Week of March 28
March 27, 1875 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal
AROUND HOME
☞ If the hens in this vicinity don’t do better than they have been doing, they will have to be squeezed to furnish eggs for to-morrow.
☞ The printing presses manufactured by the Aetna Machine Works, at Pearl River, are known as the Degener & Weiler “Liberty” Presses.
☞ Now what kind of weather is this for planting peas? and yet on the 25th of March last year “Tunis DePew had them in their little beds.”
☞ We would rather be a lightning-rod peddler and do business in the Great American Desert, than endure another such winter as that just passed.
☞ The mare and sleigh stolen from Oliver W. Campbell, Blauveltville, week before last, was found at White Plains, the fellow, that tick’er, is non est.
☞ Our village was the refuge for twenty-eight tramps on Monday night. This is robbery systematized, and our Supervisors appear to be helpless to prevent it.
☞ People in this section are metaphorically tearing their hair and howling about Spring, but the little flower-crowned girl keeps right along minding her own business.
☞ In view of the approach of warm weather we would suggest to our Bank officers to cushion the steps of the Bank for the comfort of those who congregate on them evenings.
March 26, 1925 – 100 YEARS AGO
Pearl River News
TAKE TEETH OF SKELETON FOR SOUVENIRS — Identification Made, Impossible by School Children — No Official Action
Identification of the skeleton unearthed at Orangeburg on Wednesday by workmen excavating for the new school house, has been made practically impossible by souvenir-hunting school children. The teeth have been carried off by young folk and the bones of the body have been broken by youngsters walking over them.
That the burial of the body at Orangeburg was the result of foul play now seems absolutely certain. The skull and the feet were found about a foot beneath the surface while the body had been pushed down and was covered by eighteen inches of dirt. All indications point to the theory that a shallow hole was dug and that those disposing of the body threw it in the hole and pushed it down at the center.
After the skeleton was found, Contractor William McIndoe, in charge of excavating, work, informed a constable who told the men to dispose of the skeleton in any way they might desire. The bones were placed beside the tool shanty and it was from that place that children removed “souvenirs.”
Sheriff Schriver said today he had not been informed of the finding of the skeleton nor had Coroner Giles. The coroner is making an effort to recover the stolen teeth. It is possible that an official investigation will be made to determine who is responsible for the despoilation of the skeleton.
Dr. Arthur Munson states that the teeth indicate the person was in the neighborhood of 60 years of age and that burial probably was made from fifteen to twenty years ago.
March 27, 1975 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News
100-YEAR OLD MONSEY TREES CUT, TRIMMED
[Image: Passerby Steve Colangelo of Monsey looks at remains of tree. Journal News Staff Photo by Ted Neuhoff, 1975.]
A pair of maple trees estimated to be 100 years old on Maple Avenue in Monsey have been altered—one chopped down and one trimmed—to make way for an access road near Route 306.
Blossom Moskowitz, a Monsey housewife, noticed the work Wednesday morning and called it “unbelievable planning.”
“Why they had to put the road right in the middle of the whole business is beyond me,” she said. “Other trees will have to be felled also.”
Removal of trees in the Maple Avenue area has raised strong protests in recent years. Mrs. Moskowitz said there was a “covenant” agreed upon several years ago that no trees would be removed.
Ramapo Supervisor Morton Baron said, however, there has never been such an agreement. “We try to save every tree we can,” he said, “but you have to have an entrance some place. We’re not going to cut any more down there.”
The trees were cut by Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. to make way for utility lines and a road leading to a subdivision development and a new building for the Yeshiva of Spring Valley.
This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2025 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.
