From murders and mobs to an alligator in the Ellenville sewer, these are Ulster County's most wicked stories. Situated in the scenic Hudson Valley, Ulster County is a lovely location to make a home and raise a family, but it wasn't always so pleasant. Unsavory characters and immoral events have sullied its name. In the 1870s, the Shawangunk Mountains inspired fear rather than awe, as groups like the Lyman Freer and Shawangunk gangs robbed and terrorized locals, descending from the protection of the wooded peaks. Kingston was torched, arson blazed in Kerhonkson and even the Mohonk Mountain House was threatened by flames. In 1909, the Ashokan Slasher's bloody crimes and sensational trial captured headlines across the country. Discover these and other salacious stories buried in Ulster County's history. Book jacket.

Situated in the scenic Hudson Valley, Ulster County is a lovely location to make a home and raise a family, but it wasn't always so pleasant. Unsavory characters and immoral events have sullied its name. In the 1870s, the Shawangunk Mountains inspired fear rather than awe, as groups like the Lyman Freer and Shawangunk gangs robbed and terrorized locals, descending from the protection of the wooded peaks. Kingston was torched, arson blazed in Kerhonkson and even the Mohonk Mountain House was threatened by flames. In 1909, the Ashokan Slasher's bloody crimes and sensational trial captured headlines across the country. Discover these and other salacious stories buried in Ulster County's history.

Uncover Ulster County's hidden history of unsavory characters and stories of its wicked past. Situated in the scenic Hudson Valley, Ulster County is a lovely location to make a home and raise a family, but it wasn't always so pleasant. Unsavory characters and immoral events have sullied its name. In the 1870s, the Shawangunk Mountains inspired fear rather than awe, as groups like the Lyman Freer and Shawangunk gangs robbed and terrorized locals, descending from the protection of the wooded peaks. Kingston was torched, arson blazed in Kerhonkson and even the Mohonk Mountain House was threatened by flames. In 1909, the Ashokan Slasher's bloody crimes and sensational trial captured headlines across the country. Discover these and other salacious stories buried in Ulster County's history.

In 1870, the" New York Herald" proclaimed that Ulster County was New York's "Ulcer County" due to its lawlessness and crime. The columnist supported his claim by citing that in only six months, "it has been the scene of no less than four cold blooded and brutal murders, six suicides and four elopements." Hannah Markle--the bane of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union--ran a Kingston saloon where murder and violence were served alongside the whiskey. John Babbitt confessed on his deathbed to murdering Emma Brooks, and Willie Brown--reputed member of the Eastman Gang--accidentally shot his best friend. The infamous Big Bad Bill, the "Gardiner Desperado," lashed out more than once and killed in a drunken rage. Discover the mayhem and murder that these and others wreaked on one of New York State's original counties.

Spies! Loyalists! Tories! Conspiracy! Strange messages? Codes in invisible ink? The American Revolution was first and foremost a civil war that tore at the very fabric of families as well as society. Patriots were determined to separate from England; while Loyalists were just as determined to defeat what they saw as a rebellion. Many do not know that during several critical periods the war was almost fatally undermined by English sympathizers or in some cases opportunistic Patriots. Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York is a compilation of twelve stories regarding important moments in New York State's history during the American Revolution.

We know that Widow Hasbrouck opened her home to Washington in 1782, but the Hasbrouck family history itself has been distorted over the years by myths and legends. Much like the story of Washington chopping down the cherry tree, legend has it that the Hasbroucks and Washington would take a daily sojourn to the family orchards, where Jonathan Hasbrouck would first taste the general's fruit to ensure it was not poisoned. The truth is that Jonathan and Washington never met. In this revealing book, A.J. Schenkman finally dispels the rumors and relates the history of a prominent Newburgh family whose homestead ultimately became the nation's first publicly owned historic site in 1850.