Students learn about life in Warwick during the American Revolution

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Students learn about life in Warwick during the American Revolution

January 24, 2025

A man dressed in period costume as a medical doctor shows a knife commonly used to cut flesh in the day.Students in Warren Patafio’s five seventh grade social studies classes experienced life in Warwick during the American Revolution. Period-dressed reenactors from the Friends of Hathorn came to their classroom Friday and the volunteers set up three stations – a loyalist vs. patriot voting box, a presentation and display of Revolutionary War medical tools and medicine, and an interactive map of period activity in Warwick.

The volunteers included Sue Gardner, Town of Warwick historian; Lawrence Wood, commander of Hathorn’s Militia reenactment unit; Billie Gallo, head of Adult Services/Outreach at the Albert Wisner Library; and Thomas Ryder, a local history intern with the library.

It was the day after Mr. Patafio’s students completed their American Revolution unit. He wanted to reenforce their knowledge with a first-hand understanding of Warwick’s roots.

The annual visit is always a hit with students. The biggest hit of them all on Friday was the medical doctor, Wood, who presented material culture and methods of a Continental Army physician. He provided an impression of his grandfather “times five” generations, Dr. Daniel Wood, who was a surgeon during the war. Wood – in real life a gas inspector for Con Edison and Orange & Rockland Utilities – has more than 40 relatives who fought in the Revolutionary War.

“It’s one thing for a child to read about it in a book,” he said. “It’s another thing for them to come out and experience it hands-on. And, I get hands-on where I let them touch the tools (reproductions he has collected over time), I let them talk and ask questions that I can answer,” Wood said. “I do it for them, to teach them.”

Wood told them about the grim outcomes of soldiers who got shot, pulling teeth with gruesome tool, and using leeches to suck a virus out of the blood of person, among other remedies. He showed how some of these methods and medicines were useful in healing, and some not so much.

Seventh-grader Kodey Bossio found it interesting because he was learning about history in Warwick, and he especially liked Wood’s doctor presentation.

“I didn’t know what they did at that time, so it was inspiring to learn about a doctor during Revolutionary times,” he said.

Ella Heller, a seventh-grade student, felt that presentation was fascinating, too, because he showed students about the tools that were used during the time. She learned how the lack of hygiene was problematic for soldiers who got injured and amputations were often an unfortunate attempt to save a life.

“I saw how it was easy for them to make a perfect circle (around a limb), cutting through the skin (with a curved knife), and then there was a different type of saw (a hacksaw) to cut through the bone.”

Students were also taught who could vote (the Founders left that decision to the state) and how citizens physically voted with marbles. They learned about gathering places in the area like Baird’s Tavern, and one of the last encampments for the Continental Army, a field that is now the solar panel field near Sanfordville Elementary School. They even learned about hundreds of thousands of rebels and soldiers who traveled a path that is now known as Kings Highway.

“We talked for a few weeks now about the American Revolution,” social studies teacher Mr. Patafio said. “This brings authenticity to our students to have people in our community who have studied and know everything there is to know about the American Revolution in Warwick come into our classroom. We are so lucky to have them.”

Friends of Hathorn volunteers dressed in period costume teach about local places like Baird's Tavern.

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