Dead Air Valley: "The 'Accidental' Deaths in the Tavern Basement"

In Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, the county historian is taking a roomful of diners into the basement of Foster's Coach House Tavern to read the official record of how their neighbors died by accident. On Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 6 PM, Dutchess County Historian William P. Tatum III leads a Historic Tavern Trail: Halloween Edition program on "accidental" deaths, including drownings and falls, drawn from the Dutchess County Ancient Documents Collection, the surviving court filings from 1721 to 1889, now 167,000 pages online. Foster's Coach House Tavern, 6411 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572, phone 845-876-8052. Dinner reservations before or after are recommended, per the listing; no ticket price or registration term was stated in the listing. The archive is free to search at dutchessny.gov/ancientdocuments. Silas Van Wyck tells it straight: Wally Foster and the equestrian tavern, Tatum and the Tavern Trail he built, the inquisition form behind the word accidental, and the tavern records that live in the same files. Sources: Rural Intelligence, Dutchess County, the New York State Museum, Historic Rhinebeck, and the Rhinebeck Historical Society.