We’ll start our reunion
in New York and end it in Ohio much the same as our ancestors settled
Harpersfield, New York and then moved on to start Harpersfield, Ohio.
Rick Harper has designed two wonderful days in New York. He even has
a travel log that tells us every street and highway to take so that we
can visit many of the historical sites in the area. Download
for NY Itenerary PDF
New York– Tuesday,
June 24th, 2008
The Holiday Inn Express will provide a buffet supper for us in the hotel
at $20 per person so that we can gather and visit casually in the comfort
of a meeting
room all to ourselves.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Day 1 Trip: Visit the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie ($5.00 adults, $4.50 seniors,
$1.50 children) for about 2 hours. Then drive to Middleburgh for a very short
stop. Col. John Harper and Alexander used the Middle Fort located here as a base
of operations during the Revolution. On to some cemeteries in Harpersfield, a
visit to the Shaver-Hill Maple Sugar Farm run by the family of the Ha
rpersfield Historian Barbara Hill, and then to the Col. Harper Grange Hall where
we will have dinner provided by Col. Harper Grange members. Rick has agreed to
provide us with one of his outstanding reenactments during the evening. Julie
Noble, our family treasurer, will take reservations up to May 31st via your check
for the dinner at Grange Hall on Wednesday night. The cost is $16 per person.
Possible side trips for this day for those interested: Revolutionary battle locations
including approximate location of Capt. Alexander’s capture, McKee cabin
massacre and Abigail Harper DAR Chapter in Stamford. Time permitting, the Iroquois
Indian Museum- Howes Cave, New York.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Day 2 Trip: Stop for a few minutes to see William Harper’s home in Fort
Hunter. Then on to Fonda for some genealogical research for the time period between
Tyron County and Delaware County formation. On to Johnstown for those who would
like to see the Sir William Johnson Home (adults $3.00, NYS seniors $2.00, children
$1.00). Next to the Cherry Valley Historical Museum (adults $5.00, seniors $4.50,
ten or more $3.00 each). From Cherry Valley to Roseboom and the location of the
Harper homestead. Finally, to Cooperstown for research at the New York State
Historical Association ($5.00 library fee). For those that wish to spend less
time on the road and/or less time on research, Cooperstown has a grand Farmers’ Museum,
an indoor-outdoor walk-through museum. And of course, some sports fans might
want to take in the Baseball Hall of Fame and/or the Soccer Hall of Fame. We’ll
gather for dinner at the George Mann Tory Tavern near Holiday Inn Express; it
is the perfect place for an early American, reunion dinner. Julie and Pierce
Noble invite you to be their guests for this evening meal. Your dinner reservations
are needed by May 31st. If you want a copy of Rick’s two-day travel log,
email Julie Noble at jcpnoble@aol.com, and she will email you the travel log
in a “.pdf” attachment.
Both days we will eat lunch somewhere along the way, each person paying for his/her
own food. Each person will also pay any entrance fee for sites we visit, that
is why fees were listed above with historical sites.
Everyone
is responsible for making their own room reservations in New York. We
have reserved a block of 10 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Schoharie with
a group rate of $115 per night for the nights of June 24-26. The hotel offers
complimentary hot breakfasts. Our daily tours start and end each day at the Holiday
Inn Express. To book at the Holiday Inn Express, please give the code HFR (Harper
Family Reunion) to the reservation desk: 518-295-6088 or www.hospitalityi88.com.
If you wish to check the Internet for hotels in the Schoharie, NY area, just
google for Schoharie, NY hotels. We came up with some you might want to look
into: Best Western Inn of Cobleskill ($126 a night), Super 8 Motel Cobleskill
($60 a night), Econo Lodge Richmondville ($81 a night). We encourage anyone interested
in joining us in New York to book your room now. You can always cancel your reservation
one month in advance without penalty.
Everyone is responsible for providing their own transportation to and from New
York. If you wish, you can drive yourself through Rick’s wonderful travel
log each day. Or, if you prefer, we will make arrangements for you to travel,
at your cost, in a local van with some other Harpers. You might be able to find
a seat in a cousin’s auto. We can have a mixture of cars and vans. Either
way, we can travel in a caravan. We want everyone to feel free to do as much
or as little as they choose. We hope everyone will want to go at least to the
Sharver-Hill Maple Sugar Farm and the Wednesday and Thursday dinners together.
If we cannot find another cousin driving from the airport when you arrive, we
can make arrangements, at your cost, to have someone pick you up at the airport.
Most of us will be flying into Albany. There is very good research work that
can be done at the New York State Library in Albany before or after the New York
leg of our reunion. Rick can give you information on the library if you are interested:
rharper@newmediamarkets.com.
An
airline deal for the reunion. American Airlines will give anyone flying to
and from the reunion a 5% discount off the lowest airfare. The discount is available
if you attend only the New York leg of the reunion flying in and out of Albany,
if you fly into Albany and out of Cleveland or if you fly in and out of Cleveland
any time between June 21 and July 2, 2008. To take advantage of this discount,
call 1-800-433-1790 or go to www.aa.com. The code for our reunion discount is
A8868AC. The airfare from Albany to Cleveland is prohibitive on American, $200.
Therefore, we will drive from Schoharie to Geneva on Friday, June 27, 2008– a
six to eight hour drive. If enough family cars are not available to take care
of those flying to and from the reunion, we will rent a van and share the cost.
On
to Ohio Reservation
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