Part 9 : Somers Historical Tidbits

Down off the Farm

In the 19th Century, water power gave rise to a number of mills in the area and Richard and Tom Miller Brothers owned one off a tributary of the Muscat River. Running from Yorktown south of Route 35, the mill was used for carding, fulling and dying wool and flax and manufacturing cloth. A successful venture, the company had government contracts that produced cloth for the army during the War of 1812 and later had “Plains, Kerseys, Flannels, Broad Cloth and Satinetts” among its inventory. Around until Isaac Bedlell purchased the mill in 1839, the entire industry fell to the water needs and muscle of New York City. A quarter of Somers land succumbing, the reservoir system put a stop to the abundant river power, and while the era passed by, the Miller name has not. Tom also built the Tomahawk Chapel and owned a general store near Baldwin Place. Shenorock has long traveled Miller Avenue and the family could serve as the origin. That is unless the name derives closer to the hamlet. In 1870, Reuben Baldwin donated land, which eventually became Baldwin Place, and one Thomas T. Miller owned a general store on the Westchester side of the border.

Safe Cracker

In the days before the railroad system, raising cattle was big business in the town of Somers but that changed when the railroad came to town. It was cheaper to produce milk and the expediency of the railroad laid the foundation for the shift. Nonetheless, the eastern term for cowboy was drover and the second bank established in Somers (1839) was the Farmers and Drovers Bank. But the establishment of the Mt. Kisco National Bank in 1895 would make the old institution obsolete. Occurring over a period of years, the Elephant Hotel housed vault got less and less use, and by the time the bank closed, the combination was forgotten. Attempts were made to open. But not until 1976 was the feat achieved, and inside, the contents were not so dramatic. A few documents detailing the close of the bank were all that were found.

Written in Granite

According to the discourse of the day, “a large never-failing spring of the purest cold water,” ran at the old Seymour farm. The land was purchased by Georgina J.S. Andrews of NYC and she tried to take advantage by starting a bottling company. She would eventuality sit as one of the directors, and a 400 by 75 foot granite and steel building was constructed. Among the employees was a chemist named Clarence Birdseye. The company changed hands and closed in 1944 when the Koegel family bought the building. The name remains, though. In 1912, West Somers changed its name in reference to The Granite Springs Water Company.

Deja Vu and Elephant Never Forgets

Hachaliah Bailey didn’t not fully own Old Bet. He held one of two shares with a man named Benjamin Lent, and they had the same deal on a Royal Tiger. As lovable as she seems to us, a farmer named Donald Davis didn’t like the idea of people spending their hard earned money on such a “wicked beast.” So he shot and killed the headliner in 1815. This had Bailey going east for another elephant, and this time, Little Bet filled the bill. Same fate, he was shot and killed by a seven man conspiracy in Rhode Island. Two of which were Masons, the motive is still a mystery.

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