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Warwick’s Renaissance Man

| 21 Feb 2013 | 04:25
    Photo courtesy of the Warwick Historical Society This 1902 picture shows the Wisner four-in-hand ìTally-Hoî coach in front of the Red Swan Inn about to depart on an outing to Goshen for dinner at the St. Elmo Inn. The Red Swan Inn stood to the right of the Warwick Cemetery, where the Warwick Country Club is now located on Oakland Ave. It was razed followed a fire in the 1950s. The St. Elmo Inn in Goshen burned in 1920; it was located near the site of the present post office.
    Photo courtesy of the Warwick Historical Society This 1902 picture shows the Wisner four-in-hand ìTally-Hoî coach in front of the Red Swan Inn about to depart on an outing to Goshen for dinner at the St. Elmo Inn. The Red Swan Inn stood to the right of the Warwick Cemetery, where the Warwick Country Club is now located on Oakland Ave. It was razed followed a fire in the 1950s. The St. Elmo Inn in Goshen burned in 1920; it was located near the site of the present post office.

WARWICK — On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 24, at 4 p.m. Warwick Town Historian Dr. Richard Hull and Village Historian Jean Beattie May will present a program on the Wisner Family, one of Warwick’s very first families to settle in Warwick in 1713.

Hull will present a background look at Warwick in that early period and the impact of members of the Wisner family had on Warwick in the years following.

May will give a slide presentation and speak about Clinton Wisner and his many accomplishments in his short life.

Public official, public servant

Clinton Wheeler Wisner (1856-1904) was mayor for three terms. He was credited with the restoration of Warwick’s natural charm with tree and flower planting, installing sidewalks, as well as his architectural contribution in designing two fire houses, a church, the Red Swan Inn, the railroad station, the cemetery gates and several residences.

Among Wisner’s formidable talents was his love of the art of driving horses. He was noted to be an artist on every aspect of driving from his harness and teams to the appointment of his rigs, the holding of his reins over the horses, whether a single horse, a tandem or a team or four-in-hand, following the strictest rules.

Day trips to Goshen and back
Wisner and his half-brother Horatio also offered regularly scheduled trips during the summer to promote Warwick as a tourist spot and to show off the beauty of the village and the countryside. There also were day-long trips, leaving from the Red Swan (near where the Warwick Country Club bow stands) for Goshen to lunch at the St. Elmo Inn (located near where the post office stands) and then back home.

This also led him to study the local roads. He was a member of the Orange County Construction Company, which had put in most of the good roads in the county.

Essential information
The program will be held at the A. W. Buckbee Center at 2 Colonial Ave., Warwick.

For reservations to the Historical Society event, call 845-986-3236 or e-mail whs@warwick.net.

Admission is $10; refreshments will be served.