Captain John B. Krom rose early on the morning of April 7th, 1908. He exited the Hotel Belmont, in High Falls, New York which he had owned since the 1860s, making his way from the hotel he had once shared with his late wife Elizabeth, to the barn a short distance away. He had no way of knowing that it would be the last time he would take that walk.
Captain Krom entered the barn and slowly made his way over to the hay mow, which was the part of the barn where the hay was stored. As a few minutes stretched in to hours, people in the hotel he owned became alarmed when Krom failed to return. Charles Christiana, a local cooper, was sent to check on Krom. He found Krom collapsed on the floor of the hay mow. According to The Kingston Daily Freeman, Dr. Frank Johnston was summoned but it was too late – he pronounced Krom dead. The coroner Abram Kelder listed the cause of death as heart disease.
FW Beers Map of High Falls 1875-Ulster County Clerk’s Archive
A day later, an announcement in the same paper set the funeral for April 8th at 2:30 at the Belmont. After the funeral, a procession made its way to the High Falls cemetery where Krom was laid to rest next to his wife Elizabeth – she had died some two decades before him. Thus ended the interesting life of an individual who is now relatively unknown.
During Krom’s lifetime, his acquaintances knew that he was more than merely the proprietor of the Belmont. Before he purchased the hotel, Captain Krom, as he was known, was a respected local teacher and Civil War officer. At one point, he also worked in the thriving cement industry in High Falls.
Krom was born on August 20th, 1839. He was the son of William H. Krom and Hannah Burns. His parents felt it was important to educate their son. Krom attended school in High Falls and then went on to attend the Roxbury Academy located in Delaware County. The Kingston Daily Freeman pointed out that at the Academy, Krom shared a class with Betty Gould, the sister of the famous Robber Baron Jay Gould. Once he graduated, Krom took various jobs which included working with his father who was employed by Delafield and Baxter Cement in High Falls. He went on to work for a cement company, also in High Falls, called F.O. Norton. John B. Krom was also a teacher. He taught in the winters in Flatbush and New Paltz.
When Fort Sumter was attacked in 1861, it ushered in the Civil War. Krom rallied to the Union cause as he cautiously watched events unfolded in the nation. In 1862, the urge to save the Union was too great. Along with Captain Snyder, Krom raised a military company, Company C, for the 120th Regiment. Krom was commissioned a 1st lieutenant. In 1863, he became a captain.
Shortly after being mustered, Company C and the rest of the 120th Regiment were transported by steamer to the Park’s Barracks in Manhattan, which is today known as City Hall Park. They arrived early in the morning of August 26th, 1862. By the evening, the 120th left for Washington, D.C. where they drilled constantly before taking a more active role in the Civil War.
Their first camp, called Arlington, was on the confiscated estate of General Robert E. Lee. Amongst other battles, Krom participated in the Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before being wounded in the Wilderness Campaign in May 1864. He was wounded significantly enough to be honorably discharged. Once he recovered from his wound, which was believed to have been to one of his hands His courage throughout the war resulted in him being commissioned a brevetted major.
When he returned to Ulster County, Krom resumed teaching. This time he taught in Kerhonkson as well as working for the F.O. Norton Cement Company. Eventually Krom was elected school commissioner for the second school district in 1866, and remained in that position until 1869 when he bought the Hotel Belmont. During this time, according to the The Kingston Daily Freeman,in 1868, he married Elizabeth Lefevre who lived in New Paltz. Mr. and Mrs. John B. Krom would have seven children.
According to a eulogy published in The Kingston Daily Freeman, Krom purchased the Belmont Hotel in 1869 and moved from his home, which was near the falls, to the hotel which was downtown in High Falls. A stage was available to pick up guests in Rosendale in order to bring them to the hotel.
According to the Century House Historic Site, ”a stage left Rosendale daily, except Sunday, at 10 am, 12:30 and 3:30 pm; fare 25 cents.” It is interesting to point out that in later census material, Krom continued to list his occupation as a teacher, which he worked on in the winter months when business at the hotel was probably slower.
The Belmont was also the backdrop for veteran reunions of the 120th Regiment. These reunions went on late into the night complete with campfires, music, and remembrances. One raucous reunion occurred in the winter of 1888 and involved George H. Sharpe who was the commander of the 120th. The reunion might have been a needed distraction from the death of Elizabeth a few years earlier. She died after an illness lasting about a week. Krom was left with several small children. He eventually re-married.
All that remains of the Hotel Belmont which stood on the corner of Route 213 and Bruceville Road is a small barn. The Belmont Hotel burned in 1960. The small barn remains as a silent memorial, as does the obelisk in the High Falls cemetery with the epitaph Krom wrote for his wife: “She made home happy.”
Wikipedia- 120th NY Infantry monument dedication Kingston, NY, October 1896
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