GUILDERLAND — The fate of an historic Altamont home is unknown as Guilderland and Altamont are set to take joint control of the property.

After passing resolutions at meetings last week, the village and town are asking the county to give them the property at 759 Route 146 for payment of back taxes. Built by Frederick Crounse, Altamont’s first doctor, over 150 years ago, the house sports a state historic marker. It has been vacant for several years.

Guilderland Supervisor Kenneth Runion told The Enterprise that the town and village plan to use the property for community functions—youth or senior programs, for example—or as an information center for town and village residents.

The town and the village are splitting the costs, 50-50, and will be co-owners of the property.

Runion said that, when he first approached the county about the property, the back taxes were about $40,200. The cost will probably increase some by the time the sale is final, he said. Last week, Altamont Mayor James Gaughan estimated it would cost about $45,000.

Gaughan was not available for comment this week.
The federal-style building, just outside the village, appears decrepit from the outside, largely because of a deteriorating front porch. Gaughan described its condition last week as "fair to good." The roof, he said, is in good shape.

Runion wasn’t willing to take a guess on the condition.
"Nobody will be able to get into it until the transfer is complete," he said.

The first order of business, both officials said, will be to inspect the property and determine its suitability for use.
"If the building can be used, we will use the building," Runion said.

If it can’t, he said, it will be torn down.

Although there is a historical marker on the property, Runion said, to his knowledge, the house is not on any historic registries.

Runion has sent a letter to County Executive Michael Breslin informing him of the town’s and village’s intent to buy the property. The county legislature has to turn it over to the town and village by resolution, Runion said.

History
According to the late historian Arthur B. Gregg, in his book, Old Hellebergh: Scenes from Early Guilderland, Dr. Crounse was born in his father’s tavern in Sharon in 1807. His father, Jacob Crounse, had left Guilderland to seek his fortune in "the West," Schoharie County.

After studying under his cousin, Adam Crounse, a minister and classical scholar, Gregg writes, Dr. Crounse studied medicine with local doctors, and then attended Fairfield Medical College, in Herkimer. Fairfield, which is considered a descendent of the medical school at Syracuse University, was the first institution of its time outside of New York City, Gregg writes.
Soon after leaving Fairfield, Crounse came to Altamont, where he built the house on the corner of Gun Club Road and married Elizabeth Keenholts, the daughter of Frederick Keenholts, a large landowner "and considered the wealthiest man in the district," Gregg writes.

Crounse also built an office on the property, since moved, Gregg writes, in the attic of which lived a servant, a black man, who took care of the horses.
Gregg tells a story about the servant and Crounse, a noted practical joker, Gregg says: "The old darkey had an annoying habit of frequent sprees, which Dr. Crounse and his brother, Dr. Conrad...decided to cure. One night they took the fine articulated skeleton the Doctor owned and rubbed it with phosphorous. It was then hung at the top of the trap door to the attic quarters. At a late hour the darkey climbed the steps, only to meet this glowing skeleton dangling before his eyes. As intoxicated as he was, he let out a yell and ran down the road, remaining away for four days, and it was reported that the ‘treatment’ was successful."

One night during the Civil War, the 134 Regiment came from Schoharie and camped in front of Dr. Crounse’s house, Gregg writes. Crounse stayed up the night, helping the regiment doctor with the sick and wounded soldiers, Gregg writes.

Crounse’s daughter, Mary, wrote letters home to her parents when she left Altamont to attend teachers’ school. Those letters formed the basis of a play written by Rebecca Fishel as part of Altamont’s centennial celebration.

Gregg writes with admiration for Crounse, who, he says, brought more of the region’s inhabitants into the world than any doctor before or since.
"In sickness or in trouble, the panacea was ‘Go see old Doc Fred,’" Gregg writes. "There is something grand and inspiring about his life from beginning to end."
Crounse died in 1893 and was buried in the Fairview Cemetery. Beneath his name, his grave says only, "Graduated at Fairfield Medical College, 1830."