Longtime Pleasantville Historian Remembered as One-of-a-Kind
From a young age Carsten Johnson was passionate about local history, and in particular, the history of Pleasantville.
He would spend nearly all of his adult life offering little-known facts to anyone who would listen – from new residents who moved into old homes in the village to Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, who he would lead on local tours.
“It was amazing, his enthusiasm for the subject,” said Martha Mesiti, a Mount Pleasant Public Library reference librarian and former Ossining town historian. “He really, really loved it and he would talk with anybody, tell a story and in great detail about any topic that pertained to Pleasantville.”
Johnson, the quirky longtime village historian who had encyclopedic knowledge of Pleasantville’s past, died on Apr. 24 at 76 years old. A relative posted on his Facebook page that he died of the coronavirus.
Yvonne Solomon, who was in the same grade as Johnson when attending Bedford Road School and the village’s old junior high school with him, said he always had a keen sense of history. She remembered Johnson as being different than his peers.
“Carsten was not your run-of-the-mill guy,” Solomon said. “He was not your typical teenager. He was quiet. He was very interested in history and loved learning about the community in a way most teenagers don’t. Only when you grow up, do you appreciate these things.”
Solomon, who graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1962, moved away and returned in 1978. By that time, Johnson was village historian, she said. It was a title he retained until a couple of years ago when his health began to fail, said Mayor Peter Scherer.
For many years, he looked after the village’s historical archives, Scherer said.
“Carsten was the right person at the right time for a long time and in his idiosyncratic way delivered a tremendous amount of value to all of us,” Scherer said.
Dorothee von Huene Greenberg, a retired Pace professor, recalled writing an article on the Underground Railroad, which went through Pleasantville. She said Johnson spent much time with her unearthing facts about the Moses Pierce House, which is now in Thornwood.
“Carsten and I did a lot of research,” Greenberg said. “I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Johnson was born on Nov. 23, 1943. His father was a prominent dentist in the village. Instead of continuing on to Pleasantville High School, he was sent to a prep school, Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts. Some friends believed he may have attended college, but if he did no one knew where. He never married or had children, but has a sister who still lives in suburban Philadelphia, who he would visit when he was younger.
Elsie Rattenbury, who knew him for years, said Johnson was always very interested in learning about other people’s lives and hearing their stories, but rarely shared personal information about himself.
He didn’t have a career, instead preferring to take on a variety of offbeat jobs for people around Pleasantville, she said.
“At some point, when his father died, he had a little something going toward him and that’s how he survived,” Rattenbury said. “He survived on that little bit, and then he did odd jobs. He sat for people’s houses, he would take care of their pets, he maintained their garden. He was a master at everything. He could get along with anybody and he was very intelligent.”
Johnson could often be seen at the Mount Pleasant Public Library or sitting outside the Dragonfly Café, which became The Black Cow. He refused to take any money for his impressively robust tours of historic sites in the village, Rattenbury said.
For many years, he lived in the yellow Victorian house on Bedford Road, referred to by many longtime residents as the Hunter House. He served as the on-site caretaker for Mrs. Hunter.
After she died, he moved to the garden apartments on Manville Road. One friend, who asked not to be identified, said in late 2018, Johnson went to Sky View nursing home in Croton-on-Hudson as his health deteriorated.
Years ago, Bedford Road resident Lenore Welby moved into a historic house near the Hunter House. Johnson introduced himself and regaled her with the history of her residence. Welby said she was grateful for how welcoming Johnson was and for the stories about her residence.
“For his recent birthday, a lot of us posted messages to him on Facebook and told him how important we thought he was to us and to Pleasantville and I know he read those messages,” she said. “And that makes me happy, to think that he knew how much he meant to everyone.”
No details about arrangements were available.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/