Did George Washington have wooden teeth? (And other pressing questions from history)
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Chester — The Chester Elementary School’s fourth grade invited the Orange County historian, Ted Sly, to speak with the children about the history of the county. “It was a fantastic educational experience for the students,” said their teacher, Jeffrey Knight. “They came away from the presentation with an appreciation for the impressive amount of history our area holds.”
Four students, one from each participating class, wrote reviews of their experience.
On Tuesday the 22nd, a county historian came to the fourth grade. He told us about the history of Chester. We learned things like how mastodons used to live in Chester. Do you know that the Revolutionary War took place in Chester? Well, it did! He also told us about iceboxes, the Native Americans, and George Washington. He told us that even though the Native Americans thought that the Europeans were being nice, they weren’t. By giving the Native Americans blankets, they were also giving them diseases. Did you know that George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth? His teeth were made of a lot of things, but not wood. Those are the things that we learned.
Alyssa Detwiler
Ms. McAteer’s class
On September 22, a gentleman named Ted Sly came to fourth grade in Mr. Knight’s class. He’s Orange County’s historian. He lives in Orange County. He was here to show us what he does. He showed us pictures of bones of a mastodon. I learned about mastodons and that their bones were discovered in Sugar Loaf. I never heard of a mastodon but now I know that it was a real creature. I liked when he visited because he said he visited fourth grade for twenty years. I also liked all the pictures he showed the whole fourth grade. It was amazing!
Jenn Battiato
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Mr. Knight’s class
Ted Sly did a presentation at our school for the fourth grade on Sept. 22, 2009. Ted Sly is the Orange County Historian. His presentation was about historical things that happened in Orange County. I enjoyed the part where he showed old photos of Orange County with old cars in them. I also learned that they found a mastodon in Sugarloaf, New York. It was a very fun presentation and I liked it.
Alex Hofgesang
Ms. Birne’s class
On Tuesday, September 22, Mr. Ted Sly, county historian, came to our school to share with us the history of Chester. He told us many interesting stories about our community’s past. From all the stories he told us, I learned many things. There were three stories I found most interesting.
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The first thing I found interesting was the story about George Washington. Mr. Sly asked us if we knew if George Washington had wooden teeth. I said he didn’t, and I was right. George Washington was a war general, he owned a farm and he was our first President. Mr. Sly also talked about a time when George Washington got sick. The doctors’ back then bled him to try and save him. Unfortunately, it did not work and he died in his sleep.
Another story I thought was interesting was when the British moved to America. They were very cruel to the Indians. When the Indians were sick the British would give them blankets. That’s nice, right? Unfortunately, the blankets were diseased. One of the Indians joined the British and told Indian children to put red paint on their shirts to act like they were dead. When the British invaded the school the only person killed was the teacher.
The last piece that Mr. Sly shared was about Babe Ruth. He is one of the most famous baseball players ever. He hit the third most home runs ever and he visited downtown Chester several times. Babe Ruth played for the Yankees and he was slightly slow at running. My great-grandmother met Babe Ruth.
As you can see, Chester has a lot of history. Mr. Sly told us many facts about Chester’s historical background. It was very kind of him to share his time and I truly appreciated everything I learned. I look forward to learning more about Chester’s history.
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Liam Murray
Ms. Maggi’s class
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