Our History

Jessie Cooper was born to Russell and Jessie Cooper in the Robert Fulton Janet Livingston House in 1895, in Teviotdale, New York. At the time, Cooper was the latest generation of an old colonial American family who had been prominent farmers since the time of her grandfather, Christian Cooper who died during the year of her birth at the age of 110. Unbeknownst to Jessie, the love of her life, Antonio Bartolotta had immigrated from Sicily and was passing through Ellis Island in 1904. Nearly one hundred miles south of the Catskill Mountains of the Hudson Valley, Antonio found work in New York City on various railways, and it was through this temporary yet necessary profession that he found his way upstate to the small town of Linlithgo.

Hours away from the congested island and grey skies of an industrialized New York, Antonio found a less cluttered life on a farm owned by George Van Dyke in Columbia County, New York. Van Dyke, a neighbor of the Cooper’s, introduced Antonio to Jesse in 1913. Instant infatuation led to their marriage the following year. Within one year of the wedding, Jesse gave birth to Benjamin Bartolotta who would be the first of thirteen children, all of whom would be major contributors to the pristine acreage and overall success of Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms.

In the seventh year of their marriage, Antonio and Jesse bought their first farm, changing its name from “Home Farm” to “Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms Corp.” The farm was named after a nearby creek referred to as Klein’s Kill. Like many regions in upstate New York, Dutch colonists had given their surnames to the creeks and rivers which are referred to as “kills” in archaic Dutch.

Over the next 25 years, Antonio and Jesse grew the farm from 225 acres to 600 acres until Antonio’s death in 1956. Upon Antonio’s passing, the farm was left to Jessie and her six sons. From this time onward Klein’s Kill continued to be renowned for the beauty of its orchards and the quality of its fruit. While Antonio’s death had been untimely, his beloved wife Jessie watched their early dream grow and continue to flourish until her death at age 98 in 1993. Jesse’s death was followed by the passing of her two sons Anthony and Benjamin. Phil Bartolotta retired in 2007 and Robert Bartolotta, Secretary, retired in 2012. Russell Bartolotta Sr., President, passed away June 5, 2016 and Alfred Bartolotta, Vice President, passed away on April 2, 2017.

Today the third generation is represented by Russell Bartolotta Jr., President and CEO, who runs the daily operations of Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms Corporation, a business that continues to thrive, selling fruit from New York to California and many places in between. Also, a member of the third generation is Adam Bartolotta who has taken over as Vice President after his father Alfred’s death. The fourth generation is represented by Russell’s son Zachary Bartolotta, Operations Manager, who is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a degree in Agricultural Business as well as Russell’s daughter Alexandra Bartolotta, Marketing and Food Safety, and is a graduate of Marist College with a degree in Business Marketing and a Master’s in Integrated Marketing and Communications. In addition, Alfred Tyler Bartolotta, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and grandson of Alfred Bartolotta, also a member of the fourth generation, has recently joined the family business as Assistant Orchard Manager. Also playing an integral role in the growth and success of Klein’s Kill Fruit Farms today are John Porreca, Treasurer, CFO, Controller and Human Resources; Randy Hinkein, General Manager; and Sean Hinkein, Orchard Manager.

Reverberations of the Bartolotta family’s success are present today in awards and acknowledgments from several organizations, most recently from the Columbia County Sons & Daughters of Italy. Nearly 108 years after Antonio Bartolotta arrived at Ellis Island, the family was honored by this organization on January 9, 2011 at the Sons & Daughters of Italy Lodge, Greenport, NY.

Do you have any questions?

Feel free to reach out with any questions you have about our fruit!