By Shannon Butler If you walk down Academy Street, you will see some lovely houses that represent the Victorian era. Among the people who lived in these homes were the big names of Poughkeepsie business and culture, such as Adriance, Smith, and Hull. Another name comes to mind that might not be as familiar, though it's quite likely that you have played the game he invented; that name is Butts. The family had been in Dutchess County since the mid-18th century and moved to Poughkeepsie when the city was booming with life and opportunity. That is where Mr. Alfred Mosher Butts was born. At 131 A ..read more

By Shannon Butler In previous blog entries we have discussed several female doctors that have lived, worked, and studied here in Poughkeepsie. It stands to reason that since we are home to one of the first female colleges in the country, this city would naturally be a more attractive place to do business. Some of these women came to Poughkeepsie to work for Vassar College, while others joined together and set up practices of their own. Some would serve in the military as doctors and see action overseas, but no matter what path they took, they all paved a future for women in medicine. The fir ..read more

By Bill Kleppel Another treasure was found while sifting through the miscellaneous files of the History Rooms at the Adriance Memorial Library. Today, I’ll introduce you to a local outspoken suffragette and social reformer who ran her own dairy cattle farm. Her previously unearthed memoir was written in the year before her death at the age of 89. The document gives us a glimpse into her astounding life, as well as her family’s fascinating history. Yet, most of the story is dedicated to her crusade to take down crooked financial swindlers before, during, and after the great Stock Market Crash ..read more

February 9, 2024 By Bill Kleppel “All roads to the White House lead through Poughkeepsie!”…. are words that have never been uttered. However! Several future presidents visited our town in the years before they’d taken the oath of office. More specifically, their trips included being on or near the stage of our prestigious Bardavon Theater! Not only is 2024 a presidential election year, it’s also the 155th anniversary of the opening of the Bardavon (originally named the Collingwood Opera House). The Bardavon is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State.1 Future President D ..read more

by Bill Kleppel We left you at the end of Part I in November of 1859. The patriarch of the Bodey family had vanished in a blizzard close to where he had struck gold in the western hills of El Dorado, California… ….Meanwhile, Back In Poughkeepsie A flood of catastrophic events engulfed the rest of the Bodey’s. The Death of William A. O. Bodey William A. O. Bodey was born on November 5, 1843. On December 18, 1852, William and his friends went ice skating on Lent’s Pond in Poughkeepsie. Two of the friends began to argue and a fight ensued. This gained the attention of a crowd nearby. In an insta ..read more

Ogden Bodey While researching Civil War era veterans from the 150th New York Infantry Regiment, I stumbled across Ogden Bodey.  His family story is so incomprehensible and tragic that I felt the need to share it with you. It features war, the California Gold Rush, a sudden disappearance, a Wild West boomtown and its demise, and an unfortunate litany of random deaths within one brood that is brutal in its magnitude. Ogden Bodey was born in Poughkeepsie on June 1, 1846, to Waterman S. Bodey and Sarah Wolcock Bodey. In 1862, Ogden enlisted into the 150th Regiment as a musician/drummer. He ..read more

Long before the days of Vassar Brothers Medical Center or Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital (formerly St. Francis) there were not many options for medical care here in Poughkeepsie. In the 19th century, if you were ill or had an emergency, the best you could hope for was a trip to the local pharmacy, where you might be given a real cure, or something entirely useless. Or perhaps you were lucky enough to have a trained physician come to your home. By 1870, Poughkeepsie had a population of 20,000 people, but there was still no hospital to meet their medical needs. A year later, the Episcopal church ..read more

By William Kleppel It’s a cold and stormy winter night. You’re carrying a candle up the flight of stairs to your second floor study. The flame flickers and you realize someone has left the window open beside your desk! You shut it quickly, grab a quilted blanket, and drop into your chair to read. Earlier in the day, you stopped by the local bookshop and happened upon a small world atlas. It was printed by the store’s owner, and the editor of the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, Paraclete Potter. Flipping through the maps, you dream of far flung adventures to the Spice Isles, Amazonia, New Holland ..read more

by Shannon Butler If you are interested in the American Civil War, like me, perhaps you have seen the 1989 film Glory, starring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick. The film takes a close look at the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment; the first regiment of African American soldiers to fight in the Civil War. The regiment took heavy casualties as it tried and failed to take the confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner, just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in July of 1863.  Even if you’re not a history nerd you should check out the movie just for the terrific act ..read more

by Shannon Butler Adriance Memorial Library just celebrated our 125th anniversary and we wanted to wish a happy anniversary to our partners in local history, the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery! This week the cemetery is 170 years old and still looks as beautiful as ever. We thought it would be nice to share some of the details of its early history and inform you of a very special installation at the cemetery: a Día de los Muertos ofrenda (altar), on display until November 15th. The remembrance of life and the mourning of the dead is handled quite differently from culture to culture, and ev ..read more