Letter — Debating town’s birthday not worth arguing about

Published:

Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:12 AM EDT

In the Aug. 6 edition of the Courier, Tammy Flaherty tells us in a letter to the editor that Canaan got its birthday wrong and should not be currently celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding. In the face of the town’s official declaration that Canaan was formally settled in 1759, Ms. Flaherty has issued a virtual call to arms, complete with an all caps pronouncement, “THIS IS UNTRUE!” She insists that the correct year is 1758, when the original settlers signed a deed transferring land they had purchased from the Stockbridge Indians. The settlers indeed signed the deed on Nov. 22, 1758. But — and I’ll rely on lower case letters to make my point — the Indians did not complete signing the deed until Jan. 26, 1759. On Feb. 13, 1759, Solomon Beebe, on behalf of himself and his fellow buyers, sent a petition to the New York provincial government in Albany asking that it formally recognize their title to the lands in question, an action some consider the official birth of Canaan.

The truth of the matter is that a case can be made for either year. Most important, debating the point amounts to nitpicking — and isn’t worth arguing about. What most persuaded the Canaan 250 Committee — the group of volunteers endorsed by the Town Board to conduct the celebration — to choose 2009 as the anniversary date was the decision by the community in 1959 to commemorate Canaan’s 200th birthday that year. (The town celebrated its bicentennial with an event that was prominently chronicled in the Chatham Courier.) The last time I checked, adding 50 years to 1959 results in 2009.

Daniel Rapoport

Member

Canaan 250 Committee

Share this Article


Editorial — An invite worth accepting		Letter — Cooperation, volunteerism help pull off celebration

Article Rating

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of registerstar.com.

You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.

Registered users sign in here:

Become a Registered User

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Do not use usernames or passwords from your financial accounts!

Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required!

*Create a Member ID:
*Choose a password:
*Re-enter password:
*E-mail Address:
*Year of Birth:
	(children under 13 cannot register)
*First Name:
*Last Name:
Company:
Home Phone:
Business Phone:
*Address:
*City:
*State:
*Zip Code:

Return to: Opinion « | Home « | Top of Page ^