Ny name is Nina Tassler. My grandparents Abe and Pearl Tassler owned Berkshire Pines and Pine Lake Camp in West Copake. My parents Norma and the late Bob Tassler owned Oleana. I attended Roe Jan Elementary and Taconic Hills High School. I moved to Florida in 1972. Have many wonderful memories of Copake. They were very special years.

 

Rebels of the North, How Land Policy caused the Civil War

By Grant Langdon

There are some things in history we take for granted, such as Marie Antoinette and her “let them eat cake,” Columbus being the first European to discover North America, and the Civil War erupting due to violent disagreement over slavery. However, these things that we take for granted aren’t always what happened—a French reporter, not Marie Antoinette, said that famous line; Vikings discovered North America nearly 500 years prior to Columbus; and the Civil War started because of…land disputes?

I remember my first trip to Copake Falls in our old yellow truck. Dad sent Homer, one of our men, to pick up some supplies for our farm. I was old enough to ride along. Copake Falls was a
bristling with energy. One of the four express trains from New York had just unloaded. All three stores were busy Some of the families of Mount Washington came down the steep rugged
mountain roads that twisted its’ way past Bash Bish Falls were there to pick up their mail and shop. Homer pointed out the old Taconic Inn where Babe Ruth would stop to have a drink or two
when he came up to go hunting on the mountain. There was a ball field next door where people from the surrounding communities would gather and watch young men play base ball on Saturday night. True, the iron works had shut down by then, but if you go back to Colonial times Copake Falls, New York and Mount Washington Mass. were on the knifes edge of change. It all depended on who owned the land. Was in New York, or was it Massachusetts? For the people that settled there it was a very important question.                              

ISBN-13-978-0-9790860-1-4
$10.89

 

MY NAME IS Ed Shevlin, raised in Copake Falls between the years of 1951-1962 at which my parents built a home on N. Mountian Rd. It was the best memories of my early life, swimming in the ore bed,making a bunch of new friends,going to the square dances and so many other great times.
In DEC. 2008, I purchased a piece of property near my old homestead and am having a log cabin built as a legacy to my happy childhood.I want my family to expertence their own great memories of Copake Falls.
My wife,Mary, and myself will be present for Copake Falls Day on Aug.22,09.

Ed and Mary Shevlin

 

The New York State Historical Socity just requested a copy of Rebels of the North to reveiw in New York History, a quarterly they publish in Cooperstown.

 

My wife and I visited with some friends of ours a week ago. Today, my wife and I are looking at a second home there. Absolutely loved Copake.

 

We will celebrate our American Heritage on July 4th. Rebels of the North, How Land Policy Caused the Civil War will be printed by July 10. It too celebrates our American Heritage and the heritage of the first settlers in and around Copake. It started before 1776 when the people around Copake challenged the feudal land policy of the time. That challenge grew into a political movement that made our westward movement more democratic. It aided in the formation of the Republican Party and the election of Abraham Lincoln. I salute the old-time families around Copake that made it possible.

 

happy sweet 16 Luca now your mom isnt the only grownup in the house!

 

David strong Shilling turned 50 yesterday. An avid fisherman, he still attracts the snapping turtles with his little worm. Happy Birthday to a Master Baiter

 

Hi Tony....I remember your aunt and uncle, Pat and Fran, we used to go to the Flaming Inn on a Friday or Saturday night after work. My mom and dad, Marge and Al Bray owned the Copake Coffee Shoppe for many years. Yes, we spent many formative summers in Copake, West Copake was quite a little town in those days, Englebart's grocery, Coleman's store and all the camps. My sister and I have many memories! Sue Sikes

 

I lived on Copake counrty club growing up form 1963 until 1974, Went to Hillsdale High first grad class 1972 from Taconic Hills High.
Hello ALL !!!! Would love to hear from anyone still there or any old friends.
Judith........... :)

 

did anyone record the wind speed's in town on Monday night April 20-Tue morning 21
by chance?

 

I was hoping to hear from anyone who remembers the Flamingo Inn owned an run by Pat and Fran Angela. I spent quite a few wonderful (formative) summers there (Pat was my uncle).

