COPAKE — A professional boxing match that lasted for 37 rounds? It’s an awe-inspiring tale in many ways — especially since it was not a modern-day match, with boxing gloves in a well-lit arena, but a bare-knuckle brawl on a farm in Boston Corners almost 150 years ago.This famous fight is part of Tri-state lore, one of the most famous events in the area’s history. Rich Rosenzweig of Hillsdale, brought the tale to life again on Sunday, April 17, at the Roeliff Jansen Community Library — describing the fight as not only a legendary matchup, but also as an event of great historical significance for this area.Rosenzweig’s lecture was as much a story of property and boundary dispute on a federal level as it was about the boxing match — the gritty details of which he unflinchingly recounted. Inspired by the book “Hell’s Acres,” by Clay Perry and John L.E. Pell, Rosenzweig distilled the mixture of “truth, tale and mystery” that surrounds this epic brawl. One thing that’s known for sure is that, back in the mid-19th century, boxing was illegal in much of the country. That’s why Boston Corners was chosen as the place to hold this bare-knuckle boxing championship. Boston Corners had recently become a no man’s land because townsfolk had petitioned to separate from Massachusetts and become part of New York state. Massachusetts was agreeable, but Congress still had to vote its approval.The Boston Corners residents had taken this drastic step because, they said, they had became fed up with the inability of the Massachusetts constabulary to police their settlement, officially part of Mount Washington, Mass., due to the conveniently (for the horse thieves) or inconveniently (for the townsfolk and police) located Berkshire hills. Meanwhile, New York had some criminals of its own, some associated with the famously corrupt Tammany Hall. Those politicians were very aware of the status of Boston Corners as a no man’s land, and decided that it was the perfect place to host an illegal boxing match.Almost overnight, 5,000 people flooded into the area; many of them were people who had, one might say, experience with the law. Rosenzweig shared stories about the delinquency and mayhem that ensued; but the real story of course is the legendary fight. The combatants were a young Irishman named John Morrissey who was a feared political enforcer for Tammany Hall. His opponent was known as “Yankee” Sullivan, who was reigning heavyweight champion. Rosenzweig read aloud eyewitness reports of the fight, including one interview written by Col Card, publisher of The Millerton News and founder of The Lakeville Journal, and another, a gruesome passage about Morrissey’s trainer sucking the blood out of the fighter’s eyes so they wouldn’t swell shut.All things considered, it’s not surprising that the fight did not end without incident. A huge brawl erupted after Morrissey was declared the winner, and the ensuing pillaging of Millerton and other towns was so substantial that it got national attention. This forced Congress, which had been waffling on the decision about the fate of Boston Corners, to place the town on the New York side of the border. Rosenzweig concluded his lecture by highlighting the historical importance of this decision. But for those hoping for more details of the fight, he did include one tantalizing morsel of information: John Morrissey was nicknamed “Old Smoke” because he would never give up a fight, not even after being pinned to a burning-hot coal stove.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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