Letters from Home Archive: notes from 1/29/98/title> <meta name="description" content="Thoughts on revolution era Mohawk Valley by Greg Ketcham. Includes a weekly column and site update notices"> <meta name="keywords" content=" Greg Ketcham Loyalists Willett Gansevoort American Revolution New York Mohawk Valley John Johnson Guy Johnson John Butler Walter Butler Timothy Murphy"> </head> <BODY background="burnppr.gif"> <img src="letterhed.gif" height=27 width=257 border=0><P> <table border=0 width=450>  <tr> <td width=40><br></td>  <td width=410>  <font size=4><strong>This weeks' thoughts: Death of Walter D. Edmonds</strong></font> <br> <br> The following is a reprint from The Associated Press(copyright held by AP; distributed here for informational purposes only) dated Jan.28, 1998: <br> <br> <tt> UTICA, N.Y. (January 27, 1998 10:55 a.m. EST) -- Author Walter D. Edmonds, best known for the classic story, "Drums Along the Mohawk," died Saturday. He was 94. <br> <br> The story of the settling of the Mohawk Valley during the years of the American Revolution was Edmunds' most successful book. It was a best seller for two years and second in popularity during that time only to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." <br> <br> In 1939, it became a movie, directed by John Ford, and featuring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert. <br> <br> Hollywood adapted two other Edmonds novels: "Rome Haul" was rewritten as the Broadway play, "The Farmer Takes a Wife"; a movie version starred Fonda and Janet Gaynor. <br> <br> "Chad Hanna," originally done in installments for the Saturday Evening Post as "Red Wheels Rolling," was a circus story set in central New York and published in 1940. It, too, became a movie, starring Fonda, Dorothy Lamour and Linda Darnell. <br> <br> Edmonds wrote numerous short stories and children's books, including "The Matchlock Gun," written in 1941. The story, which told of how a 10-year-old boy in Colonial New York defended his home against attacking Indians, won the Newbery Award for children's literature. <br> <br> His final effort, "Tales My Father Never Told," was published in 1995. </tt> <br> <br> Edmonds brought historic figures to life in "Drums"; this web site continues to explore and record the lives of the valley dwellers. Goodbye,Walter; there is peace in the valley now. <br> <br> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <IMG width=8 height=8 SRC="dot_blue.gif"> <IMG hspace=8 SRC="dot_clear.gif"> <BR> <BR> </tr> </table> <IMG vspace=6 hspace=15 SRC="dot_clear.gif" border=0> <a href="index.htm"><img src="home.gif" border=0></a> <img vspace=2 src="dot_clear.gif"> <a href="chronicle.htm"><img src="chron.gif" border=0></a> <img vspace=2 src="dot_clear.gif"> </a><a href="dwellers.htm"><img src="dwell.gif" border=0></a> <img vspace=2 src="dot_clear.gif"> <a href="stockade.htm"><img src="stock.gif" border=0></a> <BR> <table border=0 width=330>  <tr align=top> <td width=50><br></td> <td width=280>  <p><p> <img hspace=32 src="dot_clear.gif">send any comments to <A HREF = "mailto:gketcham@appliedtheory.com"> the scribe.</A> <br> <img hspace=32 src="dot_clear.gif"> Copyright Greg Ketcham 1997<br> </td> </tr> </table>  </body> </html> <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76000021&t=961323193" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="javascript">window.open('http://geocities.yahoo.com/toto?s=76000021', '_geo_toto', 'width=515,height=125');</SCRIPT><script language="JavaScript" src="http://a372.g.a.yimg.com/f/372/27/1d/www.geocities.com/js_source/geov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="http://visit.geocities.com/visit.gif" border=0 width=1 height=1></noscript><script defer src="https://static.cloudflareinsights.com/beacon.min.js/vcd15cbe7772f49c399c6a5babf22c1241717689176015" integrity="sha512-ZpsOmlRQV6y907TI0dKBHq9Md29nnaEIPlkf84rnaERnq6zvWvPUqr2ft8M1aS28oN72PdrCzSjY4U6VaAw1EQ==" data-cf-beacon='{"rayId":"9076dd3c0ed38847","version":"2025.1.0","r":1,"serverTiming":{"name":{"cfExtPri":true,"cfL4":true,"cfSpeedBrain":true,"cfCacheStatus":true}},"token":"110e2c4cb8034ef4896b76e3d77e73ed","b":1}' crossorigin="anonymous"></script>