Town of Day Documentary: THE HOLLOW
Robert Plante
wrote Skidmore to inquire about the availabilty of THE HOLLOW, and this is
what I got...
-------------------
Me: I'm trying to find a video copy of a documentary called The Hollow. It
was produced on the 1970s by Skidmore, shot on 16mm. It's about the town of
Day, near the Sacandaga Reservoir. Any help in locating a copy of this would
be much appreciated.
***********
Them: Unfortunately, this documentary has been classified by the college as
"in house viewing only". This is due to a large controversy a few years ago
that even had the Glens Falls Library pull copies from they're shelves. We
have had many outside requests to view this documentary and have had to
regretfully decline. We only use this in Social Science courses and
apologize for this inconvenience.
**********
Me: Thank you for your reply. I'm wondering, what was so controversial about
it? Wasn't it just a documentary of a small town?
**********
Them: Yes, but apparently only made up of two family names, The Allen's and
the Kathan's, I think you can put the rest together...
-------------------
If anyone out there can locate a copy of this, I'd generously reward them.
JmG
wrote:
>|Them: Yes, but apparently only made up of two family names, The Allen's and
>|the Kathan's, I think you can put the rest together...
Care to fill us in?
J
Woodswun
>You may remember a thread about this little town near the Sacandaga. Well, I
>wrote Skidmore to inquire about the availabilty of THE HOLLOW, and this is
>what I got...
When you said "Town of Day" I had no idea what they could possibly have been
talking about. "Allentown" must have pretty much been it.
Woods
Tom Hand
"Robert Plante" <plan...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:B888A28A.2F901%plan...@earthlink.net...
It's kind of startling to hear of colleges and libraries in New York
censoring free speech. It's the kind of thing you might expect in
Mississippi, not here.
Robert Plante
>> |the Kathan's, I think you can put the rest together...
>
> Care to fill us in?
I believe the implication is that there's plenty of inbreeding. I always
heard the same thing about Schoharie.
Jim Elbrecht
>You may remember a thread about this little town near the Sacandaga. Well, I
>wrote Skidmore to inquire about the availabilty of THE HOLLOW, and this is
>what I got...
I do remember it-- and I had intended to find the video/movie myself,
but got caught up in other things.
I had also intended to take a look at the 1900, 1910, 1920 & soon to
be available 1930 censuses to make some comparisons. If there was a
great deal of intermarriage there it happened after 1880 as I noted in
my post to the earlier thread. [The Kathans and Allens arrived in Day
about 1823. This is how Sylvestor's Saratoga History outlines the
family in 1878--- bracketed names are my additions to show how there
was no intermarriage in the first generation;
"The Kathan family, who are quite prominent in business and social
circles, originally came from Dummerton, Vermont. Luke Kathan, a son
of Charles and Lydia Kathan, came from that place to Day in 1822;
bought lands and commenced farming on the place now occupied by his
son Truman. In 1823 he married Freelove Allen, a daughter of David
Allen. They have had a family of fifteen children, six sons and nine
daughters, all of whom reached maturity and were married. Twelve are
still living. Truman[m.Lucinda GRAY], Orange[m.Frances HOWE], Hugh
W.[m.Rose Robinson], Harmon R.[m.Martha FLANSBURGH], James D.[m. Leah
WHITNEY], Mrs. Mary Wait, and Mrs. Alvina Ellithorp live in Day. Mrs.
Caroline Frasure lives in Edinburgh. Mrs. Sarah Wait lives in
Michigan. Mrs. Betsey Huntoon and Mrs. Anna Wait live in Canada.
Monroe [m.Mary HOLERAN] lives in Hadley."
If anything they are an exception for not having any '2 brothers
married 2 sisters' marriages.
Since you've got the conversation with Skidmore going, have you tried
to get a listing of all the 'noted anthropologist' O. Roger
Gallagher's works? Or a copy of his article on 'The Hollow'
that the 1993 Times Union article referenced?
Another thought I had when I intended to look further into this was a
call to the Town of Day historian & The County Historian in Saratoga
Springs. The Town historians are a crap-shoot. Some are
excellent, some are not. The county historian in Saratoga is
excellent, as is her assistant. One of them can be found at their
office in the county building Tue, Wed, & Thu 9-4.
-snip-
>Them: Unfortunately, this documentary has been classified by the college as
>"in house viewing only". This is due to a large controversy a few years ago
>that even had the Glens Falls Library pull copies from they're shelves. We
>have had many outside requests to view this documentary and have had to
>regretfully decline. We only use this in Social Science courses and
>apologize for this inconvenience.
Can they do that? Does Skidmore get any of our money or is it
entirely privately funded?
Unless they destroyed it, I think the Glens Falls library would have
to let you view it. [they don't have to let you borrow it, and they
probably can't copy it] Maybe we should form a 'viewing group' of
a-c-u'ers and go see it together. My schedule is too bizarre to
describe, but if anyone does decide to go to GF, I'd make an effort to
join them. [Tues-Sat of presidents day week , the 18-23, is my most
open time.]
-snip-
>Them: Yes, but apparently only made up of two family names, The Allen's and
>the Kathan's, I think you can put the rest together...
Snicker, snicker. . . . I wonder if that person has seen the
'documentary', read Gallagher's article, or even seen 'The Hollow'.
I think the documentary, even if it is useless as a piece on Day,
should be an interesting study in what happens when you turn a couple
idealistic, privileged & sheltered Skidmore girls [or maybe boys,
since they went coed about that time] loose in an environment which
they never knew existed. . . poverty. [and yes-- that is a dangerous
assumption based on reportage of a TU article, but I have to think
there might have been some accuracy in the article if Skidmore isn't
chomping at the bit to let real people see the 'controversial' film.]
>If anyone out there can locate a copy of this, I'd generously reward them.
Please let me know if you locate one, or if you'd like to see some of
my meager notes that I've taken on those folks. My reply-to email
address is good.
Jim
Jim Elbrecht
>If anything they are an exception for not having any '2 brothers
>married 2 sisters' marriages.
I shouldn't work on only 3 cups of coffee. That should say
'obvious 2 brothers married 2 sisters'. I see in my notes that
I had looked for the 5 WAIT/WAITEs that married the children of Luke
KATHAN and didn't see a connection on any of the several WAIT sites.
They could be siblings, or 5th cousins, or not related at all.
Jim
Texensis
A little genealogical research on upstate NY families shows that a few
families migrating in a group seemed to pioneer each new part of the state
(old counties were eventually split to form newer ones) tending to move to a
new county from a particular former county. An example would be people
moving from the Dutch patroon lands out into the Mohawk Valley and then up
to the North Country.. Families with NYS roots from before Revolutionary
times up to a certain point in the nineteenth century tend to be related by
marriage or blood to one degree or another, however distantly. Western
Mass., Vermont, and various parts of Canada along the St. Lawrence tend to
be tied in also. Ties by marriage were multiplied because so many men
married twice or more.
