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Liberty, NY history

Liberty NY history

The Town (and Village) of Liberty, Sullivan County, New York...

is a favorite subject of ours. In fact, we grew up there! If you're interested in the history of Liberty, New York, or Sullivan County, or small towns in America right around the time of World War I all the way up to the 1960s, or changing social and cultural values, or the fabled Borscht Circuit, you will find our downloads of interest.  

 

We have a number of offerings that you should know about if you share even part of our interest in Liberty.  Here's a summary:

 

Downloads of Liberty publications and information:

 

--Methodist Episcopal Church Records:  Swan Lake, White Sulphur Springs, Harris Circuit.  While there were established Methodist churches in the larger communities like Liberty and Monticello, with full-time clergy, the smaller villages were served by circuit riders, ministers who travelled from village to village on so-called circuits.  One such circuit covered Swan Lake (then Stevensville), White Sulphur Springs (then Robertsonville), and Harris (then called Strongtown).  The church records (baptisms, joining the church, marriages, funerals, as well as lists of church members, were carried along on the circuit.  These records are vital for genealogy and family history purposes.  We're happy to offer this 65 page compilation by Audrey Barber (circa 1929) with an index we prepared, in PDF format, as a download for $3.75.

 

 

--Liberty Centennial Book.  The Town of Liberty celebrated its centennial in 1907 and this book served as both a chronicle of those 100 years and a program for the celebration itself.  There are many pictures in it, many familiar but some not usually seen elsewhere, particularly the photos of the residences and the leading citizens.  The book is potentially useful both to those interested in Liberty's history and those who may be interested in family connections in that town.  We have indexed the book and it is included as well.  49 pages, in PDF format.  Download now for $3.00.

 

 

--History of the Liberty Fire Department including the J. C. Young Hose Company By-Laws.  Chief Dewey Borden, the probable author of this document, intentionally or not wrote something of a history of the Village of Liberty in creating this document about her fire departments and their own histories.  It's an interesting approach to writing a municipal history without actually planning to do so, and we think this works.  Also included is a copy of the by-laws of one of the three fire companies that make up the Liberty NY Fire Department.  94 pages, in PDF format, $3.75.

 

 

--Swan Lake Cemetery.  This small cemetery was recorded by Gertrude Barber circa 1929.  It's a small listing -- only five pages of actual lists of gravestones -- but of great interest if you had family in Swan Lake (originally known as Stevensville, just to complicate things a little bit).  The download totals nine pages, in PDF formal, just $2.00.

 

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1969.  Thanks to Debra Conway for this one!  This yearbook shows a class graduating into "interesting times" in many respects.  Woodstock happened nearby the same year they graduated.  The Vietnam war was in full swing.  The resort industry was visibly in trouble.  And those are only the external variables!  Additional thanks to Debra for also providing the program for her senior prom (held at the fabled Grossinger's), which is also included.  Even if you have no connection to this class, their yearbook is worth a read for the glimpse of history it offers.  A whopping 185+ pages, in PDF format, for $4.00. 

 1969 Libertas of Liberty Central School, Liberty, NY

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1967 This year Liberty's students looked just like students everywhere else across America.  Change was in the works -- both for Liberty and for Sullivan County as a whole -- but you can't tell it by the happy smiles in this class.   The yearbook is in PDF format, 183+ pages.  Download it now for $4.00.

 

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1964 196 marked the opening of the new building of Liberty Central High School on upper Buckley and the first commencement in that new building.  While that theme obviously runs through this edition, perhaps it's visually most notable among Liberty High School yearbooks for it's yellow and white cover.  It's a biggie -- 186 pages, and, like all of our downloads, is in PDF format.  You can download it for $4.00

 

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1963 1963 -- and this edition of Libertas -- celebrated the 50th anniversary of Liberty High School (Liberty Central, by this time).  It's quite an elegant edition, incorporating several design refinements not previously seen in this series, and, of course, the graduates were a great bunch.   The yearbook is in PDF format, 170+ pages.  Download it now for $4.50. 

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1962 We can't really pick a year when Liberty shown at its brightest as a crown jewel of the famed Borscht Circuit, but it was certainly around this time.  The yearbook is in PDF format, 162+ pages.  Download it now for $4.75.

 Liberty, NY Libertas for 1962

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1960.  Certainly a glimpse of Liberty near its peak (sometimes you can judge this sort of thing by the number of pages in the yearbook).  This one is 156+ pages in length, including a new every-name index.  Download it now in PDF format is priced at $4.00. 

1960 Libertas Liberty Central School

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1959.  Liberty at its peak!  This is the class with which the principal partner of Between the Lakes Group would have graduated with, had he remained in Liberty, so for us this one is extra important.  133+ pages, in PDF format for $4.50. 

