Monroe Historical Society to host lecture on the Great Chain of the Hudson
MONROE The Monroe Historical Society will host Orange County author Kenneth B. Lifshitz at its meeting on Saturday, April 14, to discuss his latest book, Donderburgs Pumpkin Vine, which offers a unique perspective on the early years of the Revolutionary War in the Hudson Valley and the Great Chain.
The Great Chain was actually three chains stretched across the Hudson River at West Point from 1776 to 1778 as an obstacle to the movement of British ships north of West Point.
According to the announcement from James A. Nelson, treasurer of the Monroe Historical Society, Lifshitz will discuss the career of the chains engineer Thomas Machin, described as a genius, scoundrel, polymath, and architect of the Hudson River defenses- from his arrival in New York, through his participation in the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois.
Copies of Lifshitzs book will be on sale after the lecture. This is the authors third book and first in print (portions of this work published in the Orange County Historical Society Journal. He is currently a trustee of the Orange County Historical Society.
The program begins at 10 a.m. on the upper level of the Monroe Senior Center, located at 101 Mine Road in Monroe. For further information, contact Jim Nelson at 845-783-3406.