MILLERTON — The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution has sparked a renewed interest in the nation’s origins, reflected in a wave of cultural commentary, new books and films like the recently released Ken Burns documentary that examines how the United States began.
While popular historical narratives often glorify famous battlefields and political figures, visitors of the NorthEast-Millerton Library indulged in an exhibit last month that explored how the Revolution unfolded right here in North East among everyday people.
Curated and written by the North East Historical Society — including President Ed Downey and Meg Downey — the exhibit was on view in the library’s main building through November.
“Telling the story of how 250 years ago the American War of Independence affected the people who lived where we live now is very difficult,” the exhibit text began, adding that a devastating 1911 fire destroyed many documents and archives in the New York State Library in Albany. “This disaster incinerated many 18th-century records from Dutchess County.”
At the time of the American Revolution, local boundaries looked very different. Then known as the Northeast Precinct, which was created in 1737, North East was one of 11 precincts in Dutchess County and included what are now the towns of Pine Plains and Milan, along with the northern part of today’s Town of North East. The southern part of today’s town, with a dividing line roughly near North East Center by Downey Road, belonged to the Amenia Precinct. Photo By Aly Morrissey
Although the North East Historical Society is not in possession of any original documents or archives from the period, the exhibit drew on materials from the Dutchess County Historical Society, the History of Little Nine Partners, surviving 1778 meeting minutes discovered at the Huntington Library in California, and archived articles from The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News, among other sources.
Everyday families felt the Revolution long before news of battles reached them. The exhibit described its impact as a “relentless stream that built up to a flood,” beginning with steep taxes, religious and political division, and eventually the forcible transfer of land and property. As local men left for battle, women managed farms and raised children alone, navigating fear, scarcity and a community split between Patriots and Loyalists.
A shadow government takes over North East
The miraculous discovery of 1778 meeting minutes from the “Committee on Safety” depicts a group of Patriots who became the de facto local government for what was then known as the Northeast Precinct, an area including the present-day towns of North East, Pine Plains and Milan.
Photographs of the meeting minutes were on display in the exhibit. The document was found in the Huntington Library of California and includes 64 clear, handwritten pages that span 17 meetings. The committee met regularly at the house of James Young in what is now Pine Plains.
“While the meetings begin in calm deliberation, grappling with problems in a seemingly orderly way, toward the end of the record book the pace becomes frenetic,” the introduction notes. The tone of the minutes become “increasingly filled with alarm” and civil unrest, and the meeting frequency increases “almost overnight.”
The committee’s work included collecting food for those in need, handling complaints such as unlicensed liquor sales, and arranging to deport families of Loyalists across enemy lines.
One prominent committee member was Samuel Eggleston IV, who lived in what is now the Town of North East. The exhibit showed his role in collecting and returning grain to support Continental troops. He is buried in Spencer’s Corners Cemetery just north of Millerton.
Local iron ore supported the Patriots
Although the region was “too sparsely settled and too dense with forests to be where armies would travel or territory worth capturing,” it had one critical resource that supported the American cause.
Pits of iron ore in nearby Ancram and surrounding areas helped “feed the blast furnace” in what is now Lakeville, Connecticut, and eventually supported the manufacturing of weaponry, including cannon and musket balls. “The Salisbury Association estimates that the approximately 850 cannons produced represented about three quarters of those made in the colonies,” the exhibit stated.
Places, faces and names
The exhibit was rich with stories, documents and local names — many of which are still recognizable in this region today. Visitors could view the full list of residents who signed, and those who refused to sign, the Patriot pledge — a commitment to reject British authority.
“Signing it would be a death warrant if their cause failed,” the exhibit noted. “But to refuse to sign could engender the hate and distrust of their fellow citizens.” Loyalty in the old Northeast Precinct was far from unanimous, with residents split over which side to support. 298 men signed while 146 declined.
Additionally, photos of local soldiers’ gravestones, records of supply collections and stories passed down through generations painted a picture of how the war shaped daily life in the region.
Dutchess County Emergency Medical Services Commissioner William Beale addresses the County Legislature's Public Safety Committee during a meeting in Poughkeepsie on Wednesday, March 4.