 

Author Grant Langdon applauded a move to fight public corruption introduced by the Senate. My book Scandal in the Courtroom shows how damaging public corruption can be. My son was ruined and I lost my farm, but also a serial arsonist went free. It was estimated he was destroying a million dollars of property each year he continued to operate. It was not just the Sheriff, but prosecutors, lawyers and judges that helped with the cover-up.
.      In a statement issued March 12, 2009 Senator Leahy said, “This morning, the Committee will turn to the “Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act of 2009,” a bill that Senator Cornyn and I introduced to strengthen and clarify key aspects of Federal criminal law and provide new tools and resources to help investigators and prosecutors attack public corruption nationwide,”.
The bill stiffens penalties for bribery and reinstates the definition of bribery to what it was prior to the 1999 Sun-Diamond Growers decision of the Supreme Court. It provides a hundred million dollars in funding. It also raises the statute of limitation. Senator Leahy’s office can be contacted at 202-224-4242 for more details

 

I have accepted the cover design for Rebels of the North, How land Reform caused the Civil War. I will Carrie the picture of two guns used in 1844 in Copake at Sweet’s Tavern in a confrontation of Sheriff Miller at the time of the Anti-rent War. It is an important book in that it establishes the start of the conflict in Columbia County in the 1750’s. It also dispels the myth the Civil War was started to end slavery or to hold the Union together. It was fought over how the western land would be settled.

 

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Grant Langdon requested the Columbia County New York Board of Supervisors pay a judgment against his son and himself imposed by Federal District Judge David N. Hurd. The judgment is the result of Grant’s effort to recover damages caused by the malicious arrest of his son Frank D. Langdon of Philmont, New York. Judge Hurd turned down a request to impose sanctions against the opposing lawyer for perjury as part of the cover-up. Frank Langdon, the victim of the arson fire, was arrested when the Sheriff knew who burned the barn. The dispute with the Sheriff was over publicity Langdon generated over the arsons that even appeared in the New York Times. Below is the letter sent requesting payment of the judgment. Judge Hurd prohibited Langdon from filing any further papers with the court.

Grant Dinehart Langdon
4948 Strathmore dr. #6
Cincinnati, Ohio 45227

February 25, 2009

County of Columbia
Board of Supervisors
401 State Street
Hudson, New York 12534

Dear Supervisors,

Enclosed is a copy of a judgment that was ordered against Frank Langdon and me by Hon. David N. Hurd in relation to my efforts to collect damages caused by the malicious arrest of my son Frank Langdon, a resident of Philmont.
As some of you may be aware I formally owned a 380 acre dairy farm in Copake when the community was harried by a serial arsonist. I had three barns burned by the arsonist. I am enclosing an affidavit I sent to the police commissioners of the Town of Copake with the full story. It is also in my book Scandal in the Courtroom. It tells how a cover-up was accomplished to prevent the awarding of damages in a civil suit.
No effort was put forth by Columbia County to apprehend the criminal that burned my three barns. The serial arsonist continued to burn building in and around Copake causing a great deal of suspicion to fall on Frank Langdon. That caused such damages to his reputation he was forced from the community. It eventually lead to the loss of one of Columbia County’s Century farms.
I believe I served Columbia County well in the past. I was an agricultural advisor to the Board of Supervisors, President of Columbia country Farm Bureau, Chairman of the board of the Copake Methodist Church, president of the Millerton Co-op, served on the State Resolutions Committee of New York Farm Bureau. I organized the first Agricultural District in the county and organized the 1987 North East Dairy Day that attracted the governor and the United States Secretary of Agricultural as principal speakers. I was a Mason and served on the board of the DeMolay.
With my past effort on behalf of the Community I do not feel it is out of line to request the County to pay the enclosed judgments to clear Frank Langdon and my self from this obligation. When I arrived in Ohio ten year ago I had just $200 in my pocket largely as a result of Frank Langdon’s malicious arrest. Frank is going to have surgery on March 9, 2009 and will be out of work for a while. I am obligated to Bookmaster of Ashland, Ohio to self