Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-07-21
RURAL COMMUNITY IN WHICH
JUDGE PARKER LIVES.
IS ONLY A FLAG STATION
sat Coed Apples are Grown There and
the Beer is Brewed From Real Hops
Poor Land Roundabout but Plenty
Of Napobs Along the Rver-Land
Worth $50 an Acre,

within the last few weeks that this
town is at least a village or hamlet,
and that it is somewhere where
trains stop and people can so and come
with the ordinary ease which belongs
TO places on a main trunk line in the
state Of New York.
This is an impression which should
be promptly corrected by anyone that
desires to get an accurate idea of the
place which is Judge Alton B. Par
ker's postof1ice address.
Besides being classical Esopus is an
old name in the history of the state of
New York The original Esopus is
now Kingston, prosperous city OF
$1,000 or 10000 inhabitants, with
several lines of railroads, trolley cars
ald the old statehouse. Kingston was
&ce the capital of the state of New
York. 1t was settled shortly after New
Amsterdam and about the same time
as Albany Its name was that Of
the creek on which the first settlers To-
Gated. The Dutch were there first
and then the Huguenot French, whose
lneal descendants are still back in the
New Paltz valley and whose names and
their quaint spelling are found on the
tombstones in the archives Of the old
Kingston Reformed church.
The principal inhabitants of Esopus
are George Washington Bedford, the
Gagman who stops the trains; Patrick
Quinn, who for some forty or fifty
years has run the country inn at the
forks of the road, and Isaac Burger,
who sells beer made of real hops, and
matches and raises chickens by the old
natural use of hens, which, he says, eX.
Gel those produced by Judge Parker's
ia"ubators and breeders. G. w. Bed
ford insists the w stands for Werts
There are also three colored gentlemen
who rise in the morning and sit on the
rail Of the bridge which crosses the
little stream that runs watching George
Washington Bedford flag the train to
let reporters get on and off.
Nobody ever gets on or off the cars
except reporters and artists. The
farmers hitch up and drive to Kingston
or Poughkeepsie when they want to
so anywhere and save railroad fare.
And the "bloods,' which is the name
applied to the people who have coun-
try places along the Hudson river,
drive to the Kingston station to take
the express train when they desire to
go anywhere, because it is more con-
yenient and quicker than three-times-
a-day flag accommodation which is the
only passenger facilities Esopus has.
Back from the river the land has lit
tie value and the farms could not sell
for as much as the barns on them origi-
nally cost The houses are old and
filled with traditions and large fami-
LES. Mr. Quinn's is fair sample,
consisting of forty-seven descendants.
1t is a most democratic community.
Everybody is addressed or spoken of
by his first name except when he has
had some office, in which case he is
spoken of by his official title, which
endures as long as life lasts.
There are many Parkers. Rance
Parker, the ceman, was the best
known Of that name until Judge Parker
moved from Accord, farther back in
the county, seven years ago.
Down at the foot of the read which
crosses the railroad track is the old
pier, where the boats stop TO take on
Aoard the apples and potatoes, which
are the principal crops of the farmers.
II the day Is not too warm the three col
ured gentlemen who sit on the railing
Of the bridge to watch the accommoda-
ion trains 60 down to the pier in the
afternoon and sit on the edge Of the
ufer marked by a stake, and ever since
the boats have been stopping there
the inhabitants have been expecting a
wreck on this shoal and assemble to
see il.
Along the river front opposite Hyde
Park and Rhinebeck are the country
homes Of people from New York,
Kingston and other cities, who have
nothing to do with the real life Of the
place
IN one Of these places. and one of
the most modest and unassuming of
hem, Judge Parker lives. Mrs. Dora
Lyon has the place next to Judge
pag..er Below. on the south Is a
much larger and more expensive place.
which William F. Sheehan has rented
f8r the summer All along for miles
on the river front are these country
Places.
But the real life Of Esopus is back
from the river, where the land Is worth
so an acre. By the pickerel pond
where the pickerel are so thick that
they are hooked cut like frogs with
out bait, and where the farmers gather
every Saturday evening TO discuss ne
road tax and the price Of apples and
potatoes and to drink beer made out
ot real hops raised in the neighbor.
rood