HELDERBERG HILLTOWNS: January 2015

BERNE AND KNOX, OUR GERMAN HERITAGE

by Harold Miller halned1@gmail.com

In 1977 The Town of Berne Bicentennial Commission, with the extensive help of the Berne Historical Society published Our Heritage, a detailed history of the Town of Berne. In the Forward, by Euretha Wolford Stapleton, then Historian, Town of Berne, wrote in part, "The editors and authors of this volume recognize that a history such as this is never complete or perfectly accurate. It is our hope that in time other sources and document will be discovered and the material added to our archives so that future generations will benefit."
The early history of Knox "Knox, New York Sesquicentennial New York," published in 1973 contains a similar caveat, "It is the hope that the community will continue to become more conscious of its past heritage and many more pertinent fact of our history will be disclosed."

Thanks to 10 years of research on the Internet plus the books written by professional genealogists William V. H. Barker and Henry Z Jones I have found considerably more about the early settlement of the towns of Berne and Knox. Both towns have the same early history because until 1822 Knox was part of Berne. Our Heritage is and excellent history except for the first chapter on the early settlement of Berne. The same with the Knox history.

To share these new facts I wrote "Berne and Knox, Our Geman Heritage." The history of the settlement of these two towns covers the period from the first settlers to 1787. Even though during this period the terms Berne and Knox and not exist, I use them to make it clearer to the readers where certain events took place. German is the language they spoke and modern Germany is the area most of them came from.

The book tells when the earliest settlers came, where they came from, why they came to Berne and Knox, and where they first settled. A second book I wrote is Berne and Knox, Some of the Early Familes to 1787

The first book is available from Ralph Miller, 1136, Helderberg Trail, Berne NY, 12023, (Tel. 518 872 0212). The cost is $20 each if picked up at his house, and $5 for shipping and handling if either one or both is mailed.
Reprints of "Our Heritage," history of the Town of Berne are still available. Price is $15 if picked up at the Town Clerk's Office in Town Hall of Berne or $20 if mailed. Write: Berne Town Clerk, PO Box 57, Berne, 12023. Pay by check to Berne Town Clerk or Town of Berne.