Update 6-16-15

 

Hi,

 

A couple of notes, a couple of post-scripts to that Green Acres history, some contact information, and some new Valley Stream history filler.

 

From Joan Aires Cleven:   I'm so sorry to hear of Mr. Saffrin's loss of his daughter, but the South High Awards Ceremony, partly in his honor, sounded wonderful.  Enjoy the summer everyone.

 

From Janet Hernandez, in response to Larry Rugen’s tour of his old neighborhood:  As I may have written before, I was on Long Island about 2 1/2 years ago, visiting family members.  We also took an tour of Valley Stream and the old neighborhood.  I used to live on Horton Avenue, and, yes, that street looks different, and the whole area looks remodeled – upgraded.  The old fish store – Ed's Aquarium – and Gem (Electronics?) are gone.  William L. Buck Elementary School still looks the same, and we saw South High, both really bringing back memories.  We stopped in at Mitchell's for an bite to eat, and it was really nice.  And, yes, the restaurant was originally across the street in a smaller store.  The current place is much larger.  We drove around Green Acres and other parts of Valley Stream, plus around Lynbrook to my old church.  I belonged to Lynbrook Baptist Church.  Memories are great!

 

From Amy Kassak Bentley, in response to Emily Kleinman Schreiber’s comment on that Green Acres article:  About the idea that home ownership in Green Acres was originally restricted – There’s a New York Times article from 1937, published 2 years before the Old Section was built in 1939, describing the newly planned community.  The way the article reads, the term “restriction” appears to be related to construction limitations/codes, not religious exclusion.   But is there not, perhaps, a hint of double-entendre, in the eye-catching headline “Restricted Areas and Home Values”?
    In addition, Irwin Chanin, the Green Acres builder, was Jewish, so this could be a very ironic/awkward article, if in fact the word “restriction” referred to more than building codes and regulations.  But there’s a second newspaper clipping, this time from 1941, for 2 homes sold that year to families whose names appear to be Jewish – Goldman and Sussman.  

 

Also from Amy:  A Valley Stream resident, David Sabatino, who owns a coffee shop on Rockaway Avenue, heads up an organization entitled “Envision Valley Stream.”  He put me in touch with the Green Acres article authors, and I gave them an article I had from the 1930s.  In exchange, I asked if I could post their paper on the Historical Society web site.  One of the authors, Sean Di Luccio, is a college student who – as his bio mentioned – attends SUNY New Paltz.  “Envision Valley Stream also has a Facebook page that people can check out.  David Sabatino is very pro-Valley Stream and very interested in the town's future.

 

[Rich – Unrelated, Barnet Kellman forwarded some possibly still-current contact information for Toni Rea, Ginny and Ed Schmidt, and Theresa Margolin Bargman.  If anyone’s interested, please let me know.]

 

Finally, a little Valley Stream history.  Far more may be found both on the Valley Stream Historical Society web site and on the organization’s Facebook page, “Valley Stream of Yesteryear.”
    The Pagan Family Tree
    On June 24, 1834 Robert (b. December 3, 1796), his wife Helen McDowal (b. 1799), and 4 of their 5 children emigrated to America from Scotland on the Ship Francis from the port of Greenock.  Robert's profession was listed as miner.  According to the ship manifest, their children's names and approximate birth years were as follows: Catherine (b. 1824), Sophia (b. 1826), James (b. 1828), and Agnes (b. 1833).  On the journey to America, Agnes died and was buried at sea.  Another daughter Jane (b. April 14, 1829) is not listed on this ship manifest.  Once in America the Pagans had 4 other children: Helen (b. 1838), Elizabeth (b. November 30, 1840), Jemima (b. 1846), and Robert (b. 1851).
    The 1840 U.S. Census for Queens County lists Pagan's occupation as a farmer.
    At this time, the community did not have a post office, so mail had to be picked up in Hempstead. Pagan petitioned the appropriate authorities for a post office. He was advised that the community needed a name. Pagan chose "Valley Stream" based on the topographical appearance of the area.  In 1843, the U.S. Post Office formally accepted the name of Valley Stream and the post office opened in on what is now known as Hendrickson Avenue (Pagan-Fletcher Restoration). Pagan is credited with naming the community. A general store Pagan passed away on March 25, 1870.
    In 1847, the Pagan house was expanded to a two-story farmhouse.  Their daughter Catherine married William Fletcher the same year and the house was given to them as a wedding gift.  Catherine died on August 17, 1874 of dysentery. William died in 1883.  Both Catherine and William are buried in St. John's United Methodist Church in Elmont, New York.
    Ellen Pagan was a devout Methodist as well as a homemaker and mother.  Prior to establishing Sinner's Hope Chapel, she had an itinerant minister conduct services at the Pagan homestead. She passed away on February 24, 1875. Robert, Ellen, and other members of the Pagan family have found their final resting place in the graveyard at St. John's United Methodist Church in Elmont.
    The Pagan's seventh daughter Elizabeth (b. 1840) married William Boyd (b. 1835) in 1861.  The Boyd's had seven children.  Two of their daughters, Jessie (b. 1870) and Catherine (b. 1871) married two brothers: Louis Fairchild and Edmund Fairchild, respectively.  The Fairchilds were the founders of Fairchild Publications and Women's Wear Daily, an apparel trade newspaper.  Descendents of Fairchilds, the last occupants of the Pagan homestead on Hendrickson Avenue, lived there until approximately 1948.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich