Transcript
Sue: My name is Sue deBrujin and I’m going to be talking about a classic David vs. Goliath story where two lawyers from Schoharie County went to battle against New York City. Around 1916, New York City had its eyes on the very clean water in the Gilboa Valley. Why should it all be kept up there when the citizens of the city were in need of it so Gilboa would have to be sacrificed?
Through eminent domain, the entire village, comprised of numerous businesses, including a movie theater, cotton mills, motels, funeral homes, and many residences, were seized and then raised. The residents were given less than half the fair market value of their homes. They not only lost the land that generations of their families had worked, but they also lost those ancestors as cemeteries were relocated. The headstones and remains were dug up and moved. The horrific job of gravedigger fell to a man whose daughter later recounted that it took a lot of whiskey and good cigars to get through it.
In 1850, Gilboa was the largest village in Schoharie County and by 1929, there was nothing left of it. After such emotional turmoil, there was one consolation. The city of New York was to pay real estate taxes on the dam and reservoir, which would be a boon to the county. As the huge reservoir gradually began to fill with water, Gilboa sent New York City their first tax bill, but the city refused to pay. There was a new state tax law, which held that aqueducts carrying upstate water to New York city were tax exempt.
The town board of assessors wasn’t about to take this lying down, so they contacted Attorney F. Walter Bliss of Middleburg to inquire how Gilboa should proceed. Attorney Bliss advised the town to place a tax assessment on the dam. Which seemed like a simple fix. They did this and the Board of Water Supply of New York City filed a protest. Concerned that they were now out of their league, the Gilboa Town Board chose to retain Attorney Bliss to represent them. As he had only been practicing law for a handful of years, he suggested that they also retain the more practiced lawyer, Wallace Sidney of Central Bridge, to be the trial counsel.
It was to be a long, hard trip down their judicial road. The two country lawyers often felt that they were being disregarded by the big city attorneys. So eventually, attorneys Bliss and Sidney made a bold move. They advised the town assessors to advertise the Gilboa Dam up for sale for unpaid taxes. Well that finally got the attention of the New York City lawyers, who at the very last minute obtained a court order to stop the sale. The Schoharie lawyers were greatly relieved. Because quite frankly, they had no idea what they would have done if the city had called their bluff and they were left with an enormous dam and 22 billion gallons of water to sell. With several appeals, the case dragged on for years. Eventually, a legal decision was declared in favor of New York City, stating that the structure was part of an aqueduct and therefore tax exempt.
The Schoharie side became very discouraged. Was it time to throw in the towel? As anyone who knew either of these two men can attest, giving up would never be an option. The case proceeded to the New York State Supreme Court. It could go no higher than that, so everything was riding on these two country lawyers. Remembering what the people of Gilboa had lost, they put everything they had into their preparation, and when the final decision came down, to everyone’s surprise, it was in favor of Scoharie County. The decision found that just as attorneys Sidney and Bliss had argued, It truly was an independent storage reservoir, not an aqueduct, and therefore was taxable. With victory at hand and tax dollars rolling into the county, the two attorneys individually submitted bills to the town of Gilboa for six years of litigation and out-of-pocket expenses. Attorney Bliss’ bill came to a whopping $21,250. The town clerk bopped at such an appalling amount, reminding Mr. Bliss that she had and the midwife at his birth.
The county, as well as the Gilboa School District, continue to receive tax revenue from the Board of Water Supply of New York City today. As of 2025, the total tax revenue received is over $198 million. The granddaughters of these two country lawyers, Debbie Bradt and Sue deBrujin, have shared this historic program throughout Schoharie County. As members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, they use it as a means to promote the mission of DAR. Education, historic preservation, and patriotism within their community, and also hoping that they are making their grandfathers proud.