Nellie Bly Ballard "The Grandma Moses of the Catskills"

Since I posted one of Nellie Bly Ballard's paintings here on Catskills Folk's  blog, I have heard from two interested persons.  One was a great-niece of the local landscape painter, and the second was an art dealer from Maryland who had just bought 9 of Nellie Bly Ballard's paintings at a yard sale.  She has since sold them to a collector on Long Island.

The Maryland trove of paintings includes many recognizable sights and views in the Roxbury area. See how many you recognize:

FARM LANDSCAPES:

 

VIEWS OF DENVER VALLEY:

VIEW OF HALCOTTSVILLE:

VIEWS OF ROXBURY:

Join me tomorrow, Tuesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. for Catskills Folk on WIOX 91.3 FM or WIOXradio.org to see what we can learn together by examining these wonderful paintings that have been out of sight apparently for a long period of time.

-- Ginny

P.S.  This book, Between the Branches: Folk Art of Delaware County New York, written by folklorist Doug DeNatale, and published by Delaware County Historical Association in 1985, is an excellent introduction to Catskills regional folk art.  It includes a work by Nellie Bly Ballard and paintings by other artists.  It is available on-line and form the Roxbury Library.

Next Square Dance May 17 in Bovina. Details in Schedule of Events -> -> ->

Walter Stratton Stone House, 1828, Meeker Hollow, Roxbury

Catskills Folk Connection offers tours of Manhattan Country School’s historic house.

On Saturday May 30 and Sunday June 7 as part of Headwaters History Days, Ginny Scheer, folklorist for Catskills Folk Connection, will offer tours of the Walter Stratton House at 3217 New Kingston Mountain Road, Roxbury, NY, just up hill from the Manhattan Country School Farm.  Tours of the exterior and interior of the house will be offered from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. each day.

One of five historic stone houses in Roxbury, the Stratton house is not unique, but does represent an early and substantial construction by a local business man.  Walter Stratton was the son of a prosperous miller who owned a number of mills on streams closer to the East Branch of the Delaware River.  

Eighty years later John Corbin purchased this vernacular house and its tiny lot, made renovations, and raised his family there.  For decades it was the summer home of his daughter, Lena Corbin, a teacher in Amsterdam, then was sold to the Manhattan Country School by members of a more recent generation of her family.

Ginny Scheer will offer period documents and analysis of the structure and site to interpret how families have lived in this house over the years.  Included in the tour will be a 19^th century loom donated by a Meeker Hollow neighbor, a 1920s cook stove and refrigerator, early wall and floor finishes, a wooden spiral staircase, extensive stonework around the house lot and in the cellar, which features the huge stone foundation of a former fireplace.   

Listen to Catskills Folk Tuesday, May 19, from 7 to 8 pm on WIOX Community Radio, 91.3 FM or streaming at www.wioxradio.org when the topic will be the Walter Stratton Stone House.

Winner of Catskills Vernacular Architecture Challenge #5!

Ben Fenton of Fleischmanns is the winner of Catskills Vernacular Architecture Challenge #5.  He correctly located the terrific "carpenter Gothic" house in the village of Stamford, New York, called "Stamford Gables B&B."  It is on Main Street, or Route 23, on the right as you drive into the village from South Gilboa, after the connected buildings with the gymnasium and dental offices that were formerly the grocery store.

Stamford Gables B&B in the village of Stamford, NY

The steepness of the gables for which the house is named shows Gothic Revival influence as does the "gingerbread" on the eaves.  In the earlier Gothic Revival the carved or sawn tracery would have looked medieval where on Stamford Gables it is fanciful flowers (see below).  An imported style, prescribed by supposed experts, has morphed into a new version that may be unique or characteristic of this part of the Catskills or may relate to something the builder saw in another village he or she visited.

Look below for the next Catskills Vernacular Architecture Challenge.

Catskills Vernacular Architecture Challenge #6

Here's the challenge.  Where is this wonderful late 19th century residence?  Can you identify it?  This is just one example of the quality of ordinary (aka vernacular) architecture in the Catskills Region. Our focus does not need to be on the mansions of the rich and famous to find interesting architecture, but rather on the houses built by members of the community.

This house has a number of characteristics of a popular Victorian-era house style called "Queen Anne":  wrap around porch, multi-color trim, stained glass, a "terra cotta" frieze over the porch steps, a corner or bay window, and a multi-faceted roof form (as opposed to some of our earlier challenges that were shaped like a Monopoly hotel).  But this house may carry the name of a style variant because it lacks some Queen Anne elements, especially rounded features (a turret, the shape of the porch) and it lacks shingle siding mixed with its clapboard siding. So the safest style is "Victorian."  Extra points if you determine the proper variant and give your reasons! Remember that for now all challenges were built as residences, most are in villages, and are likely to be on or near the highways I travel most often: Route 28, Route 23, Route 30, and Route 10.  

Notice the elegant leaf motif in the "terra cotta" frieze above the porch steps. Terra cotta is in quotes because I'm not sure that is the actual material on this house, though real terra cotta is often found on Queen Anne houses.

If you correctly identify this house by calling me at 607-326-4206 or e-mailing vscheer@juno.com and describing its location, you will win a prize!  I'll dedicate a song to you on my radio program, Catskills Folk, alternate Tuesdays at 7 pm on WIOX 91.3 FM or on-line at wioxradio.org.  

Don Strausser's Folk Paintings in the Gallery --->

Celebration of the Life of Hilt Kelly

Dancers celebrate the life of Hilt Kelly to the music of  a joint band consisting of John Jacobson and the Tremperskill Boys, Earl and Mimi Pardini, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Laura Kortright, and more musicians below.
 

On Sunday, March 22, at the Halcott Grange in Halcott Center, New York, approximately 70 people gathered in memory of Hilt Kelly, the legendary fiddler and square dance caller who died on March 3.   Kelly's daughter and son, Linda Armour and Lynn Kelly, spearheaded the celebration, complete with displays of  Kelly memorabilia.  Tom and Lanore Miller organized the pot luck luncheon and Pete and Nancy Ballard arranged for the hall.  

 

Musicians and dancers from around the Catskills gathered to reminisce and to offer the best memorial possible for Hilt: lots of good music and dancing.  Along with John Jacobson, Hilt's "Sidekicks", Don Irwin and Don Strausser, called a couple of dances.  One highlight of the day was when Hilt and Stella's daughter Linda stepped forward and called a square dance as if she had been calling them for years.  Another highlight was the sight of son Lynn dancing the Tennessee Waltz with his mother, Stella.  

 

Ira McIntosh, Pete Helverson, Earl Pardini, Dane Scudder and others provided music during lunch.
 



Paul Rosenberg adds a story about Hilt to the family story book.
 

Everyone agreed it was a wonderful celebration of Hilt's life that helped us each cope with how much we miss him.  A suggestion was made to Catskills Folk Connection that the celebration should become an annual event.  We'll be very pleased to make sure that happens.

 

Ginny