Answers from Glenette Forgea's Scrapbook: George Moseley and the Oldest House

Little did I know when I wrote my last post that some of the questions I had asked were answered in a scrapbook sitting right on the desk beside me! On Tuesday, I brought home a scrapbook from the historical society that was created by Mrs. Glenette Forgea - my great-grandmother's best friend - in the 1940s. The book covers nearly every subject in the history of the village, with much material taken from personal interviews and written correspondence with "old-timers." One of these old-timers was 90-year-old George Moseley.

Mrs. Forgea writes:

"From an interview with Mr. Moseley came the following interesting facts: He was a drummer-boy during the Civil War. He served in place of a member of the family to which he was a slave. He came to [the village] with a family named Gregory in 1871. He worked for H. W. Leonard and one of his memories is the draining of Kirby's Pond in 1888, which act destroyed the Optical Works, an industry employing many people throughout the surrounding country.

"It was the Silas Gregory family that brought Mr. Moseley here. This family lived in a house at the foot of Lundy Lane. Mrs. Charles Underhill of Yorktown Heights was born in this house. Mr. Moseley's wife was the cook at H. W. Leonard's. He and his wife adopted two children: Ruth A. Moseley who teaches music and David Turpeau, a minister."

Note that a "George Mozely" served in the 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, Company C. This may have been George Moseley.

Mrs. Forgea also illuminates the background on the "oldest house" in the village:

"According to an old resident the first house in [the village] was located on the east side of the Railroad Reservoir on Capt. Merritt's Hill just above the Gilbert Ganun building. This was on the Captain Merritt farm and was lived in at one time by Leander Sypher. The second house (still standing) was the house of Pat Malone, to the rear of Barney Tompkins's building and close to the railroad tracks. The third house was the Barney Tompkins's (Smith Hall) house. The fourth was built by David Moger and known also as the Dr. Miller house. It was originally located near the site of Bailey Department Store and had a white picket fence around its grounds."