 Liberty Central School Libertas for 1959

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1957.  Liberty always produced a few people who turned out distinguished careers after high school, and this class -- another one to graduate when the Catskills were in their heyday, was no exception.  Always a favorite of ours, this yearbook now is available for download.  It's one is 114+ pages in length, and you can download it now in PDF format for $4.25. 

1957 Libertas yearbook of Liberty NY Central School  

 

--Liberty Central School's Libertas yearbook for 1958 Like the 1960 and 1962 Libertas issues, this one records Liberty at a time when things were pretty good and getting better.  The class pictured in this yearbook – their yearbook – was born on the eve of World War II, and had come of age at a time when Liberty, as one of the hubs of the “Borscht Circuit”, was still becoming more prosperous and successful – something that was not to last, however. Download it now, 134+ pages in PDF format, for $4.25

1958 Libertas yearbook of Liberty Central School, Liberty, NY

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1956.  Good times in a small town in New York's Catskill Mountains, with few signs of where that community was headed half a century later.   130+ pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $4.00

 Liberty High School Libertas for 1956

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1955.  A solid yearbook, a good class, graduating at a good time to be starting adult life in a community that, at the time, seemed to have everything going for it.  One of our favorite yearbooks, and recommended.  122+ pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $5.25.

 Libertas for 1955 - Liberty High School, Liberty, NY

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1954.  As Liberty High School yearbooks go, this was a rather short one, more like 1953's than 1955.  However, it was a class that left its mark on the world in several respects, and, while brief, the book was complete in its coverage.   68+ pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $4.00.

 Libertas yearbook for 1954, Liberty HS, Liberty, NY

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1953.  Rather brief as yearbooks tended to be in the early 1950s.  This class was made of of children born in the Great Depression, and some of the thrifty qualities that era engendered are evident in their product.  Valuable as a transition into the more elaborate yearbooks of the years following as well as being a document of this class.  70+ pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $4.00.

 Liberty HS Libertas for 1953

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1952.  Another brief yearbook typical of the early 1950s.  Again, we have a graduating class that lived through the Great Depression, and as a consequence lacks the flamboyance of subsequent classes.   69 pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $4.00.

 

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1950.  One of the last soft-covered yearbooks from Liberty High School.  This, the half-century class, made several innovations in their yearbook.  73 pages, in PDF format.  Download it now for $4.00.

 

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1942.  95 pages, in PDF format.  Download this wartime yearbook now for $5.00.   

 

 

--Liberty High School's Libertas yearbook for 1941.  88+ pages, in PDF format.  Download this rarity now for $6.00.    

1941 Libertas of Liberty High School

 

--Liberty High School's Annual for 1919 -- the first-ever yearbook produced by Liberty High School.  CLICK HERE to go to the page about that special yearbook, which is available for download.

 

--Gertrude Barber's compilation of the Old Liberty Cemetery (1929 - 1930), 65 pages.  This typescript of the Old Liberty Cemetery (the portion of the current cemetery that is south of Cemetary Road) is essential for anyone doing genealogical or family history research in the Town of Liberty.  While there were several smaller cemeteries in the town, this was "the big one" and contains surnames more associated with hamlets of Liberty as well as for surrounding townships, notably Neversink.  We have compiled an index of this document, which is included.  In PDF format, download now for $5.50.

 

--Baptist Church Records of Liberty and Parksville (1929)Gertrude Barber collected from many different sources during her two summers concentrating on the Liberty area, and the Baptist Church that was originally two churches, one in Liberty and the other in Parksville, was one of these.  Vital if you had Baptist ancestors in the area and useful for historical information in any case.  We have provided an index as well.  18 pages, in PDF format, download now for $3.00.

 

 

--Gertrude Barber's compilation of the White Sulphur Springs Cemetery (circa 1930), 6+ pages. A typescript by a woman who spent her summers in the mountains transcribing cemeteries and church records, later typing them out and donating copies to libraries.  This is of use to anyone interested in genealogy in the White Sulphur Springs area.  PDF format, only $1.75 to download. 

White Sulphur Springs NY cemetery listing

 

--Gertrude Barber's compilation of the Fulton-Fraser Cemetery in Ferndale  (circa 1929-1930), 14 pages. Another typescript cemetery compilation by Gertrude Barber.  We do not know the current status of this cemetery, or even where in Ferndale it is (or was?) located.  However, her description of the run-down state of the cemetery nearly a century ago suggests that this compilation might not even be possible today.  This compilation includes our own intex.  PDF format,  $3.25 to download. 

