The history of country fairs in Washington County, Upstate, NY spans 3/4ths of the 19th century; and a major contributor was the Village of Cambridge --- home to The Great Cambridge Fair. Essentially the product of one "giant" of a businessman, it became in NYState, second only to the annual State Fair. This is the story of The Great Cambridge Fair, its rise and its fall. dt

From a small, upstate New York community in 1849 went forth young men and women to seek their fortunes in the gold fields of California. This historic account reports their successes and their sometimes tragic failures.

A tiny village is being consumed by fires. Without a water system, how does it defend itself? Start with incorporation and purchase a quirky hand pumper. And then turn loose the volunteers And when that fails, turn to the capitalists.

This tale, taken from the files of an ancient weekly newspaper, spells out some of the perils that beset the first Irish immigrants to settle in northeastern Upstate New York. Not that it is typical of mine and your Irish ancestors. Perhaps it is such aberrations as this that prove the rule (whatever that may be).

In its early days, the tiny Village of Cambridge, NY had way more beer cellars and saloons than churches. And during that brief time when it was a "main line" stop for coach and rail travel, it sprouted hotels, halls and Inns like dandelions on a careless lawn. This is that story.

Before they died, many WW II Veterans of the Old Cambridge, NY District told their stories to the author. These were young men from rural America, inexperienced with violence, blood shed and death beyond the fall deer hunt. But they went to war. Some did ordinary things. Some did heroic things. But all DID THEIR DUTY

Among conservative, hard-working individuals, change can come excruciatingly slow. Sometimes dynamic outside forces are required to push along the change. So it was in the formation of the Village of Cambridge, NY

The communities in the Cambridge Valley of Upstate NY battled hard to bring the railroad. It became the life force for such agricultural villages, and "put them on the map"; that is, until Jay Gould had learned his "craft" and moved on.

Like every community, there are in the Old Cambridge District bright spots we brag about and other spots that we try to scrub out or, failing that, cover up. Most of my books deal with the bright spots; this one looks at those we would rather cover up.

This is the history based tale of one particular Irish immigrant who found his way into Washington County, Upstate New York during the latter half of the 19th century. It is a murder story, the deed having taken place only the Hoosick River that serves as the border between Washington and Hoosick Counties, New York State.