RELATED SITES
Of Interest to Philipsburgh Genealogy and History
The Settlement of Philipsburgh transcribed by Lisa Shea
Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow Home Page (unofficial) by Rick Van Tassel
Philipsburgh Manor Rent Roll of 1760 transcribed by Nan Cole
Westchester County Freeholders 1763 transcribed by Nan Cole
Westchester County NY
Genweb
Westchester
County on GenForum
Descendants of Capt. John Seaman by David James Rubens
WHY THERE WERE SO MANY SHOE MAKERS IN MT. PLEASANT
excerpted from "A Village Betweeen" by John Crandall (town historian circa 1974--commemorating Pleasantville's 75th anniversary as a village )...
"...Part X. The Civil War and Shoes
The first year of the Civil War passed almost unnoticed by Pleasantville. It was not until the second year when volunteers left and the third year when the Conscription Act affected the Community, that Pleasantville awoke to national issues.
Several young men went to serve in the Union Army during this period...
...Of all the industries that existed none was as great or as enduring as shoemaking. Though this craft had its beginning with the emergence of Clark's Corners as a recognizable hamlet, it did not attain maturity until the Civil War when the village along with Bedford, Armonk, and other surrounding regions profitted greatly from the need for shoes for the Union Army. Also, there was a ready market for these products in New York. With the coming of the railroad in 1846, transportation of these goods to and from the city was readily accessible. In the winter, when farming came to a halt, they found shoemaking a lucrative business. By the end of the 1880's, when the full impact of the industrial era came to this village, shoemaking started to dwindle. Mass production virtually killed the competition that a farmer could put out by hand.
One of the last shoe factories in Pleasantville was located where the Rome Theater is now [ it's gone now too, but the site is the intersection of Washington Avenue and Manville Road] It was run by Millard Hammond as late as 1905, after which he moved to Connecticut.
One can readily understand then, with so many shoe factories and shoeshops why this region was once dubbed "Shoemakersville"."
[By the time of the 1850 census, several See families in Mt. Pleasant and North Castle were already in the shoe making business -- D.S.]