Monthly Archives: November 2023

HOWE FAMILY COLLECTION GIVEN TO MUSEUM

Fossil Collection, Gift to Museum, Goes on Display

SCHOHARIE, June 19, 1936—An outstanding fossil display including the first formations ever to have been taken from Howe Caverns, have come to Schoharie for display at the Old Stone Fort Museum on North Main Street for inspection by the thousands from every state of the Union who annually visit this historic shrine.

The collection is the gift to the museum by Mrs. M. J. Miller of Baltimore, Md., a great granddaughter of Lester Howe, who discovered the caverns in May 1842.

The formations were taken from the caverns in several successive years, during which they were exploited and conditioned by Howe, who made a private collection, which has remained in the Howe family until this time.

Mrs. Miller is one of the last survivors of the Howe clan.

Among the outstanding specimens of the collection, placed in charge of Chauncy Rickard, curator of the museum, are the fossil remains of a Trilobite, the creature in which the first eye was said to have been developed and which existed in the ancient Silurian sea.

Included also are beautiful specimens of calcite crystal formed of countless transparent pyramids and regarded as being 150 million years old.

—From the June 20, 1936, Schenectady Gazette, likely submitted by Chauncy Rickard, curator of the Stone Fort Museum.

WHAT’S ON DISPLAY AT THE FORT

The display case containing the Howe exhibit is in the northeastern corner of the second floor of the Stone Fort Museum. It contains the calcium carbonate “brain” coral shown here, a few cave formations and invitations to two events at the cave.

**Brain Coral from Lester Howe’s collection at the Old Stone Fort Museum**

The first, headlined “Schoharie Cave Party,” invites a gentleman and lady guest to a New Year’s Day, 1845 “Cotilion Party” at Lester Howe’s Assembly Room, starting at 2 p.m. Cotilions are typically a southern affair meant to introduce young ladies to both society and eligible young men. Howe’s daughters, Huldah and Harriet, were pre-teens in 1845, so perhaps the word was used differently in that era.

The invitation begins with an odd quote: “Live while we live the managers say and sport the pleasures of the present day.” Fourteen “managers”—all of them local men—are listed.

In the 19^th Century, most entertaining was done at home. An “Assembly Room” in a home was the gathering place for members of the higher social classes, and open to both men and women.

The second invitation is to a “House Warming (sic),” to be held Thursday, Sept. 5, 1849, at the Cave House. Other than noting “Good music will be furnished,” there are few other details. History records Howe as a violinist; his daughters played the piano.

This may have been to show to visitors the second Cave House. The first was destroyed by fire in 1847.

THE PROVENANCE: Following Lester Howe’s death in 1888, the collection was first held by the Howes’ son, Dr. Halsey John Howe, a dentist practicing in Dunkirk in western New York. It was displayed in a local library for several years, according to the Stone Fort’s records. Halsey and his wife were childless, and the collection then went to one of the Howes’ grandchildren.

The description in the display case does not match what was written for the newspaper by Curator Rickard. The exhibit notes Frances Miller of Chevy Chase, Md., donated the collection given her by Dr. Howe to the fort in 1936. Miller was the daughter of Harriet Elgiva Howe Shipman.

SCHOOL RECESS? LET’S GO CAVING!

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**Artwork from a 1920s brochure on the caves of Schoharie County depicts a big-city artist’s bias. The young explorers are barefoot and their sleeves are rolled up in the 50-degree cave!**

Field trips to Howe Caverns for students of all ages, and from around the region, are common in the last few weeks before summer vacation. There were no such luxuries for children attending any of the one-room schoolhouses more than a century ago – unless you lived in the Cave Country.

In my book, “Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & Enterprise in NY’s Cave County,” I suggested the rural, sparsely populated Sagendorf Corners hamlet was the nexus of NY’s Cave Country.

Near the hamlet’s old one-room schoolhouse, “there are quite a large number of rock holes¹,” reported the Greene County Windham Journal on Sept. 18, 1876. “. . in which the children often play at noon and recess.”

The article headlined, “Schoharie County: Its Cavernous Character,” was picked up from The Albany Argus and gave a good description of the known caves of that period.

While it didn’t identify which caves Sagendorf Corners school children spent their recess or lunch breaks in, there are several they could have chosen from, including one that later became Secret Caverns. Others nearby were later found to connect to Howe’s Cave, nearly an underground mile away.

¹The author likely means “sinkhole.” A “rock hole,” as any farmer in the cave country can tell you, is a sinkhole where rocks unearthed during plowing are thrown.

TWO DIE IN 1872 CAVE HOUSE FIRE

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Two employees of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad died in the Jan. 18, 1872, fire that destroyed the Cave House hotel at Howe’s Cave. A newspaper the following week suggested it may have been caused by an “incendiary”– the imprecise term meaning something—or someone—ignited combustible materials in the basement of the hotel.

At the time, the Cave House was one of the few remnants of the Howe family’s underground empire built around their patriarch’s 1842 discovery.

