Colonie Central High School - Rougetor Yearbook (Albany, NY)

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As if it were yesterday, I can hear the laugh- ing voices of children passing beneath my snow- frosted boughs on their way to school. When the snow was deep, I often saw them wade through the drifts with only heavy stockings over their shoes to protect them from the cold. They often talked about their little one room schoolhouse which was the forerunner of the Maywood School. Reading, arithmetic, and gram- mar were the only subjects ever mentioned so I presume they were the only ones taught. When- ever the children discussed the lumber camps surrounding the school, I cringed in fear that one day I might topple with my fellow pine! I have watched the schools grow from one room to forty. The new high school has 136,706 square feet of floor space and fifty-five acres of land for sports. It seems strange that Cusack's Furniture Store was once used as a school with blackboards as dividers between the rooms. Now when the children pass beneath my boughs, they no longer walk but ride on a fleet of yellow buses up and down the Pine Bush roads coming from every nook and cranny. The tree of knowledge is spreading its branch- es upward in this region. Indeed a noble motto for Colonie's educators is Pope's phrase as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined. Among my earliest recollections is the sound of the rumbling wagon wheels taking families to church. The first church in the area was the Lisha Kill Reformed Church founded in 1852 when its members decided that they no longer wished to attend church in Niskayuna. Trees blown down by a violent windstorm were later used to construct a parsonage. In 1855, the Pine Grove Congregational Church was founded which became the Roessle- ville Presbyterian Church. Little is known of the original building except that it was located across from the Roessle gatehouse. With the help of the Roessleville Presbyterian Church, the Pine Grove Methodist Church was founded in 1857. It was temporarily known as the Plains Methodist Church. I can well recall when the kidnappers who held john Conway captive in the same church warmed themselves by the big wood stove in the church hall. As the years sped quickly by, people no longer traveled in wagons but rode in comfortable auto- mobiles, Gradually, they had more churches of different denominations to attend. Churches that have arisen in the twentieth century are Our Lady of Mercy, established in 1921, Our Saviour's Lutheran in 1929, and St. Claire's, 1931. It is comforting to me to know that religion is still advancing amid the cathedral of Pines. .5 .A s f' ' ' ' ff A Y '-Q I rl A,-2 I E if 'fir E: w rit ',f.I , fp- 'ff Q. fjQN 2 TMR Q -, A- -1 4-L I. 752' k1l4el. 'Nm', l i iq V ' xxx- X I ,-4n,.1- 1-Q. - F if -- -- ' ,-,lvffim-.'x A' IN'-. S- - if 'F .. A, 'FIU' 'X S -.--IN X 17 --...wJ 'VKX ,NM f, Q U, -4. 4? Mfr 'lilu .1 I A It fl' f 5. v . , 3 5 ar- -Q .,. A 7, f . .- I . gl- X fali' - - 155

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,4 Whispering Pine I f , K NV 'ibzqhgzt YI , ' M 'T I'-Qbru gg ww, RWD I 3' e X ff A 0 a 3 MW! , Guam' +V S Q! f A QE ' '4 . i m yfygr I Q 1 , 'Nc f 1' ff TAVERN X X ' 5' use o ,Q 'L' ' 'H f f 'v f-,,, Q EBDN H 5- 50,41 Tnv i RN 5 As the sleigh ride drew to a close, the stories turned to those perennial favorites for ending any happy time, ghost stories. One girl divulged that her grandfather was sitting on his porch one evening when a man, dressed in the uniform of a Revolutionary War soldier, and with one arm bandaged, galloped up to the door. He pleaded with her grandfather to be allowed into the cellar where he claimed a murdered comrade was buried. Out of curiosity, the grandfather was about to let him in when the soldier and horse disappeared. One boy, who knew the owner of the Verre- burgh Tavern, recounted how one night the owner saw a soldier dash up to his barn on a lathered horse, jump off, water the horse and then enter the barn. The owner grabbed a lantern, raced into the barn-it was empty! Another spun a yarn about a soldier who stopped at a shack in a lonely section of the Bush where an old man and his wife lived. In the course of the evening, the soldier said he was carrying a large sum of money. That night, while he slept, the old couple killed him. Going through his belongings, they found not only his money, but the fact that he was their long lost son. One sleigh rider pointed out the route that a French spy, in 1757, traveled, seeking infor mation about defenses. He probably passed many taverns which have been known by various names Perhaps he stopped at the Two Mile House, also dubbed the Sandburgh and Christie's Tavern which would be located today near the intersection of Manning Boulevard and Central Avenue. Next came McKown's Tavern or the Five Mile House The Seven Mile House was ,also called the Verre burgh Tavern, Halfway House, and the Corpora tion Tavern. All that remains of it today is a fenced excavation area beneath the first overhead crossing on the Thruway just west of the Washing ton Avenue exit. Further along was the Widow Truax Tavern, and then, the Isaac Truax Tavern on Kings Road before Schenectady. With the coming of the Turnpike in 1800 the use of taverns diminished. Gone were the spies, Tories, trappers, Indians, and finally even all traces of the taverns themselves. No one then knew that bullets, with nails driven into them to provide more death dealing power, clay pipes pieces of crockery, coins dating back to the six teenth century would one day be all that was left to give future generations just a small hint of the once glamorous period of long passed days