In North East, ambulances reached Priority 1 calls within the nine-minute benchmark only half of the time, while in Amenia the rate dropped to 33%.
County-wide, ambulances reached those life-threatening calls within nine minutes 69% of the time.
In Pine Plains, ambulances took an average of nearly 13 minutes to arrive, and only 29% of critical calls were reached within nine minutes.
The response time data includes both municipal ambulance services that towns contract for — such as North East’s current contract with Empress, which will climb from $511,558 to $696,345 this year, a 36.1% increase — and the county’s supplemental EMS program, which adds ambulances, fly cars and technology to fill gaps in coverage.
But the data suggests rural communities in northeastern Dutchess received little direct support from those supplemental services. North East received just one supplemental EMS dispatch during the entire year, while Pine Plains and Milan each received 13, Amenia received eight, and Stanford and Millbrook each received fewer than 10.
Local legislators and municipal leaders say the numbers highlight an urgent need for short-term collaboration while the county develops a broader, long-term plan to address the region’s EMS challenges.
While the countywide average response time for life-threatening calls is just over eight minutes from dispatch to arrival, northeastern Dutchess towns see significantly longer waits.
The data comes on the heels of last year’s announcement that Empress Emergency Medical Services would absorb Northern Dutchess Paramedics, a move that further consolidates ambulance services in the area under a private provider backed by private equity. Empress EMS is owned by PatientCare EMS, a portfolio company of Grant Avenue Capital LLC, a healthcare-focused private equity firm.
Dutchess County Legislator Eric Alexander (D-25), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, and Vice Chair Chris Drago (D-19) invited Dutchess County Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Response (DER) William H. Beale to speak at last week’s Public Safety Committee meeting.
“We’re increasingly dependent on one provider of EMS,” Alexander said, addressing Commissioner Beale. He shared his concerns that the purchase of NDP by Empress is bordering on a monopoly.
Chris Drago — who represents the towns of North East, Pine Plains, Milan, Red Hook and Clinton — speaks about the struggle to afford quality emergency medical service in the rural area he represents during a meeting of the Dutchess County Legislature's Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, March 4.Photo by Aly Morrissey
“They see the growth of the market, an aging population, and I think they also see the opportunity to demand premium pricing and to defend it over the long term,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe private companies think counties or towns will push back.
“The service is quickly growing beyond what is affordable,” Alexander added, pointing specifically to the Town of North East, which is expected to pay around $700,000 next year for its existing contract with Empress — one that was transferred from NDP.
Alexander and Drago asked Beale to address the state of EMS in the county and what the $4 million supplemental services program has achieved after two years.
Beale, who was appointed in August 2025, outlined his department’s efforts to date and shared next steps, acknowledging that residents in the northeastern parts of the county have seen limited support from supplemental services.
“It’s a multipronged approach,” Beale said of the county’s current efforts to improve EMS countywide. He said the Department of Emergency Response has expanded regional collaboration meetings with town officials and first responders, while also working to continue tracking and transparently sharing data across the county.
Beale pointed to workforce development efforts aimed at addressing a shortage of emergency responders, including initiatives to streamline EMT and paramedic certification.
The next step, he said, is preparing for a comprehensive countywide EMS plan now required by the state. Under legislation passed by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year, counties must develop detailed EMS plans, while municipalities will also be expected to evaluate and plan for their own emergency response plans.
In an email to local municipal leaders, Town of Milan Supervisor Bill Jeffway said the region “needs to address immediate, short-term EMS needs as we all work with the County and State on longer-term solutions.”
Jeffway said an ad-hoc committee, advised by Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago, was formed to support EMS services. The group will host a region-wide meeting to brainstorm ways small towns and villages can collaborate on short-term solutions.
The purpose of the meeting will be to hear from Jonathan Washko, Assistant Vice President Emergency Medical Services for Northwell Health — a company that some local leaders are hopeful could serve as a stop-gap option in the region. Washko, considered to be a leading industry expert, is expected to share what Northwell can offer locally.
