The Historians: Recent Episodes
Bob Cudmore
The Historians is a weekly audio interview podcast that features authors and other guests who discuss the rich heritage of the Mohawk Valley NY region and the nation.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette, Amsterdam Recorder and here on The Historians
Focus on History-The Pisciotta connection
A Long Way to Go
Historians Go Fund Me
Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $450.00. In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox first thing tomorrow morning (Thursday)
Click the link-online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Tomorrow
Thursday, September 14, 2023
A baseball oracle
A man who spent the last four months of his life in Amsterdam was living in Rome, New York, when he correctly predicted the outcome of 21 St. Louis Cardinals baseball games at the end of the 1930 season.
Friday, September 15, 2023- Episode 493-Charles Yaple, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Cortland, has written Jacob’s Land, a history of an immigrant family and of the native tribes who populated the land in New York State in the 1700s. Yaple has also written The Tree of Us following the lives of three men, from Richford, New York, including John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, and Gurdon Wallace Wattle, a friend to five U.S. presidents.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Episode 400-Robert Gross, author of The Transcendentalists and Their World-Emerson, Thoreau and Concord, Massachusetts in the 1800s.
Sunday, September 17, 2023-Focus on History-The Pisciotta connection
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, September 13, 2023
66 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:30AM
Showers, mainly before 5pm. High near 71. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Isolated showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. West wind 8 to 14 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersGov. Hochul swears in new state Court of Appeals chief judge Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday swore in Judge Rowan Wilson as the state’s next chief judge of the powerful state…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam man charged in Fort Johnson stabbing investigation, troopers say JOHNSTOWN – An Amsterdam man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing last week in... Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony Monday in Amsterdam – Images (9 photos)
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
McMartin, from Canada Lake, died September 27th 2005. She was the author of 25 books about the Adirondacks, including her 11-book Discover series. She and her husband, W. Alec Reid, also wrote a book in 1999 chronicling the glove industry in Johnstown and Gloversville, “The Glove Cities.”
Bob Cudmore, Author, Historian and Old Radio Guy compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $500. In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox first thing tomorrow morning (Wednesday)
Click the link-online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
McMartin had insight into glove industry
Amsterdam architect designed brick homes and schools
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
The celebrated Adirondack author Barbara McMartin wrote at least one book that dealt with industry and not the outdoors.
McMartin, from Canada Lake, died September 27th 2005. She was the author of 25 books about the Adirondacks, including her 11-book Discover series. She and her husband, W. Alec Reid, also wrote a book in 1999 chronicling the glove industry in Johnstown and Gloversville, “The Glove Cities.”
McMartin’s father had been a physician but her great-grandfather, James I. McMartin, started a Johnstown glove shop in 1843. Her grandfathers continued in the trade.
“Glovers were independent people,” McMartin said in an interview in 2001. A strain of that independence can be found in McMartin’s own life as an advocate for the Adirondack Park.
McMartin said, “A man who was working as a glove cutter who got angry with his boss could start a glove shop with a pair of scissors and a needle.”
In their book, McMartin and Reid recorded the existence of an astounding 1,900 glove shops in the Johnstown and Gloversville area over the past two centuries. Some shops employed as many as 500 workers, others were true mom and pop operations, with mom sewing gloves and pop cutting them.
McMartin and Reid found that the glove industry actually peaked in 1890 and began its long, slow decline around 1905 in the Glove cities. Cheaper labor offshore led to a precipitous decline in local glove making after World War II.
McMartin wrote, “Every time the business looked up, something unfortunate happened, usually an outside event over which manufacturers and workers had no control: shortages of skins, lower tariffs, losing home workers, war, more attractive jobs elsewhere, and most important of all, the globalization of manufacturing and cheap overseas labor.”
ARCHITECT FOUND
A Fort Johnson woman has answered a question raised in a column some months ago.
Krishna and Sunita Singh wondered who designed their home at 230 Market Street in Amsterdam. While many of the homes around them are made of wood, theirs is made of brick. The house was built in 1918 for William H. Cooper, who became first vice president of production at the Sanford carpet mills after John Sanford inherited the business from his father, Stephen Sanford, in 1913. Cooper died in 1930 and the home was subsequently owned by Herbert Singer of Amsterdam Printing, Dr. Fred Pipito, then Jeannie Morris, whose father was affiliated with the Schine Theatres.
The Singhs were told that Amsterdam builder John Turner, who remodeled the Sanford mansion on Church Street, now City Hall, might have designed 230 Market Street.
Turner likely built the house but it was designed by Amsterdam architect Howard F. Daly.
According to his daughter, Genevieve Golden of Fort Johnson, Daly was originally from Herkimer. He moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he met and married his wife, Rose. They returned to the Mohawk Valley, settling in Amsterdam. Daly’s office was at 13 East Main Street.
Golden said her father designed a number of brick residences, a style that had been common in Allentown. Daly frequently worked with builder John Turner and Turner’s sons, Richard and Thomas.
Daly designed Wilbur H. Lynch High School, now the middle school, which opened in 1931. Golden was in the first class to enter the school her father designed. Daly also designed Vrooman Avenue School, now an apartment complex, and the new East Main Street School, now the Assembly of God Church. He also designed many homes on Market Hill, including his own house on Grant Avenue where he lived until his death. He died in 1980 at the age of 92.
Tomorrow
...beer making starting in 1859
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Phillip Bowler has tales of Bowler’s Brewery in Amsterdam and his own world travels.
Thursday, September 14, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-A baseball oracle
Friday, September 15, 2023- Episode 493-Charles Yaple, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Cortland, has written Jacob’s Land, a history of an immigrant family and of the native tribes who populated the land in New York State in the 1700s. Yaple has also written The Tree of Us following the lives of three men, from Richford, New York, including John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, and Gurdon Wallace Wattle, a friend to five U.S. presidents.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, September 12, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:28AM
Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight A chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Wednesday Showers, mainly before 3pm. High near 71. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAfter two-year delay, state report finds road salt creates damage to water systems in Adirondacks After a two-year delay, a new state report was released last week that examines the use of road salt in… Three top earners in Gilboa-Conesville schools now retired Three of the Gilboa-Conesville Central School District’s top ten earners in the last academic year have retired, according to a…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Bob Cudmore, Author, Historian and Old Radio Guy compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $500. In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox first thing tomorrow morning (Tuesday)
Click the link-online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Monday, September 11, 2023-Story behind the story-Goldwyn and Gloversville
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The glove industry
The celebrated Adirondack author Barbara McMartin wrote at least one book that dealt with industry and not the outdoors. McMartin, from Canada Lake, died September 27th 2005.
...beer making starting in 1859
Wednesday, September 13, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 100, February 28, 2016-Phillip Bowler has tales of Bowler’s Brewery in Amsterdam and his own world travels.
Thursday, September 14, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-A baseball oracle
Friday, September 15, 2023-Episode 492-Scott Shane, author of Flee North- A forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery’s borderland. The book traces the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad..
Goldwyn and Gloversville
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History from The Gazette and Recorder
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the hard driving moguls who led the Hollywood movie industry in the 20th century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Born Schmuel Gelbfish (aka Gelbfisz) in Warsaw Poland’s Jewish ghetto around 1879, Gelbfish came to the United States possibly by way of Canada in 1898.
Samuel Goldfish, as he was known by then, had learned the glove trade in Europe and heard Gloversville was a center of that business and home to many Jewish glove-cutters.
Goldfish’s first Gloversville job was as a $3 a week sweeper at Louis Meyers and Son glove factory at West Pine and South Main Streets, according to historian Peter Betz. Goldfish earned more money when he became a glove cutter at Joseph Moses Bacmo Gloves.
When Goldfish’s courting of a leather worker’s daughter was rebuffed because of his crude manners and speech, he enrolled in the Gloversville Business College to improve himself.
He became a foreman for Elite Glove Company and then a salesman for Elite. Before he was 30 he was earning $15,000 a year. He sent money to his family in Europe and his two younger brothers came to America and also sold gloves.
Goldfish became sales manager for Elite and transferred his office to New York City where he was exposed to the first productions of the movie industry. He changed his name to Samuel Goldwyn and started Goldwyn Productions in 1917.
Goldwyn did not produce films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which bears his name, but did produce movies for Samuel Goldwyn Productions. Among them were “Hans Christian Anderson,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Porgy and Bess” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.”
On October 30, 1945 Goldwyn came back to Gloversville and spoke at a dinner at the Kingsborough Hotel.
He told the Leader Herald, “I have a great affection for this town. This is the place that gave me my first start in life.” He had not been there, he said, since 1906
Vern Steele, program chairman for the men’s club of Kingsborough Presbyterian Church, invited Goldwyn. Steele sent the invitation to the movie mogul when Goldwyn was visiting Saratoga Springs.
Goldwyn originally came to Gloversville as a teen ager, “I not only got my first job here, but stayed long enough to get my citizenship papers which is perhaps the greatest gift to any man to become a citizen of this great country.”
At the hotel, he met with Albert Aaron who provided Goldwyn his first job in Gloversville.
Also on hand was hotel resident Jacob Liebglid, who taught Goldwyn the glove trade in Hamburg, Germany, after he had run away from his Warsaw home. Liebglid raised enough money from the Jewish community in Hamburg to get Goldwyn a ticket to England, first stop on his passage to America.
Goldwyn said, “When I was a boy my one outstanding ambition was to get enough money to have dinner in the Hotel Kingsborough. And after that I wanted to stroll through the lobby, back and forth in front of the window and watch the pretty girls as they walked up and down the street. I realized my ambition but couldn’t resist the impulse to do it again tonight when I was in the lobby.”
Goldwyn died in 1974. The Kingsborough Hotel closed years ago.
Biographer A. Scott Berg says his book ''Goldwyn'' is ''the story of survival.''
He describes Goldwyn's life as a 94-year struggle to be somebody. ''I love the fact that Sam Goldwyn lived 40 years before he came to the movie business, and after all the others were dead and buried, there he still was.''
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, September 11, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:24AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Bob Cudmore, Author, Historian and Old Radio Guy compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $500. In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox first thing tomorrow morning (Monday)
Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Goldwyn and Gloversville
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History from The Gazette and Recorder
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the hard driving moguls who led the Hollywood movie industry in the 20th century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Born Schmuel Gelbfish (aka Gelbfisz) in Warsaw Poland’s Jewish ghetto around 1879, Gelbfish came to the United States possibly by way of Canada in 1898.
Samuel Goldfish, as he was known by then, had learned the glove trade in Europe and heard Gloversville was a center of that business and home to many Jewish glove-cutters.
Goldfish’s first Gloversville job was as a $3 a week sweeper at Louis Meyers and Son glove factory at West Pine and South Main Streets, according to historian Peter Betz. Goldfish earned more money when he became a glove cutter at Joseph Moses Bacmo Gloves.
When Goldfish’s courting of a leather worker’s daughter was rebuffed because of his crude manners and speech, he enrolled in the Gloversville Business College to improve himself.
He became a foreman for Elite Glove Company and then a salesman for Elite. Before he was 30 he was earning $15,000 a year. He sent money to his family in Europe and his two younger brothers came to America and also sold gloves.
Goldfish became sales manager for Elite and transferred his office to New York City where he was exposed to the first productions of the movie industry. He changed his name to Samuel Goldwyn and started Goldwyn Productions in 1917.
Goldwyn did not produce films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which bears his name, but did produce movies for Samuel Goldwyn Productions. Among them were “Hans Christian Anderson,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Porgy and Bess” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.”
On October 30, 1945 Goldwyn came back to Gloversville and spoke at a dinner at the Kingsborough Hotel.
He told the Leader Herald, “I have a great affection for this town. This is the place that gave me my first start in life.” He had not been there, he said, since 1906
Vern Steele, program chairman for the men’s club of Kingsborough Presbyterian Church, invited Goldwyn. Steele sent the invitation to the movie mogul when Goldwyn was visiting Saratoga Springs.
Goldwyn originally came to Gloversville as a teen ager, “I not only got my first job here, but stayed long enough to get my citizenship papers which is perhaps the greatest gift to any man to become a citizen of this great country.”
At the hotel, he met with Albert Aaron who provided Goldwyn his first job in Gloversville.
Also on hand was hotel resident Jacob Liebglid, who taught Goldwyn the glove trade in Hamburg, Germany, after he had run away from his Warsaw home. Liebglid raised enough money from the Jewish community in Hamburg to get Goldwyn a ticket to England, first stop on his passage to America.
Goldwyn said, “When I was a boy my one outstanding ambition was to get enough money to have dinner in the Hotel Kingsborough. And after that I wanted to stroll through the lobby, back and forth in front of the window and watch the pretty girls as they walked up and down the street. I realized my ambition but couldn’t resist the impulse to do it again tonight when I was in the lobby.”
Goldwyn died in 1974. The Kingsborough Hotel closed years ago.
Biographer A. Scott Berg says his book ''Goldwyn'' is ''the story of survival.''
He describes Goldwyn's life as a 94-year struggle to be somebody. ''I love the fact that Sam Goldwyn lived 40 years before he came to the movie business, and after all the others were dead and buried, there he still was.''
Monday, September 11, 2023-Story behind the story-Goldwyn and Gloversville
Tuesday, September 12, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The glove industry
Wednesday, September 13, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 100, February 28, 2016-Phillip Bowler has tales of Bowler’s Brewery in Amsterdam and his own world travels.
Thursday, September 14, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-A baseball oracle
Friday, September 15, 2023-Episode 492-Scott Shane, author of Flee North- A forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery’s borderland. The book traces the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad..
A riveting account of the extraordinary abolitionist, liberator, and writer Thomas Smallwood, who bought his own freedom, led hundreds out of slavery, and named the underground railroad, from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist, Scott Shane. Flee North tells the story for the first time of an American hero all but lost to history.
Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the NFL back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, September 10, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:18AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Bob Cudmore(only one "e") compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September goal line $500. --nounSports. the line that bounds a goal, especially the front line.. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox first thing, Monday Morning
Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the NFL back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Saturday, September 9, 2023-From the archives- Episode 200, February 2, 2018, Carol Kammen from Ithaca talks about her experiences as Tompkins County historian. Kammen is well-known in the New York State history community and also has done work on the history of Cornell University.
Sunday, September 10, 2023-Focus on History-Sam Goldwyn and Gloversville
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the hard driving moguls who led the Hollywood movie industry in the 20th century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Bob Cudmore Stories from The Gazette and Recorder
Below is the story of The 115th
By Bob Cudmore
Many of them died, all of them suffered and they were called the Union Army’s “Iron Hearted Regiment.”
Recruited from Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties in fewer than 40 days, the 115th Regiment of the New York Volunteers trained at Camp Fonda, near the village. About a thousand men left Fonda for the Civil War on August 29, 1862 amid a glorious sendoff.
“Reader, do you know the suffering of a day's march through the hot sun?” asked Lieutenant James H. Clark, author of a regimental history published in 1865 and transcribed on the web site of the New York State Military Museum by Nick Niemczyk. Clark was a native of Fonda who was a farmer in Clifton Park when he enlisted.
By September 2, 1862 the men were on patrol in Maryland and the region’s planters refused to feed them. The regiment contracted with local blacks who baked the soldiers 100 hot cakes.
When the 115th Regiment finally came home, it left behind hundreds of men buried on “southern soil,” according to Lieutenant Clark.
In 1865, the Schenectady Daily Evening Star gave this account of the 115th: “Their first experience was at Harper’s Ferry, which place they reached (four days after leaving home) just in time to take part in the fight which resulted in the loss of the place, they among others, being taken prisoners. From there they were sent to Chicago, under rebel parole, which they remained some months awaiting the proper exchange. While there with other regiments, a portion of the barracks burned, and this regiment was wrongfully charged with the deed. They were immediately sent, under sealed orders, to Hilton Head, where they remained several months as prisoners. The representations of their colonel, Simeon Sammons, obtained their release, and they immediately entered again upon active service, since which time they have made their mark as among the bravest of our brave soldiers.”
Colonel Sammons was from Fonda and commanded the regiment until he was discharged because of wounds suffered in 1864 in Cemetery Hill, Virginia. The regiment fought in 30 battles, some of the bloodiest being in Florida, including the battle of Olustee. The Upstate soldiers helped capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina in early 1865.
“They were really steadfast, especially toward the end,” said Gloversville author Marcia Buffett. A genealogist with ancestors who served in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, Buffett began writing while recuperating from a serious illness. Encouraged by members of the writers’ circle at the Gloversville Senior Center, she now has published “From the Mountains,” a work of historical fiction about the men of the 115th and the families they left behind.
In the book, Buffett tells a fictionalized version of the experiences of her ancestor Dwella Groff, who was wounded, captured and sent to a Confederate prison at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia in 1864. Groff survived prison and later worked in the family lumber business in Hope and Northville. He died in 1923 and is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Northville.
Groff passed down the story of the blue ghost or man in blue--a Confederate spy who wore chain mail beneath a blue uniform. When shot by Union soldiers, the man in blue would fall but then his body would be gone when soldiers went to pick up his corpse. Eventually, the spy was captured and his body armor discovered.
In her novel, Buffett also focuses on family stories passed down of the hardships that women endured back home during the war—blizzards, financial hardship and childbirth with no help.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, September 9, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:54AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Bob Cudmore(only one "e") compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September goal line $500. --nounSports. the line that bounds a goal, especially the front line.. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox Saturday morning.
Gregg Ficery
Friday, September 8, 2023-Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the NFL back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Saturday, September 9, 2023-From the archives- Episode 200, February 2, 2018, Carol Kammen from Ithaca talks about her experiences as Tompkins County historian. Kammen is well-known in the New York State history community and also has done work on the history of Cornell University.
Sunday, September 10, 2023-Focus on History-Sam Goldwyn and Gloversville
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the hard driving moguls who led the Hollywood movie industry in the 20th century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Below is the story of The 115th
By Bob Cudmore
Many of them died, all of them suffered and they were called the Union Army’s “Iron Hearted Regiment.”
Recruited from Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties in fewer than 40 days, the 115th Regiment of the New York Volunteers trained at Camp Fonda, near the village. About a thousand men left Fonda for the Civil War on August 29, 1862 amid a glorious sendoff.
“Reader, do you know the suffering of a day's march through the hot sun?” asked Lieutenant James H. Clark, author of a regimental history published in 1865 and transcribed on the web site of the New York State Military Museum by Nick Niemczyk. Clark was a native of Fonda who was a farmer in Clifton Park when he enlisted.
By September 2, 1862 the men were on patrol in Maryland and the region’s planters refused to feed them. The regiment contracted with local blacks who baked the soldiers 100 hot cakes.
When the 115th Regiment finally came home, it left behind hundreds of men buried on “southern soil,” according to Lieutenant Clark.
In 1865, the Schenectady Daily Evening Star gave this account of the 115th: “Their first experience was at Harper’s Ferry, which place they reached (four days after leaving home) just in time to take part in the fight which resulted in the loss of the place, they among others, being taken prisoners. From there they were sent to Chicago, under rebel parole, which they remained some months awaiting the proper exchange. While there with other regiments, a portion of the barracks burned, and this regiment was wrongfully charged with the deed. They were immediately sent, under sealed orders, to Hilton Head, where they remained several months as prisoners. The representations of their colonel, Simeon Sammons, obtained their release, and they immediately entered again upon active service, since which time they have made their mark as among the bravest of our brave soldiers.”
Colonel Sammons was from Fonda and commanded the regiment until he was discharged because of wounds suffered in 1864 in Cemetery Hill, Virginia. The regiment fought in 30 battles, some of the bloodiest being in Florida, including the battle of Olustee. The Upstate soldiers helped capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina in early 1865.
“They were really steadfast, especially toward the end,” said Gloversville author Marcia Buffett. A genealogist with ancestors who served in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, Buffett began writing while recuperating from a serious illness. Encouraged by members of the writers’ circle at the Gloversville Senior Center, she now has published “From the Mountains,” a work of historical fiction about the men of the 115th and the families they left behind.
In the book, Buffett tells a fictionalized version of the experiences of her ancestor Dwella Groff, who was wounded, captured and sent to a Confederate prison at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia in 1864. Groff survived prison and later worked in the family lumber business in Hope and Northville. He died in 1923 and is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Northville.
Groff passed down the story of the blue ghost or man in blue--a Confederate spy who wore chain mail beneath a blue uniform. When shot by Union soldiers, the man in blue would fall but then his body would be gone when soldiers went to pick up his corpse. Eventually, the spy was captured and his body armor discovered.
In her novel, Buffett also focuses on family stories passed down of the hardships that women endured back home during the war—blizzards, financial hardship and childbirth with no help.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, September 8, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:52AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Bob Cudmore(only one "e") compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley. Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September goal line $500. --nounSports. the line that bounds a goal, especially the front line.. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast In the U.S. Mail a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob will check the mailbox in the morning.
Civil War regiment saw plenty of action
‘Iron Hearted’ 115th were sent off from Fonda
By Bob Cudmore
Many of them died, all of them suffered and they were called the Union Army’s “Iron Hearted Regiment.”
Recruited from Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties in fewer than 40 days, the 115th Regiment of the New York Volunteers trained at Camp Fonda, near the village. About a thousand men left Fonda for the Civil War on August 29, 1862 amid a glorious sendoff.
“Reader, do you know the suffering of a day's march through the hot sun?” asked Lieutenant James H. Clark, author of a regimental history published in 1865 and transcribed on the web site of the New York State Military Museum by Nick Niemczyk. Clark was a native of Fonda who was a farmer in Clifton Park when he enlisted.
By September 2, 1862 the men were on patrol in Maryland and the region’s planters refused to feed them. The regiment contracted with local blacks who baked the soldiers 100 hot cakes.
When the 115th Regiment finally came home, it left behind hundreds of men buried on “southern soil,” according to Lieutenant Clark.
In 1865, the Schenectady Daily Evening Star gave this account of the 115th: “Their first experience was at Harper’s Ferry, which place they reached (four days after leaving home) just in time to take part in the fight which resulted in the loss of the place, they among others, being taken prisoners. From there they were sent to Chicago, under rebel parole, which they remained some months awaiting the proper exchange. While there with other regiments, a portion of the barracks burned, and this regiment was wrongfully charged with the deed. They were immediately sent, under sealed orders, to Hilton Head, where they remained several months as prisoners. The representations of their colonel, Simeon Sammons, obtained their release, and they immediately entered again upon active service, since which time they have made their mark as among the bravest of our brave soldiers.”
Colonel Sammons was from Fonda and commanded the regiment until he was discharged because of wounds suffered in 1864 in Cemetery Hill, Virginia. The regiment fought in 30 battles, some of the bloodiest being in Florida, including the battle of Olustee. The Upstate soldiers helped capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina in early 1865.
“They were really steadfast, especially toward the end,” said Gloversville author Marcia Buffett. A genealogist with ancestors who served in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, Buffett began writing while recuperating from a serious illness. Encouraged by members of the writers’ circle at the Gloversville Senior Center, she now has published “From the Mountains,” a work of historical fiction about the men of the 115th and the families they left behind.
In the book, Buffett tells a fictionalized version of the experiences of her ancestor Dwella Groff, who was wounded, captured and sent to a Confederate prison at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia in 1864. Groff survived prison and later worked in the family lumber business in Hope and Northville. He died in 1923 and is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Northville.
Groff passed down the story of the blue ghost or man in blue--a Confederate spy who wore chain mail beneath a blue uniform. When shot by Union soldiers, the man in blue would fall but then his body would be gone when soldiers went to pick up his corpse. Eventually, the spy was captured and his body armor discovered.
In her novel, Buffett also focuses on family stories passed down of the hardships that women endured back home during the war—blizzards, financial hardship and childbirth with no help.
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, September 7, 2023
72 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO7 PM EDT THIS EVENING...* WHAT...Heat index values of 95 to 100 expected.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Hudson River Valleys of eastern New York, the Connecticut River Valley of southeastern Vermont and the southern Taconics of eastern New York.* WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 7 PM EDT this evening.* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay outof the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Youngchildren and pets should never be left unattended in vehiclesunder any circumstances.Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. Whenpossible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning orevening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing whenpossible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequentrest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyoneovercome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Historians Go Fund Me needs some cash as Episode #500 takes shape for this November.
produce (something, especially a list, report, or book) by assembling information collected from other sources.
Bob Cudmorre compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley
Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $500 needed. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, September 6 , 2023-From the Archives- Episode 72, August 2, 2015- David Jennings is author of the historical novel After Bondage and War. The novel tells of people impacted by slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Thursday, September 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Local soldiers in the Civil War
Many of them died, all of them suffered and they were called the Union Army’s “Iron Hearted Regiment.”
Recruited from Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Saratoga counties in fewer than 40 days, the 115th Regiment of the New York Volunteers trained at Camp Fonda, near the village.
Gregg Ficery
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, September 6, 2023
72 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:14AM
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDTTHIS EVENING...* WHAT...Heat index values 95 to 100 degrees expected.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Hudson River Valleys of eastern New York, the Connecticut River Valley of southeastern Vermont and the southern Taconics of eastern New York.* WHEN...From Noon to 7 PM EDT Wednesday.* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Hot and humid conditions will continue across some areas on Thursday where additional heat advisories will likely be needed.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay outof the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Youngchildren and pets should never be left unattended in vehiclesunder any circumstances.Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. Whenpossible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning orevening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing whenpossible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequentrest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyoneovercome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Historians Go Fund Me needs some cash as Episode #500 takes shape for this November.
produce (something, especially a list, report, or book) by assembling information collected from other sources.
Bob Cudmorre compiles the history of Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley
Thanks to all the donors so far. We still have a long way to go. September bottom line $500 needed. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
A parade sent wedding party outside
By Bob Cudmore
When did people start taking wedding pictures outdoors as opposed to a photographer’s studio?
Sophie Bodak Gomula of Amsterdam said her wedding pictures were among the first taken outdoors locally because of a big parade.
Sophie’s wedding to the late Stanley Gomula, who became a special investigator for the Amsterdam Police Department, was scheduled for September 15th, 1945 at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church. A Marine private first class who had served in numerous Pacific campaigns, Stanley was just back from the war. And because of America’s victory, city officials decided to hold a mammoth parade in downtown Amsterdam on Sophie and Stanley’s wedding day.
