Week of September 18

September 16, 1876 – 150 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Journal

Blind Tom's Concert

[Image:  Blind Tom, image courtesy of PBS.  To learn more visit PBS for their short documentary:  Thomas Wiggins - Composing the Future ]

SMITHSONIAN HALL,

Tuesday Evening, Sept, 19, 1876,

Positively One Night Only!

FIRST APPEARANCE IN TWO YEARS OF BLIND TOM!

The Musical Phenomenon of the age, renowned throughout the world as the Greatest Natural Pianist Living.

Blind Tom will give ONE performance only, in which he will exhibit the marvelous gift which has gained him world-wide celebrity, and which has both astonished and delighted the greatest masters of music.

ADMISSION, 50 cents; Reserved Seats, 75 cents.

Doors open at 7; commences at 8 o'clock.

Tickets for reserved seats may be had at John G. Haeselbarth’s Book Store, corner of Broadway and Main Street, and at the Hall on the night of the Concert.

The Grand Piano used on this occasion is from the celebrated manufactory of Steinway & Sons. of N. Y.

September 18, 1926 – 100 YEARS AGO

Nyack Evening Journal

GENEROUS IN DEATH - STONY POINT TO GET LIBRARY-CHURCHES RECEIVE BEQUESTS, SOME RELATIVES REMEMBERED, KINGSTON MERCHANT GETS BIG E. O. ROSE ESTATE

By the will of the late E. O. Rose of Stony Point, several public bequests are made.

            A $5,000 bequest is left to the Presbyterian Church and $10,000 is to be invested in perpetuity for the Methodist Episcopal Church of that village. $15,000 is left to the Executors to be used to give financial aid to any worthy boy or boys by the name of Rose who complete with credit the graduate course of the local high school, in procuring a college education.

           The biggest contribution to worthy causes is an aggregate of $50,000 donated to the Village of Stony Point for a library to be known as the Rose Memorial Library. It is provided that of the $50,000, $20,000 be for the building, $5000 for books and $25,000 for maintenance. It is also provided that in the event the provision for a site is not sufficient the Executors may contribute an additional $2,000.

          Albert E. Rose of Kingston, head of the Rose-Gorman store in that city, after paying minor bequests to other heirs, receives the residue of the estate said to aggregate $2,000,000.

          Among the bequests to relatives:

          To Albert E. Rose, $25,000; Harry W. Rose, $15,000; Mable Rose, a niece, $5,000; Walton Rose, a nephew, $5,000; Rev. Louis O. Rotenback, $2,500; Eugenia A. Thompson, $5,000. This is the cancellation of a mortgage for that sum upon her home and to John K. Van Valer, $1,000, cancelling the mortgage on his property. Harry W. and Albert E. Rose receive the property at Stony Point and Grassy Point road, and Frank S. Rose receives the tract of land with the building known as the Furniture Store.

September 15, 1976 – 50 YEARS AGO

Our Town

OOMPAFEST TOOTLES AWAY

           Tappan's oompafest, an annual event for five years, will tootle off to a new location this year - regretfully, according to Erwin Single, honorary chairman of the Oompafest, and of the Steuben Parade, of which it is an off-shoot.

          Single, a Tappan resident and former publisher of the German-language daily newspaper Staats-Zeitung und Herold, told Our Town that the festival will be held at Franklin Square, Long Island, this year, because the Masonic Fair Grounds in Tappan are not available this year.

          “They're not renting to outside organizations," he said. "And we really have outgrown it. We started with six groups - we have 49 groups this year."

          One of Single's regrets is that the German groups that participate in the oompafest will no longer be able to meet and mingle with Orangetown families. In past years, such groups as the volunteer firemen and others have hosted the visitors, welcoming them into the community and into their homes, Single said.  “We had excellent participation from the community, we'll miss that."

          Oompafest fans can catch the happenings at Franklin Square on September 18, at Folk Festival Park. This year's Steuben Parade will step off from Fifth Avenue and 62nd Street on Saturday, September 18, at 12 noon.

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.