This Cave House was the second hotel that the Howes—Lester, Lucinda and their children Huldah, Harriet, and Halsey—opened to welcome visitors to the cave Lester made famous. The first hotel, built as early as 1843, was also destroyed by fire in 1847.

The second Cave House was a plain, three-story wooden building with about 40 rooms, unadorned with porches, columns, or other fashionable Victorian-era home décor. Built over the entrance to the cave, guests readied in the basement for their day-long underground adventure. There, they donned well-worn clothes, hats, and boots, and were provided with oil lanterns. From there, they entered the cave.

A photo, taken some time between 1865-1872, entitled “Scenes from The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad,” shows the hotel in desperate need of painting. In fact, it looks as if half of the building’s paint had been scraped to prepare it for a new coat.

At the time of the fire, the Cave House was owned by the Howes Cave Association. The Howes sold the property as early as 1869 to the association, created by Joseph H. Ramsey, the president of the Albany & Susquehanna. History records Ramsey’s purchase of the property as being of dubious ethics; Howe accepted stock in the new association valued (by Ramsey) at $12,000 after rejecting a $10,000 cash offer.

The blaze must have been a frightening affair. According to the Jan. 27, 1872, Cobleskill Index, the proprietor, a Mr. Eldredge, was awakened in his room around 1 a.m. by smoke so dense he was “obligated to escape through a window.”

There were 10 employees of the railroad staying at the hotel while they constructed a water tank at the Howes Cave Depot, just a short distance from the cave and hotel. All were in their rooms at the time the fire broke out.

After Eldredge sounded the alarm, all but two of the men made their escape through their windows, the Cobleskill Index noting “leaving behind most if not all of their clothing.”

**Construction of the third Cave House, above, began after the fire and used limestone from the Howes Cave Association’s quarry. It still stands.**

Killed in the fire were Edward Kelly, a mason from Albany and D. W. Hare, a carpenter from Richmondville. The charred remains of the two men were found the next morning in the ruins.

According to the Index, the fire “is supposed to have originated in the oil room at the entrance to the cave, in the basement of the building, and is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary.” No other details were provided.

The Cave House was valued at $5,000, the paper reported, or about $118,000 today. There was insurance on the building for about one-half of that. Eldrege lost about $7,000 in personal property but was fully insured.

Finally, said the Index, “We learn that a new building is to be erected immediately.”

The third Cave House, built of limestone from the expanding Howes Cave Association’s adjacent quarry, still stands, despite going through numerous renovations and owners. Today, it is a museum-in-the-making, The Cave House Museum of Mining and Geology.

Special thanks to Kevin Berner, a vice-president of the museum, for finding and sharing this gem from the old news reports. Have something to contribute? Contact me here.

SCHOHARIE’S CAVE WITH THE TAPIR TOOTH

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By CHARLES J. HANOR, National Speleological Society

Without a doubt, one of the prettiest and wilder caves of Schoharie County is Clark’s Cave or Veen Fliet’s Cavern. It is owned by Richard Veen Fliet and has been in his hands since he and friends started exploration and opening during the early 1930s.

During this time, Mr. Veen Fliet found the tooth of a tapir and several newspaper accounts were published. It was one of the most amazing finds of the century. Mr. Veen Fliet has the tooth and several other interesting pieces of formation from the cave at his home. The newspaper articles are also in his hands. His home is the old Gebhard estate on the west side of Schoharie bridge.

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An interesting by-line, not pertaining to caves, is the most unusual and fine collection of fossils rock and mineral specimens, and Indian relics, all from the vicinity of Schoharie county, that I have ever been permitted to see. This collection is by far, better than any in New York state museum that deals with the geological and paleontological eras of the county. Mr. Veen Fliet goes out of his way to explain and tell the visitor the history of each and every specimen. This collection should be labeled and on file so that in the future it is not broken up or separated but kept in the fine state that it now is.

Our attention was directed to Veen Fliet’s cavern by John Wilbur, now residing in Chatham. We arrived at the home of Mr. Veen Fliet and upon asking about the existence of a cavern were welcomed and personally conducted to the entrance. Mr. Veen Fliet has not been into the far extent of the cavern for a number of years.

The entrance to the cavern is in a small, wooded gully that empties into the Schoharie river. Through years of work and efforts by Mr. Veen Fliet and his group a walking entrance has been blasted out of solid limestone. Armed with equipment and mapping facilities we started our journey into another underground paradise. The first 151 [feet] follows the natural stream bed that flows from the entrance. This passage is of typical New York state cave variety. Here the water has found the most soluble rock and for past ages has worn a walkable passage into a mountain of solid limestone.

At the far end of the walkable passage a real obstacle is encountered. The height of the passage lowers to about 2.5 feet and water covers the floor for as far as the eye can see. This is the lake. At this point the explorer must lie on his stomach and crawl along with his head and shoulders above water for a distance of 30 feet. Suddenly the passage opens cup again where the explorer can walk upright with plenty of room.