Their photographer, Emil Zillgitt, had his studio downtown at 13-15 East Main Street, which would have been inaccessible during the parade. Zillgitt suggested the Gomulas have their wedding pictures taken outdoors in his backyard on Locust Avenue. The photographer did their first year anniversary pictures in the same location and Sophie recalled that after that, outdoor wedding pictures became more common.
Zillgitt did house calls, said Amsterdam native Peter Betz, “The reason I know that is I have a picture of myself in a sailor suit taken at home by Zillgitt sometime around 1944. I was about two years old and vaguely remember the gent because he was a very humorous man who knew how to get a nervous kid to sit for him.”
Zillgitt’s name came up in a previous column because he took pictures of the Amsterdam Progress Exposition in 1925. He and his wife Eunice lived on Grand Street on Park Hill before moving to Locust Avenue. He died in the 1950s.
Wednesday, September 6 , 2023-From the Archives- Episode 72, August 2, 2015- David Jennings is author of the historical novel After Bondage and War. The novel tells of people impacted by slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Thursday, September 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Local soldiers in the Civil War
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, September 5, 2023
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:26AM
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDTTHIS EVENING...* WHAT...Heat index values 95 to 100 degrees expected.* WHERE...The immediate Mohawk, Hudson and Connecticut River valleys.* WHEN...From noon to 7 PM EDT Tuesday.* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Hot and humid conditions are expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday. Additional heat advisories will likely be needed on these days.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay outof the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Youngchildren and pets should never be left unattended in vehiclesunder any circumstances.Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. Whenpossible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning orevening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing whenpossible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequentrest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyoneovercome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Elizabeth Smith was our most recent Historians Podcast contributor. Thanks to all the donors. We still have a long way to go. Please donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, September 4, 2023-Story behind the story-Leonora Barry.
Tuesday, September 5, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Parade sends wedding party outside
When did people start taking wedding pictures outdoors as opposed to a photographer’s studio?
Wednesday, September 6 , 2023-From the Archives- Episode 72, August 2, 2015- David Jennings is author of the historical novel After Bondage and War. The novel tells of people impacted by slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Thursday, September 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Local soldiers in the Civil War
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Amsterdam woman was pioneer union leader
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.
Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”
Leonora was born in 1849 in Cork. Her parents, John and Honor Kearney, fled the Irish potato famine and settled in Pierrepont in northern New York where her father worked a farm.
When Leonora was in her early teens, her mother died. Her father married a woman five years older than his daughter and the two women did not get along. Leonora took lessons from the head of the Colton Girls School and earned a teaching certificate at age sixteen.
Leonora taught school for seven years. In 1871 she married a house painter and musician from Potsdam, William Barry. William, too, was from Ireland and came to Canada when young. He served nine years in the British army.
The Barrys moved from town to town seeking work. They settled on Amsterdam’s Voorhees Street with their three children.
William Barry died in April 1881. The obituary of the 38-year old said he had suffered lung ailments.
He was a “well-known musician” and composer who led the Amsterdam Cornet Band and played in the Thirteenth Brigade Band. The Barrys’ three-year-old daughter also died that year.
Now a widow with two young sons, Leonora could not return to teaching because only single women were acceptable candidates for teaching positions.
She went to work in Amsterdam’s booming factories including Pioneer Hosiery, a knitting mill. It was located on the south side of 31 Main Street, between Market and Church Streets.
In 1884 Barry joined the women’s branch of the Knights of Labor in Amsterdam. There was a knitting mill strike and management lockout of the union in 1886. Mill owners eventually prevailed in ousting the Knights, at least temporarily.
In 1886 Barry attended a Knights of Labor convention in Richmond, Virginia, and was named to the new department of women’s work. Leaving her children with relatives, she traveled the country.
There was criticism of her “high moral tone” from some union leaders and opposition to her idea that women should be full-fledged union members.
The Biographical Dictionary of Notable American Women described her as tall with a commanding presence, contagious smile, gifted with Irish humor, blue eyes and spontaneity.
Barry advocated for equal pay for women and fought against child labor. She spoke against sexual harassment, saying men used the power of their positions to “debauch women and boys.”
In 1888, at Susan B. Anthony’s invitation, Barry spoke to the 40th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention for women.
In 1890 Leonora married Obediah Read Lake, a printer from St. Louis. Leonora didn’t think married women should work outside the home unless there was economic necessity. She resigned from the union.
Known as Mother Lake at the end of her life, she lived until 1923 and was popular on the lecture circuit as an advocate for temperance and women’s rights.
She took part in a successful women’s suffrage campaign in Colorado in 1893; that year she delivered her popular speech called “The Dignity of Labor” to the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
After marrying Lake, Leonora lived in St. Louis until 1916 when she moved to Minooka, Illinois, to live with her husband’s sister. A baseball fan, she visited Chicago to see ball games. She died of cancer in 1923.
Retired Montgomery County historian Jacqueline Daly Murphy was instrumental in getting an historical marker honoring Barry placed at the east end of the mall in downtown Amsterdam in 1998.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, Labor Day, September 4, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:09AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
When Leonora was in her early teens, her mother died. Her father married a woman five years older than his daughter and the two women did not get along. Leonora took lessons from the head of the Colton Girls School and earned a teaching certificate at age sixteen.
Amsterdam woman was pioneer union leader
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.
Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”
Leonora was born in 1849 in Cork. Her parents, John and Honor Kearney, fled the Irish potato famine and settled in Pierrepont in northern New York where her father worked a farm.
When Leonora was in her early teens, her mother died. Her father married a woman five years older than his daughter and the two women did not get along. Leonora took lessons from the head of the Colton Girls School and earned a teaching certificate at age sixteen.
Leonora taught school for seven years. In 1871 she married a house painter and musician from Potsdam, William Barry. William, too, was from Ireland and came to Canada when young. He served nine years in the British army.
The Barrys moved from town to town seeking work. They settled on Amsterdam’s Voorhees Street with their three children.
William Barry died in April 1881. The obituary of the 38-year old said he had suffered lung ailments.
He was a “well-known musician” and composer who led the Amsterdam Cornet Band and played in the Thirteenth Brigade Band. The Barrys’ three-year-old daughter also died that year.
Now a widow with two young sons, Leonora could not return to teaching because only single women were acceptable candidates for teaching positions.
She went to work in Amsterdam’s booming factories including Pioneer Hosiery, a knitting mill. It was located on the south side of 31 Main Street, between Market and Church Streets.
In 1884 Barry joined the women’s branch of the Knights of Labor in Amsterdam. There was a knitting mill strike and management lockout of the union in 1886. Mill owners eventually prevailed in ousting the Knights, at least temporarily.
In 1886 Barry attended a Knights of Labor convention in Richmond, Virginia, and was named to the new department of women’s work. Leaving her children with relatives, she traveled the country.
There was criticism of her “high moral tone” from some union leaders and opposition to her idea that women should be full-fledged union members.
The Biographical Dictionary of Notable American Women described her as tall with a commanding presence, contagious smile, gifted with Irish humor, blue eyes and spontaneity.
Barry advocated for equal pay for women and fought against child labor. She spoke against sexual harassment, saying men used the power of their positions to “debauch women and boys.”
In 1888, at Susan B. Anthony’s invitation, Barry spoke to the 40th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention for women.
In 1890 Leonora married Obediah Read Lake, a printer from St. Louis. Leonora didn’t think married women should work outside the home unless there was economic necessity. She resigned from the union.
Known as Mother Lake at the end of her life, she lived until 1923 and was popular on the lecture circuit as an advocate for temperance and women’s rights.
She took part in a successful women’s suffrage campaign in Colorado in 1893; that year she delivered her popular speech called “The Dignity of Labor” to the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
After marrying Lake, Leonora lived in St. Louis until 1916 when she moved to Minooka, Illinois, to live with her husband’s sister. A baseball fan, she visited Chicago to see ball games. She died of cancer in 1923.
Retired Montgomery County historian Jacqueline Daly Murphy was instrumental in getting an historical marker honoring Barry placed at the east end of the mall in downtown Amsterdam in 1998.
Monday, September 4, 2023-Story behind the story-Leonora Barry.
Tuesday, September 5, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Parade sends wedding party outside
Wednesday, September 6 , 2023-From the Archives- Episode 72, August 2, 2015- David Jennings is author of the historical novel After Bondage and War. The novel tells of people impacted by slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Thursday, September 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Local soldiers in the Civil War
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, September 3, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:38AM (Early for a Sunday. Happening or done before the usual or expected time.)
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 85. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Labor Day A slight chance of showers before 10am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. West wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, September 3, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFonda-Fultonville, Schuylerville open football season with instant classic — Images (10 photos) SCHUYLERVILLE — Fonda-Fultonville and Schuylerville played a wild football game in the season opener for both teams on Friday, with…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Johnstown football dominates in 68-6 win; Broadalbin-Perth falls to Bethlehem — High schools
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Saturday, September 2, 2023
From the archives- Episode 51, March 12, 2015, Historian Peter Betz with Fulton County stories from the Civil War and the former Sacandaga Park in the Adirondacks
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Focus on History-Leonara Barry was pioneer union leader
An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.
Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”
Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
The Historians Podcast with Bob Cudmore –September 2023
Here’s the schedule (subject to change):
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Friday, September 15- Episode 492-Scott Shane, author of Flee North: A forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery’s borderland. The book chronicles the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad.
Friday, September 22-Episode 493-Charles Yaple, professor emeritus at SUNY Cortland, has written Jacob’s Land, a history of an immigrant family and of the native tribes of New York State. Yaple has also written The Tree of Us following the lives of three men from Richford, New York, including John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, and Gurdon Wallace Wattle, a friend to five U.S. presidents.
Friday, September 29-Episode 494-Highlights edition #5 with excerpts including-Christopher Gorham, author of a book on FDR aide Anna Rosenberg; Gregg Ficery tracing the origin of the National Football League; Scott Shane chronicling the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad and interviews from the 2015 Fort Plan Museum conference on the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.
Coming later this year: Podcast #500 on November 10; World Holiday songs with folk singers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, September 2, 2023
56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:19AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Friday, September 1, 2023
Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Saturday, September 2, 2023
From the archives- Episode 51, March 12, 2015, Historian Peter Betz with Fulton County stories from the Civil War and the former Sacandaga Park in the Adirondacks
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Focus on History-Leonara Barry was pioneer union leader
An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.
Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”
The Historians Podcast with Bob Cudmore –September 2023
Here’s the schedule (subject to change):
Friday, September 1- Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of a biography of FDR aide Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892. Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.
Friday, September 15- Episode 492-Scott Shane, author of Flee North: A forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery’s borderland. The book chronicles the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad.
Friday, September 22-Episode 493-Charles Yaple, professor emeritus at SUNY Cortland, has written Jacob’s Land, a history of an immigrant family and of the native tribes of New York State. Yaple has also written The Tree of Us following the lives of three men from Richford, New York, including John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, and Gurdon Wallace Wattle, a friend to five U.S. presidents.
Friday, September 29-Episode 494-Highlights edition #5 with excerpts including-Christopher Gorham, author of a book on FDR aide Anna Rosenberg; Gregg Ficery tracing the origin of the National Football League; Scott Shane chronicling the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad and interviews from the 2015 Fort Plan Museum conference on the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.
Coming later this year: Podcast #500 on November 10; World Holiday songs with folk singers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, September 1, 2023
51 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:17AM
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind.
Tonight Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 49. Calm wind.
Saturday Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 85. West wind 5 to 8 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, September 1, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFederal government eyeing housing asylum-seekers at several Schenectady County military facilities GLENVILLE — Several military installations in Schenectady County are being eyed as possible locations to house asylum-seekers. The U.S. Department… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Friday, September 1 PICK OF THE DAY Guns n’ Roses returns to Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday. The hard rockers will be… Lt. Gov. Delgado announces $600K in state grants for Mohawk River projects COLONIE — Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado joined state and local officials on Thursday in Colonie to announce $600,000 in state…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Hochul meets with White House officials to address migrant crisis in New York state ALBANY — Following a meeting with officials from the Biden administration, Gov. Kathy Hochul said... Four Montgomery Co. men worked together to steal from Amsterdam Lowes, troopers say
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Northrup wrote, “Matt Orante considered himself not only a haberdasher, but also an artist. In addition to men’s clothing, that small place was crowded with his paintings and wood carvings.”
Matthew was more than a haberdasher
By Bob Cudmore
One of old downtown Amsterdam’s most unique stores was Matthews on the north side of East Main Street, advertised as the city’s most exclusive men’s store.
In 1952, Matt Orante, who also was a pattern maker for the state Thruway and map coordinator at Scotia Naval Depot, opened a shop at 30 Market Street. In 1964 he relocated to 40 East Main Street and his sister’s son, Dave Northrup, went to work for him.
Northrup wrote, “Matt Orante considered himself not only a haberdasher, but also an artist. In addition to men’s clothing, that small place was crowded with his paintings and wood carvings.”
The rear section of the second floor was devoted to a small art gallery and Orante’s wife Isabelle’s interior decorating business, Eljoor.
Northrup recalled, “The paintings that adorned the walls, the choice of clothing styles for resale, even the individually hand-lettered tags on each garment, every detail in Matthews bore the mark of the proprietor’s personality.”
Northrup said the Orantes lived most of their lives at 40 Division Street, “Matt decorated the front with paintings of the Orante coat of arms, and placed sculptures on the veranda in front of the top floor apartment that was theirs.”
Northrup lives in Rochester and his essay on his uncle’s store was one of the top winners in my recent Stories from the Mohawk Valley contest. He wrote, “Before price points, bar codes, and scanners, in stores like Matthews one pursued a way of life rather than just made a living."
Matt Orante died in 2008. His wife Isabelle Rajkowske Orante died last year. Northrup said, “The son of Lithuanian immigrants, my uncle had an abiding faith, shared by many of his generation, that he could attain prosperity on his own, without the necessity of having to sell his labor to a large company.”
Remington and Gloversville
Union College professor Frank Wicks traveled to St Lawrence County for a 150th birthday gala for artist Frederic Remington, whose pictures and sculptures chronicle the end of the American western wilderness.
Wicks wrote that the artist was a distant cousin of Eliphalet Remington, who built the huge firearms factory in Ilion. Eliphalet Remington died in 1861, the year Frederic Remington was born in Canton, New York.
Remington’s wife was Eva Caten, who lived at 85 South Main Street in Gloversville before her marriage. Remington met her while she was attending St Lawrence University in Canton. Eva was the daughter of Lawton Caten, superintendent of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Road, who opposed the marriage. According to one account, Remington went on his first western trip because he could not wed his sweetheart. They finally married in 1884 in Gloversville.
Remington was living in Kansas City at the time. Eva Remington left her husband and returned to Gloversville shortly after their marriage, discouraged that her husband was half owner of a saloon. They reconciled within a year. The artist died of a ruptured appendix at age 48,
Wicks said Remington’s 1895 sculpture Bronco Buster has been called the most famous piece of American art. An original cast of the statue can be seen during Presidential speeches delivered from the Oval Office at the White House.
An 18-inch high copy of Bronco Buster was given to the Gloversville Public Library by relatives of Eva Caten Remington. In 1932 the statue was stolen by someone who had hidden inside the library at closing time. The thief sold the statue for $100 to an antiques dealer in Woodstock. The statue was located by authorities and returned to the library on East Fulton Street, where it is still on display.
The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Friday, September 1, 2023
Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Saturday, September 2, 2023
From the archives- Episode 51, March 12, 2015, Historian Peter Betz with Fulton County stories from the Civil War and the former Sacandaga Park in the Adirondacks
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Focus on History-Leonara Barry was pioneer union leader
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 31, 2023
61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:34AM
Sunny, with a high near 73. North wind 5 to 8 mph.
Tonight Clear, with a low around 46. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 78. Light west wind.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, August 31, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersOpening day at the Fonda Fair on Wednesday — Images (10 photos) FONDA — The 2023 Fonda Fair kicked off with plenty of activities on Wednesday. A look around the fair from… Pope Francis praises St. Kateri Tekakwitha in daily general audience As Pope Francis continues a series on zeal for following the example of Jesus in daily life, he took time during…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Sawyer Fredericks talks songwriting and life on the farm ahead of Caffe Lena shows August was hay season for Sawyer Fredericks. “These past two days we were having a huge hay season,” Fredericks said… Sherman’s Park Car Show Thursday in Caroga Lake
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The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon. The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person. For more information email halloffame@gasd.org or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374
Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.
No magic is more powerful or dangerous than the spell of love. It is 1940, and Germany has just invaded France. Across the ocean, in Sweetwater, Tennessee, Penelope, a beautiful alchemist, receives a letter from her childhood friend, Naomie, urging her to France. Bereft from the loss of her widowed father, Penelope leaves her life and travels to German-occupied Paris.
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher
One of old downtown Amsterdam’s most unique stores was Matthews on the north side of East Main Street, advertised as the city’s most exclusive men’s store.
On the September Historians schedule, the Underground RR and an interview with Charles H. Yaple, from Marathon, N.Y. Professor Emeritus, SUNY Cortland (schedule could change, we will be the first to let you know)
...and some football history
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 30, 2023
71 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:30AM
Showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then a slight chance of showers between 2pm and 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. High near 77. West wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. Northwest wind 6 to 13 mph.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 74. North wind 6 to 8 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersJohnstown lawmaker Timothy Rizzo flirts with challenging state legislator Robert Smullen in 2024 TOWN OF JOHNSTOWN — Firebrand local lawmaker Timothy Rizzo has called out state Assemblymember Robert Smullen, R-Meco, for throwing his… Waite: Questions to consider as we enter back-to-school time Back-to-school time is a period of preparation. It’s when we gather supplies and collect ourselves ahead of re-establishing our routines…. Lobbying spending in New York state hit nearly $332 million last year, breaking pre-pandemic high Lobbying spending in New York hit a record-breaking more than $332 million last year, according to new state data.***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Arrests in Amsterdam ‘distract and steal’ scam; Used thumbtacks under tires, troopers say AMSTERDAM – Three people have been arrested in “distract and steal” thefts in... Hochul warns of the emergence of new COVID-19 variant as school year begins
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Mohawk Valley History. We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Labor issues part of local history
By Bob Cudmore
The Knights of Labor apparently was the first union to organize Amsterdam mill hands. According to historian Hugh Donlon, a wage cut suffered by Sanford carpet workers in 1884 led to a strike that brought union organizers to town.
There was a major knitting mill strike and management lockout involving the Knights of Labor in 1886, marked by frequent physical clashes. The mill owners eventually prevailed in ousting the Knights of Labor from the city, at least temporarily.
As mentioned in last week’s column, one of the Knights of Labor leaders was a woman, Leonora Carney Barry. Barry worked in the Pioneer Street Knitting Mill to support her three children after her husband died.
Barry wrote, “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”
An eloquent speaker, Barry became a leader of the 1500-member Amsterdam local of the Knights of Labor, which included many women. Eventually she left Amsterdam, leaving her children with relatives, and went on to head the women’s department in the national union. She resigned in 1889 amid opposition to her idea that women should be full-fledged union members. She lived until 1930 and was popular on the lecture circuit as an advocate for temperance, suffrage and women’s rights.
1914 GLOVERS STRIKE
According to historian Barbara McMartin, some 1,500 glove cutters went on strike at almost all the glove firms in Fulton County in 1914. The strike began in Gloversville and spread within hours to Johnstown. As the strike went on, 15,000 glove industry workers were idled.
McMartin said the glove cutters--primarily Russian Jews, Italians, English and native-born Americans--argued they had not received any significant pay increase since 1897. The manufacturers were united in their stand that current trade conditions prevented a pay raise.
The New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration issued findings on the strike after holding hearings in Fulton County that year, in general ruling against the union. The glovers eventually returned to work, without their long sought pay raise. There were some raises after World War I. McMartin said the glove manufacturers won a hollow victory in that the industry now had begun its ultimate decline in Fulton County.
McMartin said the union promoted socialist ideas. One cutter, Herman Abbott, pointed to starving little children and miserable working conditions and said the quicker the state owns the glove industry, the better.
THE BIG STRIKE
What carpet workers called the big strike took place in 1952 when members of the Textile Workers Union of America were on the picket lines for twelve weeks at factories in northern states including Mohawk Carpets and Bigelow-Sanford in Amsterdam. That year Herbert Shuttleworth II had become president of Mohawk Carpets.
“We got eleven cents (an hour raise),” said the late Amsterdam union leader Tony Murdico. “There were no ifs, ands or buts. We had to go back to work with 11 cents.”
When Bigelow-Sanford moved its Amsterdam operations to its plant in Thompsonville, Connecticut in 1955 some attributed the move to labor unrest. However, Amsterdam textile union leader Fred Krokenberger said his members had accepted concessions. Krokenberger noted that while Amsterdam only had four union grievances in four years, workers in Thompsonville had participated in 17 work stoppages in two years. In any event, by 1971 Bigelow Sanford had closed its Thompsonville mills and moved all manufacturing to southern states.
WILLIAM DUCHESSI
William Duchessi of Amsterdam was a local then national officer of the Textile Workers Union of America in the 1960s and 1970s. He died in 1979. William Duchessi’s nephew, John Duchessi, Jr., was mayor of Amsterdam from 1996 to 2003.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Labor issues
Wednesday, August 30, 2023-From the Archives- , March 12, 2021-Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.
Thursday, August 31, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher
On the September Historians schedule, the Underground RR and an interview with Charles H. Yaple, from Marathon, N.Y. Professor Emeritus, SUNY Cortland (schedule could change, we will be the first to let you know)
...and some football history
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 29, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:26AM
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Southeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4am. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Light southeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Wednesday Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 10am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 10am and 1pm. High near 77. West wind 5 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSchenectady firefighters extinguish General Electric machinery fire SCHENECTADY — Schenectady firefighters responded to a machinery fire Monday afternoon at General Electric, and extinguished the blaze within 30…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam gears up for 10th annual Cops and Joggers run Sept. 9 AMSTERDAM — In just 10 years, the Amsterdam Police Benevolent Association (PBA) has turned its... Schoharie County ashtray museum offers mischievous sense of fun
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This week on The Historians, Brave Chaplain Sidoti, Labor issues, Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” Matthew was more than a haberdasher and Episode 490 Christopher Gorham
Things are still "short" hope you can help with the history
We have raised $3435 (short) toward this year’s $7000 (total) fund raising goal.
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Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
A courageous non-combatant in World War II
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, first published in Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Anthony R. Sidoti brought home a small dog, hidden in his uniform, when he returned from World War II in Europe. The dog, according to Sidoti’s second cousin, was named GI.
One of Amsterdam’s most decorated veterans of the war, Reverend Sidoti was a non-combatant U.S. Army chaplain. He was awarded two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
He was assistant pastor at Mt. Carmel in Gloversville in 1942 when he enlisted as one of the U.S. Army’s youngest chaplains.
Arriving in France eleven days after the Normandy invasion, Sidoti served in a hospital unit. In September he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division as Battalion Chaplain.
His first Silver Star citation stated Chaplain Sidoti established an aid station in an abandoned cement factory near the Moselle River in France during an assault in November 1944.
“Working for 36 consecutive hours, he directed and personally assisted in the evacuation of casualties from the front lines to the far side of the river,” stated the citation, noting Sidoti, under constant enemy fire, was tireless, courageous and encouraging to the troops.
He was wounded in the knee in late November in Tettingen, Germany, while evacuating injured soldiers. Taken to England to recover, he rejoined his unit in early 1945.
Sidoti earned his second Silver Star in March 1945 in Ehr, Germany during an intense mortar, machine gun and small arms attack.
The citation stated, “Learning of a seriously wounded man lying in an exposed position, Chaplain Sidoti unhesitatingly advanced through the fire, reached the casualty and carried him to a litter squad. He then carried the dead body of another casualty to a place of cover.
“The men of the company, inspired by his courageous and selfless actions, reorganized themselves and completed the battalion mission successfully and without further casualties.”
In an interview with the Evangelist newspaper of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, Sidoti said, “I think I’m a better priest because of my military service. You actually felt closer to God in a sense.
“I’ve been asked many times if I was frightened. Yes, sure, but I also had confidence in God. I tried to do what I could for the well-being of others and myself, but I could only do so much, so I left the rest up to Him.”
After the war, Sidoti continued military service as a chaplain with the National Guard. He rose to the rank of colonel and was Chief of Chaplains for the State of New York. On his military retirement he was promoted to brigadier general.
Born in Brooklyn in 1914, Sidoti and his parents, Angelo and Anna Saltalamacchia Sidoti, moved to Amsterdam when Anthony, their only child, was seven.
They lived on Forbes Street and later on Union Street. Anthony graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1930. He attended Notre Dame and finished his degree at Niagara University. He played football and basketball. He studied for the priesthood in Rome and at Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany. His ordination was in 1940.
He resumed his duties as a priest in the Diocese of Albany in 1945. Sidoti served two years at a parish in Frankfort. In 1948 he was appointed assistant pastor then administrator of St. Anthony’s in Albany. He became pastor in 1966.
In 1970 he was named pastor of St. James in Albany. He retired in 1990.
Chaplain Sidoti died in May 2004 and is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Amsterdam.
Information for this article was gathered by John and William Pepe from the Amsterdam area.
Monday, August 28, 2023-Story behind the story-Brave Chaplain Sidoti
Tuesday, August 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Labor issues
Wednesday, August 30, 2023-From the Archives- , March 12, 2021-Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.
Thursday, August 31, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher
September on The Historians
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterwards. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.
Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023
Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 27, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:23AM
Isolated showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76. Light northwest wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 55. Light and variable wind.
Monday A chance of showers, mainly after 5pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 27, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course: Against a grim backdrop at Saratoga, Arcangelo shines brightest in Travers SARATOGA SPRINGS — A rainbow has never looked so absurd. Absurd, because, from the northeastern sky, it perfectly framed the… Saratoga Race Course: Near-certain winner New York Thunder falls in Jerkens, becomes eighth racing-related fatality of meet SARATOGA SPRINGS — For the second Grade I stakes race being televised to a national audience this meet, tragedy ruined…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Area Stock Car Racing: Glen Ridge to host Ridge Runner 30 on Sunday night Local racing is a little light this week. However, Sunday night will find Glen Ridge Motorsports...
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Working into September on The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 in November-More down the Page
We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal.
Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
from The Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Focus on History-Chaplain Sidoti a war hero
Coming in September on The Historians
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterwards. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.
Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, August 26, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:52AM
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 80. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then isolated showers between 9pm and 11pm. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. Northwest wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday A slight chance of showers after 3pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, August 26, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersJudge deems Hussain flight risk, denies bail request ALBANY — Nauman Hussain, the former limousine operator convicted on 20 counts of manslaughter earlier this year for his role… $11M Indian Lake Dam rehab to begin in October INDIAN LAKE — Due for an upgrade is an 125-year-old Hamilton County structure designed to mitigate Hudson River flooding. Crews from… Saratoga Race Course: Travers is anybody’s ballgame from outstanding seven-horse field SARATOGA SPRINGS — The gang’s all here. Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male … check. Derby winner, Preakness winner, Belmont Stakes winner…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Galway Volunteer Fire Department turns 100, celebration Saturday
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Coming in September on The Historians with Bob Cudmore(Scroll Down)
We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal.
Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Saturday, August 26, 2023-From the archives-, February 28, 2020-Episode 307-Professor Peter Ward explores the history of personal cleanliness over the past 400 years in Europe and North America in his book, “The Clean Body.”
from The Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Focus on History-Chaplain Sidoti a war hero
Coming in September on The Historians
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, August 25, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:31AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 74. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and 2am. Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday Partly sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, August 25, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Friday, August 25 PICK OF THE DAY Phish will perform at SPAC in Saratoga Springs Friday as part of their two-parter Flood Recovery…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam commemorates Ukrainian Independence Day as war with Russia continues https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Coming in September on The Historians with Bob Cudmore(Scroll Down)
We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal.
Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Decorated Amsterdam veteran was a non-combatant
By Bob Cudmore
One of Amsterdam’s most decorated veterans of World War II was a non-combatant Roman Catholic U.S. Army chaplain, the Reverend Anthony R. Sidoti. He was awarded two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in the war.
Sidoti was born in Brooklyn in 1914. His parents---Angelo and Anna Saltalamacchia Sidoti—moved to Amsterdam when Anthony, their only child, was seven. They lived at first on Forbes Street and later on Union Street. Anthony graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1930. He attended Notre Dame then transferred to Niagara University where he graduated. He played football and basketball at both colleges. He studied for the priesthood first in Rome and then at Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany. His ordination was in 1940.
He was assistant pastor at Mt. Carmel Church in Gloversville in 1942 when he enlisted in the war effort as one of the U.S. Army’s youngest chaplains.
Arriving in France eleven days after the Normandy invasion in June 1944, Chaplain Sidoti at first served in a hospital unit. In September he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division as Battalion Chaplain.
His first Silver Star citation stated Chaplain Sidoti established an aid station in an abandoned cement factory near the Moselle River in France during an assault in November 1944.
“Working for 36 consecutive hours, he directed and personally assisted in the evacuation of casualties from the front lines to the far side of the river,” stated the citation, noting Sidoti, under constant enemy fire, was tireless, courageous and encouraging to the troops.
He was wounded in the knee in late November in Tettingen, Germany, while evacuating injured soldiers. Taken to England to recover, he rejoined his unit in early 1945.
Sidoti’s other Silver Star was earned in combat in March 1945 in Ehr, Germany during an intense mortar, machine gun and small arms attack.
The citation stated, “Learning of a seriously wounded man lying in an exposed position, Chaplain Sidoti unhesitatingly advanced through the fire, reached the casualty and carried him to a litter squad. He then carried the dead body of another casualty to a place of cover. The men of the company, inspired by his courageous and selfless actions, reorganized themselves and completed the battalion mission successfully and without further casualties.”
According to his second cousin, Nancy Mattas of Amsterdam, Sidoti brought home a small dog, hidden in his uniform, when he returned from Europe. The dog was named G.I.
Sidoti continued his military service as a chaplain with the New York State National Guard. He rose to the rank of colonel and was Chief of Chaplains for the State of New York. On his military retirement in 1974 he was promoted to brigadier general.
PARISH LIFE
As a parish priest in the Diocese of Albany, Sidoti served two years in Frankfort after the war. In 1948 he was appointed to St. Anthony’s Church in Albany where he was assistant pastor, then administrator until 1966, when he was named pastor. He was director of the Bishop’s fund from 1955 through 1966. In 1970 he was appointed pastor of St. James Church in Albany. He retired in 1990.
In an interview with the Evangelist newspaper of the Albany Diocese in 1994, Sidoti said, “I think I’m a better priest because of my military service. You actually felt closer to God in a sense.” Sidoti died in May 2004 and is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Amsterdam.
Information in this article was gathered by John Pepe and his son William from the Amsterdam area, who document the war records of local soldiers.
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Coming in September on The Historians
Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.
Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 24, 2023
59 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:43AM
A chance of showers after 3pm. Patchy fog between 7am and 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 69. Light east wind becoming southeast 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1am, then showers likely between 1am and 2am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 61. Southeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Friday A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 76. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, August 24, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: FOIL ruling a setback for your right to know One way government boards deny the public access to documents is by ignoring the provisions of the Freedom of Information… Pets Fur Adoption — in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Montgomery counties (17 pets featured) PETS FUR ADOPTION — Looking for a shy and snuggly cat or a ball-of-energy dog? Meet some of the Capital…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam middle school teacher inspired by exclusive workshop at Library of Congress Aug 23, 2023 In 1900, Thomas Horner took a photograph of droves of people making their way down New York City’s... Schoharie limo crash: Nauman Hussain seeks bail during appeals process APD: Traffic stop leads to weapon charge, other counts against Amsterdam man Local theaters participating in $4 National Cinema Day deal Fonda-Fultonville Central School District to hold 5K race to benefit FFA Town of Florida studying extension of water, sewer service into Fort Hunter
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Looking for more of The Bob Cudmore Stories from over the years, click the link at the top of this page "Archive Articals"
We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023-From the Archives- April 29, 2022-Episode 420-Paul Craddock at UCL Medical School in London England is author of Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery.
Paul Craddock's Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day.
How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660's?
Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children?
And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality?
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Chaplain Sidoti
One of Amsterdam’s most decorated veterans of World War II was a non-combatant Roman Catholic U.S. Army chaplain, the Reverend Anthony R. Sidoti. He was awarded two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in the war.
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 23, 2023
60 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight Increasing clouds, with a low around 57. Light east wind.
Thursday Showers likely, mainly after 5pm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. East wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersMohawk Hudson Humane Society reports shelter crisis temporarily averted The Mohawk Hudson Humane Society had some good news to share Monday: its sheltering crisis has been averted … for… Around Town: A snapshot of the week Aug. 14-21, Niskayuna, Amsterdam, Ephratah, Johnstown and Palatine — Images (10 photos) AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from our communities….***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Town of Florida studying extension of water, sewer service into Fort Hunter TOWN OF FLORIDA — Officials are mulling options to address recurring issues involving disinfection... Inaugural Montgomery Kayak-a-thon will paddle the Mohawk River Saturday
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We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Goldwyn and Gloversville
By Bob Cudmore
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the movie moguls who led Metro Goldwyn Mayer or MGM in the last century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Born Schmuel Gelbfish in Warsaw Poland’s Jewish ghetto around 1879, he made his way to the United States in 1898. Samuel Goldfish, as he was known by then, had learned the glove trade in Europe and heard that Gloversville was a center of that business and home to many Jewish glove-cutters.
According to historian Peter Betz, Goldfish’s first Gloversville job was as a sweeper at the Louis Meyers and Son glove factory at West Pine and South Main Streets. He earned $3 a week. He earned more money when he became a glove cutter at Joseph Moses Bacmo Gloves. He went to Gloversville Business College to improve his manners and speaking skills.
He became a foreman for the Elite Glove Company and eventually a salesman for Elite. Before he was 30 he was earning $15,000 a year. He sent money to his family in Europe and his two younger brothers came to America and also sold gloves.
Goldfish was promoted to sales manager for Elite and transferred his offices to New York City where he was exposed to the first productions of the movie industry. He started Goldwyn pictures in 1917 and changed his name to Samuel Goldwyn.
Goldwyn did not produce films for M-G-M but did produce movies for his own company, Samuel Goldwyn Productions. Among them were “Hans Christian Anderson,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Porgy and Bess” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.” Goldwyn died in 1974.
BACK TO GLOVERSVILLE
On October 30, 1945 Goldwyn came back to Gloversville and attended a dinner at the Kingsborough Hotel. He told the Leader Herald, “I have a great affection for this town. This is the place that gave me my first start in life.” He had not been there, he said, since 1906.
Goldwyn originally came to Gloversville as a teen ager, “I not only got my first job here, but stayed long enough to get my citizenship papers which is perhaps the greatest gift to any man to become a citizen of this great country.”
Goldwyn was invited to Gloversville in 1945 by Vern Steele, program chairman for the men’s club of the Kingsborough Presbyterian Church. Steele had sent the invitation to the movie mogul when Goldwyn was visiting Saratoga Springs.
Goldwyn was eager to return. He and writer Alexander Woollcott had planned a trip to Gloversville some years back but Woollcott died in 1943 before the trip could take place. Woollcott apparently had spent some time in Gloversville when Goldwyn lived there.
At the hotel, Goldwyn met with Albert Aaron who had provided Goldwyn his first job in Gloversville. Also on hand was Jacob Liebglid, who taught a penniless Goldwyn the glove trade in Hamburg, Germany, after Goldwyn had run away from his Warsaw home. Liebglid also raised enough money from the Jewish community in Hamburg to get Goldwyn a ticket to England, first stop on Goldwyn’s passage to America. In 1945 Liebglid lived at the Kingsborough Hotel.
Goldwyn said, “When I was a boy my one outstanding ambition was to get enough money to have dinner in the Hotel Kingsborough. And after that I wanted to stroll through the lobby, back and forth in front of the window and watch the pretty girls as they walked up and down the street. I realized my ambition but couldn’t resist the impulse to do it again tonight when I was in the lobby.”
The hotel closed many years ago and the building on South Main Street today is the Kingsboro Apartments.
This Evening at 6:30
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023-From the Archives- April 29, 2022-Episode 420-Paul Craddock at UCL Medical School in London England is author of Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery.
Paul Craddock's Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day.
How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660's?
Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children?
And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality?
Thursday, August 24, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Chaplain Sidoti
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 22, 2023
55 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM
Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday Patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersGalway school board dismisses complaints to ban 2 books GALWAY — A thundering applause erupted from the crowd of over 60 people inside Galway Jr./Sr. High School auditorium following a… EDITORIAL: Create statewide rules for public comment periods With the Mohonasen school board becoming the latest government body to set restrictions on public comments during meetings, maybe it’s…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Inaugural St. Mary’s Festival in Amsterdam – Images (8 photos) AMSTERDAM – The inaugural St. Mary’s Festival was held Sunday in Amsterdam. A look around from our Stan Hudy. Images…
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Tuesday Evening at 6:30
Jerry Snyder (Scroll down for everything you need to know)
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast. Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, August 21, 2023-Story behind the story Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sam Goldwyn’s Gloversville connection
Samuel Goldwyn, one of the movie moguls who led Metro Goldwyn Mayer or MGM in the last century, lived in Gloversville as a young man.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023-From the Archives- April 29, 2022-Episode 420-Paul Craddock at UCL Medical School in London England is author of Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery.
Thursday, August 24, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Chaplain Sidoti
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
An estimated 5,000 people attended a parade of Polish residents in August, 1920, followed by a meeting at the State Armory where resolutions pledging support to the new Polish republic were adopted.
On warm summer evenings in the 1940s, the streets of Amsterdam’s West End were sometimes deserted.
To supplement food available under wartime rationing, Italian-Americans tended vegetable gardens on the flat land south of their homes between the railroad tracks and Mohawk River.
They built poles for pole beans and lattices to keep tomatoes off the ground. They grew lettuce, zucchini and dandelions, much as their ancestors had done in southern Italian communities such as Pisciotta.
Already the home of Sanford & Sons carpet, Amsterdam really became “carpet city” in August 1920.
McCleary, Wallin and Crouse’s carpet factory (the upper mill) in Rockton merged with Shuttleworth Brothers carpet (the lower mill) in the East End. The new company was renamed Mohawk.
George McNeir of the upper mill became chairman of the board but the company was headed by Herbert Shuttleworth.
In July 1954, Amsterdam celebrated its 150th birthday with a ten-division parade.
Celebrations went on for weeks at local taverns and ethnic social clubs, which had chapters of the Brothers of the Brush (who did not shave) and Sisters of the Swish (who wore long dresses).
The Sesquicentennial, as it was called, took place at the beginning of the end of the city’s prominence as a carpet-manufacturing center.
A float in the 1954 parade depicted a flying carpet. Within a year, Bigelow-Sanford, one of the city’s major carpet makers, was moving out of town.
Two people died, eight were injured and litigation went on for years following an accident at the August, 1958, New York State Volunteer Firemen's Convention held in Amsterdam.
An estimated 2,000 spectators safely watched fire trucks performing maneuvers at speeds of 45 to 65 miles per hour at what was then Coessens Park in the East End.
At 12:30 p.m. on Friday, August 22, a small fire truck from Oyster Bay, Long Island, was taking part in a competition that required the driver to speed to a designated spot, stop and have the truck's crew unreel a hose.
The hydraulic line in the truck's brake system broke according to a mechanic's investigation after the crash. The vehicle plowed through a six foot wire fence striking spectators.
Recorder reporter James H. Walker, Jr., wrote that a "carnival atmosphere was turned into one of horror."
67-year old Fred Biege of Cranesville was somersaulted and dragged a short distance. Biege died two hours later at City Hospital.
By the time that lawsuits were being settled in 1961, another injured man, Felix Winkel, 47, of Forbes Street in Amsterdam, also had died.
Injured in the accident were Stephen Mormile, then 12, of Valley View Road; James Van Der Bogart, 8, of East Main St.; William Wyzkowski, 68, of Elizabeth St.; Robert Van Velsor, Kenneth Van Velsor, John Zwolinski and George Wedley, members of the fire truck team. The driver of the truck was treated for bruises and shock.
The driver, Wilbur Young, frantically signaled to spectators to get out of the way of his speeding vehicle in vain.
The Oyster Bay volunteers were known as the Rough Riders, a reference to a military group led by President Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. Theodore Roosevelt lived in Oyster Bay.
The day after the tragedy, fire trucks and firemen paraded from Veterans Field on Locust Avenue to Coessens Park where trophies were awarded.
I recall a tense atmosphere among the crowd watching the parade, especially when Oyster Bay went by.
Jerry Snyder tomorrow, Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Trolleys of Amsterdam Presentation Offered
Please note that this event takes place off site at the Town of Florida Barn next to the Fort Hunter Library. The program will be preceded by a brief Friends of Schoharie Crossing Meeting and is free to the public.
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/27/details.aspx
The trolley era arrived in Amsterdam in 1874 with horse drawn cars and less than two miles of track on downtown streets. By the time it departed a comparatively short 64 years later, streamlined aluminum bodied electric coaches were providing first-class mile-a-minute transport to nearby cities and towns throughout the lower Mohawk Valley. Join us to hear the story of the origin, development, and demise of our local part of a now all-but-forgotten transportation system whose abandonment may, in hindsight, well have been premature.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, August 21, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:17AM
A slight chance of showers between 8am and 11am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Light west wind becoming northwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable in the evening.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 80. Light and variable wind becoming north 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, August 21, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNew Tales of Old Dorp: The chance to take part in an archaeological dig finally arrives I blame my parents. No, no, Ira and Myrtle were wonderful people. But they did two things to me in… Adirondack Park Agency OKs controversial Broadalbin beach proposal NORTH ELBA — Plans to re-landscape a longtime summer attraction in Broadalbin recently cleared a regulatory hurdle. A proposal to…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam laying groundwork to relaunch Recreation Commission AMSTERDAM — Officials are considering updating the framework for the Recreation Commission in the... Sen. Gillibrand highlights importance of facilities like Arkell Museum and Canajoharie Library during tour
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McCleary, Wallin and Crouse’s carpet factory (the upper mill) in Rockton merged with Shuttleworth Brothers carpet (the lower mill) in the East End. The new company was renamed Mohawk.
Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
An estimated 5,000 people attended a parade of Polish residents in August, 1920, followed by a meeting at the State Armory where resolutions pledging support to the new Polish republic were adopted.
On warm summer evenings in the 1940s, the streets of Amsterdam’s West End were sometimes deserted.
To supplement food available under wartime rationing, Italian-Americans tended vegetable gardens on the flat land south of their homes between the railroad tracks and Mohawk River.
They built poles for pole beans and lattices to keep tomatoes off the ground. They grew lettuce, zucchini and dandelions, much as their ancestors had done in southern Italian communities such as Pisciotta.
Already the home of Sanford & Sons carpet, Amsterdam really became “carpet city” in August 1920.
McCleary, Wallin and Crouse’s carpet factory (the upper mill) in Rockton merged with Shuttleworth Brothers carpet (the lower mill) in the East End. The new company was renamed Mohawk.
George McNeir of the upper mill became chairman of the board but the company was headed by Herbert Shuttleworth.
In July 1954, Amsterdam celebrated its 150th birthday with a ten-division parade.
Celebrations went on for weeks at local taverns and ethnic social clubs, which had chapters of the Brothers of the Brush (who did not shave) and Sisters of the Swish (who wore long dresses).
The Sesquicentennial, as it was called, took place at the beginning of the end of the city’s prominence as a carpet-manufacturing center.
A float in the 1954 parade depicted a flying carpet. Within a year, Bigelow-Sanford, one of the city’s major carpet makers, was moving out of town.
Two people died, eight were injured and litigation went on for years following an accident at the August, 1958, New York State Volunteer Firemen's Convention held in Amsterdam.
An estimated 2,000 spectators safely watched fire trucks performing maneuvers at speeds of 45 to 65 miles per hour at what was then Coessens Park in the East End.
At 12:30 p.m. on Friday, August 22, a small fire truck from Oyster Bay, Long Island, was taking part in a competition that required the driver to speed to a designated spot, stop and have the truck's crew unreel a hose.
The hydraulic line in the truck's brake system broke according to a mechanic's investigation after the crash. The vehicle plowed through a six foot wire fence striking spectators.
Recorder reporter James H. Walker, Jr., wrote that a "carnival atmosphere was turned into one of horror."
67-year old Fred Biege of Cranesville was somersaulted and dragged a short distance. Biege died two hours later at City Hospital.
By the time that lawsuits were being settled in 1961, another injured man, Felix Winkel, 47, of Forbes Street in Amsterdam, also had died.
Injured in the accident were Stephen Mormile, then 12, of Valley View Road; James Van Der Bogart, 8, of East Main St.; William Wyzkowski, 68, of Elizabeth St.; Robert Van Velsor, Kenneth Van Velsor, John Zwolinski and George Wedley, members of the fire truck team. The driver of the truck was treated for bruises and shock.
The driver, Wilbur Young, frantically signaled to spectators to get out of the way of his speeding vehicle in vain.
The Oyster Bay volunteers were known as the Rough Riders, a reference to a military group led by President Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War. Theodore Roosevelt lived in Oyster Bay.
The day after the tragedy, fire trucks and firemen paraded from Veterans Field on Locust Avenue to Coessens Park where trophies were awarded.
I recall a tense atmosphere among the crowd watching the parade, especially when Oyster Bay went by.
Monday, August 21, 2023-Story behind the story Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
Tuesday, August 22, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sam Goldwyn’s Gloversville connection
Wednesday, August 23, 2023-From the Archives- April 29, 2022-Episode 420-Paul Craddock at UCL Medical School in London England is author of Spare Parts: The Story of Medicine Through the History of Transplant Surgery.
Thursday, August 24, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Chaplain Sidoti
Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.
Jerry Snyder this Tuesday
Trolleys of Amsterdam Presentation Offered
Please note that this event takes place off site at the Town of Florida Barn next to the Fort Hunter Library. The program will be preceded by a brief Friends of Schoharie Crossing Meeting and is free to the public.
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/27/details.aspx
The trolley era arrived in Amsterdam in 1874 with horse drawn cars and less than two miles of track on downtown streets. By the time it departed a comparatively short 64 years later, streamlined aluminum bodied electric coaches were providing first-class mile-a-minute transport to nearby cities and towns throughout the lower Mohawk Valley. Join us to hear the story of the origin, development, and demise of our local part of a now all-but-forgotten transportation system whose abandonment may, in hindsight, well have been premature.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 20, 2023
56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:32AM
Sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 9 mph.
Tonight Increasing clouds, with a low around 64. Light west wind.
Monday A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 20, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersGillibrand urges Biden administration to take legislative or executive action to address migrant crisis CANAJOHARIE – As local governments and municipalities continue to struggle to provide services and support for the influx of asylum…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Howard Hubbard, bishop emeritus of Albany Diocese, dies at 84 following stroke Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, who guided the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for nearly four...
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Saturday, August 19, 2023-From the archives-September 17, 2021- Episode 388-Katie Turner Getty discusses the prison ships that England used to hold prisoners of war during the American Revolution.
Katie Turner Getty on YouTube
The Battle of Bunker Hill did not "really happen" on Breed's Hill, and it didn't "only happen" on Breed's Hill. Hyperfocusing on "Breed's Hill" obscures other important actions on the Charlestown peninsula on June 17, 1775!
Tonight at 7
Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle to play at Hyde Hall (Glimmerglass Park)
Hi Y'all -
For those in Upstate N.Y., today, Saturday (August 19, 2023 | 7:00 p.m.), Please Join Cosby and I as we will be doing sound and warming up for the band Bog Hollow (Tom White and his All-Star Band), w/a short set of Erie Canal songs so break out the lawn chairs for a summer folk concert!
Sunday, August 20, 2023-Focus on History-Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
An estimated 5,000 people attended a parade of Polish residents in August, 1920, followed by a meeting at the State Armory where resolutions pledging support to the new Polish republic were adopted.
Historians Episode#488 on the way to #500 this Fall
Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Kiersten Marcil YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x33QXqqzhU
https://www.kierstenmarcil.com/
Kiersten Marcil on Mohawk Valley Radio this Weekend
The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon on Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville. Historians Podcast airs weekly on RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind, and on WBDY 99.5 FM in Binghamton.
Trolleys of Amsterdam Presentation Offered
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/27/details.aspx
The trolley era arrived in Amsterdam in 1874 with horse drawn cars and less than two miles of track on downtown streets. By the time it departed a comparatively short 64 years later, streamlined aluminum bodied electric coaches were providing first-class mile-a-minute transport to nearby cities and towns throughout the lower Mohawk Valley. Join us to hear the story of the origin, development, and demise of our local part of a now all-but-forgotten transportation system whose abandonment may, in hindsight, well have been premature.
Please note that this event takes place off site at the Town of Florida Barn next to the Fort Hunter Library. The program will be preceded by a brief Friends of Schoharie Crossing Meeting and is free to the public.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, August 19, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:40AM
A slight chance of showers between 11am and noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. West wind 14 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 55. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 6 to 9 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, August 19, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersDuanesburg schools capital project still on track DUANESBURG — The Duanesburg Central School District is hoping to gain the necessary state approval later this year to begin… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Saturday, August 19 PICK OF THE DAY The Philadelphia Orchestra’s SPAC residency ends Saturday with Jurassic Park: in concert. The show begins at… Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor awarded $750K to support preservation in Mohawk Valley MOHAWK VALLEY — The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has been awarded a $750,000 federal grant to support the preservation…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Lazy Eight Radio Control Model Airplane Club to host 37th annual air show this weekend JOHNSTOWN – The Lazy Eight Radio Control Model Airplane Club will host its 37th annual air...
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Friday, August 18, 2023 Historians Episode#488 on the way to #500 this Fall
Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Kiersten Marcil YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x33QXqqzhU
https://www.kierstenmarcil.com/
Kiersten Marcil on Mohawk Valley Radio this Weekend
The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon on Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville. Historians Podcast airs weekly on RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind, and on WBDY 99.5 FM in Binghamton.
Saturday, August 19, 2023-From the archives-September 17, 2021- Episode 388-Katie Turner Getty discusses the prison ships that England used to hold prisoners of war during the American Revolution.
Sunday, August 20, 2023-Focus on History-Stories from summers past in Amsterdam
An estimated 5,000 people attended a parade of Polish residents in August, 1920, followed by a meeting at the State Armory where resolutions pledging support to the new Polish republic were adopted.
Trolleys of Amsterdam Presentation Offered
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/27/details.aspx
The trolley era arrived in Amsterdam in 1874 with horse drawn cars and less than two miles of track on downtown streets. By the time it departed a comparatively short 64 years later, streamlined aluminum bodied electric coaches were providing first-class mile-a-minute transport to nearby cities and towns throughout the lower Mohawk Valley. Join us to hear the story of the origin, development, and demise of our local part of a now all-but-forgotten transportation system whose abandonment may, in hindsight, well have been premature.
Please note that this event takes place off site at the Town of Florida Barn next to the Fort Hunter Library. The program will be preceded by a brief Friends of Schoharie Crossing Meeting and is free to the public.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, August 18, 2023
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:41AM
Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3pm, then a slight chance of thunderstorms after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High near 76. Southeast wind 7 to 16 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday Night A chance of showers, mainly between 9pm and 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. West wind 13 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday A slight chance of showers between 9am and 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. West wind 14 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 82.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, August 18, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Return of sports means potential for head injuries It’s that time of year. Fall sports season for high schools and colleges. It means young football players banging helmets,… GUEST COLUMN: NY can lead on climate with cap-and-invest In the coming months, New York must create the guidelines for what might be the state’s most important climate initiative:…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Community Block Party in Albany, Philadelphia Orchestra, Freedom Park Summer Concert Series among top picks – Weekend Plans WEEKEND PLANS – There’s no shortage of things to do in the Capital Region, whether you’re looking...
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Trolleys of Amsterdam Presentation Offered
Fort Hunter, NY – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Jerry Snyder to speak about the Trolleys of Amsterdam on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 6:30pm. The program will be held at 167 Fort Hunter Road at the Town of Florida Hall and Highway Department building.
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/27/details.aspx
The trolley era arrived in Amsterdam in 1874 with horse drawn cars and less than two miles of track on downtown streets. By the time it departed a comparatively short 64 years later, streamlined aluminum bodied electric coaches were providing first-class mile-a-minute transport to nearby cities and towns throughout the lower Mohawk Valley. Join us to hear the story of the origin, development, and demise of our local part of a now all-but-forgotten transportation system whose abandonment may, in hindsight, well have been premature.
