the mountain five minutes apart. Car #1 left first, and on its way down it met and passed Car #4 on its way back to the resort. The conductor on Car #1, James Cameron, should have told the passing car that another was not far behind them, but he forgot. So, when Car #4 met the second car coming down the mountain, it had to back up to a siding to let #5 pass. This caused a delay and, possibly trying to make up time, Car #5 came careening down the mountain at a high rate of speed. There on the tracks in the darkness ahead of it was Car #1. Motorman on #5, William Dodge, tried to throw on the brakes (the cars were not equipped with any emergency braking system). Still, the car barreled forward. In a last-ditch attempt to avoid a collision, Dodge threw the car’s motors in reverse, blowing out the breakers in the power-house.

In the dark, warm summer night, Car #5 crashed into the back of Car #1.

The two cars continued rapidly down the track at an estimated speed of 60 MPH. Conductor Cameron and a passenger on #1 tried to activate the hand-brakes. They held, but wheels locked as the heavier Car #5 continued to push down the mountain. They were quickly approaching an S-curve at the bottom of the hill. A few passengers jumped, escaping with only minor injuries. But as the first car reached the curve, it flew off the tracks and landed on its side. During the time it was airborne, several of the passengers were thrown out of the open-air trolley and were, sadly, crushed as the car landed on top of them. Car #5 also left the tracks, but remained upright.

It took nearly two hours for power to be restored and help to arrive. Doctors and nurses from Nathan Littauer Hospital loaded the injured passengers into a car. Those who lived nearby rushed to the scene to do what they could.

A total of 14 people – 12 passengers and 2 railroad employees – died as a result of the crash, and many more sustained injuries.

An unsung hero in this tragedy was 17-year-old F. Willi Berghoff, who was thrown from one of the cars but otherwise uninjured. Having the foresight to prevent the accident from becoming even worse, he ran up the tracks in the dark and wildly waved his hat, stopping the next incoming car from driving straight into the accident.

The newspaper described the scene of the crash: “The mental torture was something terrible, and to those who were penned up in the charnel place, with the dead underneath them and the wounded among them, with no lights to show them the awful state of affairs, and the shrieks and groans of the injured and the ominous silence of the people under the car and in the creek, it is something which no lifetime will ever make them forget.” You can read more about the accident, and the experiences of the survivors, in the July 7, 1902 issue of the Gloversville Daily Leader here.

An investigation led by Coroner Robert Palmer and District Attorney Egelston ultimately found the Mountain Lake Railroad Company hired incompetent motormen. An article published in the Rome Sentinel read: “The motorman was killed in the accident, so the officials of the company must alone bear the charges of negligence . . . The financial condition of the Mountain Lake Railroad Company is such that neither the families of the dead victims of the wreck nor the injured passengers who survive can secure what it would seem they are entitled to in the way of damages, and perhaps no one will ever be criminally punished because of the awful tragedy.”

A relief fund for the victims was taken up in Gloversville, and by August 7, 1902 it reached $1,474.73. Donors included Lucius Littauer, Charles Knox, and various religious organizations, businesses, and community groups.

The railroad company never recovered from the tragic accident and loss of life that occurred on that 4^th of July night. The FJ&G purchased the line in 1904 and renamed it the Adirondack Lakes Traction Co. The Mountain Lake Hotel remained in operation, but it was struck by lightning in the early morning hours of August 4, 1908 and burned to the ground. The 14 guests who were staying there at the time all escaped uninjured. A decade later, the FJ&G abandoned the line and it was sold for scrap.

Today, the 1902 disaster is the Mountain Lake Railroad’s legacy. It is the most known fact about the historic railroad. The Fulton County Historical Society’s permanent railroad exhibit includes a section on the Mountain Lake line and its fate.

Throughout the decades and around the world, winter holidays feature many different traditions. From Kwanzaa to Hannukah to St. Lucia Day to Three Kings Day, you can find celebrations centered around special foods, religious events, and more. In early New York, traditions of the Iroquois, Dutch, English, German, French, and enslaved Africans existed side by side and intermingled. Residents of Montgomery County (Fulton was not created until 1838) would not have escaped the influences of the many cultures that settled here.

Although what we know as present-day Fulton County wasn’t the Dutch cultural stronghold that Albany and the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys were, there is still evidence of Dutch heritage to be found here. Looking in early records reveals a smattering of Dutch names: Vroonlan, Fonda, Dow, Hance. The men listed on the deed for land that encompasses the modern Town of Johnstown are a combination of Iroquois, Dutch, and English names: Cechehoana, Seth, Hance Ranceer, Abraham Dow, Jacob, Hendrick, Petuis Hance, Wild Deaf Hendrick, and Daniel Sayengarghta. The parcel was purchased from local Iroquois for “three peices of Showde [cloth], six pieces of galling linnen, three barrels of Beer, six gallons of Rum, and a fatt Beast.” ¹

Still, there was not a huge Dutch presence in the area partially, it is assumed, because of the strong influence of Sir William Johnson. There was no love lost between the Irish servant of the English Crown Johnson and the Dutch (who lost their New Netherland colony to England in 1664). Still, Beverwijk, renamed Albany, remained largely culturally Dutch. Johnson earned the ire of these powerful Albany merchants – and his uncle Peter Warren – when he built Mount Johnson (Fort Johnson) along the Mohawk River in 1739 and began working directly with businessmen in New York City, cutting out the Albany middlemen altogether.

