Casperkill Watershed Oral History Project

Jim Warner is 80 years old. He has lived his whole life in Poughkeepsie, so he remembers the transition from agriculture to industry that took place within the Casperkill watershed over the course of the 20^th century. Mr. Warner himself was part of that transition, having grown up on a farm and spent the majority of his working years at IBM.

Jim Warner’s grandfather was a wealthy lawyer in New York City. He owned a property named Hampton Farms in Poughkeepsie, and would ride the train up regularly to supervise its operation. At the beginning, the farm was engaged in the boarding of horses, but this did not last long. Mr. Warner told us about the early transitions on his family’s farm:

My grandfather bought the farm with the idea that we would board New York City horses up there.  So he bought the barns and everything and set them all up.  When it came fall, the time for horses to come up here, [the owners] didn’t let the horses come because they wanted to keep an eye on them.  The horses were a big asset to them and, if they got sick – you’ve got to make sure to get some kind of care– the care was down there.  So that never worked out.  Just to give you an idea of how eccentric he was: he equipped it for cows because he had the stalls, so he just put the silo in. One of the guys said: “You realize with cows you’ve got to work on them seven days a week, you don’t get any time off.”  And he said: “I don’t want my men working on Sunday.”  So we planted apple trees and that’s how it became an apple farm. This all happened within the course of three years.

In 1929, with the stock-market crash, Jim Warner’s grandfather lost everything and was forced to move to Hampton Farms. His father quit college and came to Poughkeepsie to run his parents’ farm:

From 1929 to 1941, he was able to run the farm.  We paid all the bills and whatnot.  On the farm, my grandfather and grandmother had the big house and my two aunts lived in the two houses there.  So essentially my father ran the farm and supported all these people.  He did a fantastic job and kept us goin’ good.

Jim Warner himself started working on the farm at the age of two. At first, he was only in charge of feeding the chickens, but soon he was given more important tasks:

[My father] let me drive the tractor.  I was five years old and I had to spray the trees early in the morning before the wind came up because that just blew it all over the place.  And when the farmhand didn’t show up, who was supposed to drive the tractor? “I guess you’re going to drive the tractor.”  So at five years old I’m sitting up there driving the tractor all over the place.  From then on I had it made. The tractors, you had to crank them.  I was not allowed to crank them because you’d break your arms if they kicked back.  But, for all the people who worked for my father; I was the boss’s son.  If I wanted something started, ”Can you start this for me?”  “Sure, Jim, we’d be happy.”

In 1941, Hampton Farms went bankrupt. Jim Warner’s father went to work at IBM and Jim himself went to neighboring Hagan Farms:

I started there when I got my working papers; I was either 12 or 13.  That was a model farm, a beautiful farm.  It had brand new a tractor. They used to simoniz the tractors, because they could write it off in their taxes.  So it was a beautiful farm.  He hired me and he says, “OK, go out and mow the lawn.”  I said, “I don’t want to mow the lawn, I want to work on the farm.”

My job was to cultivate the corn.  They couldn’t get anybody else to do it.  We had one older guy and he’d go out and fall asleep.  The tractor would hit the stone wall and the front wheels would go over the fence, and they had to go get the bulldozer to go get it out of there.  So I did that, but then I got a little concerned because I was getting heavy and the girls weren’t looking at me.  I didn’t like that.  We didn’t have any girls on the farm, but I wanted the girls that were around to look at me, so I said I want to put the bales of hay up. Well, boy, you were rugged with that.

After high school, Jim Warner left Hagan Farms to do an apprenticeship at IBM:

When I graduated from Wappingers [High School], I applied for an apprentice tool-making school at IBM, making dyes and fixtures, things like that.  I eventually spent five years in the apprentice program.  That fit me perfectly because I grew up on a farm and we did everything on the farm ourselves.  You had to be self-sustaining on the farm.  But I was in there just eleven months and Uncle Sam says, “I want you.” I got drafted and they sent me down to Fort Monmouth to learn about radios and TVs, and to Huntsville, Alabama to work with guided missiles.  And I ended up for a year and a half teaching the computer systems on the guided missile systems. That was in 1951.

After the army, Jim Warner went back to IBM. He worked there for a total 38 years. He is very thankful to IBM for training him and giving him the opportunity to do what he liked.

I really made out like a bandit. I got my education from the IBM and the army.  And I loved to play with that stuff because as a farmer I used to be the expert tractor and truck repairman.

With a sharp memory and a witty mind, Jim Warner has many stories to tell regarding the changes he witnessed throughout his life. When asked what it has been like to experience so many transitions, he says, “I’m glad I’m not going to live for 150 years.”

The Hampton Farms property was bordered by South Gate Drive, Camelot Road and Sheafe Road. The entrance was at the intersection of South Gate Drive and Route 9.

For an overview of land-use changes and development in the Casperkill watershed, see Harvey Flad on the history of the Casperkill Watershed