Book recalls old times

As an historian, she's proud that the childhood memories of Sally and Agnes Fagan, two women who spent almost the entire 20th century in Copake Falls, have been preserved for posterity.

"The Fagan Sisters" evolved out of an oral history project with two of the author's friends. Mrs. Mettler grew up spending summers and vacations at her family's weekend home in Copake Falls, located in Columbia County at the southern edge of the Albany Diocese. There, she met Agnes and Sally Fagan, whom she called pillars of St. Bridget's Church. Their father was the church sexton, Sally played the organ at Mass, and Agnes took charge of the cemetery.

Living resources

In the 1980s, Mrs. Mettler sat down with the sisters and a tape recorder, and started taping their recollections of growing up in the area.

"The memories were wonderful!" she remembered. "They talked about having attended one-room schools, taught in one-room schools."

Remembering

She learned of the Bash Bish Inn, an elegant getaway spot for the wealthy in the early 1900s, and the Taconic Inn, which lured guests as famous as Babe Ruth to the small town.

Startlingly, she also learned that the Ku Klux Klan was once very active in Columbia County. "It would surprise people, the influence of the KKK in the area," Mrs. Mettler observed.

Agnes, a teacher, had personal experiences with the KKK. Not only did they burn crosses on the lawn whenever a Catholic bazaar was held, but in 1930, she was told that she was being hired to teach at one school only because a non-Catholic teacher would be in the building as well.

When the Fagan sisters spoke of those times, said Mrs. Mettler, "they implored me to `turn off the tape when we say some of these names, because some of these families still live in the area!'"

On paper

It was then that the idea of turning the Fagan sisters' memories into a book came about. Mrs. Mettler had always urged fellow historical society members to tape other people's memories -- "if nobody records this history, it's gone" -- but now, she began transcribing her own tapes.

The result is a 96-page, first-person narrative by the Fagan sisters, supplemented with scores of historical photos of the Copake Falls area.

Days gone by

They also remember hundreds of local residents and businesses by name.

Another treat for readers, said Mrs. Mettler, is the Fagans' observation that people had much more fun in "the old days" than they do now. Agnes and Sally recount how young people of their time would suddenly decide to have a dance at someone's house, then simply show up there with food and musicians.

"Compared with our own lives, I think they were right" in their theory, said Mrs. Mettler.

Preserved history

"People interested in history, small-town life, mining, the railroads" would enjoy the book, she said, adding that St. Bridget's Church is featured prominently. And "I pressed Sally and Agnes for names [of local residents], so it's certainly of interest to people interested in genealogy."

("The Fagan Sisters: A History of Life in a New York Country Village" is available for $16.99 from Arcadia Publishing. Call 1-888-313-BOOK.)

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