Jerry Snyder was born and raised in Amsterdam, NY where he attended Amsterdam schools, graduating from Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1972. He then went on to graduate from Union College in 1976 with BS in Mechanical Engineering. Snyder was a Technical Service Engineer for Ingersoll-Rand out of Painted Post, NY (near Corning) and then worked at General Electric as an Engineering Supervisor/Principal Project Engineer until his retirement in 2014
In 2003, Snyder discovered old postcards on E-Bay as an information source during a research project and began collecting them. His long-time interest in Amsterdam history, mostly from the engineering perspective in their industries, railroads and trolley systems and other infrastructure (dams, canal, bridges, power plants) lead him to become one of the founders of the Historic Amsterdam League in 2010, where he has served in various positions since, including president. Also in that year, he co-authored the Arcadia Publishing issued book titled Amsterdam in their Postcard History Series, showcasing about half of his collection. The book was co-authored with Amsterdam Historian Robert von Hasseln.
Please note that this event takes place off site at the Town of Florida Barn next to the Fort Hunter Library. The program will be preceded by a brief Friends of Schoharie Crossing Meeting and is free to the public.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
Just over three months before the United States entered World War II, the American military simulated an enemy attack on the airport in Fort Plain. Robert von Hasseln has posted notes on the incident on the Facebook page of Historic Amsterdam League.
This Friday Episode#488 on the way to #500 this Fall
August 18, 2023
Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 16, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:01AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. East wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Calm wind.
Thursday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAround Town: A snapshot of the week August 9-15 2023. Schenectady, Amsterdam, Gloversville, Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Broadalbin, Cobleskill and Fort Plain — Images (10 photos) AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from our communities….***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam Muni members outraged by proposed fee restructuring, absent clubhouse; officials to revisit rate plans AMSTERDAM — The continued absence of a clubhouse and a proposal to overhaul the fee structure at... Fulton County Court sets Aug. 30 date for sentencing of Nicole Elmore
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The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon on Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville. Historians Podcast airs weekly on RISE, Albany Public Radio 89.1WMHT’s service for the blind, and on WBDY 99.5 FM in Binghamton.
Sunday School fatality
By Bob Cudmore
The first passenger fatality on the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad (F.J. & G.) did not take place until 1889, nineteen years after the first steam train made the inaugural run between Gloversville and Fonda.
For those who worked on the local railroad, though, injury and death were more commonplace. In his book “Our Railroad,” author and retired Amtrak engineer Paul Larner wrote, “That the railroad industry was unforgiving of carelessness is an understatement. It wasn’t enough to be careful, to a serious extent you also had to be lucky. For train service employees on the F.J. & G. the likelihood of receiving a serious injury or death in any year was one chance in nine.”
In August of 1889, for example, brakeman Ed Young, 19, of Gloversville was gravely injured when his foot was caught in a guardrail while he was trying to couple a locomotive and caboose near Fonda. Young was thrown under the engine.
Young died later that day surrounded by his parents, siblings and doctors who were unable to save him.
Historians Episode #500 this November
The Historians Podcast yearly fund drive now stands at $3,435.00 a thousand dollars less than last year at this time. Please help us reach our $7000 goal for the year by donating online here- https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously. No amount is too big or too small. Thank you.
The Gloversville Intelligencer wrote, “When told that he must die, he received the intelligence calmly, and even told the doctors that he would rather die than live with both legs gone. Afterwards he actually tried to cheer his relatives, telling the weeping group not to cry for him.”
The railroad paid for brakeman Young’s funeral and fellow workers erected what Larner called a fine tombstone for him.
Young’s father, Richard Young, had been an F.J. & G. conductor who was discharged from the railroad in 1878. Richard Young had failed to get his train out of the way of another, causing a collision. Seven years later, the elder Young went back to work for the railroad as a laborer.
The first F.J. & G. passenger death took place during an excursion of the Baptist Sunday School of Amsterdam to Sacandaga Park, an amusement park operated by the F.J. & G. that ended up being flooded when the reservoir now called Great Sacandaga Lake was created in 1930.
Citing newspaper accounts from 1889, Larner wrote that 28-year old Ralph Beach of Amsterdam broke his neck when he fell from a train.
The August 10 Gloversville Intelligencer reported that Beach was standing on the lower step of a coach enjoying the scenery a short distance above Mayfield when the accident occurred on a sharp curve.
“Young Beach, who was leaning forward to look back, was pitched from the step as the train rounded the curve,” the paper reported. He was killed when his head hit a telephone pole. Beach’s fiancé and his sister were both on the train.
A coroner’s inquest was held in Northville that day and the death was ruled accidental, the result of Beach’s negligence.
The Intelligencer wrote, “It was due entirely to carelessness on the young man’s part, and should serve as a warning to others to pay more regard to the instructions of the road, and avoid standing on the platform and steps of the coaches.”
The second passenger death on the local railroad took place a year and a half later in 1891. According to Larner, a workman on the then new Adirondack Hotel being built at Sacandaga Park fell from the platform of a northbound train.
Larner’s “Our Railroad” covers from 1867 to 1893, the years when the F.J. & G. steam railroad was built and when work began on the electric trolley line that ultimately operated under the F.J. & G. name. The railroad is gone now and part of its roadbed is a bicycle and walking trail.
Wednesday, August 16, 2023-From the Archives- November 6, 2020-Episode 343-Retired Colonel Dave Cummings discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker. St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County.
Thursday, August 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
New this Friday, August 18, 2023
...may be some spice down the road
Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 15, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:05AM
Showers, mainly before 2pm. High near 74. Northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Isolated showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 79. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFederal aid requested after severe weather damages New York fruit crops After late frost, severe storms and heavy rains destroyed New York fruit crops this year, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Solar developer ‘tidal wave’ anticipated in Canajoharie CANAJOHARIE — Stephen Stortecky might try to move if solar arrays appear in the sprawling backdrop... Gloversville man admits manslaughter in 2019 Fort Johnson shooting death of estranged wife
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Monday, August 14, 2023-Story behind the story- Death rode the wings of the wind
It was January 8, 1928
Tomorrow
Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sunday School fatality
The first passenger fatality on the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad (F.J. & G.) did not take place until 1889, nineteen years after the first steam train made the inaugural run between Gloversville and Fonda.
Wednesday, August 16, 2023-From the Archives- November 6, 2020-Episode 343-Retired Colonel Dave Cummings discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker. St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County.
Thursday, August 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
Friday, August 18, 2023-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
The first soldier I killed was a kid, and he haunted all my dreams after that.
The twenty-first century doesn’t prepare you for 1778.
Without warning, the roar of the traffic and the stink of funeral lilies fade away. Just as Savannah Moore notices that the world around her has changed, a man wraps her in his arms and presses a knife to her throat. Only after she escapes, with the help of Captain Jonathan Wythe, does she realize she has been inexplicably sucked into America’s Revolutionary War. Anything Savannah does could alter the course of history and threaten the family she left behind.
Kiersten Marcil
https://www.youtube.com/@KierstenMarcil
If These Pages Could Talk, Authors: Kiersten Marcil, Sevannah Storm, and Jodi Christensen S1, ep. 1
Authors and editors unite! Kiersten and co-host Sevannah Storm are joined by Kiersten's editor and fellow author, Jodi Christensen. Giggles, insider info on how acquiring editors pick querying authors manuscripts, reasons why the first page matters to editors, love for time travel romance, and book discussion abounds.
Death rode the wings of the wind
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History-First published in Gazette and Recorder
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
WGY radio in Schenectady, on the air for under six years, broadcast an appeal about the missing aircraft sometime after six p.m. that Sunday.
A Mrs. Quackenbush told WGY that she heard a crash and was convinced the plane had fallen.
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served in the motor transport corps on the ground in World War I, learning to fly after the war. He then rejoined the U.S. Army Flying Corps, earning the rank of captain. Pauley married Marion Howarth of Johnstown. They had no children.
Pauley headed Flyers, Incorporated, the first commercial air service based in Albany. His firm carried passengers and freight and flew racing editions of the Albany Evening News to Saratoga Springs for the 1927 horse racing meet.
Albany Mayor John Boyd Thatcher mentioned Pauley’s name as a possible future superintendent of the almost-constructed Albany Airport in Colonie.
On that Sunday in 1928 veteran pilot Raymond Henries flew from Long Island to Albany on his way to Buffalo to deliver a new Fairchild monoplane.
The large single engine plane was to be based in Buffalo for Colonial Western Airways. Henries had a passenger with him, former pilot George Benedict, then in his family’s clothing business in Illinois.
Pauley decided to fly with Henries and Benedict to Buffalo where two planes ordered by Flyers, Inc., were to be delivered. Pauley planned to make arrangements to have his new planes flown to Albany.
Despite thick fog, the Fairchild monoplane left Westerlo Island airfield south of Albany, piloted by Henries, around 2:00 p.m. Several hours later Colonial Western Airways reported the aircraft had not reached Buffalo.
It was still foggy early Monday when Montgomery County Sheriff Seeley Hodge formed a posse of about 30 men who began a ground search.
Searchers found the wreckage in Tuesday morning near a farm being worked by J.E. Bartlett off what is today Route 162.
A plane from Schenectady Airport doing an aerial search for the missing aircraft saw the activity on the ground and landed on a nearby field.
The Albany Evening News reported, “Death rode on the wings of the wind.”
Pilot Henries’ body was about 75 feet from the main wreckage. Passengers Pauley and Benedict were found crushed inside the plane.
The crash investigation was hampered by the arrival of what authorities estimated to be three thousand to eight thousand gawkers and souvenir hunters. Investigators for example could not find part of the instrument board of the plane. It was located in the possession of a Gloversville businessman
The cause of the crash was never pinned down. Fog was likely a factor but there were reports from people on the ground who heard a plane’s engine that seemed to be misfiring before the accident.
Captain Pauley was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown. His story was researched by his great niece, Frances N. Burnham of Scotia.
Burnham had wondered whether her great uncle wanted his story told in a book I was working on in 2011.
She asked her great uncle Edward Pauley’s spirit to make her Christmas cactus bud if he wanted the story told. The cactus had been passed down through several generations of the family.
The cactus produced several flowers. Burnham said, “Doggone it. He did it.” Burnham died in 2013.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, August 14, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:18AM
Partly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight Showers, mainly after 3am. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 63. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tuesday Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 69. Northeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, August 14, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersGloversville hosts 17th Railfest Saturday — Images (10 photos) GLOVERSVILLE — Gloversville hosted its 17th Railfest Saturday at Train Station Park. The event, one of the highlights of the… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Monday, August 14 PICK OF THE DAY A unique scavenger hunt will take place in Saratoga Springs on Monday. The company Puzzling Adventures… Saratoga Race Course: Derby winner Mage breezes six furlongs in preparation for Aug. 26 Travers SARATOGA SPRINGS — Kentucky Derby winner Mage breezed six furlongs in a sharp 1:12.98 on the Saratoga Race Course main…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Town of Glen zoning updates would cap wind turbines at 75 feet, ban battery energy storage TOWN OF GLEN — The Glen Town Board is mulling proposed zoning updates that would cap the height of... Amsterdam High School welcomes Schaefer as new assistant principal
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Death rode the wings of the wind
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History-First published in Gazette and Recorder
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
WGY radio in Schenectady, on the air for under six years, broadcast an appeal about the missing aircraft sometime after six p.m. that Sunday.
A Mrs. Quackenbush told WGY that she heard a crash and was convinced the plane had fallen.
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served in the motor transport corps on the ground in World War I, learning to fly after the war. He then rejoined the U.S. Army Flying Corps, earning the rank of captain. Pauley married Marion Howarth of Johnstown. They had no children.
Pauley headed Flyers, Incorporated, the first commercial air service based in Albany. His firm carried passengers and freight and flew racing editions of the Albany Evening News to Saratoga Springs for the 1927 horse racing meet.
Albany Mayor John Boyd Thatcher mentioned Pauley’s name as a possible future superintendent of the almost-constructed Albany Airport in Colonie.
On that Sunday in 1928 veteran pilot Raymond Henries flew from Long Island to Albany on his way to Buffalo to deliver a new Fairchild monoplane.
The large single engine plane was to be based in Buffalo for Colonial Western Airways. Henries had a passenger with him, former pilot George Benedict, then in his family’s clothing business in Illinois.
Pauley decided to fly with Henries and Benedict to Buffalo where two planes ordered by Flyers, Inc., were to be delivered. Pauley planned to make arrangements to have his new planes flown to Albany.
Despite thick fog, the Fairchild monoplane left Westerlo Island airfield south of Albany, piloted by Henries, around 2:00 p.m. Several hours later Colonial Western Airways reported the aircraft had not reached Buffalo.
It was still foggy early Monday when Montgomery County Sheriff Seeley Hodge formed a posse of about 30 men who began a ground search.
Searchers found the wreckage in Tuesday morning near a farm being worked by J.E. Bartlett off what is today Route 162.
A plane from Schenectady Airport doing an aerial search for the missing aircraft saw the activity on the ground and landed on a nearby field.
The Albany Evening News reported, “Death rode on the wings of the wind.”
Pilot Henries’ body was about 75 feet from the main wreckage. Passengers Pauley and Benedict were found crushed inside the plane.
The crash investigation was hampered by the arrival of what authorities estimated to be three thousand to eight thousand gawkers and souvenir hunters. Investigators for example could not find part of the instrument board of the plane. It was located in the possession of a Gloversville businessman
The cause of the crash was never pinned down. Fog was likely a factor but there were reports from people on the ground who heard a plane’s engine that seemed to be misfiring before the accident.
Captain Pauley was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown. His story was researched by his great niece, Frances N. Burnham of Scotia.
Burnham had wondered whether her great uncle wanted his story told in a book I was working on in 2011.
She asked her great uncle Edward Pauley’s spirit to make her Christmas cactus bud if he wanted the story told. The cactus had been passed down through several generations of the family.
The cactus produced several flowers. Burnham said, “Doggone it. He did it.” Burnham died in 2013.
Monday, August 14, 2023-Story behind the story- Death rode the wings of the wind
Tuesday, August 15, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sunday School fatality
Wednesday, August 16, 2023-From the Archives- November 6, 2020-Episode 343-Retired Colonel Dave Cummings discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker. St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County.
Thursday, August 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
Friday, August 18, 2023-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
The first soldier I killed was a kid, and he haunted all my dreams after that.
The twenty-first century doesn’t prepare you for 1778.
Without warning, the roar of the traffic and the stink of funeral lilies fade away. Just as Savannah Moore notices that the world around her has changed, a man wraps her in his arms and presses a knife to her throat. Only after she escapes, with the help of Captain Jonathan Wythe, does she realize she has been inexplicably sucked into America’s Revolutionary War. Anything Savannah does could alter the course of history and threaten the family she left behind.
Kiersten Marcil
https://www.youtube.com/@KierstenMarcil
If These Pages Could Talk, Authors: Kiersten Marcil, Sevannah Storm, and Jodi Christensen S1, ep. 1
Authors and editors unite! Kiersten and co-host Sevannah Storm are joined by Kiersten's editor and fellow author, Jodi Christensen. Giggles, insider info on how acquiring editors pick querying authors manuscripts, reasons why the first page matters to editors, love for time travel romance, and book discussion abounds.
Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 13, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
A slight chance of showers before 7am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. Light and variable wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 59. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
Monday Partly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 7 to 9 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 13, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersWaite: Ban on incandescent light bulbs could lead charge toward even brighter idea Printed on the wall behind Thomas Edison’s desk outside the GE Conference Center in Niskayuna is a famous Edison quote…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam celebrates community ancestry, recognizes Pisciotta, Italy as Twin City
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Weekend Update-Historians Go Fund Me needs Your help. Historians Episode #500 this November. We now have raised $3235 and need to raise $250.00 by Sunday Night.
On-Line Use this Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Saturday, August 12, 2023-From the archives- October 9, 2020-Episode 339-Jennet Conant discusses her book “The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster That Launched the War on Cancer.” Also heard is film maker Nick Spark who lobbied for U.S. government recognition of Dr. Stewart Alexander whose work chronicling the disaster in southern Italy was the impetus to developing chemotherapy.
Tomorrow from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Focus on History
Death rode the wings of the wind
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, August 12, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:00AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. High near 80. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. Patchy fog after 9pm. Low around 62. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. West wind 5 to 14 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, August 12, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Saturday, August 12 PICK OF THE DAY The Philadelphia Orchestra brings “The Rite of Spring,” Igor Stravinsky’s vivid reflection on ancient pagan rituals,… Mohawk Hudson chapter of Antique Outboard Motor Club to hold 19th annual swap meet VAIL MILLS – The Mohawk Hudson chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc, will hold its annual swap meet…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Altamont Fair set for return Tuesday, with it barnyard animals, fair food – and a shark show ALTAMONT – The Altamont Fair returns soon and will be bringing back beloved favorites like...
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Friday, August 11, 2023 Update-Historians Go Fund Me needs Your help. Historians Episode #500 this November. We now have raised $3235 and need to raise $250.00 by Sunday Night.
On-Line Use this Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Saturday, August 12, 2023-From the archives- October 9, 2020-Episode 339-Jennet Conant discusses her book “The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster That Launched the War on Cancer.” Also heard is film maker Nick Spark who lobbied for U.S. government recognition of Dr. Stewart Alexander whose work chronicling the disaster in southern Italy was the impetus to developing chemotherapy.
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Focus on History
Death rode the wings of the wind
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, August 11, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. West wind 8 to 15 mph.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 54. West wind 3 to 8 mph.
Saturday A slight chance of showers between 10am and noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Increasing clouds, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8am, then a slight chance of showers between 8am and 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. West wind 6 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, August 11, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersA fun day at the Schoharie County Fair — Images (10 photos) Thursday was the third day of the Schoharie County Sunshine Fair in Cobleskill. Take a look around with our Peter… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Friday, August 11 PICK OF THE DAY The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will celebrate Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday at the…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
APD: Amsterdam man sold, possessed controlled substances AMSTERDAM — An Amsterdam man is facing multiple charges for the alleged sale and possession of... Gloversville Railfest, Schoharie County Sunshine Fair, Markets at Round Lake among top picks – Weekend Plans
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Thursday, August 10, 2023 Update-Historians Go Fund Me needs Your assist. Historians Episode #500 this November. We now have raised $3235 and need to raise $250.00 by Sunday Night.
On-Line Use this Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
Last flight over Japan
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam attorney Robert N. Going, who died in 2019, wrote “Honor Roll: The World War II Dead of Amsterdam, N.Y.” in 2010.
Using Recorder clippings, museum collections and personal diaries, Going compiled information on 176 men from the Amsterdam area who died in the war.
The first was William E. Hasenfuss, Jr. from a family of nine children on Northampton Road. Hasenfuss had flown airplanes at an air field in Perth before enlisting in 1939. He died at Hickham Air Field in Hawaii during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The last Amsterdam casualty was listed in the book as Seaman Orlie Charles Thomas, who died in Brooklyn Naval Hospital on November 23, 1945. He had served aboard the battleship Mississippi in the Pacific.
However in his blog called the Judge Report issued online some time after “Honor Roll” was published, Going wrote, “In researching old newspapers for the Amsterdam war dead of World War II, I stopped on June 30, 1946. I should have kept going, as I now learn that yet another Amsterdam hero has gone unrecognized, and his may, in fact, be Amsterdam's last combat death of World War II, bringing the total up to about 180.”
The Recorder reported on July 8, 1946, “Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Gawron, 7 Catherine Street, have been notified by the War Department that their son, Technical Sergeant Edward F. Gawron, previously reported missing in action July 3, 1945 over Japan, has now been officially declared dead. He was killed in action over Japan on the same date that he had been reported missing.”
Born in Amsterdam in 1925, Gawron graduated from Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1942. His family called him Patch. He was 20 years old when he died.
He worked at Mohawk Carpet Mills while attending high school and after graduation was employed at the Naval Supply Depot in Scotia. Inducted into military service April 10, 1943, he spent two months with the Medical Corps. He requested and received a transfer to the Army Air Forces to become an air cadet. He attended gunnery school then went to Fort Myers, Florida to take training flights.
Gawron came home on a 15-day furlough before going to the Mariana Islands with the 20th Air Force as a B-29 gunner. He was flying his 35th mission when his B-29 was shot down on Honshu Island by anti-aircraft fire.
The crew was on its last bombing mission which would have completed their tour of duty. The war ended September 2, 1945.
According to Find A Grave Web site, Gawron’s plane was called Miss Hap. The Web site also reported that Gawron was buried at a military cemetery in Missouri.
The condolences letter from Adjutant General Edward Witsell continued, “I realize the anguish you have suffered since he was first reported missing in action and I deeply regret the sorrow this later report brings you. May the knowledge that he has made the supreme sacrifice for his home and country be a source of sustaining comfort.”
T/Sergeant Gawron was survived by his parents, Stephen and Julia Zintack Gawron; four brothers. Peter, Leonard, Joseph and Richard; six sisters, Connie, Sally, Veronica, Irene, Dolores and Mary.
Richard Gawron provided information for this column. Richard and his wife Frances now live in Niskayuna.
Richard’s parents were born in Poland. Richard said his father built their house on Catherine Street off upper Church Street. The family raised chickens.
A 1932 City Directory listed Stephen Gawron’s job as a driver. He also held jobs at M.J. Wytrwal Coal and Oil in Amsterdam and American Locomotive in Schenectady.
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Saturday, August 12, 2023-From the archives- October 9, 2020-Episode 339-Jennet Conant discusses her book “The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster That Launched the War on Cancer.” Also heard is film maker Nick Spark who lobbied for U.S. government recognition of Dr. Stewart Alexander whose work chronicling the disaster in southern Italy was the impetus to developing chemotherapy.
Sunday, August 13, 2023-Focus on History-Death rode the wings of the wind
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 10, 2023
63 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:13AM
A slight chance of showers before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely before 1am, then a slight chance of showers between 1am and 2am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 59. West wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 11 to 15 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, August 10, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAmsterdam residents vent frustrations over safety concerns, quality of life issues at Veterans Park AMSTERDAM — Safety concerns sparked by a pair of isolated incidents involving firearms at Veterans Park and quality of life… Train derailment in town of Amsterdam sparks broader rail safety, environmental concerns TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — Local officials are urging federal agencies to review safety regulations and the transportation of hazardous materials…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Pets Fur Adoption – in Montgomery, Schenectady, Albany counties (11 pets featured) https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Wednesday, August 9, 2023 Update-Historians Go Fund Me needs Your assist.
We now have raised $3235 and need to raise $250.00 by the end of the week.
On-Line Use this Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Thank You
Bob Cudmore and David Brooks talk about The Erie Canal
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
David Brooks describes unfulfilled plans to build a canal linking the Erie Canal with the Sacandaga Valley in the Adirondacks. Brooks is education coordinator of the history site, Schoharie Crossing, in Fort Hunter.
Take a Tour, Thanks to New York by Rail
Erie Canal Cruises in the Mohawk Valley
Take a cruise down the Erie Canal! Experience the historic waterway on an entertainment yacht, complete with commentary about historic sites along the route, and area wildlife. Perfect for the whole family! Learn more at: https://www.newyorkbyrail.com
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Last flight over Japan
Amsterdam attorney Robert N. Going, who died in 2019, wrote “Honor Roll: The World War II Dead of Amsterdam, N.Y.” in 2010.
Using Recorder clippings, museum collections and personal diaries, Going compiled information on 176 men from the Amsterdam area who died in the war.
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 9, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:00AM
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 81. West wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Tonight Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 57. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Thursday A chance of showers before 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 1pm and 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Light southwest wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersGolub Foundation pledges $1M towards Aquatic Center ROTTERDAM — The Capital Region Aquatic Center is $1 million closer to reality thanks to a donation from the Neil… Veterans Park shooting suspect released on bail, new charge filed in Amsterdam City Court AMSTERDAM — An additional charge has been filed against the Amsterdam woman accused of shooting another woman at Veterans Park…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Sales tax collections up 3% statewide in second quarter SCHENECTADY — Local government sales tax collections rose 3% in the second quarter of 2023 over... Johnstown cyclist fatally struck on Route 67 in June remembered with ghost bike
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Tuesday, August 8, 2023 Update-Historians Go Fund Me needs Your assist.
We now have raised $3235 and need to raise $250.00 this week.
On-Line Use this Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Much Thanks
Aviation pioneer Edward Heath
By Bob Cudmore
Aviator Edward B. Heath tried to fly his first airplane at the Antlers golf course in Fort Johnson near Amsterdam in 1910 but the attempt ended in a crash. No one was hurt. The golf course is now called Rolling Hills.
Heath was born in Brooklyn in 1888. He lived in the Amsterdam area for a few months. His uncle and cousin, Chester and Frank Johnson, helped Heath build his first airplane at their Johnson Machine Shop on Cedar Street in Amsterdam.
Historian Hugh Donlon reported on the flight, “Twirling the propeller for the start was hazardous and when the plane’s motor finally got the go-ahead spark, aviator Heath had to climb aboard while the ground crew temporarily restrained all 36 horsepower. Not far down the improvised runway and traveling at tremendous speed, the wheel post broke and a wing sagged. The pilot escaped and tow back to the machine shop was made.
“Similar disappointment came in later tests on the Mohawk River flats east of Fonda, but when the flying machine was exhibited at the Fonda Fair in October it attracted crowds.”
The Aviation Heritage Web site indicated that Heath’s plane, patterned after a Bleriot monoplane, did have some successful flights in the Mohawk Valley.
After working for a time with pioneer aviator Glenn Curtiss in Hammondsport, N.Y., Heath moved to Chicago where he started a company that made airplane parts in World War I.
He won trophies in air races and manufactured the Heath Parasol, an ultralight airplane that he marketed as a kit. A 1928 ultralight built by Heath was called the Baby Bullet.
Heath died in a 1931 plane crash in Morton Grove, a Chicago suburb. He was testing a new low-wing aircraft design when the fatal accident occurred.
The company he founded—Heathkit—changed from making airplane kits to making kits for amateur radio gear, electronic test equipment and even television receivers. The firm filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and began restructuring in 2013. The company now has a live website at www.heathkit.com and sells electronic products.
Tomorrow, Bob Cudmore and David Brooks talk about The Erie Canal
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
David Brooks describes unfulfilled plans to build a canal linking the Erie Canal with the Sacandaga Valley in the Adirondacks. Brooks is education coordinator of the history site, Schoharie Crossing, in Fort Hunter.
