Recently my dad called me from Arizona and started reminiscing. He told me some stories about the time he spent in Rockwood, Garoga, Ephratah, Johnstown and Gloversville. He grew up in Garoga, which is near Rockwood. Dad’s brother Frank was one of the founding members of the Rockwood-Garoga-Lasselsville Volunteer Fire Department and helped build the fire station with his dad.

My father then told me about Harris Stearns of Rockwood who wrote a book called “Memories of the Forgotten War.” I looked it up and it is indeed still available, so I ordered it. I plan to read it and then give it to my father to enjoy. He had the book but loaned it to his brother and never got it back. According to Amazon: “Harris R. Stearns was born in 1930 in the small town of Rockwood, New York, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.”

My father said Harris accidentally shot a neighbor and never quite got over it. My father saw Harris walking home alone one night and gave him a ride home on his motorcycle. Another interesting fact is that the Bellingers are related to the Dueslers. Actor brothers Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness) and James Arness are Dueslers. Their grandfather was Hess Graves Duesler of Ephratah, NY.

Next, my dad asked me if I had ever heard of the Denkerts. (I hadn’t.) They made baseball gloves. I knew they made bats in Dolgeville, but I didn’t know about the gloves in Johnstown. I wonder if the new baseball museum in Gloversville has a Denkert glove?

Here’s a really strange path taken by a famous man! My father told me that Samuel Goldwyn worked in a leather factory in Gloversville before moving to California!

Finally, my dad told me that a cousin had recently sent me three hand-drawn family trees of the Bellingers, Clarks, and Hammonds. It turns out that we had a famous gunsmith named William Clark from Colton, NY in our family. He was nationally known and one of his most prized possessions was a gun that belonged to George Washington’s brother. Bill was close friends with William Washington’s great-grandson, who spent his final days in Colton. In short, that was a lot of local history to learn in just one quick phone call! Next time you have time, pick up the phone, call a relative and chat about fond memories, random facts, or local history…you never know what you might learn.

Photo above provided by Laura Bellinger.