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A Whispering Pine. . . I am the past. The future has entombed meg my needles, shed forever. The shadow of history is vanishing into the dawn of progress. While keeping this valiant vigil, with the wind rustling my branches, the last of my memories mingle with the sands of time. I can remember the Indian traders who trav- eled the Bush, One of them was a man named Duncan who belonged to the firm of Duncan, Finn, and Ellis, Indian traders for Sir William Johnson. Duncan and his family lived on a beau- tiful estate which they called The Hermitage, near the Schenectady city line, where slaves bowed to their every whim. I can remember how the turkeys driven up the turnpike from Schenectady used to roost in the stately pines of the same land after the Stanfords bought it in the early 1800's. Leland Stanford built the beautiful house which still stands now as the Ingersoll Memorial Home for the Aged. Leland later moved to Cali- fornia where he became governor, founder of Stanford University, and sponsor of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The first Stanford to settle in the Bush was Charles Stanford who owned a tavern where the Cameron Lumber Company now stands. On the door of this tavern was a solid gold door knocker. The Stanfords once owned all the land around Stop 1 where the mansion stands. Many places still bear their name such as Stanford Heights Fire Department, Stanford Street, and the Stan- ford Heights Golf Course where they once had a private trotting track. This same golf course is soon to be an ultra modern shopping center. I can remember when the land in the Pine Bush was sold for farms in 1840. One of the big farms owned by a man named Kilean has become the huge housing development of Kilean Park. The farm owned by john Brown and his thirteen children has now become Tanglewood Park. Sad- dlewood, Parkwood Drive, and Forest Drive are thriving now where once farmers planted and harvested their crops. I can remember, too, when the first cars made their way down the Albany Schenectady road. In the Roaring Twenties, Colonie achieved fame for being a speed trap for motorists. Into this trap fell the vaudeville team of Van and Shencke as they sped toward Schenectady for a benefit performance. I can remember when the city of Albany dam- med Patroons Creek which flows through the Pine Bush to form the Six Mile Waterworks which was to serve as a reservoir for the city. Now the Six Mile Waterworks has become a recreation area since as a water supply it has been considered outdated. I can remember in the 1930,s when the Sub- urban Twilight League used to play baseball near Stop 37. Now it is used for a trailer camp. I can remember in 1956 when Colonie had a fish hatch- ery at Bate's Pond. I can even remember when there was only one gas station between the two cities. Now there are over fifty. Fearfully, I cling to the roots of time. With horror, I have witnessed the massacre of my breth- reng with pride, I have watched the molding of a new era. The Thruway tunnels through the terraing the tree of industry is blossoming into a forest of power, the scattered settlers have mush- roomed into a magnitude of unforeseen dimen- sions. Sorrowfully, but hopefully, I must relinquish my claim to the land. Fervently I cry out to Col- onie. Ignite the spirit of the past as the spark of the future! Remember me . . . remember me . . .