Take a Tour, Thanks to New York by Rail
Erie Canal Cruises in the Mohawk Valley
Take a cruise down the Erie Canal! Experience the historic waterway on an entertainment yacht, complete with commentary about historic sites along the route, and area wildlife. Perfect for the whole family! Learn more at: https://www.newyorkbyrail.com
Thursday, August 10, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Last flight over Japan
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 8, 2023
71 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:26AM
A slight chance of showers between 8am and noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Light and variable wind becoming west 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. West wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. West wind around 14 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAPD: Suspect shot victim once at Veterans Park with legally owned handgun, then weapon malfunctioned AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam woman charged with shooting another woman at Veterans Park on Sunday is believed to have fired… Tracks restored, Route 5 reopened after CSX freight train derailment TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — All damaged cars from a derailed CSX freight train have been cleared from the tracks and… EDITORIAL: Government must ensure all speech is protected It’s reasonable, and even admirable, for public officials to react strongly to racist and antisemitic protests in their community and… Waite: What we should try in our small towns Last month, country music artist Jason Aldean released a controversial music video shortly before he played a concert at Saratoga…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Broadalbin-Perth to kick off school year with fundraiser-driven ‘Warrior Week’ Amsterdam Riverfest Saturday, a look around – Images (10 photos)
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Historians Go Fund Me needs Your Help
We now have raised $3235 toward this year’s $7000 goal.
Thanks to loyal reader/listener Emil Suda for ending the donation drought with a contribution. Please donate online to help support the Historians Podcast at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too large or too small.
Bob at Albany Public Radio WMHT89.1FM RISE where The Historians Podcast airs each Monday and Wednesday(Go Fund Me helps keep it there)
Monday, August 7, 2023-Story behind the story-Burza’s tavern
You remember "The Heath Kit"
Tuesday, August 8, 2023-Aviation pioneer Edward Heath
Aviator Edward B. Heath tried to fly his first airplane at the Antlers golf course in Fort Johnson near Amsterdam in 1910 but the attempt ended in a crash. No one was hurt. The golf course is now called Rolling Hills.
Wednesday, August 9, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 192, December 8, 2017, David Brooks describes unfulfilled plans to build a canal linking the Erie Canal with the Sacandaga Valley in the Adirondacks. Brooks is education coordinator of the history site, Schoharie Crossing, in Fort Hunter.
Erie Canal Cruises in the Mohawk Valley | New York By Rail
Take a cruise down the Erie Canal! Experience the historic waterway on an entertainment yacht, complete with commentary about historic sites along the route, and area wildlife. Perfect for the whole family! Learn more at: https://www.newyorkbyrail.com
Thursday, August 10, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Last flight over Japan
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Defense was key in 1961 Amsterdam softball match
(Burza's Tavern "Don't slip on the Ice")
By Bob Cudmore
“Will it be a Highland Fling or an Hawaiian Hula that is danced tonight,” wondered Recorder sportswriter Bob Wischmeyer.
Amsterdam’s attention that August was focused on competition for the city men’s softball league title between the Hawaiian Klub on Church Street on Reid Hill and Burza’s Highland House on upper Locust Avenue.
Nationally in 1961 Roger Maris hit 61 home runs. Mickey Mantle was the highest paid baseball player, making $75,000 that season. The Yankees went on to win the World Series.
Sports teams based at the Hawaiian Klub had been covered on local sports pages since 1950. Earlier in 1961, athletic Stanley Burza and his wife Irene purchased the Highland House on upper Locust Avenue.
The Hawaiian Klub won the first game 2-1. The Highlanders took the second contest 6-1. The games took place at one of the fields behind what was then Lynch High School on Brandt Place.
The deciding game was 6 p.m. sharp on a Monday.
Wischmeyer wrote, “Defense told the story last night. Burza's Highland House played without an error and turned in two double plays to defeat the Hawaiian Klub 5-1.”
Burza played third base, was team manager and part of one of the double plays. He played softball for 50 years. New York State Assemblyman Donald Campbell was on the Highlander team along with other Amsterdam notables such as Bud Heck and Fred Sandy.
Among those on the Klub roster were Gene Bik, Fred Cerasaro, Chuck Pettengill and Dave Quick.
Stan Burza and Irene Drozd met at Mohawk Carpet Mills where they both worked. Stan also inflated footballs at Collette Manufacturing on Clizbe Avenue and drove a truck for Iroquois Chemical on Edward Street.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific including the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Stan tended bar at the Highland House. He made a ritual of saying good night to you by name when you left the tavern, with a friendly but cautionary formula that went something like this, “Good night, Bob. Don’t slip on the ice. Don’t step on Irene’s tulips.”
Irene recalled in a 1986 newspaper article that she once asked a young man to take his feet off the furniture in the tavern. When he replied she sounded like his mother, her response was, “When you’re here, I am your mother.”
Reader Ron Johnson recalled that if you asked Stan for a match, his response was, "I have matches to burn." Johnson said Irene brought out plates of kielbasa after midnight on Friday nights since Catholics could not eat meat on Fridays.
The tavern had a Wall of Honor where clippings were posted when patrons rolled a 300 game in bowling, got a hole in one in golf or did something outstanding in scholastics or community life. The clippings have been donated to the Walter Elwood Museum.
The Burzas closed the tavern in 1986. Irene died in 1990. Six years later Stan married Rita Loughrey, a woman he had met through one of his two daughters.
Rita said Stan enjoyed being useful. He took up skiing in his seventies and went with Rita on a ski trip to France for their honeymoon.
A frequent golf partner in later years was Charles Brown of Hagaman. Brown came to the area in 1965 and started going to Burza’s. Brown was a faithful visitor when Stan spent his last days at River Ridge Living Center.
Stan died November 2, 2010 at 92. He was buried with military honors at St. Stanislaus Cemetery. He was a member of the Good Shepherd Polish National Church.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, August 7, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:32AM
Showers and thunderstorms before 9am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 9am and 10am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High near 77. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 10pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Cloudy, with a low around 66. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tuesday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. South wind 6 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, August 7, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersWoman shot on Sunday at Veterans Park in Amsterdam AMSTERDAM — A woman was taken into custody Sunday for allegedly carrying out a mid-afternoon shooting at Veterans Park in Amsterdam. … Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Monday, August 7 PICK OF THE DAY Famed coffeehouse Caffe Lena will host its traditional open mic night starting at 7 p.m. The… Tracy Byrd, racing pigs, chainsaw sculptures: 146th annual Schoharie County Sunshine Fair to begin Tuesday COBLESKILL — Schoharie County’s largest annual tradition is about 75 hours packed with oddball acts, regional flavor and rural razzle-dazzle….***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Johnstown, Canajoharie insurance firms now part of Scotia-based Marshall & Sterling Upstate SCOTIA — Marshall & Sterling Upstate Inc. has new assets in the Fulton-Montgomery region. The Scotia-based subsidiary announced Thursday its… Cranesville Fire Department’s new helipad ‘helping neighbors’ in critical emergencies
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Thanks to loyal reader/listener Emil Suda for ending the donation drought with a contribution. We now have raised $3235 toward this year’s $7000 goal. Please donate online to help support the Historians Podcast at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too large or too small.
Defense was key in 1961 Amsterdam softball match
(Burza's Tavern "Don't slip on the Ice")
By Bob Cudmore
“Will it be a Highland Fling or an Hawaiian Hula that is danced tonight,” wondered Recorder sportswriter Bob Wischmeyer.
Amsterdam’s attention that August was focused on competition for the city men’s softball league title between the Hawaiian Klub on Church Street on Reid Hill and Burza’s Highland House on upper Locust Avenue.
Nationally in 1961 Roger Maris hit 61 home runs. Mickey Mantle was the highest paid baseball player, making $75,000 that season. The Yankees went on to win the World Series.
Sports teams based at the Hawaiian Klub had been covered on local sports pages since 1950. Earlier in 1961, athletic Stanley Burza and his wife Irene purchased the Highland House on upper Locust Avenue.
The Hawaiian Klub won the first game 2-1. The Highlanders took the second contest 6-1. The games took place at one of the fields behind what was then Lynch High School on Brandt Place.
The deciding game was 6 p.m. sharp on a Monday.
Wischmeyer wrote, “Defense told the story last night. Burza's Highland House played without an error and turned in two double plays to defeat the Hawaiian Klub 5-1.”
Burza played third base, was team manager and part of one of the double plays. He played softball for 50 years. New York State Assemblyman Donald Campbell was on the Highlander team along with other Amsterdam notables such as Bud Heck and Fred Sandy.
Among those on the Klub roster were Gene Bik, Fred Cerasaro, Chuck Pettengill and Dave Quick.
Stan Burza and Irene Drozd met at Mohawk Carpet Mills where they both worked. Stan also inflated footballs at Collette Manufacturing on Clizbe Avenue and drove a truck for Iroquois Chemical on Edward Street.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific including the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Stan tended bar at the Highland House. He made a ritual of saying good night to you by name when you left the tavern, with a friendly but cautionary formula that went something like this, “Good night, Bob. Don’t slip on the ice. Don’t step on Irene’s tulips.”
Irene recalled in a 1986 newspaper article that she once asked a young man to take his feet off the furniture in the tavern. When he replied she sounded like his mother, her response was, “When you’re here, I am your mother.”
Reader Ron Johnson recalled that if you asked Stan for a match, his response was, "I have matches to burn." Johnson said Irene brought out plates of kielbasa after midnight on Friday nights since Catholics could not eat meat on Fridays.
The tavern had a Wall of Honor where clippings were posted when patrons rolled a 300 game in bowling, got a hole in one in golf or did something outstanding in scholastics or community life. The clippings have been donated to the Walter Elwood Museum.
The Burzas closed the tavern in 1986. Irene died in 1990. Six years later Stan married Rita Loughrey, a woman he had met through one of his two daughters.
Rita said Stan enjoyed being useful. He took up skiing in his seventies and went with Rita on a ski trip to France for their honeymoon.
A frequent golf partner in later years was Charles Brown of Hagaman. Brown came to the area in 1965 and started going to Burza’s. Brown was a faithful visitor when Stan spent his last days at River Ridge Living Center.
Stan died November 2, 2010 at 92. He was buried with military honors at St. Stanislaus Cemetery. He was a member of the Good Shepherd Polish National Church.
Monday, August 7, 2023-Story behind the story-Burza’s tavern
Tuesday, August 8, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Aviation pioneer Edward Heath
Wednesday, August 9, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 192, December 8, 2017, David Brooks describes unfulfilled plans to build a canal linking the Erie Canal with the Sacandaga Valley in the Adirondacks. Brooks is education coordinator of the history site, Schoharie Crossing, in Fort Hunter.
Thursday, August 10, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Last flight over Japan
Friday, August 11, 2023-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 6, 2023
58 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 82. Light west wind.
Tonight A chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Monday Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Southeast wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 6, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Sunday, August 6 PICK OF THE DAY The Chicks are slated to play at SPAC in Saratoga Springs Sunday as part of their… Saratoga Race Course: ‘Barbie’ in mind during Whitney Stakes — TAG at the Track One of the most arresting moments in the movie “Barbie” is when the eponymous character, played magnificently by Margot Robbie,…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Capital Region Football Hall of Fame: Amsterdam’s undefeated 1986 team set for induction https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (Friday, November 3, 2023)
Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on a submarine rescue, walking for sport, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Sunday, August 6, 2023-Focus on History-Burza’s tavern: Don’t slip on the ice
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, August 5, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:45AM
Isolated showers between 11am and noon. Areas of dense fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, August 5, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersCleanup underway after CSX train derails in town of Amsterdam Friday, investigation of incident ongoing TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — More than a dozen cars from a nearly mile-long CSX freight train derailed along Route 5… Amsterdam Mohawks: Pitchers dominated their way to PGCBL crown AMSTERDAM — It would be a fair characterization to say that Keith Griffin and the Amsterdam Mohawks hate to lose,… Broadalbin Beach plans to face Adirondack Park Agency board NORTH BROADALBIN — State regulators could soon make a critical determination on the future of a long-cherished Great Sacandaga Lake…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Rooftop solar contract broken so work can begin at Amsterdam Public Safety Building https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (Friday, November 3, 2023)
Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on a submarine rescue, walking for sport, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Saturday, August 5, 2023-From the archives- November 20, 2020-Episode 345-Jim Kaplan chronicles the achievements of the first female member of a Presidential cabinet. Frances Perkins was FDR’s Secretary of Labor who designed Social Security.
Sunday, August 6, 2023-Focus on History-Burza’s tavern: Don’t slip on the ice
Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, August 4, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. High near 79. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely before 11pm, then isolated showers between 11pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, August 4, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course: Exhibit to feature photos from Latino artists from backstretch and beyond — TAG at the Track The photograph is stunning. Black and white, with a horse at the center, lying down on the straw in his…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam’s Veteran’s Park to host Summertime Love basketball tournament this weekend AMSTERDAM — In the late 1990s, the Summertime Love Basketball Classic was one of the top hoops... Amsterdam acquiring vacant Lefferts Street lot for parking lot serving public, proposed gym
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Great graves of Upstate New York
By Bob Cudmore
According to Oneonta author and radio host Chuck D’Imperio, Upstate New York is the final resting place for many American legends.
D’Imperio’s new book, “Great Graves of Upstate New York,” describes his visits to burial sites of famous Americans such as Lucille Ball, interred in the Jamestown area, and President Chester Arthur, buried next to his wife in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands.
D’Imperio traveled five thousand miles and visited 250 cemeteries for his book. He has been researching Upstate New York graves for more than a decade.
WILLIAM McCONKEY
D’Imperio said that the most intriguing burial site he visited is on Route 30A in Charleston in Montgomery County, the grave of William McConkey.
McConkey owned a ferry and small boatyard on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and it was on McConkey’s boat that General George Washington crossed the Delaware to strike at British forces in New Jersey the day after Christmas, 1776.
D’Imperio wrote, “If (McConkey) did accompany the general on his trip across the Delaware, you can be assured that Emanuel Leutze, the painter who so famously captured Washington crossing the Delaware, would surely have put the Scotsman McConkey squarely at the rudder!”
McConkey apparently was granted land after the Revolution in the Mohawk Valley, accounting for his presence in Charleston. There is a state historic marker visible from the highway near McConkey’s grave.
“McConkey’s ancient stone is weatherworn and in disrepair, but still easily identifiable,” D’Imperio wrote.
McConkey’s inn and ferry are part of the Washington Crossing National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.
THREE SAINTS
D’Imperio visited the final resting place of the Jesuit martyrs Rene Goupil, Isaac Jogues and John LaLande at the Roman Catholic Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville. Auriesville was the site of the Mohawk village of Ossernenon.
D’Imperio wrote that a ravine on the grounds of Auriesville holds the remains of the missionaries who were killed by the Mohawks in the 1600s. The three men were canonized by the Church.
SIR WILLIAM
Mohawk Valley colonist Sir William Johnson is buried on the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Johnstown, the corner of Buffalo and Cayuga streets.
Johnson’s gravestone has this inscription, “Grave of Sir William Johnson, baronet, 1715-1774, his Indian name Warraghyagey, he who does much business, founder of Johnstown, superintendent of Indian affairs, major general in British Army, colonel of the Six Nations, builder of a nation.”
TIM MURPHY
Legendary sharpshooter and patriot Tim Murphy was buried in his native Schoharie Valley, where he bravely staved off attacks by the British and their Indian allies in the Revolutionary War. Murphy also is credited with picking off two top British commanders, turning the tide of the pivotal battle of Bemis Heights, part of the overall battle of Saratoga in 1777. After the war, Murphy lived until his death at age 67 in the Schoharie Valley.
“To get to Tim Murphy’s imposing grave, take I-88 as your starting point, exit at Route 30, Schoharie,” wrote D’Imperio. “Travel south exactly ten miles and you will come to Middleburgh Cemetery, off Hunters Land Road. Take the cemetery road all the way to the top and you will find the Murphy plot (across from the large Foster monument).”
A plaque with this inscription marks Murphy’s grave, “Tim Murphy—Patriot, Soldier, Scout, Citizen who served distinguishably in Morgan’s Rifle Corps, fought at Saratoga and Monmouth and whose bravery repelled the attack of the British and their Indian allies from Middlefort, October 17, 1780 and saved the lives of the colonists of his Schoharie Valley. Here too, this warrior sire, with honor rests who braved in freedom’s cause his valiant breast.”
August schedule on The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Friday, August 4-Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on a submarine rescue, walking for sport, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Friday, August 11-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline author of Orphan Train from a 2015 podcast episode. Plus the debut of The History Mystery trivia question.
Friday, August 18-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil from Rotterdam Junction New York, author of the Revolutionary War historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Friday, August 25-Episode 489-A highlights edition with excerpts from recent podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle; Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow and more.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (November 3, 2023)
Thursday
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York
Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 3, 2023
60 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 1am and 5am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Southeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 78. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, August 3, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNational Night Out at Veterans Park in Amsterdam — Images (8 photos, 1 video) AMSTERDAM — Amsterdam held its annual National Night Out event Tuesday at Veterans Park. National Night Out is an annual community-building…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Of Note: The Chicks at SPAC, Eileen Ivers at Music Haven among this weekend’s best bets The Capital Region’s music scene is perpetually busy, especially in the summertime.Whether it’s a...
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August schedule on The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Friday, August 4-Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on a submarine rescue, walking for sport, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Friday, August 11-Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline author of Orphan Train from a 2015 podcast episode. Plus the debut of The History Mystery trivia question.
Friday, August 18-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil from Rotterdam Junction New York, author of the Revolutionary War historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
Friday, August 25-Episode 489-A highlights edition with excerpts from recent podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle; Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow and more.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (November 3, 2023)
Wednesday, August 2, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 115, June 10, 2016-Historic Site Manager Wade Wells on “The Price of Loyalty: The Confiscation of Johnson Hall in Johnstown” at the start of the American Revolution.
Thursday, August 3, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York
According to Oneonta author and radio host Chuck D’Imperio, Upstate New York is the final resting place for many American legends.
Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 2, 2023
53 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:44AM
Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Light west wind.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Light and variable wind.
Thursday A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersHochul on migrant relocation: ‘sometimes we know in advance and sometimes we don’t’ AMSTERDAM — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday maintained that her administration hasn’t always been informed when asylum seekers are transported upstate… Senior high-rise renovation marks completion of $47M project in Amsterdam AMSTERDAM — Nearly 200 antiquated senior apartments have been renovated in the city of Amsterdam within the last two years….***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
New state lottery site launches, tickets can be bought online
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Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall. (November 3, 2023)
The hero was a shoemaker
By Bob Cudmore
An immigrant from Alsace Lorraine in Europe settled in Canajoharie, learned shoemaking and then earned the Medal of Honor in the Civil War. According to a family history, Franz Joubert arrived in America 1858. When he applied to be a citizen in Fonda, officials interpreted his name as Shubert. From then on he was known as Frank Shubert.
Shubert worked for a year on a farm in Palatine Bridge. He later learned the shoemaking trade in Canajoharie. He enlisted in the Union Army as a private on August 15, 1861. He served in Company E of the 43rd regiment of the New York Infantry Volunteers, also known as the Albany Rifles.
Shubert fought in virtually every major campaign, survived several wounds, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor during the Battle of Petersburg, Virginia in April, 1865. Then Sergeant Shubert captured two Confederate flags or markers. Shubert was a Second Lieutenant when mustered out of the regiment in June 1865.
After the war, Shubert ran a shoe store in Canajoharie. He married Cecelia Lettice in 1868. They lived on Cliff Street and had four children, including one daughter. In 1911 their daughter, Bertelle, married Edward Shineman, who went on to become the chairman of the board of Beech Nut.
Frank Shubert died in 1920 and is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Canajoharie. Edward Shineman, who died in 1968, is also buried at Prospect Hill.
Information for this story was provided by Ed Archinal of Amsterdam, “Shubert was the brother of my great grandmother. The store he sold shoes from still stands on Church Street in Canajoharie.”
RIVER ISLANDS
At least some of the islands in the Mohawk River in Montgomery County are named and some have been used for farming and recreation over the years. Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that Amsterdam had claim to being the first broom making location in New York because of broomcorn grown on islands and flats of the Mohawk River. Amsterdam residents used to row to the islands for summer picnics years ago.
John Naple, a retired teacher who has a great interest in the outdoors, wrote, "Downstream from the Mohawk River bridge in Amsterdam can be seen Davey and Giording Islands. Upstream, near Amsterdam's Lock 11 can be seen Bronson Island.” The names come from Google maps.
The U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps name Pepper Island in the Mohawk across from Fort Johnson and Swart Island near the Schenectady County border, in the area of Swart Hill Road.
Naple asked, “Does anyone own these islands? Were they there before the river was harnessed to form the Barge Canal in 1918?”
YANTAPUCHABERG AND TOUAREUNA
Historian Nelson Greene and a travel book put out by Knox Gelatin called “The Old Mohawk Turnpike” make reference to Yantaphuchaberg, the impressive 1,100 foot hill on the south shore of the Mohawk in Rotterdam opposite Hoffman’s. The name may mean “John-ear-of-corn-hill.” On the opposite north shore of the river is the slightly smaller Touareuna hill. One source says Touareuna is a Mohawk word meaning neighboring hills.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 115, June 10, 2016-Historic Site Manager Wade Wells on “The Price of Loyalty: The Confiscation of Johnson Hall in Johnstown” at the start of the American Revolution.
Thursday, August 3, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York
Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 1, 2023
A great 59 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:22AM
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday Patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAmsterdam Recreation Department collections lack oversight, state audit says AMSTERDAM — A state audit of the Amsterdam Recreation Department found limited and inadequate collection records were maintained, creating a… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Tuesday, August 1 PICK OF THE DAY Rock band Foreigner is slated to perform at SPAC as part of their Farewell tour. In…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Oppenheim steps back from new town hall project OPPENHEIM — Plans to erect a new town hall in Oppenheim have taken a back seat for now. The...
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Monday, July 31, 2023-Story behind the story-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries.
Bob Cudmore "A Sunday Walker"
Good weather, thinking about the next Gazette story
Tuesday, August 1, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Hero was a shoemaker
An immigrant from Alsace Lorraine in Europe settled in Canajoharie, learned shoemaking and then earned the Medal of Honor in the Civil War. According to a family history, Franz Joubert arrived in America 1858. When he applied to be a citizen in Fonda, officials interpreted his name as Shubert. From then on he was known as Frank Shubert.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 115, June 10, 2016-Historic Site Manager Wade Wells on “The Price of Loyalty: The Confiscation of Johnson Hall in Johnstown” at the start of the American Revolution.
Thursday, August 3, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York
Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Amsterdam and its rye bakeries
By Bob Cudmore
Rotterdam reader Paul Miknavich proposes another column on Amsterdam’s bakeries.
Miknavich said, “When I was a teenager I used to help my dad deliver groceries from my uncle's store, the Forbes Street Market. One of our duties was picking up the warm loaves of rye and pumpernickel (from Maldutis Bakery) for re-sale. Stuff was fantastic, never had any that came close, I suspect it may have been sourdough. Crust like leather and crumb like a damp sponge. Legend has it he took his recipes to the grave.”
Maldutis Bakery was founded in 1926 in a section of Amsterdam’s East End where many Lithuanian immigrants lived. The founder was Lithuanian Peter Maldutis,
According to Maldutis relative Dave Northrup, Chuck Maldutis was the last to take over the family business in 1947.
Chuck died in 1967 at age 51, a short time after suffering a hemorrhage while driving back to Amsterdam from a Schenectady bread delivery. Maldutis Bakery closed in 1968.
Northrup said, "Nabisco wanted to purchase the bread recipes from (Chuck’s widow) Jean. Despite several offers, she steadfastly refused to sell, and the recipes died with her when she passed in 2013.”
Park Hill native Tom Pikul wrote that Third Avenue in his neighborhood adjacent to the Bigelow Sanford carpet mills was baker's lane.
Park Hill had a large population of Polish Americans a generation ago who patronized Belmont Bakery, Allen's and SD Bakery.
Ray Piech operated the Belmont Bakery after World War II, specializing in rye bread but also making wedding and birthday cakes.
Miknavich said, “Belmont was the place for sweet goods - excellent Danish pastry, all
good cakes and cookies.”
Pikul said, "He had the most delicious rye in town in my humble opinion.” Piech died in his nineties in Florida.
Allen's Bakery was at Third Avenue and Grand Street.
Pikul said, "They had an excellent, very tasty rye loaf and were also known for their delightful pastries, especially the spice cake.”
The third bakery was SD, at Third Avenue and Park Street. Pikul said the bakery was run by a Polish family and made excellent rye bread.
John Vidulich, a native of Austria, operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue. During the Depression he would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played basketball at home.
After each game, his daughter Virginia would lead a parade of ball players and girlfriends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the treats inside.
“It helped with my popularity,” said Vidulich.
Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came in to the bakery frequently for his favorite doughnuts.
Miknavich said he enjoyed Streeter’s Bakery on Market Street hill, “My experience with Streeter's was limited. It was located a few
doors away from Joe's market on Market Street.
“Our family mostly got two products there; One I believe was called White Mountain Rolls which we used for hamburger buns when going on picnics to the state parks up north on Route 30, so it was in-and-out quick.
“Now that I'm thinking about it, they also had really good jelly doughnuts.”
My parents were regular customers of Paul’s uncle Ray Miknavich of Forbes Street Market.
My mother grew up on Forbes Street and my father lived nearby on Eagle Street.
Mom made a list my father would take to the market after he worked the day shift as a weaver at Mohawk Carpet in the East End.
This may be squeamish inducing but the list often included calf kidneys. Our cat enjoyed them and so did we in the traditional English dish beef and kidney pie.
The Bob Cudmore conversation with Mark Dawidziak, all about Poe.
One of the many Historians podcasts on the way to Episode #500 this November
Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 31, 2023
56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:27AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 31, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Springs prepares to host Travers Stakes and Phish on same August weekend SARATOGA SPRINGS — The announcement of a pair of benefit concerts by popular jam band Phish on Aug. 25 and…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Gloversville Transit Systems proposes reducing FMCC runs, adding stops GLOVERSVILLE — Gloversville Transit Systems has proposed reducing trips out of Fulton Montgomery Community College during the academic year as…
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Amsterdam and its rye bakeries
By Bob Cudmore
Rotterdam reader Paul Miknavich proposes another column on Amsterdam’s bakeries.