Commissioner Beale said he and his team have met with Northwell Health recently and he is hopeful that Northwell’s ambulances and EMTs can be onboarded into the county’s existing dispatch.
“If they have units available in northern Dutchess County at Northern Dutchess Hospital, or if they have units available at Sharon Hospital, they could potentially serve northeastern Dutchess County,” Beale said. “It may take some time, but we will be moving forward on developing that plan very quickly.”
Beale also said that Northwell Health does not contract with specific municipalities, which could be a welcome change from other private companies like Empress.
Legislator Drago said he is advocating for a pilot program in northern Dutchess County and will be attending the upcoming meeting with local municipal leaders.
Dan Cohen, left, dispenses whipped cream on a plate of maple syrup treats during a demonstration on the making of maple syrup at Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on Millbrook School’s campus.
“This is a very seasonal activity, and you’ve got to go while you can,” Tousignant said of the labor-intensive process.
Alan Tousignant stokes a fire in a maple evaporator, a machine that turns maple sap into syrup with heat.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Tousignant first experimented with making maple syrup in a backyard over an open campfire under the stars — a method he said required long nights and wasted much of the heat.
Today, he uses a specialized maple evaporator, a large stainless-steel pan heated by a wood fire from below that allows sap to boil efficiently and continuously.
Sap collected from the trees begins as a clear, watery liquid that contains only about two to two and a half percent sugar, Tousignant explained. Before boiling, the sap is run through a reverse-osmosis process to concentrate the sugar slightly. The liquid then enters the evaporator, where heat gradually removes the water as the sap flows through a series of channels.
By the time the liquid reaches about 215 degrees, the sugar has concentrated enough to become maple syrup.
Tousignant said he is currently collecting sap from around 50 maple trees, some of which have multiple taps. He said one gallon of maple syrup requires around 40 gallons of sap, a process that requires a lot of patience.
“That’s what I call ‘almost syrup,’ he laughed, pointing to a container of darkening liquid that had already been boiled and was completing a filtration process.
“Typically, the early season syrup is lighter, and as the season goes on, it gets darker,” he said. “Toward the end of the season, it can be really dark, almost like walnut syrup.”
Tousignant collects chunks of naturally formed ice that float in the sap buckets when the weather gets cold enough as a way to keep a 300-gallon tank of sap cool to prevent it from spoiling until it can be processed.
Alan Tousignant adjusts the water level in his maple evaporator at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on Millbrook School’s campus on Saturday, March 7.Photo by Aly Morrissey
“I love trying to use Mother Nature to its fullest in a sustainable way,” he said.
He employs the same philosophy in his woodworking, using trees that have already died or fallen or collecting discarded wood pallets from Amazon deliveries to the Millbrook School, saving them from the burn pile.
Raised near the Canadian border in upstate New York, Tousignant said he has always enjoyed working outdoors. As a graduate student, he supported himself with a variety of hands-on jobs to make extra spending money.
“Raking leaves, washing houses, painting, anything to make a little cash for eating and paying the bills,” he said.
It was during this time when Tousignant developed an acronym that now serves as the label for his maple syrup — Hayibaco, short for Home and Yard Improvements by Alan.
This will mark his first year selling his own maple syrup under his custom label, which features an illustrated photo of him in his signature outfit — a plaid shirt and a fleece vest — against a backdrop of his syrup bottles. Syrup will be sold in the gift shop at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo and possibly at the Millerton Farmer’s Market in the future.
In addition to Hayibaco, other locally made maple syrup and maple products were available for sale at the tasting, including nearby Soukup Farms in Dover and Russell Farms in Rhinebeck.
Dan Cohen, Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo’s Director of Media, said that zoo attendance typically dips during the winter months. But for many of the zoo’s animals — particularly those who prefer the cold weather — winter can actually be one of the best times to visit.
Animals like Stanley the lynx, Cohen said, are far more active in the cold weather.
Cohen and his colleagues began brainstorming ways to encourage winter zoo visits and were pleased with the success of both a hot chocolate event earlier this year and the maple syrup weekend.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
