Hunting in Warwick, circa 1830s

Henry William Herbert’s journals have been revived as part of Project Gutenberg., By Sue Gardner Warwick - Whether you greet it with keen expectation or with dread, there is no denying that hunting season is a traditional celebration in Warwick. Mixed feelings are also what people had back in the 1830s when an exiled English nobleman plunged through our fields and forests with his friends and immortalized their hunting adventures in his writings. His collection about some of these hunts - “Warwick Woodlands” - has now been transcribed by local resident Jerry Kuntz and is part of Project Gutenberg online. You can go to www.gutenberg.org, search for the title and then download it. It was originally published in 1851, but a reprint of the book is available at the Albert Wisner Public Library for checkout for those who prefer armchair reading. The electronic text is part of the cooperative project of the Warwick Historical Society and the Library to make our area’s history more accessible to researchers. An annotated version will be available early next year on the Warwick Valley History Web site hosted by the library. Henry William Herbert, whose pen name was Frank Forester, is immortalized by Forester Avenue and a historical plaque at the corner of Colonial Avenue and Main Street in Warwick. The celebrated author captured in vivid and startling detail not only the hunts of days gone by, but the attitudes toward wildlife and private property that his cultural upbringing resulted in. His hunting aesthetic is startling to many today: His modus operandi was to ride headlong anywhere he pleased, ruining many a farmer’s field, and shooting nearly anything that moved. A somewhat unflattering picture is given in E. B. Hornby’s book, “Under Old Rooftrees,” and yet one gets a sense that he was greeted by the stoic and hardworking residents as something of a fascinating exotic breed himself — arrogant, loud, wild and a darn fine storyteller. His good friend, Tom Ward, immortalized in his writings as “Tom Draw,” was the proprietor of the Wawayanda House, where Herbert usually stayed when he was here in town. Herbert’s writings are action-packed, full of life and intertwined with a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world that is the hallmark of any good hunting tale. For more information, check out the local history collection at the library, which includes articles and books about him. You can also visit the Frank Forester Room at the 1810 House museum, which holds Herbert memorabilia. It is open to the public in July and August each year. Contact Sue Gardner at the library, sgardner@rcls.org or leave a message at the reference desk, 986-1047, ext. 23.