Miknavich said, “When I was a teenager I used to help my dad deliver groceries from my uncle's store, the Forbes Street Market. One of our duties was picking up the warm loaves of rye and pumpernickel (from Maldutis Bakery) for re-sale. Stuff was fantastic, never had any that came close, I suspect it may have been sourdough. Crust like leather and crumb like a damp sponge. Legend has it he took his recipes to the grave.”
Maldutis Bakery was founded in 1926 in a section of Amsterdam’s East End where many Lithuanian immigrants lived. The founder was Lithuanian Peter Maldutis,
According to Maldutis relative Dave Northrup, Chuck Maldutis was the last to take over the family business in 1947.
Chuck died in 1967 at age 51, a short time after suffering a hemorrhage while driving back to Amsterdam from a Schenectady bread delivery. Maldutis Bakery closed in 1968.
Northrup said, "Nabisco wanted to purchase the bread recipes from (Chuck’s widow) Jean. Despite several offers, she steadfastly refused to sell, and the recipes died with her when she passed in 2013.”
Park Hill native Tom Pikul wrote that Third Avenue in his neighborhood adjacent to the Bigelow Sanford carpet mills was baker's lane.
Park Hill had a large population of Polish Americans a generation ago who patronized Belmont Bakery, Allen's and SD Bakery.
Ray Piech operated the Belmont Bakery after World War II, specializing in rye bread but also making wedding and birthday cakes.
Miknavich said, “Belmont was the place for sweet goods - excellent Danish pastry, all
good cakes and cookies.”
Pikul said, "He had the most delicious rye in town in my humble opinion.” Piech died in his nineties in Florida.
Allen's Bakery was at Third Avenue and Grand Street.
Pikul said, "They had an excellent, very tasty rye loaf and were also known for their delightful pastries, especially the spice cake.”
The third bakery was SD, at Third Avenue and Park Street. Pikul said the bakery was run by a Polish family and made excellent rye bread.
John Vidulich, a native of Austria, operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue. During the Depression he would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played basketball at home.
After each game, his daughter Virginia would lead a parade of ball players and girlfriends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the treats inside.
“It helped with my popularity,” said Vidulich.
Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came in to the bakery frequently for his favorite doughnuts.
Miknavich said he enjoyed Streeter’s Bakery on Market Street hill, “My experience with Streeter's was limited. It was located a few
doors away from Joe's market on Market Street.
“Our family mostly got two products there; One I believe was called White Mountain Rolls which we used for hamburger buns when going on picnics to the state parks up north on Route 30, so it was in-and-out quick.
“Now that I'm thinking about it, they also had really good jelly doughnuts.”
My parents were regular customers of Paul’s uncle Ray Miknavich of Forbes Street Market.
My mother grew up on Forbes Street and my father lived nearby on Eagle Street.
Mom made a list my father would take to the market after he worked the day shift as a weaver at Mohawk Carpet in the East End.
This may be squeamish inducing but the list often included calf kidneys. Our cat enjoyed them and so did we in the traditional English dish beef and kidney pie.
Monday, July 31, 2023-Story behind the story-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries.
Tuesday, August 1, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Hero was a shoemaker
Wednesday, August 2, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 115, June 10, 2016-Historic Site Manager Wade Wells on “The Price of Loyalty: The Confiscation of Johnson Hall in Johnstown” at the start of the American Revolution.
Thursday, August 3, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Great graves of Upstate New York
Friday, August 4, 2023- Episode 486-Bob Cudmore has Focus on History columns on soda bottlers, walking for sport, a submarine rescue, Amsterdam’s clock tower building and more.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall.
On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 30, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:28AM
Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind 5 to 8 mph.
Monday Isolated showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. West wind 6 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
A chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, July 30, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course: Forte squeezes between horses to win Jim Dandy by a nose SARATOGA SPRINGS — For almost four months, Forte’s season has been anything but a straight line, angling away from intended…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Assembly weighing return to Albany this fall for special session to take up Seneca gaming contract, lawmakers say Several Assembly members, including those on the powerful Assembly Ways and Means Committee, said...
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Crumbling foundation of historic Sanford Stud Farm Broodmare Barn in Amsterdam to be repaired TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — The crumbling foundation on the southern side of the historic Broodmare Barn will be repaired through…https://dailygazette.com/
Picture:Daily Gazette Saturday, July 29, 2023-From the archives-Episode 155, March 17, 2017-Christina Baker Kline discusses her historical novel “A Piece of the World.” The book deals with artist Andrew Wyeth and Christina Olson, pictured in a provocative 1948 painting, “Christina’s World.” Kline was author of the best-selling historical novel, “Orphan Train.”
From the New York Times best-selling author of the smash best seller Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth's mysterious and iconic painting Christina's World.
"Later he told me that he'd been afraid to show me the painting. He thought I wouldn't like the way he portrayed me: dragging myself across the field, fingers clutching dirt, my legs twisted behind. The arid moonscape of wheatgrass and timothy. That dilapidated house in the distance, looming up like a secret that won't stay hidden."
Sunday, July 30, 2023 -Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Rotterdam reader Paul Miknavich proposes another column on Amsterdam’s bakeries.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Bob Cudmore Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Posted here on The Historians Sunday
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall.
On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
Fort Plain Museum chairman Norm Bollen has announced that the museum has reached an agreement with a private collector to purchase an original portrait of Sir William Johnson painted in 1756.
“We are very excited to add this historic painting to our collections” said Bollen. The purchase of this painting is in line with our ongoing mission to preserve and collect the 18th century history of the Mohawk Valley for future generations to learn from and enjoy. The painting was originally owned by Robert Chambers, the author of more than 70 novels and short stories, many of which were about the Mohawk Valley in the American Revolution, with several turned into popular silent movies of that era.
The painting, currently on loan to the museum, will remain on exhibition while the museum raises the money to complete the transaction. Contributions supporting the purchase may be sent to the Fort Plain Museum, P.O. Box 324, Fort Plain, NY 13339.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, July 29, 2023
75 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:46AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 79. West wind 6 to 9 mph.
Monday Isolated showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, July 29, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSolar firm has 60 days to send application for Mayfield project MAYFIELD — Dairy farmer Jon Close isn’t yet reaping the financial benefits of allowing a solar farm to develop on… Crumbling foundation of historic Sanford Stud Farm Broodmare Barn in Amsterdam to be repaired TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — The crumbling foundation on the southern side of the historic Broodmare Barn will be repaired through… Saratoga Race Course: Short, but ‘stacked’ field lined up for Jim Dandy SARATOGA SPRINGS — Trainer Brad Cox is taking three swings at the Grade II Jim Dandy on Saturday. The reigning…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Galway Blueberry Festival returns Saturday GALWAY – Galway’s second annual Blueberry Festival returns Saturday. The annual event will...
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Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you and on the way to Episode#500 this fall.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Bob Cudmore Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Posted here on The Historians Sunday
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
Saturday, July 29, 2023-From the archives-Episode 155, March 17, 2017-Christina Baker Kline discusses her historical novel “A Piece of the World.” The book deals with artist Andrew Wyeth and Christina Olson, pictured in a provocative 1948 painting, “Christina’s World.” Kline was author of the best-selling historical novel, “Orphan Train.”
Sunday, July 30, 2023 -Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Rotterdam reader Paul Miknavich proposes another column on Amsterdam’s bakeries.
Fort Plain Museum chairman Norm Bollen has announced that the museum has reached an agreement with a private collector to purchase an original portrait of Sir William Johnson painted in 1756.
“We are very excited to add this historic painting to our collections” said Bollen. The purchase of this painting is in line with our ongoing mission to preserve and collect the 18th century history of the Mohawk Valley for future generations to learn from and enjoy. The painting was originally owned by Robert Chambers, the author of more than 70 novels and short stories, many of which were about the Mohawk Valley in the American Revolution, with several turned into popular silent movies of that era.
The painting, currently on loan to the museum, will remain on exhibition while the museum raises the money to complete the transaction. Contributions supporting the purchase may be sent to the Fort Plain Museum, P.O. Box 324, Fort Plain, NY 13339.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, July 28, 2023
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:31AM
``` ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
-
WHAT...Heat index values of 95 to 100 expected this afternoon.
-
WHERE...In Connecticut, Litchfield County. In western Massachusetts, the southern Berkshires. In New York, the Mohawk, Schoharie, and Mid-Hudson Valleys, Capital District, Lake George-Saratoga Region, central and southern Taconics, and eastern Catskills. In southern Vermont, Bennington and eastern Windham Counties.
-
WHEN...From noon to 8 PM EDT Today.
-
IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The hottest temperatures will occur in urban and valley locations during the mid to late afternoon today.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, July 28, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAmsterdam’s Manny Santos to transfer to Albany Academy, commits to play college baseball at Rhode Island AMSTERDAM — Manny Santos’ summer has been filled with big decisions. On top of making his college decision, Santos decided…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam Town Board squashes conceptual plan for solar PUD off Route 67 TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — A developer seeking support before applying to establish a Planned Unit...
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https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Fort Plain Museum chairman Norm Bollen has announced that the museum has reached an agreement with a private collector to purchase an original portrait of Sir William Johnson painted in 1756.
“We are very excited to add this historic painting to our collections” said Bollen. The purchase of this painting is in line with our ongoing mission to preserve and collect the 18th century history of the Mohawk Valley for future generations to learn from and enjoy. The painting was originally owned by Robert Chambers, the author of more than 70 novels and short stories, many of which were about the Mohawk Valley in the American Revolution, with several turned into popular silent movies of that era.
The painting, currently on loan to the museum, will remain on exhibition while the museum raises the money to complete the transaction. Contributions supporting the purchase may be sent to the Fort Plain Museum, P.O. Box 324, Fort Plain, NY 13339.
Amsterdam market relived in memories
By Bob Cudmore
An Amsterdam native who went on to be a patent attorney has contributed recollections of the former Castler’s Market from the days when the store was at 113 East Main Street.
Henry S. Miller, Jr., who lives now in Massachusetts, worked at Castler’s starting in 1948. Miller’s father, Henry S. Miller, was a salesman for H.J. Heinz and was known to grocers as “the pickle man.” The father became friends with Charles Castler.
Eventually, the elder Miller worked weekends at the market and helped his son get a job delivering groceries on the weekend with Jack Davis in old-fashioned bushel baskets.
“Typically, I would knock on the customer’s door and be invited into the kitchen, empty the contents of the basket on the table, and collect the fee,” Miller wrote. “Charlie was generous. Every week, I would deliver several baskets to poor families and was instructed not to collect the fee. When I came in from the run on Saturday afternoon, I would help my father make the hamburger.”
Miller said that Castler had a “magic potion” to add to hamburger so it would stay red all week. Their motto was “not the cheapest, but the best.”
“Jack Davis is a story in itself,” Miller said. “He was much more comfortable driving a team of horses than driving a panel truck delivering groceries. He never understood the gearshift selection and would start up in the middle of Bell Hill in second gear, slipping the clutch until the vehicle finally moved. I was about 14 at the time and I would have to remind him to shift in first gear.
In the wintertime when it snowed, we put chains on and he would simply spin the wheels until the chains broke or the truck moved.
“Jack lived up on Perth Road near the intersection of Log City Road. Another thing about Jack, he smoked a pipe and used Blue Boy tobacco. Blue Boy was only sold in two places in town; one was Whelan’s Drug at the corner of Chuctanunda and Main Street. The tobacco looked like some of the shavings my daughter uses in her hamster cage and smelled about the same. Jack would spill more than he got into his pipe. It was all over the inside of the truck. Incidentally, the truck had only one seat and I sat on a wooden milk carton next to Jack, long before seatbelts.
“There was another meat cutter, Bill Barbuto. After he left, a meat cutter by the name of Fox worked there for a while, but he would slip out the back door several times a day and go over to the hotel on Washington Street for a pack of cigarettes. The problem was, he was a good meat cutter.
I also remember Floyd Castler as Uncle Floyd and a small fellow named Les. Les lived with his family on Market Street over a pool hall, if I recall. Sadly enough, Les and his family lost all their worldly goods one night in a fire.
“I remember Mike Sagarese had a vegetable concession in the front of the store and on the sidewalk in the summer. He had a young fellow working for him, my age, named Herb Elliott. Herb and I had a friendly rivalry going because he played basketball for Amsterdam High School and I played for St. Mary's.”
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
Saturday, July 29, 2023-From the archives-Episode 155, March 17, 2017-Christina Baker Kline discusses her historical novel “A Piece of the World.” The book deals with artist Andrew Wyeth and Christina Olson, pictured in a provocative 1948 painting, “Christina’s World.” Kline was author of the best-selling historical novel, “Orphan Train.”
Sunday, July 30, 2023 -Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, July 27, 2023
75 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:59AM
``` ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM EDT FRIDAY...
-
WHAT...Heat index values of 95 to 100 expected.
-
WHERE...In western Massachusetts, the southern Berkshires. In eastern New York, the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Capital District, Lake George Saratoga region, southeast Catskill and central Taconics. In southern Vermont, Bennington and eastern Windham Counties.
-
WHEN...From noon to 8 PM EDT Friday.
-
IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The hottest temperatures will occur in urban and valley locations Thursday during the mid to late afternoon.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Bob Cudmore Focus on History-Amsterdam’s rye bakeries
Posted here on The Historians Sunday
```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, July 27, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAmsterdam alderman’s felony weapons possession charges case proceeding, special prosecutor says AMSTERDAM — Felony weapon possession charges are still being pursued against Amsterdam 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Gomula, according to special prosecutor… Court date set for Mayfield woman facing 55 animal cruelty charges MAYFIELD — A court date has been set for a Mayfield woman who was charged last year with 55 counts…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Demolition awaits NY-334 railroad bridge in Mohawk MOHAWK — Hanging low above state Highway 334 in the town of Mohawk is a bruised and battered...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Wednesday, July 26, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, April 12, 2019-Episode 261-Richard Ratajak, now 87, looks back on his life as a child in Amsterdam, a soldier in the Korean War, and a priest in training who served at Auriesville Shrine. Ratajak left the priesthood to marry the woman he loved and held jobs in state government as he gradually lost his eyesight. He served on the board of RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind.*Vine Street renamed to honor century-old Gloversville Palace Diner by Tyler A. McNeilLeader-Herald https://leaderherald.com/gloversville-local-news-johnstown-local-news/gloversville/2023/07/vine-street-renamed-to-honor-century-old-gloversville-palace-diner/*****Thursday, July 27, 2023
Castler’s Market in Amsterdam
An Amsterdam native who went on to be a patent attorney has contributed recollections of the former Castler’s Market from the days when the store was at 113 East Main Street.
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
In the summer of 1973, a serial killer's rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers. A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen. And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow. But there is much more to Garrow's story than a series of murders.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, July 26, 2023**66 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:17AM
Patchy fog between 7am and 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
Thursday A chance of showers and thunderstorms before noon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between noon and 3pm, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Southeast wind 6 to 14 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.**Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAmsterdam Cannabis Inc. aiming to open next month, job fair planned on Saturday AMSTERDAM — The city’s first cannabis dispensary could open its doors in a matter of weeks, according to local brothers…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Ricmar Design & Print Shop moving from Amsterdam to Gloversville https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Stabilization of aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing complete FORT HUNTER — An iconic structure will remain intact for decades to come through the recent completion of a $1.7…Story in The Gazette https://dailygazette.com/
Maldutis Bakery known for rye
By Bob Cudmore
The choice at Maldutis Bakery in Amsterdam was between light rye and pumpernickel.
David Northrup, a relative of the owners, said the seedless light rye loaf “was oblong in shape and had a small white paper label glued to one end that read simply ‘Maldutis Bakery’ in green ink.”
The pumpernickel contained caraway seeds, according to Northrup, “was sold in a large round loaf, and was very sour tasting.”
Northrup added, “I don't think I ever saw anything other than loaves of those two breads displayed in the two countertop glass cases.”
The bakery was at 220 East Main Street at Dean Street, on the north side of East Main and west side of Dean.
Victor Orante, one of Northrup’s uncles on his mother’s side, had married a sister of Jean Shatas Maldutis. Jean handled the retail store; her husband operated the bakery. Northrup would be dispatched by his mother to buy Maldutis bread.
Northrup said Jean knew who he was, “But, alas, the remote family connection never got me a discount on the bread!”
Maldutis Bakery was founded in 1926 in a section of the East End where many Lithuanian immigrants lived. The founder was a Lithuanian native, Peter Maldutis, who previously worked as a baker in Watervliet.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way Friday, November 3, 2023
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks
Maldutis married Anna Valukonis of Amsterdam. They had a son, Charles (known as Chuck) born in 1916 when the family lived in Watervliet and a younger daughter, Frances, who married a man named Ben Rocher.
Northrup said, “On two occasions in the spring of 1932 the independent bakeries in the city took out ads in the Recorder asking residents to buy only breads and other baked goods from the small bakeries in Amsterdam which were apparently losing business to larger commercial bakeries.”
A city directory published in 1932 listed 17 bakers in Amsterdam. In addition to Peter Maldutis were Raffaele Pepe on the South Side, Szymon Wojnar on Park Hill, John Vidulich on Guy Park Avenue, and several others. Some establishments only listed business names: Federal, Home Dairy and New York Star.
Peter’s son Chuck and Jean Shatas of Amsterdam married in 1939. They had no children. Peter died in October 1945. He had been ill for some time but his death was not expected.
Chuck took over the family business in 1947 and like his parents, he and Jean lived behind the bakery. Chuck and Jean had a summer home at Galway Lake.
Maldutis’s employed several bakers over the years and in the 1940s the shop closed for a couple weeks each July to give employees a vacation. Their bread was sold wholesale to McLane’s Deli in Schenectady,
Chuck died in September 1967 at age 51, a short time after suffering a hemorrhage while driving back to Amsterdam from a Schenectady bread delivery.
The family story was that he died from cancer that may have been caused by inhaling flour dust. Maldutis Bakery closed in 1968.
Northrup said, “Once the bakery closed and the bread was no longer available, Nabisco wanted to purchase the bread recipes from Jean. Despite several offers, she steadfastly refused to sell, and the recipes died with her when she passed in 2013.
“There are many of us still around who grew up in the East End and fondly remember the bakery whose only form of direct advertising was a small paper label affixed to the loaves. Maldutis baked and sold only ‘European Style’ breads for over forty years to both local and regional customers, and was well enough known in the business to have Nabisco, a major US company by the 1960s, desire its recipes.”
Wednesday, July 26, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, April 12, 2019-Episode 261-Richard Ratajak, now 87, looks back on his life as a child in Amsterdam, a soldier in the Korean War, and a priest in training who served at Auriesville Shrine. Ratajak left the priesthood to marry the woman he loved and held jobs in state government as he gradually lost his eyesight. He served on the board of RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind.
Thursday, July 27, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Castler’s Market in Amsterdam
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
In the summer of 1973, a serial killer's rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers. A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen. And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow. But there is much more to Garrow's story than a series of murders.
Posted by JSeelow
YouTube
Abandoned Mohawk Carpet Mill
June 10, 2017
Abandoned Mohawk Carpet Mill in Amsterdam, NY
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, July 25, 2023
64 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM
Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight Patchy fog between 4am and 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the morning
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersStabilization of aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing complete FORT HUNTER — An iconic structure will remain intact for decades to come through the recent completion of a $1.7…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam mayor: Three motels rejected offers to house migrants AMSTERDAM — Several Amsterdam motels declined requests from New York City to house asylum seekers, Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti learned late…
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Monday, July 24, 2023-Story behind the story-Night time food wagons in Amsterdam
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Amsterdam’s Maldutis Bakery
The choice at Maldutis Bakery in Amsterdam was between light rye and pumpernickel. David Northrup, a relative of the owners, said the seedless light rye loaf “was oblong in shape and had a small white paper label glued to one end that read simply ‘Maldutis Bakery’ in green ink.”
Wednesday, July 26, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, April 12, 2019-Episode 261-Richard Ratajak, now 87, looks back on his life as a child in Amsterdam, a soldier in the Korean War, and a priest in training who served at Auriesville Shrine. Ratajak left the priesthood to marry the woman he loved and held jobs in state government as he gradually lost his eyesight. He served on the board of RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind.
Thursday, July 27, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Castler’s Market in Amsterdam
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
In the summer of 1973, a serial killer's rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers. A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen. And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow. But there is much more to Garrow's story than a series of murders.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way Friday, November 3, 2023
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Night lunch wagons were popular a century ago
By Bob Cudmore
Recorder columnist Hugh Donlon, born in 1896, fondly remembered the end of the era of downtown Amsterdam’s night lunch wagons.
Two lunch wagons were drawn by horses each afternoon, one to Church and East Main Streets and the other to Market and West Main. The wagons were owned by the McNally family, who stored them in sheds near what is now the post office on Church Street.
In his 1980 book “Annals of a Mill Town,” Donlon wrote, “Wafted on the summer zephyr or swirled fiercely by the winter’s gale, the onionized fragrance of a McNally western egg sandwich could be sensed blocks away.” A western egg sandwich cost a dime; a piece of pie was a nickel.
Eat-in or take out lunch wagons, predecessors of today’s food trucks, first appeared in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1870s.
According to an article by Joyce K. Schiller of the Norman Rockwell Museum, the temperance movement sometimes sponsored these mobile eateries as a way to keep hungry working people out of saloons at night.
William McNally from Hudson, Massachusetts, established the first night lunch wagons in Amsterdam during the 1890s.
“The business thrived from the outset,” according to McNally’s 1944 obituary, “Chiefly because of the industriousness of the originator and the sincere confidence of the public which he quickly gained.”
Early in the twentieth century William McNally turned the operation over to his relatives, mainly John McNally, who may have been William’s cousin. William continued as owner and frequently visited Amsterdam.
Some restaurant proprietors opposed the mobile eateries. An attempt to ban the two McNally wagons and a third mobile eatery owned by William Cooper failed to pass the Amsterdam common council in 1904. Cooper parked his wagon on East Main Street near the local trolley waiting room.
The newspaper reported that McNally paid twenty-five dollars in local taxes, said to be as much as was paid by businesses with brick and mortar locations.
William McNally was tapped to co-manage the restaurant at Amsterdam’s Central Hotel in 1906 and the Recorder reported he was picked because his wagons “have come to be known all over the state for the quality of food they put out.”
On a below zero Valentine’s Day in 1916 this lunch wagon story was reported in the Recorder, “Traffic on the Main and Market Hill divisions of the trolley line was halted for half an hour due to difficulty experienced in getting one of John McNally’s night lunch wagons in its customary station at the corner of Market and West Main Streets.”
On June 24, 1920 a worker’s lighted cigarette accidentally ignited gasoline being poured into a tank of one of McNally’s wagons in its Church Street shed. Both wagons, called beaneries in the story, were destroyed in the fire, the shed collapsed and damage was estimated at $6,000. A kitchen used to prepare food in the building was damaged.
But the McNally wagons rolled on. As automobile traffic increased, the wagons finally disappeared in July 1926 after the death of John McNally.
For many years Matty Curran was chef at the Church Street wagon. Curran later operated Matty’s Lunch on West Main Street. In late 1936 he disappeared from his Amsterdam rooming house and died three months later after being found wandering in Birmingham, Alabama, suffering from pneumonia. There was speculation he was the victim of amnesia.
In 1951 another former lunch wagon chef named Charles Munsey died in Amsterdam at age 91. After the wagons closed, Munsey held other cooking jobs then worked for retailer Montgomery Ward. His nickname from his cooking days was Charley Beans.
Posted by JSeelow
YouTube
Abandoned Mohawk Carpet Mill
June 10, 2017
Abandoned Mohawk Carpet Mill in Amsterdam, NY
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 23, 2023
64 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:35AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 23, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga County series centers around ‘untold’ revolutionary past HALFMOON — With the French support, Continental forces decisively defeated the British in old Saratoga. The Oct. 7, 1777 victory… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Monday, July 24 PICK OF THE DAY Each Monday at Putnam Place will be live music by local band Family Tree, followed by…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam hires actuarial firm to finally comply with state accounting standard AMSTERDAM — The city will finally come into compliance with a government accounting standard by...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way Friday, November 3, 2023
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Night lunch wagons were popular a century ago
By Bob Cudmore
Recorder columnist Hugh Donlon, born in 1896, fondly remembered the end of the era of downtown Amsterdam’s night lunch wagons.
Two lunch wagons were drawn by horses each afternoon, one to Church and East Main Streets and the other to Market and West Main. The wagons were owned by the McNally family, who stored them in sheds near what is now the post office on Church Street.
In his 1980 book “Annals of a Mill Town,” Donlon wrote, “Wafted on the summer zephyr or swirled fiercely by the winter’s gale, the onionized fragrance of a McNally western egg sandwich could be sensed blocks away.” A western egg sandwich cost a dime; a piece of pie was a nickel.
Eat-in or take out lunch wagons, predecessors of today’s food trucks, first appeared in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1870s.
According to an article by Joyce K. Schiller of the Norman Rockwell Museum, the temperance movement sometimes sponsored these mobile eateries as a way to keep hungry working people out of saloons at night.
William McNally from Hudson, Massachusetts, established the first night lunch wagons in Amsterdam during the 1890s.
“The business thrived from the outset,” according to McNally’s 1944 obituary, “Chiefly because of the industriousness of the originator and the sincere confidence of the public which he quickly gained.”
Early in the twentieth century William McNally turned the operation over to his relatives, mainly John McNally, who may have been William’s cousin. William continued as owner and frequently visited Amsterdam.
Some restaurant proprietors opposed the mobile eateries. An attempt to ban the two McNally wagons and a third mobile eatery owned by William Cooper failed to pass the Amsterdam common council in 1904. Cooper parked his wagon on East Main Street near the local trolley waiting room.
The newspaper reported that McNally paid twenty-five dollars in local taxes, said to be as much as was paid by businesses with brick and mortar locations.
William McNally was tapped to co-manage the restaurant at Amsterdam’s Central Hotel in 1906 and the Recorder reported he was picked because his wagons “have come to be known all over the state for the quality of food they put out.”
On a below zero Valentine’s Day in 1916 this lunch wagon story was reported in the Recorder, “Traffic on the Main and Market Hill divisions of the trolley line was halted for half an hour due to difficulty experienced in getting one of John McNally’s night lunch wagons in its customary station at the corner of Market and West Main Streets.”