The first sign of formation is now to the right of the explorer. Here a small alcove of pin stalactites, 3 to 10 inches in length, white as alabaster, coral shaped and lacy are found and directly opposite this alcove is a beautiful bank of blue-grey flowstone. The base of this bank flows out into the floor of the main passage like a huge river of molten lava. At the top of this mass is a small column, stretching upward until it joins the ceiling. Continuing on the explorer can hear the sound of splashing water. Two bends are made in the passage and two rooms are penetrated when at last one finds himself standing in a large size room.

The walls of this room are coated with flowstone of all hues. Beehives and frozen cascades of every description, and the most amazing sight of all, a waterfall pouring out of a passage at a level 10 ft. higher than that on which the explorer is standing. Directly in the center of this waterfall and hanging from the upper level is one of the most amazing formations I have ever seen. It is a huge heart, complete with both sections. As the beamsfrom our light shone on this formation the colors shone with all their grandeur. We immediately named this formation “The Bleeding Heart” because the water from the falls splashed onto this formation and then gracefully dropped to the floor of the cavern.

It was not an easy matter to scale this waterfall in order to negotiate the upper level. After 15 minutes of boosting and standing on the shoulders of our companions we were all setting in the passage directly over the falls. The water from the falls did not dampen our spirits as they had already taken a solid dunking when we crawled through the lake. I will say that we were very cold and our speech was rather shaky when we conversed with each other.

The passage went on and after a short distance a branch passage came into the main from the left. Two of our party entered this and shortly word came back that a huge stalactite came down to almost five inches of the floor blocking their entrance. The smaller of the group squeezed under this obstacle and entered another small room. Here nature really went to work. Stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and the very rare formation called “Tripe” was seen. This cave tripe has been found in only one other cave in New York state, Howe Caverns. Probably most of the readers will be familiar with this formation. Further exploration of this passage is impossible as it is what cavers called a passage killed by formations.

Continuing on in the main passage the explorers found themselves in a long slender fault. Over their heads, under their feet, and on both sides of them was formation upon formation. After 200 feet of walking and crawling through narrow passage way the remainder of the path was water. Philip Johnson, one of the slimmest of our party entered this water passage. Soon he disappeared from sight and I shouted to him what lay ahead.

His response came back that he was in a passage about the same width as when he started but that he was standing about knee deep in cave mud beneath the water. There was a huge formation that had dropped from the ceiling or that someone had tried to remove. This was a flow-stone block resembling an organ. He said it was very beautiful. After climbing over this obstacle the passage widened somewhat and made a right angle run. Going on Johnson made three more right angle turns. I again called frantically to him. My words came back in echoes. Three times I shouted and finally a voice was heard coming back to me from far away. After about 15 minutes of shouting we were able to understand each other. As Johnson had no companion with him I advised him to return to where I had remained. I knew he had gotten into something very interesting as I could hear him cussing me off for making him come back.

When I finally saw his light through the darkness, I breathed normal again as cave exploring alone has very dangerous possibilities. When he joined me he told that he had gotten through the toughest part of the passage and that when I called he had started into a larger part of the passage for parts unknown. It continued on for as far as his beam would carry with a stream running towards him. He reported the same beautiful formation lined passage all the way.

As we were thoroughly soaked we started our return trip to the entrance knowing we had to crawl through the lake again. We started out but to our amazement when we reached the lake we couldn’t get through. There was only three inches of air space. Our thought went back to Floyd Collins and we wondered where our companions were and how they had gotten out.

Neither of us was alarmed and we started checking the floor and walls of the passage. Soon it became evident that we had never been in this part of the cave before.

We had found a new lake. Retracing our steps we suddenly came to a right hand passage of considerable width and height. We took this and then sighted the first formations that I described earlier. Next came the lake leading to the entrance. After getting out we told our companions our mistake and found that they also had fate play the same trick to them.

Mr. Veen Fliet has a beautiful cavern and the farthest extent has as yet been unseen and undiscovered. We hope to make a complete study of this cavern. It is our belief that this cavern will eventually be penetrated until it joins the famed Sitzer’s cavern at Central Bridge. It has been reported in the county that Tim Murphy and some of Morgan’s riflemen used an extensive cavern on Terrace mountain to baffle the Schoharie Indians during the Revolution. They were called the ghost men as Indians following their trail would come to the mouth of a cavern, where they were afraid to follow, and after a short length of time the same Indians would be surprised to find themselves in an ambush by Murphy and his scouts. They just appeared from nowhere.

If Veen Fliets cavern can be connected with Lasell hell-hole, Strontium Mine cave, and Sitzer’s cavern approximately seven miles of underground passageway will be discovered. At present writing neither of these caverns has been explored to the farthest extent. It is hard work and the nerves of a cave explorer must have their rest also. This particular area will again be very active the latter part of ’49 and the early part of 1950.

This article was originally published in Albany County Post 9 Sept. 1949