References to the Dutch and their perceived unscrupulous ways are littered throughout the Johnson Papers. In a letter to Cadwallader Colden in 1761, Johnson wrote: “There is no Justice to be expected by any Englishman in this country, nor never will, whilst the Bench of Judges and Justices is composed entirely of Dutch,” underscoring the “partiality, cruelty and oppression of those in authority here, who call themselves the Dutch.” A letter to Johnson from Witham Marsh the following fall called the Dutch “Rascals,” and an earlier letter to Johnson from John Lyne read: “I have no news to write you from this remote place only to acquint you yt [that] I thought since the Rebellion in Scotland ye Devil had been a Scotah Man but I find him to be a Dutch Man.”

After the Revolution, “a third and mingled race, from New England, and also Scotch, German, and Dutch, came on the great wave of immigration.” Writing in 1892, Washington Frothingham acknowledged the continued influence of these early groups, stating it “is still felt in the throbbing life about us, and their history is our inheritance.” ² Most of these newcomers making their homes in the Kingsborough settlment were Yankees, specifically from Connecticut. It’s no accident that the configuration of the area was modeled after a New England town, with a green in the center. In May 1803, Reverend Elisha Yale (whose statue stands on that green today) took a rough census of the settlement: “Kingsborough is a pleasant society, five by seven miles in extent, about fifty miles from Albany, nine north of the Mohawk, containing 233 families, and about 1,400 souls. Of the families, 191 are of English descent, 23 Scotch, 14 Dutch, and 5 Irish . . . 15 Methodist families, 7 Baptist, and 5 families of Friends [Quakers].” A decade later, Spafford’s Gazetteer included a passage reading: “The present inhabitants are a mixture, rather than a compound, of Yankees, Scotch, Dutch, German, and other immigrants and their descendants.”

So what does any of this have to do with Santa Claus? Our notion of a jolly old elf with a snowy white beard and magic sleigh of flying reindeer is a relatively modern concept, but it’s based in tradition going back centuries.

Saint Nicholas is believed to have been the Bishop of Myra, the present-day town Demre (Turkey). The historic figure of Nicholas most likely died on December 6th between 340 and 350 CE. He was connected to many miracles and was especially revered by sailors. Perhaps St. Nicholas’ most famous miracle revolves around the poor father of three daughters. He had no money for dowries and had chosen to sell them. When St. Nicholas heard of this, he brought a gold ball the night before each daughter came of age to help with the dowry.

The Dutch celebrated Sinterklaasavond on December 6th, creating a contraction of “Sint” (Saint) and “Nikolaas” (Nicholas). The idea of Sinterklaas traveled with missionaries throughout Europe. Sinterklaas was more of a secular, all-purpose saint – a folk hero. ³

So Sinterklaas came to the New World. It’s evident from records left by New Netherland settlers that they celebrated Sinterklaas, despite the fact that the Dutch Reformed Church, supported by the West India Company, banned these types of celebrations. It was an important holiday for children, who would put their shoes or stockings near the hearth on December 5th with hopes that they would be filled with goodies upon waking. Common treats included fruits, like apples, pears, and oranges, special breads and cakes such as Deventer koek (spice cake), gingerbread, and duivekater, a buttery lemon-flavored bread baked throughout the season. Children might also receive dolls and other toys and trinkets.⁴ A Dutch children’s song included the lyrics: “wie zoet is krijgt lekkers, wie stout is de roe” – “good children get sweets, naughty ones get switches for spanking.” ⁵

In 1809, Washington Irving wrote a spoof called A History of New York, which included a description of St. Nicholas moving across rooftops and “drawing forth magnificent presents from his breeches pocket.” Clement C. Moore and Thomas Nast each contributed to our modern version of Santa Claus – Moore through A Visit from St. Nicholas and Nast through his illustrations.

With Dutch and English families living so closely in early Kingsborough, there was sure to have been some cultural exchange. Early Dutch settlers may have celebrated St. Nicholas Day in the beginning of December while their English neighbors observed the more religiously-based day of Christmas. St. Nicholas Day is still celebrated all over the world today. Not only that, but the influence of the Dutch is prevalent in our every day lives – for example, in the words “cookies” and “coleslaw,” in the sport of bowling, and in many of our place names: Bleecker, Amsterdam, Kinderhook, Watervliet, Catskill… the list goes on.

On December 15th at 1pm, Sinterklaas will be making a special visit to the Fulton County Historical Society during the Festival of Trees. Enjoy some hot chocolate and other holiday treats while listening to Sinterklaas read some of his favorite seasonal stories. This event is free, though donations are appreciated.