On June 24, 1920 a worker’s lighted cigarette accidentally ignited gasoline being poured into a tank of one of McNally’s wagons in its Church Street shed. Both wagons, called beaneries in the story, were destroyed in the fire, the shed collapsed and damage was estimated at $6,000. A kitchen used to prepare food in the building was damaged.
But the McNally wagons rolled on. As automobile traffic increased, the wagons finally disappeared in July 1926 after the death of John McNally.
For many years Matty Curran was chef at the Church Street wagon. Curran later operated Matty’s Lunch on West Main Street. In late 1936 he disappeared from his Amsterdam rooming house and died three months later after being found wandering in Birmingham, Alabama, suffering from pneumonia. There was speculation he was the victim of amnesia.
In 1951 another former lunch wagon chef named Charles Munsey died in Amsterdam at age 91. After the wagons closed, Munsey held other cooking jobs then worked for retailer Montgomery Ward. His nickname from his cooking days was Charley Beans.
Monday, July 24, 2023-Story behind the story-Night time food wagons in Amsterdam
Tuesday, July 25, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s Maldutis Bakery
Wednesday, July 26, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, April 12, 2019-Episode 261-Richard Ratajak, now 87, looks back on his life as a child in Amsterdam, a soldier in the Korean War, and a priest in training who served at Auriesville Shrine. Ratajak left the priesthood to marry the woman he loved and held jobs in state government as he gradually lost his eyesight. He served on the board of RISE, WMHT’s radio service for the blind.
Thursday, July 27, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Castler’s Market in Amsterdam
Friday, July 28, 2023-Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
In the summer of 1973, a serial killer's rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers. A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen. And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow. But there is much more to Garrow's story than a series of murders.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way this November
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
North Chuctanunda Creek, Amsterdam, NY - Whitewater Kayaking
Urban creeking in Amsterdam, NY. Posted by Homer D
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 23, 2023
58 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:27AM
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tonight Patchy fog before 4am, then patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 60. Light and variable wind.
Monday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, July 23, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Sunday, July 23
PICK OF THE DAY Berkshire Bank Family Sundays continues this Sunday with free family-friendly activities, games, attractions and educational activities…**https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way this November
History the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Tugboat captain Art Cohn discusses canal schooners, the tractor trailers of the Erie Canal. Cohn was interviewed during the summer tour of the replica canal schooner Lois McClure. Also on this episode, a visit to an authors’ fair at the Fulton County Museum in Gloversville.
Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
The Sunday Read from The Gazette
Bob Cudmore Focus on History "It was in the air at Midnight"
To Waft
Amsterdam’s night time food wagons.
In his 1980 book “Annals of a Mill Town,” Donlon wrote, “Wafted on the summer zephyr or swirled fiercely by the winter’s gale, the onionized fragrance of a McNally western egg sandwich could be sensed blocks away.” A western egg sandwich cost a dime; a piece of pie was a nickel.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, July 22, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:29AM
Sunny, with a high near 81. West wind 8 to 10 mph.
Tonight Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 56. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Sunday Patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, July 22, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersState police inspector on leave; charged with DWI, controlled substance poss. in Montgomery County TOWN OF MOHAWK — A state police staff inspector has been charged after allegedly crashing into a mailbox while driving… Johnstown Police chief names school district’s new SRO JOHNSTOWN — Greater Johnstown School District’s first armed resource officer has close local ties. In the fall, Officer Kerri Hauser…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Palatine Bridge dancers win big in national competition https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
Lorissa Rinehart
Saturday, July 22,-From the archives- Episode 174, July 28, 2017, Tugboat captain Art Cohn discusses canal schooners, the tractor trailers of the Erie Canal. Cohn was interviewed during the summer tour of the replica canal schooner Lois McClure. Also on this episode, a visit to an authors’ fair at the Fulton County Museum in Gloversville.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Amsterdam’s night time food wagons.
Recorder columnist Hugh Donlon, born in 1896, fondly remembered the end of the era of downtown Amsterdam’s night lunch wagons. Two lunch wagons were drawn by horses each afternoon...
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way this November
History the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, July 21, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:33AM
A slight chance of showers before noon, then scattered showers and thunderstorms between noon and 5pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. West wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 79. West wind around 11 mph.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 6 to 8 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, July 21, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Friday, July 21 PICK OF THE DAY Story ballets will be in the spotlight Friday at Saratoga Performing Arts Center with “Swan Lake,”…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam Planning Commission approves West End redevelopment project https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Route 5-S and the Left Bank deserve a look
By Bob Cudmore
The recent column regarding history on Route 5 in Montgomery County has produced a request for equal time from Route 5-S. Route 5 runs north of the Mohawk River, while Route 5-S runs on the south, what some call the left bank.
“There is no doubt that the Route 5 corridor in Montgomery County presents some great historic sites,” wrote Norman J. Bollen of the Fort Plain Museum. “However, the left bank of the Mohawk along Route 5-S has some equally intriguing history.
“Fort Hunter boasts one of our state’s finest Erie Canal sites with two complete canal locks, a restored canal store, the towpath walking trail, a museum and the remains of the Schoharie Aqueduct.
“At Canajoharie, we find the Van Alstyne House, originally a tavern belonging to Goshen Van Alstyne and one of the meeting places for the Tryon County Committee of Safety from 1775-77.
“On the hill overlooking the village of Fort Plain is the museum and Historical Park of the same name. The history of Fort Plain and the battle for the Mohawk is told in vivid detail at the museum. A new exhibit detailing Fort Plain's role at the center of the defense of the Mohawk Valley in 1781 is scheduled to open this summer.
“Opposite from the village of St Johnsville, hidden along the river, is Lock 33 of the Erie Canal. The canal lock was the subject of a painting by historical artist L.F. Tantillo.
“Continuing west on the south side of the Mohawk you will find the Indian Castle Church. Located just across the county line in Herkimer County, the church was built in 1769 by Sir William Johnson.
Several miles further, next to the Little Falls Thruway exit, is the home of General Nicholas Herkimer. General Herkimer and his Tryon County Militia were ambushed at Oriskany in August of 1777. The general was wounded during the fight and died at his home 10 days after the battle. The historic conflict opened the floodgates for war in the Mohawk Valley.”
VEDDER’S FIRST NAME
Retired Amsterdam schoolteacher John Naple has asked Focus on History to find out the first name of the Vedder who founded Veddersburg or Vedder’s Mill at the intersection of the North Chuctanunda Creek and the Mohawk River in the late 1700s. The settlement that began as Vedder’s sawmill and gristmill became what is now the city of Amsterdam.
Naple said Vedder’s first name is given as Albert in Hugh Donlon’s history of Amsterdam (“Annals of Milltown”) and as Aaron on the Town of Amsterdam web site and other places.
Local historian Jerry Snyder reported that historian W. Max Reid refers to the miller as Albert Veered in a 1910 article and that the 1954 sesquicentennial program refers to him as Aaron Vedder.
Amsterdam city historian James Marks responded that most history books give Vedder’s first name as Aaron or Albert.
Marks said that in Germanic countries, the middle name was often used as the common name for a son if his father had the same first name. It would be the same idea as our practice of calling a son Junior to avoid confusion with his father assuming his father has the same name.
Marks wrote, “In the Vedder family of Schenectady the name Albertse is often seen and indicates by the “se” an ancestor named Albert. Arent, Arient (Aaron) are also very common. My guess would be that (the founder of Veddersburg) was Aaron Albertse Vedder and was called by whichever name confused people the least.”
And Amsterdam native Peter Betz came up with another Vedder query. Does anyone know where Vedder was buried?
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way this November
History the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
Tomorrow
From the beginning of World War II through the early days of Vietnam, groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle chased dangerous assignments her male colleagues wouldn’t touch, pioneering a radical style of reporting that focused on the humanity of the oppressed.
Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, July 20, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:45AM
Sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Friday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 7am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, July 20, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNipperfest Saturday in Schenectady and Baha Men at Caroga Lake among top picks – Of Note OF NOTE – The Capital Region’s music scene is perpetually busy, especially in the summertime. Whether it’s a stadium show***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
DEC: Two fined in separate illegal dumping incidents in Minden, Charleston MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Separate incidents involving illegal dumping of solid waste on private...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 on the way this November
History the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Jack Kelly is author of “The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America.” Kelly tells the story of the 1894 Pullman strike.
The dramatic story of the explosive 1894 clash of industry, labor, and government that shook the nation and marked a turning point for America
The Edge of Anarchy offers a vivid account of the greatest uprising of working people in American history. At the pinnacle of the Gilded Age, a boycott of Pullman sleeping cars by hundreds of thousands of railroad employees brought commerce to a standstill across much of the country. Famine threatened, riots broke out along the rail lines. Soon the US Army was on the march and gunfire rang from the streets of major cities.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
History on the highway: Route 5 S
The recent column regarding history on Route 5 in Montgomery County has produced a request for equal time from Route 5-S. Route 5 runs north of the Mohawk River, while Route 5-S runs on the south, what some call the left bank.
“There is no doubt that the Route 5 corridor in Montgomery County presents some great historic sites,” wrote Norman J. Bollen of the Fort Plain Museum. “However, the left bank of the Mohawk along Route 5-S has some equally intriguing history.
Posted by News Channel 3-12
July 11, 2023
KEYT News Channel 3, News Channel 12 and KKFX Fox 11 News broadcast throughout Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties. https://keyt.com
The latest conversation this Friday
July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, July 19, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM
Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. West wind 6 to 9 mph.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 58. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersThings to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Wednesday, July 19 PICK OF THE DAY New York City Ballet takes the stage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center tonight with several… Galway’s O’Brien named Capital District Sports Women of the Year scholastic award recipient Galway High School senior Grace O’Brien has been named as one of the 10 scholastic award recipients for 2023 by…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Florida Town Board decision to review or nix PUD to rezone farmland still pending TOWN OF FLORIDA — Next steps on an application to rezone roughly 500 acres of farmland for...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Historians with Bob Cudmore
History
the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.
You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for the year.
The Masons are seated on a bench in front of a large building with two trees in front. The outline of what appears to be an amusement park ride is behind the building. About a half dozen men are in front of the building behind the Masons and a man in a vest appears to be addressing that group.
Family portraits
By Bob Cudmore
On a July day in 1919 the Mason family of Amsterdam stopped at the city’s Crescent Park, later known as Jollyland, Mohawk Mills Park and today called Shuttleworth Park.
Frances Mason was five months old. A photograph shows her father Charles wearing a dark suit and bow tie, holding a straw hat. Her mother Lena, in a long white dress and dark boots, holds young Frances who looks a bit serious in her coverall white baby clothes, including a hat.
Frances’s older brother Emil is between father and mother, wearing a white shirt, long stockings and short pants. Emil has a quizzical look on his face and well trimmed hair, like his father. Both father and son are wearing dress shoes. Both parents are smiling at the camera.
“They all dressed,” Frances Mason Calvano noted in a letter.
The Masons are seated on a bench in front of a large building with two trees in front. The outline of what appears to be an amusement park ride is behind the building. About a half dozen men are in front of the building behind the Masons and a man in a vest appears to be addressing that group.
“My mother and her parents settled in Amsterdam when my mother was about ten,” Calvano wrote. “My grandmother and mother sewed pearl buttons on cards.”
One of the Chalmers mills in Amsterdam made pearl shirt buttons and Calvano still has a box of Amsterdam buttons at her home in the town of Guilderland. Some of the paths at Jollyland were said to be paved with discarded buttons.
“Father started and owned Mason’s Barbershop on Division Street in Amsterdam,” Calvano wrote. “My brother Emil Mason was a barber and my mother Lena was a beautician. My husband Christopher Calvano played baseball at Jollyland with the Derby Stars.”
Frances and Christopher graduated from Wilbur H. Lynch High School in Amsterdam in 1936. Her husband, now deceased, was a Marine.
“My brother Emil was a dancer at the Jollyland dance pavilion and a great part of the roller rink,” Calvano wrote. “In later years my brother bought the Tower Inn in Cranesville.” That restaurant on old Route 5 is now called Valentino’s.
JOLLYLAND CONCESSION
Diane Jazeboski of Scotia wrote that her grandfather, Louis (Kuprewicz) Cooper, ran a concession at Jollyland selling soda and snacks.
Jazeboski’s mother, Dorothy Kuprewicz Dziewit, would take the trolley to Jollyland and roller skate while her parents were busy with the concession stand.
Jazeboski wrote, “It was a wonderful experience for me to trace my Mom’s family. Her Kowalski grandparents settled in Amsterdam in the early 1900s but they seemed to move to a new address every few years. I have been all over the city looking at homes where they lived. My grandfather was listed as a mill hand but also operated small grocery stores at different locations.”
Jazeboski said she has a new respect and appreciation for the working class and how they lived.
She also has a question, “Do you have information about the photographers who worked in Amsterdam during the early 1900s? I have photos with the names Kennedy’s Mammoth Gallery, 24-28 Main Street and F. Pawloski on the back.”
One photo shows Louis Kuprewicz or Kuprevicz in front of his grocery and meat market at 204 East Main Street in Amsterdam. He is wearing a white apron over dark pants, white shirt, vest and tie. His hands are in his pockets and he has a serious expression.
The store has advertisements for Kuprevicz Groceries, Gold Medal Flour and Star Soap—extra large, extra good, save the panels. Canned and bottled goods are displayed in the windows.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023-From the Archives- January 11, 2019-Episode 248, Jack Kelly is author of “The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America.” Kelly tells the story of the 1894 Pullman strike.
The dramatic story of the explosive 1894 clash of industry, labor, and government that shook the nation and marked a turning point for America
The Edge of Anarchy offers a vivid account of the greatest uprising of working people in American history. At the pinnacle of the Gilded Age, a boycott of Pullman sleeping cars by hundreds of thousands of railroad employees brought commerce to a standstill across much of the country. Famine threatened, riots broke out along the rail lines. Soon the US Army was on the march and gunfire rang from the streets of major cities.
Thursday, July 20, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-History on the highway: Route 5 S
Friday, July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, July 18, 2023
74 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:35AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates.. until midnight EDT tonight.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNiskayuna-based GE Research team studying hydrogen-fueled jet engines partners with UAlbany professor NISKAYUNA — When a team of Niskayuna researchers working on next-generation hydrogen-powered jet engine technology began exploring the potential environmental…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Montgomery County seeks $1M to revitalize western half of Beech-Nut site in Canajoharie CANAJOHARIE — Montgomery County officials are eyeing a heap of funding to breathe new life into a... Amsterdam woman gets max sentence in grand larceny case, Montgomery County DA says
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Monday, July 17, 2023-Story behind the story-19th century bottlers drank more than soda plus Lurie’s Dept. Store (The Monday tale about Seven Minutes)
Tuesday, July 18, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Family portraits
On a July day in 1919 the Mason family of Amsterdam stopped at the city’s Crescent Park, later known as Jollyland, Mohawk Mills Park and today called Shuttleworth Park. Frances Mason was five months old.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023-From the Archives- January 11, 2019-Episode 248, Jack Kelly is author of “The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America.” Kelly tells the story of the 1894 Pullman strike.
Thursday, July 20, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-History on the highway: Route 5 S
Friday, July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
The first authoritative biography of pioneering photojournalist Dickey Chapelle, who from World War II through the early days of Vietnam got her story by any means necessary as one of the first female war correspondents.
"I side with prisoners against guards, enlisted men against officers, weakness against power."
From the beginning of World War II through the early days of Vietnam, groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle chased dangerous assignments her male colleagues wouldn’t touch, pioneering a radical style of reporting that focused on the humanity of the oppressed.
The latest donor to our yearly fund drive is John Woodward of Rotterdam who writes he really enjoyed the podcast with Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for 2023.
19th century soda bottlers drank more than soda
By Bob Cudmore
In an 1886 article on the carbonated soda industry, an Amsterdam newspaper painted a bleak picture. The heavy glass bottles sometimes exploded when being filled, injuring workers. The workload was heavy in the summer months.
The Daily Democrat stated, “A soda water manufacturer said that it was unquestionably true that the majority of hands taken on for the summer trade were men in the habit of getting drunk. But it was in a degree excusable, he said, by the extremely hard labor required of them during the busy season.”
Just over three decades later, soda bottlers in Montgomery and Fulton counties were raising prices on carbonated beverages a month after America entered World War I. The Bottlers’ Association of Fulton and Montgomery counties bought a newspaper ad to explain the price hike to customers.
The 1917 ad stated that raw material costs were going up: sugar up 100 percent and extracts up 50 percent. The price of soda cases had risen 30 percent and labor costs had increased 15 percent.
A case of 12 pints of soda now cost customers 75 cents and a case of 12 quarts cost $1.25. Plus the bottlers required a deposit of two cents for each small bottle and a nickel for each large bottle.
Members of the trade group in 1917 were companies named Fitzgerald, Case, Welch and Redding in Amsterdam, Jones bottling works in Fonda and Gross bottling in Gloversville.
Fitzgerald’s bottling works, founded in 1882, lasted almost a century. The bottling plant relocated in 1915 to 465 East Main Street in the town of Amsterdam on what is now Chapman Drive. Fitzgerald’s relocated to Freeman’s Bridge Road in Glenville in the late 1960s.
Company president Gerald Fitzgerald lived with his wife across the street from the Amsterdam plant, was known as “Fitz” and died in 1970
LURIE’S
M. Lurie and Company of Amsterdam, the city’s premiere department store in downtown’s heyday, opened in 1908.
History buff Emil Suda said, “Lurie's had an impressive look about it, covered in a shiny black façade with the name M. Lurie & Co. in large white block letters.”
“What made an impressive appearance at Lurie’s was the island walk around in the center of the main entrance, that was lighted at night and showcased fashionable apparel,” Suda said.
Lurie’s was known for its pneumatic tube cash system. Mildred Allen from Eagle Street worked at the change room in Lurie’s, which was elevated, a few steps off the floor, creating a balcony look.
The store had its own discount stamp books
Isadore Demsky felt stifled working at Lurie’s in the men’s department in the 1930s before leaving town and seeking his fortune at college and in Hollywood as the actor Kirk Douglas.
Historian Dan Weaver wrote in a 2019 Recorder article,
“Born in 1857, Morris Lurie emigrated from Lithuania to Troy, NY when he was 15.” Lurie opened his first store on Fulton Street in Troy.
Weaver wrote, “Over time he opened other stores in Little Falls, Schenectady and Amsterdam, NY and North Adams, MA.”
According to Weaver’s article, Morris Lurie died in 1932. His son, Abraham ran the Amsterdam store until he died in 1945. In 1931, Abraham and Fanny Lurie were living in Amsterdam, at 196 Guy Park Avenue.
After 1945 Lewis M. Lurie, another son, was company president, and Howard F. Hallenbeck managed the Amsterdam store. .
Jona Sokolowski and Bernard Mass of New Jersey purchased Lurie’s in 1972. The next year the state closed Lurie’s for failure to pay taxes.
Weaver said, “The store was demolished to make room for the Amsterdam Mall.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 17, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:06AM
Widespread haze after 9am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Light west wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Tonight Scattered showers, mainly after 4am. Widespread haze. Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 8 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tuesday Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Widespread haze. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind becoming southwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 17, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersRotterdam Junction-based author celebrates new book, ancestry at Mabee Farm ROTTERDAM JUNCTION — Kiersten Marcil, of Rotterdam Junction, officially released her debut novel in February. On Saturday, she celebrated the Montgomery County to buy new voting machines for over $383K, will begin using in 2024 FONDA — Voters at polling sites across Montgomery County are expected to cast ballots using new voting machines next election…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam Free Library hosts natural hair care workshop over next two Mondays A two-part natural hair care workshop will be offered at the Amsterdam Free Library on this...
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The latest donor to our yearly fund drive is John Woodward of Rotterdam who writes he really enjoyed the podcast with Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for 2023.
19th century soda bottlers drank more than soda
By Bob Cudmore
In an 1886 article on the carbonated soda industry, an Amsterdam newspaper painted a bleak picture. The heavy glass bottles sometimes exploded when being filled, injuring workers. The workload was heavy in the summer months.
The Daily Democrat stated, “A soda water manufacturer said that it was unquestionably true that the majority of hands taken on for the summer trade were men in the habit of getting drunk. But it was in a degree excusable, he said, by the extremely hard labor required of them during the busy season.”
Just over three decades later, soda bottlers in Montgomery and Fulton counties were raising prices on carbonated beverages a month after America entered World War I. The Bottlers’ Association of Fulton and Montgomery counties bought a newspaper ad to explain the price hike to customers.
The 1917 ad stated that raw material costs were going up: sugar up 100 percent and extracts up 50 percent. The price of soda cases had risen 30 percent and labor costs had increased 15 percent.
A case of 12 pints of soda now cost customers 75 cents and a case of 12 quarts cost $1.25. Plus the bottlers required a deposit of two cents for each small bottle and a nickel for each large bottle.
Members of the trade group in 1917 were companies named Fitzgerald, Case, Welch and Redding in Amsterdam, Jones bottling works in Fonda and Gross bottling in Gloversville.
Fitzgerald’s bottling works, founded in 1882, lasted almost a century. The bottling plant relocated in 1915 to 465 East Main Street in the town of Amsterdam on what is now Chapman Drive. Fitzgerald’s relocated to Freeman’s Bridge Road in Glenville in the late 1960s.
Company president Gerald Fitzgerald lived with his wife across the street from the Amsterdam plant, was known as “Fitz” and died in 1970
LURIE’S
M. Lurie and Company of Amsterdam, the city’s premiere department store in downtown’s heyday, opened in 1908.
History buff Emil Suda said, “Lurie's had an impressive look about it, covered in a shiny black façade with the name M. Lurie & Co. in large white block letters.”
“What made an impressive appearance at Lurie’s was the island walk around in the center of the main entrance, that was lighted at night and showcased fashionable apparel,” Suda said.
Lurie’s was known for its pneumatic tube cash system. Mildred Allen from Eagle Street worked at the change room in Lurie’s, which was elevated, a few steps off the floor, creating a balcony look.
The store had its own discount stamp books
Isadore Demsky felt stifled working at Lurie’s in the men’s department in the 1930s before leaving town and seeking his fortune at college and in Hollywood as the actor Kirk Douglas.
Historian Dan Weaver wrote in a 2019 Recorder article,
“Born in 1857, Morris Lurie emigrated from Lithuania to Troy, NY when he was 15.” Lurie opened his first store on Fulton Street in Troy.
Weaver wrote, “Over time he opened other stores in Little Falls, Schenectady and Amsterdam, NY and North Adams, MA.”
According to Weaver’s article, Morris Lurie died in 1932. His son, Abraham ran the Amsterdam store until he died in 1945. In 1931, Abraham and Fanny Lurie were living in Amsterdam, at 196 Guy Park Avenue.
After 1945 Lewis M. Lurie, another son, was company president, and Howard F. Hallenbeck managed the Amsterdam store. .
Jona Sokolowski and Bernard Mass of New Jersey purchased Lurie’s in 1972. The next year the state closed Lurie’s for failure to pay taxes.
Weaver said, “The store was demolished to make room for the Amsterdam Mall.”
Monday, July 17, 2023-Story behind the story-19th century bottlers drank more than soda plus Lurie’s Dept. Store (The Monday tale about Seven Minutes)
Tuesday, July 18, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Family portraits
On a July day in 1919 the Mason family of Amsterdam stopped at the city’s Crescent Park, later known as Jollyland, Mohawk Mills Park and today called Shuttleworth Park. Frances Mason was five months old.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023-From the Archives- January 11, 2019-Episode 248, Jack Kelly is author of “The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America.” Kelly tells the story of the 1894 Pullman strike.
Thursday, July 20, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-History on the highway: Route 5 S
Friday, July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
The first authoritative biography of pioneering photojournalist Dickey Chapelle, who from World War II through the early days of Vietnam got her story by any means necessary as one of the first female war correspondents.
"I side with prisoners against guards, enlisted men against officers, weakness against power."
From the beginning of World War II through the early days of Vietnam, groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle chased dangerous assignments her male colleagues wouldn’t touch, pioneering a radical style of reporting that focused on the humanity of the oppressed.
Amsterdam NY Flyover
by Ken Bollen
Amsterdam NY New Bridge and Downtown Loop. Posted on YouTube November 30, 2016
WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 16, 2023
76 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:05AM
``` ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...
-
WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
-
WHERE...Portions of northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts and New York, including the following areas, in northwestern Connecticut, Northern Litchfield and Southern Litchfield. In western Massachusetts, Northern Berkshire and Southern Berkshire. In New York, Eastern Albany, Eastern Columbia, Eastern Dutchess, Eastern Greene, Eastern Rensselaer, Eastern Schenectady, Eastern Ulster, Hamilton, Montgomery, Northern Fulton, Northern Herkimer, Northern Saratoga, Northern Warren, Northern Washington, Schoharie, Southeast Warren, Southern Fulton, Southern Herkimer, Southern Saratoga, Southern Washington, Western Albany, Western Columbia, Western Dutchess, Western Greene, Western Rensselaer, Western Schenectady and Western Ulster.
-
WHEN...Through late tonight.
-
IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
-
Periods of heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms associated with a frontal boundary will bring the risk for flash flooding.
Total rainfall amounts by Monday morning will range from 1 to 3 inches with some locally higher amounts. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, July 16, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersWaite: Finding an answer for opioid use disorder When Allison was 9, her mother went missing. After one night, Allison and her four younger siblings started to worry…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amid high inflation, New York State caps property tax growth at 2% for third consecutive year ALBANY – While inflation costs continue to remain high, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced property tax growth will once again…
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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The latest donor to our yearly fund drive is John Woodward of Rotterdam who writes he really enjoyed the podcast with Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. We’ve now raised 3210 dollars, over 45% of our $7000 goal for 2023.
Bob Cudmore and The Historians Weekend Radio Schedule
Today at Noon WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM
WIZR Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM and Northville 104.3
Saturday, July 15, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator and film historian Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Saturday, July 15, 2023-Episode Extra-Jim Kaplan lives in New Rochelle, the first hot spot in the corona virus outbreak in New York State. He has the latest on efforts to save historic sites dedicated to American Revolution pamphleteer Thomas Paine in New Rochelle.
