Week of March 20
March 18, 1876 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal
A VERY OLD RELIC
In the possession of Edgar Tallman, of Clarkstown (formerly of Nyack), there is an old Tower Hill fowling-piece or shot-gun which was brought to this country by Thunis Tallman in 1662. How old the piece was when it came into his possession, we do not know, but it is in as good a state of preservation today as it was when first brought to this country, and its present owner has used it many years to kill game.
AROUND HOME
☞ A horse belonging to Gilchrest Bros. ran away last Wednesday morning. He took a clear course down Broadway and went at a pretty lively gait. He was caught and brought back in a short time.
☞ According to an article in the Messenger, a young man and his better half had a “squabble” in a prayer-meeting in Haverstraw, and after having a round in the seat, they went outside to finish the fight.
☞ Thomas Lawrence, formerly of Nyack, has given up the editorial charge of the Petersburgh (Va.) Rural Messenger, which he has held for about a year, and intends devoting his time to his farm.
☞ The ferryboat is now running under the captaincy of Capt. James Smith, and we hope nothing will occur to prevent her from making regular trips, as she is one of the most useful boats that runs from this place.
☞ It is hoped that this Spring those who have plots in Oak Hill Cemetery which are neglected by them will bestow more care upon them and make them in keeping with the general improved appearance of the cemetery.
☞ The new base for Edward H. Kent’s handsome monument in Oak Hill Cemetery was brought up this week. It is a massive affair, weighing, we believe, 8,800 pounds. This base will bring the monument still more prominently in view and add still more to its already unsurpassed beauty.
March 20, 1926 – 100 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Times
MAN ACCIDENTALLY DROWNS — Falls from Gangplank While Loading Barge at Morrissey’s Brickyard on Saturday — Was First Local Man Called in Draft for World War
[Image: Morrissey Brickyard workers. Undated photo courtesy of the Haverstraw Brick Museum.]
Carmino Bosico lost his life on Saturday when he was loading a brick barge at Morrissey’s brickyard. Mr. Bosico was wheeling a barrow across the plank from the dock to the boat when he evidently lost his footing and fell into the river.
The other men were all engaged in tasks at that particular moment which kept them out of sight. The man’s screams, as he fell, brought his fellow workers running to the scene, but they were in time only to see his feet disappear in the water. The cakes of ice which had been broken by a tug probably held the man down for he failed to appear. His body was recovered some two hours later.
Bosico had the distinction of being the first man in Haverstraw to be called in the draft at the time of the World War. He was for some physical reason not taken in the army in any of the contingents which went to the various camps.
A tragic coincidence is that Bosico’s death took place just seven months to the day after his mother’s demise. The deceased was 35 years of age and had lived in Haverstraw his entire life. He is survived by his wife, Rose, who is shortly to become a mother, by his father, Donoato Bosico, a sister, Mrs. James Martelli, and two brothers, Nicholas of Pennsylvania and Pasquale of Haverstraw.
His Funeral was held from his late home on Pratt Street at ten o’clock on Tuesday morning to St. Peter’s Church where a requiem Mass was offered for the repose of his soul. Interment was in the family plot in St. Peter’s Cemetery under the direction of Undertaker Thomas J. McGowan.
March 18, 1976 – 50 YEARS AGO
Our Town
VIET REFUGEES WED IN NYACK — VIET FLIGHT ENDS AT NYACK ALTAR
The common bond that brought two Vietnamese refugees together 10 months ago was strengthened last week in Nyack when they were married.
A simple ceremony at Simpson Memorial Church in South Nyack represented the climax of a traumatic year in which the two refugees fled their homeland, leaving many relatives behind. Through the efforts of the church, they arrived in Nyack last November and were married less than four months later.
Bang Si Phan, 25, and Hong Thi Tran, 24, still face many political, cultural and language barriers. But they are confident their adjustment will be easier now that they are together.
Following the Communist takeover of South Vietnam last year, Bang, a Navy electrician, and Hong, a teacher, were transported to Hong Kong in a Danish freighter after the boat in which they left Saigon foundered at sea.
They remained in Hong Kong until October, when they were brought to Indian Town Gap, Penn., for processing. At that time, the church was searching for a male refugee to live with Trinh A, one of the first two adult Vietnamese refugees to be resettled in Rockland last year.
When informed that Bang was engaged to be married, the church found an apartment for his fiancée on the campus of Nyack College. The refugees were provided with furniture and some money for groceries.
Hong found a job at a clothing warehouse in Nyack, and Bang has been working part-time at Nyack Hospital. The couple settled into a comfortable second-floor apartment on High Street after a brief “honeymoon” in Philadelphia.
They have found Nyack considerably different from their former hometowns. Bang lived in Da Lat, in the central mountains of Vietnam, and his wife lived in Vung Tau, by the mouth of the Saigon River
Rockland’s erratic climate has confused the refugees, who have been forced to purchase warm clothes. Neither of them was accustomed to snowstorms or below freezing temperatures in Vietnam, where thermometers register between 80 and 90 degrees year-round.
Bang described the weather as “very cold.” When he first witnessed a snowstorm, he enjoyed it, but soon realized that “It creates too many problems.”
Another problem for the refugees was adjusting to American cuisine. They still consume a considerable amount of rice, but both have grown accustomed to a more varied diet.
What has struck them most about America, however, is a standard of living they find very comfortable. In Vietnam, they noted, the dichotomy between rich and poor is more evident, and opportunities for elevating oneself in society are not as easy to come by.
When they first arrived in Pennsylvania, Bang and Hong had no money and no clothes. They are indebted to the church for putting order into their lives and food in their stomachs.
The Rev. Bob Niklaus is serving as the couple’s official American sponsor, and their adjustment has been made easier with the help of the Rev. Grady Mangham, a Christian Missionary Alliance pastor from South Nyack who speaks fluent Vietnamese as a result of spending 20 years in Vietnam.
Simpson Memorial Church now has placed four refugees in the Nyack area, one of whom left to rejoin his parents in North Carolina, Trinh, 22, currently is enrolled at Rockland Community College.
The friendly reception Bang and Hong have received in Nyack has not caused them to forget their homeland or their families. Between them, they left behind four parents, twelve brothers and sisters, and hundreds of memories.
Mr. and Mrs. Bang will feel the loneliness and detachment thousands of other refugees must bear for years to come. But both said they would never live under Communism, even if that means never seeing their relatives again.
Until the trauma of the past year subsides, the couple may feel alienated. Mr. and Mrs. Bang, however, will have the advantage of being lonely together.
This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2026 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.