 

 

--The History of Sullivan County National Bank.  50th Anniversary (1893 – 1943).  The Sullivan County National Bank was founded by a prominent local citizens, and the bank’s first president was one of the more enigmatic, A. J. D. Wedemeyer.  Wedemeyer gave his name to a local street (now Lincoln Place) but his name did not survive on that street long – by the time of World War I it had its new (and current) name.  The bank’s second headquarters was the Music Hall (properly known as the Wedemeyer building) at the corner of Main and Chestnut, but by 1895, Wedemeyer had resigned.  In 1899, the bank moved into its own building on the corner of Main and Law streets, next to the Methodist Church.  After the time covered by this history, the bank moved again, this time into the former O. E. Keller department store on North Main Street.  PDF format, 13+ pages, download now for $2.50.

 History of Sullivan County National Bank

 

--Baptist Cemetery, Parksville, Town of Liberty, Sullivan County, New York Collected by Gertrude Barber (circa 1930).  Parksville historically has been more connected to the Town of Rockland, to the north, and the Town of Neversink, to the east, than to the Town of Liberty, where it is actually located, at least in terms of family migration patterns.  Nonetheless, this cemetery is a possible location for a missing ancestor from any of these three towns.  Mrs. Barber, when collecting the cemetery circa 1930, noted that it was in “very bad condition”.  Our suspicion, on that basis, is that there is little of it that can be found or deciphered now, more than 80 years later.  Short though this listing is, we hope it will be helpful.  PDF format, 6+ pages, download now for $3.00.

 Baptist Cemetery, Parksville, NY

 

--Free Methodist Church Records, Ferndale, New YorkCollected by Audrey Barber (1929).  This short compilation also includes the extant records of the Briscoe Circuit of the Free Methodist Church, which included Egypt and Beaver Brook.  This collection includes family names more usually associated with the more mainstream denominations in Liberty, and thus is of particular interest to those hunting elusive Sullivan County ancestors.  Just nine pages, inclusive of an index, in PDF format,only $2.00

 

 

--Town of Liberty Sesquicentennial (1957).  The year of this anniversary celebration by the Town of Liberty found a township enjoying good economic health, the hub of a thriving resort industry.  The fifty odd years that have passed since then reveal that if this was not the peak of the Township’s prosperity, it was very close to it.  The fortunes of Sullivan County (and the Town of Liberty) have declined significantly since the optimistic days of the celebration this publication commemorates.  24+ pages, in PDF format, download now for $3.00.

 Town of Liberty, NY Sesquicentennial

 

We include the Village of Liberty as well as the hamlets that make up the Town of Liberty, past and present:  Parkville, Ferndale, Swan Lake, White Sulphur Springs, and Loomis -- even Red Brick); all these locales are part of the Town of Liberty. 

 

Some interesting free material (mostly photographic) about Liberty -- Enjoy!!


Liberty and the railroad

Liberty and resorts

Liberty back then

Liberty through the years

Liberty and Walnut Mountain

Liberty today (which was actually around 2001, but still)

Want to reminisce about Liberty?

We moderate a Yahoo!Group called "LibertyNY".  It's free and welcoming! Although in recent years Facebook pages about this town have largely superceded it, this is still a good way to connect with experts on Liberty.

 With more than 200 members, we talk about pretty unusual things -- but always with a connection to Liberty!!  Subscribe to the LibertyNY group. 

See what people have said about our original Liberty CD-ROMs...

Got some questions? 

--About our  downloads and the way we do business?

--Specifically about our Liberty NY downloads?

While Liberty is our old home town, we are also the leading publisher of Sullivan County, NY historical material today.  Here are some of our other current Sullivan County offerings.
Check our Sullivan County local history page for more information about:

-- Hamilton Child's "Gazetteer and Business Directory of Sullivan County for 1872-73" -- includes a chapter about Liberty as well as a listing of families living there in 1872.

-- Quinlan's "History of Sullivan County" -- a whole major chapter about the history of Liberty from its beginnings up to 1872.

--many Sullivan County downloads

 

Liberty, 12754, Sullivan County, New York

Be sure to visit our Sullivan County, NY page

Here's some big news for serious Liberty NY researchers.  The Liberty Public Library now has around a century of the Liberty Register online and it's free! We think that's great news!!  Check it out HERE. (But don't forget who sent you!)

 


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Between the Lakes Group is located at 372 Between the Lakes Road, in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut.  More specifically, we're in Taconic -- a hamlet  in the Twin Lakes area of the Town of Salisbury.  Questions about us or about our products?  Go to our Frequently Asked Questions page.  

Telephone:
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