Amsterdam NY Flyover
by Ken Bollen
Amsterdam NY New Bridge and Downtown Loop. Posted on YouTube November 30, 2016
WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Sunday, July 16, 2023 on The Historians
(Read the story today in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder)
https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Focus on History-19th century bottlers drank more than soda plus Lurie’s Dept. Store
In an 1886 article on the carbonated soda industry, an Amsterdam newspaper painted a bleak picture. The heavy glass bottles sometimes exploded when being filled, injuring workers. The workload was heavy in the summer months.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, July 15, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:48AM
``` ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT...
-
WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
-
WHERE...Portions of northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts and New York, including the following areas, in northwestern Connecticut, Northern Litchfield and Southern Litchfield. In western Massachusetts, Northern Berkshire and Southern Berkshire. In New York, Eastern Albany, Eastern Columbia, Eastern Dutchess, Eastern Greene, Eastern Rensselaer, Eastern Schenectady, Eastern Ulster, Hamilton, Montgomery, Northern Fulton, Northern Herkimer, Northern Saratoga, Northern Warren, Northern Washington, Schoharie, Southeast Warren, Southern Fulton, Southern Herkimer, Southern Saratoga, Southern Washington, Western Albany, Western Columbia, Western Dutchess, Western Greene, Western Rensselaer, Western Schenectady and Western Ulster.
-
WHEN...From late tonight through late Sunday night.
-
IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, July 15, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersA rainy SummerNight takes over downtown Schenectady Friday’s Schenectady County SummerNight was filled with food, music and… rain. The night, often labeled as “The Capital Region’s Biggest… Things to do in & around Saratoga Springs: Saturday, July 15 PICK OF THE DAY The Dave Matthews Band will perform at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saturday at 7:30 p.m…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Fonda’s Trackside Wine & Liquors a different kind of venture for owner Singh FONDA — The owner of Trackside Wine & Liquor likes the double meaning of the name of his...
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WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Please contribute to our 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Bob Cudmore and The Historians Weekend Radio Schedule
Saturday at Noon WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM
WIZR Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM and Northville 104.3
Saturday, July 15, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator and film historian Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Saturday, July 15, 2023-Episode Extra-Jim Kaplan lives in New Rochelle, the first hot spot in the corona virus outbreak in New York State. He has the latest on efforts to save historic sites dedicated to American Revolution pamphleteer Thomas Paine in New Rochelle.
The Historians on the WWW
Saturday, July 15,-From the archives- Episode 201, February 9, 2018, Peter Betz, history columnist for the Leader Herald newspaper, has stories on the local impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic, some notorious Fulton County jail escapes, and the Airship Gelatin, funded by Johnstown’s Knox family.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Focus on History-19th century bottlers drank more than soda plus Lurie’s Dept. Store
In an 1886 article on the carbonated soda industry, an Amsterdam newspaper painted a bleak picture. The heavy glass bottles sometimes exploded when being filled, injuring workers. The workload was heavy in the summer months.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, July 14, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:37AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. High near 83. South wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, July 14, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course: Handicapper picks for July 14, 2023 Selections for July 14, 2023 at Saratoga Race Course from handicappers Matt Donato, Gene Kershner and Jeff Carle, along with…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Pizza Huts close permanently in Amsterdam, Gloversville and Johnstown MONTGOMERY AND FULTON COUNTIES — The Pizza Hut restaurants in Amsterdam, Gloversville and Johnstown permanently closed their doors this week….
Appellate Court orders redrawing of New York’s congressional lines ahead of 2024 elections
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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‘Fragrance’ led patrons to lunch wagons
By Bob Cudmore
Historian Hugh Donlon has reported that two lunch wagons were popular in downtown Amsterdam from about 1900 to the 1920s. The wagons were operated by the McNally family who stored them during the day at sheds near what is now the post office on Church Street. Each night, teams of horses pulled one wagon to the corner of Church and Main and the other to Market and Main. The Church Street chef was Matty Curran and the Market Street cook was Allie Goffin.
“Wafted on the summer zephyr or swirled fiercely by the winter’s gale, the onionized fragrance of a McNally western egg sandwich could be sensed blocks way,” Donlon wrote. A western egg sandwich cost a dime, according to Donlon, while a piece of pie was a nickel.
MORE CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
Amsterdam native Donald Isburgh, who now lives in Rexford, responded to a recent column on holiday memories by recalling 11 p.m. Christmas Eve services at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church on Division Street.
“This was in the years before other local churches had their own Christmas Eve services, and the church was so crowded that the ushers had to set up extra chairs in the center aisle to accommodate everyone,” Isburgh said.
Hagaman native Elizabeth Russo recalled singing with either a Girl Scout or high school chorus at Amsterdam’s Coessens Park when that East End facility was used for Christmas functions.
Russo said, “I remember it was very cold and windy and ‘raw’ as my mom would have said. There were not many spectators watching!
RIVER ISLAND
Tony Pacelli, in his book “Past and Present,” recalled an island in the Mohawk River near Elk Street in Amsterdam: “A few local people had their rowboats anchored there. Every evening, they rowed to their gardens and worked until dusk. This island had many fruit trees and a shelter shack on it. Every Sunday, you could hear the strains of music up and down the river.”
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Saturday, July 15,-From the archives- Episode 201, February 9, 2018, Peter Betz, history columnist for the Leader Herald newspaper, has stories on the local impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic, some notorious Fulton County jail escapes, and the Airship Gelatin, funded by Johnstown’s Knox family.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Focus on History-19th century bottlers drank more than soda plus Lurie’s Dept. Store
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, July 13, 2023
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:23AM
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5pm. Some storms could be severe, with heavy rain. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Light and variable wind becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10pm. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, July 13, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersPlan your travels as Dave Matthews, horse racing, SummerNight return in Saratoga Springs, Schenectady The next four days are going to be busy, especially in Schenectady and Saratoga Springs. The Saratoga Race Course meet… Saratoga Race Course: New season begins at historic Saratoga track, ‘love affair’ intact More than a decade ago, I was asked to write about the sometimes-uneasy relationship between tradition and modernization at Saratoga…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
X-Squad water ski shows back at Amsterdam’s Riverlink Park AMSTERDAM — The X-Squad Water Ski Show Team is back and making a splash on Amsterdam’s summer...
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Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 50, March 8, 2015-David Brooks has excerpts from an 1869 journal written by a Fort Hunter man. David is education coordinator at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Amsterdam lunch wagons
Historian Hugh Donlon has reported that two lunch wagons were popular in downtown Amsterdam from about 1900 to the 1920s. The wagons were operated by the McNally family who stored them during the day at sheds near what is now the post office on Church Street. Each night, teams of horses pulled one wagon to the corner of Church and Main and the other to Market and Main. The Church Street chef was Matty Curran and the Market Street cook was Allie Goffin.
Audrey Kupferberg
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, July 12, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:12AM
Isolated showers between 10am and 2pm, then isolated showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Light east wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFamily-owned Dygert Farms honored for 300 years operating in Palatine Bridge PALATINE BRIDGE — In 1723, about 50 years before the American Revolution, Warner Dygert first opened a dairy farm on 50 acres… Marylou Whitney’s legacy continues to aid Saratoga’s backstretch community SARATOGA SPRINGS — John Hendrickson recounted a conversation with his late-wife Marylou Whitney as they left one of the many…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam officials split over solution to deficiencies from rushed drafting, release of legislation AMSTERDAM — The recurring presentation of sparsely worded resolutions for consideration by the...
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Bottling plant generated memories
Fitzgerald’s an institution in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
For Amsterdam native and former bottling plant employee Richard Sidlauscus, the 1960s bring back memories of Mountain Dew.
Sidlauscus, who now lives in Wallingford, Connecticut, said that when Fitzgerald’s Bottling Works started carrying Mountain Dew, they couldn’t keep up with the summertime demand.
“The limiting factor was the number of glass bottles,” Sidlauscus said. “For some reason, it was not possible to get bottles from the glass manufacturer without a long lead time. This meant that in order to produce the soda, we had to rely on returns.”
Sidlauscus started working at Fitzgerald’s in 1962, at first helping a route driver who had been hurt.
“After that, I sorted bottles until I went away to college in September,” Sidlauscus said. “You probably wouldn't believe what man can do to an empty bottle. I worked there at various jobs for a few summers.”
Founded in 1882, Fitzgerald’s Bottling Works was located at 465 East Main Street Extension in the town of Amsterdam. A previous column recalled Harold Watermann, a soda machine expert employed at Fitzgerald’s until shortly before his death in 1971. Back in 1925, Fitzgerald’s had been one of the exhibitors in the Amsterdam Progress Exhibition set up in the East End to tout the city’s businesses.
Company president Gerald Fitzgerald lived with his wife across the street from the plant, was known as “Fitz” and died in 1970, according to Sidlauscus.
Long affiliated with Pepsi Cola, Fitzgerald’s relocated to Freeman’s Bridge Road in Glenville in the late 1960s. Apparently, the firm closed some years after that.
Sidlauscus’ cousin Benedict Karutis was an executive with the bottling works and took over the operation when Fitzgerald died. Karutis has retired to Florida.
“My father (Frank) worked for Fitzgerald’s as well,” Sidlauscus said. “He started in either late 1957 or early 1958. He had worked at Mohawk Mills both before and after the war, but the job moved down south and he didn't want to relocate. So he got a job with Fitzgerald’s as a manager/supervisor of the bottling plant and delivery trucks.”
The best-known Fitzgerald product was ginger ale. In addition to regular ginger ale, Sidlauscus said the company bottled golden ginger ale, with a bit more tang.
]] The ginger ales came in green 32 ounce bottles, and had yellow paper labels. Fitzgerald’s made a lemon-lime soda called Lithiated Lemon. The firm distributed Teem, a lemon-lime soda, under franchise. Fitzgerald’s sold Saratoga Vichy, but got it already bottled from Saratoga. The Amsterdam bottler also had an exclusive for Schweppes products.
Fitzgerald’s bottled its own grape and orange soda plus two other flavors—lemon and cream.
“The lemon soda was yellow and had a sweet lemony flavor,” Sidlauscus said. “I have never seen it anywhere else. Lemon-lime, yes, but just lemon, no. The other was cream soda. Now a lot of other bottlers made a cream soda. However, there was one feature about Fitzgerald’s cream soda that set it apart: it was red in color. The flavor was cream like all the others, but all the others were a pale brown color.”
YET ANOTHER BOTTLER
Amsterdam had another small bottling plant that lasted into the 1960s, according to Sidlauscus.
“It was an extremely small operation, located on Forbes Street near where Lark Street intersects with it,” Sidlauscus said. “The bottling plant was located in a garage attached to a house.”
According to city directories, the 124 Forbes Street bottler was the William D. Redding Bottling Works. It existed in the 1930s and was headed by Redding and, apparently after his death, by his widow, Mary Redding. Fitzgerald’s and Redding did home soda deliveries as late as the 1960s.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 50, March 8, 2015-David Brooks has excerpts from an 1869 journal written by a Fort Hunter man. David is education coordinator at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter.
Thursday, July 13, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam lunch wagons
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, July 11, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:55AM
A chance of showers, mainly before 7am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 86. West wind 8 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 62. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday A slight chance of showers between 1pm and 2pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersPastor Michael Arbige formally launches campaign for Amsterdam mayor AMSTERDAM — Pastor Michael Arbige delivered blistering criticisms of city office holders while formally announcing his bid for mayor of… Johnstown Mayor Praught: Fulton County sewer extension ‘not a done deal’ JOHNSTOWN — In June, the Fulton County Board of Supervisors signed off on bid advertisements for construction of a sewer…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam zoning officials grant variances for West End development
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Monday, July 10, 2023-Story behind the story-Weston the pedestrian.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Fitzgerald’s soda bottling plant
Wednesday, July 12, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 50, March 8, 2015-David Brooks has excerpts from an 1869 journal written by a Fort Hunter man. David is education coordinator at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter.
Thursday, July 13, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam lunch wagons
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Weston the pedestrian
By Bob Cudmore
When Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Weston, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1839, started America’s fascination with long distance walking in 1861 when he trekked from Boston to Washington to fulfill a bet that he would accomplish the feat in ten days if Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election.
Weston’s walk took ten hours longer than ten days but he became famous for the valiant effort, giving people a diversion in a very dark time.
After the Civil War ended, Weston walked from Portland, Maine to Chicago, Illinois, in 1867 to win a prize of $10,000. Gamblers took to betting on competitive walkers.
Weston the pedestrian, as he famously called himself, was in Amsterdam in October 1894 as part of a walk around New York State.
He passed through Amsterdam again on his walk from Portland, Maine, to Chicago in 1907 at age 68. When he started out, Weston was doing 50 miles a day.
Weston went through Amsterdam on March 19, 1909 on his 4,000 mile walk from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, a journey that took 104 days.
On his way back he went through Amsterdam on the night of April 26, 1910, receiving the tumultuous welcome that was reported by the New York Times.
The Amsterdam Recorder had sent a reporter west to Tribes Hill to walk with Weston on the approach to Amsterdam, Hundreds were cheering the pedestrian along the road through Tribes Hill and the village of Akin, later renamed Fort Johnson,
Weston frequently doffed his hat to acknowledge women well-wishers and spectators waving American flags.
The Recorder wrote, “The younger ones cared not where they dodged and occasionally one of them would get directly in the pathway of the walker or else bump against him in the rear.”
When the crowds got too close Weston would shout, “Please keep 10 feet away/”
The Amsterdam police chief escorted Weston from the city line on Guy Park Avenue, where the first fireworks were heard. Weston and his entourage turned down Caroline Street then headed east on Division Street.
When Weston turned right on Market Street, a flying wedge of high school boys made it possible for him to continue moving forward through the huge crowd,
“It was then that enthusiasm let loose,” the Recorder wrote, “And the sirens of the automobiles
coupled with the red firesticks and Roman candles made a din that Market Street has never before seen.”
Fireworks ignited the awning on John Larrabee’s hardware store but the blaze was quickly extinguished “with the aid of water thrown from the upper windows.”
Weston went inside the Barnes Hotel on Market Street and was “whisked to his room” where he met with Stephen Sanford, Amsterdam’s most prominent carpet mill owner/
After Sanford left, Weston rested. He came down about two a.m. saying he was “feeling bully.” He had breakfast and then resumed his marathon trek, heading for Schenectady, Troy and ultimately New York City. There he expected to give up walking for a while “and go on the lecture platform” with his topic being "The Vicissitudes of a Pedestrian."
The last reference to Weston being in Amsterdam came in 1922 when the then 82-year old walker came through town September 23 on his way to New York City.
Weston was hit by a New York City taxicab in 1927. Badly injured, he stopped walking. He died in 1929 and was buried in New York City.
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 10, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:48AMAM
``` ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON...
-
WHAT...Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
-
WHERE...Portions of northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts, New York and southern Vermont, including the following areas, in northwestern Connecticut, Northern Litchfield and Southern Litchfield. In western Massachusetts, Northern Berkshire and Southern Berkshire. In New York, Eastern Albany, Eastern Columbia, Eastern Dutchess, Eastern Greene, Eastern Rensselaer, Eastern Schenectady, Eastern Ulster, Hamilton, Montgomery, Northern Fulton, Northern Saratoga, Northern Warren, Northern Washington, Schoharie, Southeast Warren, Southern Fulton, Southern Saratoga, Southern Washington, Western Albany, Western Columbia, Western Dutchess, Western Greene, Western Rensselaer, Western Schenectady and Western Ulster. In southern Vermont, Bennington, Eastern Windham and Western Windham.
-
WHEN...Through Tuesday afternoon.
-
IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- Confidence remains high for widespread 2 to 4 inch storm total rainfall. Isolated higher amounts of 4 to 6 inches are possible, especially for areas east of the Hudson River.
- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should Flash Flood Warnings be issued.
Do not enter or cross flowing water or water of unknown depth. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 10, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNoel Gallagher concert at SPAC evacuated Saturday night due to bomb threat SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Performing Arts Center was evacuated due to a bomb threat on Saturday night shortly before alternative…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
For July 10 Recorder: Memories Along the Mohawk: July 10, 1989 On July 10, 1989: Residents quashed discussion around dissolving the village government in...
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Weston the pedestrian
By Bob Cudmore
When Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Weston, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1839, started America’s fascination with long distance walking in 1861 when he trekked from Boston to Washington to fulfill a bet that he would accomplish the feat in ten days if Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election.
Weston’s walk took ten hours longer than ten days but he became famous for the valiant effort, giving people a diversion in a very dark time.
After the Civil War ended, Weston walked from Portland, Maine to Chicago, Illinois, in 1867 to win a prize of $10,000. Gamblers took to betting on competitive walkers.
Weston the pedestrian, as he famously called himself, was in Amsterdam in October 1894 as part of a walk around New York State.
He passed through Amsterdam again on his walk from Portland, Maine, to Chicago in 1907 at age 68. When he started out, Weston was doing 50 miles a day.
Weston went through Amsterdam on March 19, 1909 on his 4,000 mile walk from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, a journey that took 104 days.
On his way back he went through Amsterdam on the night of April 26, 1910, receiving the tumultuous welcome that was reported by the New York Times.
The Amsterdam Recorder had sent a reporter west to Tribes Hill to walk with Weston on the approach to Amsterdam, Hundreds were cheering the pedestrian along the road through Tribes Hill and the village of Akin, later renamed Fort Johnson,
Weston frequently doffed his hat to acknowledge women well-wishers and spectators waving American flags.
The Recorder wrote, “The younger ones cared not where they dodged and occasionally one of them would get directly in the pathway of the walker or else bump against him in the rear.”
When the crowds got too close Weston would shout, “Please keep 10 feet away/”
The Amsterdam police chief escorted Weston from the city line on Guy Park Avenue, where the first fireworks were heard. Weston and his entourage turned down Caroline Street then headed east on Division Street.
When Weston turned right on Market Street, a flying wedge of high school boys made it possible for him to continue moving forward through the huge crowd,
“It was then that enthusiasm let loose,” the Recorder wrote, “And the sirens of the automobiles
coupled with the red firesticks and Roman candles made a din that Market Street has never before seen.”
Fireworks ignited the awning on John Larrabee’s hardware store but the blaze was quickly extinguished “with the aid of water thrown from the upper windows.”
Weston went inside the Barnes Hotel on Market Street and was “whisked to his room” where he met with Stephen Sanford, Amsterdam’s most prominent carpet mill owner/
After Sanford left, Weston rested. He came down about two a.m. saying he was “feeling bully.” He had breakfast and then resumed his marathon trek, heading for Schenectady, Troy and ultimately New York City. There he expected to give up walking for a while “and go on the lecture platform” with his topic being "The Vicissitudes of a Pedestrian."
The last reference to Weston being in Amsterdam came in 1922 when the then 82-year old walker came through town September 23 on his way to New York City.
Weston was hit by a New York City taxicab in 1927. Badly injured, he stopped walking. He died in 1929 and was buried in New York City.
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Monday, July 10, 2023-Story behind the story-Weston the pedestrian.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Fitzgerald’s soda bottling plant
Wednesday, July 12, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 50, March 8, 2015-David Brooks has excerpts from an 1869 journal written by a Fort Hunter man. David is education coordinator at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter.
Thursday, July 13, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam lunch wagons
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 9 ,2023
74 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:33AM
``` ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY EVENING...
-
WHAT...Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
-
WHERE...Portions of northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts, New York and southern Vermont, including the following areas, in northwestern Connecticut, Northern Litchfield and Southern Litchfield. In western Massachusetts, Northern Berkshire and Southern Berkshire. In New York, Eastern Albany, Eastern Columbia, Eastern Dutchess, Eastern Greene, Eastern Rensselaer, Eastern Schenectady, Eastern Ulster, Montgomery, Northern Saratoga, Northern Warren, Northern Washington, Schoharie, Southeast Warren, Southern Saratoga, Southern Washington, Western Albany, Western Columbia, Western Dutchess, Western Greene, Western Rensselaer, Western Schenectady and Western Ulster. In southern Vermont, Bennington, Eastern Windham and Western Windham.
-
WHEN...From 2 PM EDT this afternoon through Monday evening.
-
IMPACTS...Excessive runoff from heavy rain may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Extensive street flooding is also possible.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- There is increasing confidence for widespread rainfall amounts ranging from 2 to 4 inches, with locally higher amounts up to 5 inches possible in the corridor from the eastern Catskills to the southern Greens.
- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should Flash Flood Warnings be issued.
Stay away or be swept away. River banks and culverts can become unstable and unsafe. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, July 9, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility Matters***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews https://www.recordernews.com/****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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HAL
http://www.historicamsterdam.org/
Historic Amsterdam Leauge
West End Works walking tour at 9:00 this morning, Saturday, July 8, 2023 assemble in the parking lot across the tracks by Guy Park Manor (turn right after you cross the tracks).
Amsterdam Weather this morning
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Bob Cudmore Radio Schedule today, Saturday, July 8, 2023
WCSS 106.9FM and 1490AM Amsterdam at Noon
Saturday, July 8, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Saturday, July 8, 2023-Episode 319-Hear about the Miracle on Ice and more from sports journalist and skater Christie Sausa, author of the book “Lake Placid: Figure Skating, A History.”
Posted by Lee Richey
Cable TV promo made while I was working there,...about 1989
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Saturday, July 8, 2023-A landlocked “lighthouse” that helped motorists on a busy Mohawk Valley highway.
Sunday, July 9, 2023 (Printed in The Gazette and Recorder each Saturday)
Weston the Pedestrian
When Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovitch, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, July 8, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday Rain and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, July 8, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Older recruits can serve State Police well There’s never a cop around when you need one. That cliche usually applies to people needing an officer’s help. But… State Police: Nearly 13,000 tickets issued statewide during July 4th holiday weekend New York State Police say they issued nearly 13,00 tickets statewide during the July 4th holiday weekend. The enforcement period…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam’s Creative Connections denied variance for proposed gym, agency mulling options to advance project AMSTERDAM — Creative Connections Clubhouse is searching for a solution to move forward with plans to build a gymnasium to…
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Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Saturday, July 8, 2023-A landlocked “lighthouse” that helped motorists on a busy Mohawk Valley highway.
Sunday, July 9, 2023 (Printed in The Gazette and Recorder each Saturday)
Weston the Pedestrian
When Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, July 7, 2023
75 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:41AM
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 4pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11pm. Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 85. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Southeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, July 7, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersJury finds Amsterdam violated law by firing worker with medical marijuana RX for failed drug test FONDA — An Amsterdam wastewater treatment plant worker has been awarded $191,762 by a jury in state Supreme Court in Gloversville residents charged in Bleecker armed robbery, troopers say BLEECKER – Three Gloversville residents have been arrested, accused of participating in an armed robbery at a home in Bleecker…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam native Jackson, former Siena star Pickett set to open NBA Summer League against each other Friday Andre Jackson Jr. and Jalen Pickett are slated to make their NBA Summer League debuts against each other on Friday….
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YouTube Post "Down the Page"
A few scenes by The Daily Gazette reporter/photographer Stan Hudy of the 2023 July 4 parade in Alplaus, NY. The small hamlet has hosted this small-town parade for more than 40 years.
Read Bob Cudmore in The Gazette
This weekend "Weston the Pedestrian"
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Memories for the Class of 1949
By Bob Cudmore
The reunion season has been in high gear and Amsterdam High School class of 1949 observed their 60th this month at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Fort Johnson.
In 1949, that golf course was called the Antlers. It was founded in 1901 by industrialists and professionals who quietly purchased the 90 acres for the course in separate transactions to keep landowners from raising their prices.
The original Antlers clubhouse had a large veranda with a spectacular view of the Mohawk Valley. In 1965 the old clubhouse burned down and was replaced by the current building. In recent years the name was changed to Rolling Hills.
Class of 1949 football center Daniel Donohue of Granville and Port Saint Lucie, Florida recalled that Amsterdam or Wilbur H. Lynch High School entered Class A football in 1949. The team won the title that year, an early example of a competitive sports tradition that continues to this day.
In 1949 the New York Yankees came to Amsterdam, according to sources I have seen, although Donohue recalled the Yankee visit was the year before. With Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra on the team, the Yankees defeated their farm team the Rugmakers 9 to 2 before over four thousand fans at Mohawk Mills Park. This year, the Amsterdam Mohawks attracted a crowd of over 5,000 with their special events Fourth of July at the ball field, today named Herbert Shuttleworth Park in honor of a former president of Mohawk Carpet.
In 1949 an Amsterdam downtown movie theater, the Tryon, opened on Main Street. The first feature film was Champion, city native Kirk Douglas’s breakout movie about a conflicted boxer.
Also in 1949, 14-year old Arlene Fontana was appearing in variety shows directed by class of 1949 member Bert DeRose in Amsterdam. Fontana began performing on WRGB television that year in the new local talent program Teen Age Barn. Fontana went on to a career as a singer and dancer on Broadway, television and nightclubs. She was best known for her work as Linda Low with her signature song “I Enjoy Being a Girl” in the national company of Flower Drum Song. She died in 1990.
DeRose and the late Bill Levine produced several Amsterdam variety shows while in high school. DeRose and Levine convinced the football team to dress as cheerleaders for a musical number that brought down the house. But today Donohue recalled that he and fellow football standout James Martin only mouthed the words during the performance. DeRose said if he had known that, he would have got out the hook. DeRose went on to a career as a local drama teacher and ultimately became principal of Amsterdam High. He came up with the idea of making the ram the symbol of the school when it moved from its old location on Brandt Place to Miami Avenue in the town of Amsterdam.
One member of the class of 1949 is my cousin Betty Segen Pronk who grew up in the town of Amsterdam. When Betty was in high school, she was a waitress for Margaret Bennett at the Tower restaurant on Route 5 in Cranesville. Today the restaurant is Valentino’s.
Mrs. Bennett, as she was known, was prominent in Republican politics and a friend of Governor Thomas Dewey, almost elected President in 1948. When that election approached, Mrs. Bennett wondered if my cousin Betty’s parents—Peter and Jane Segen--would vote for Dewey. Betty said her mom would but her father couldn’t, as he wasn’t a citizen, lacking papers from when he came from Ukraine. Mrs. Bennett somehow fixed it so Peter Segen became a citizen and could vote for Dewey.
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Saturday, July 8, 2023-A landlocked “lighthouse” that helped motorists on a busy Mohawk Valley highway.
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Weston the Pedestrian
The Daily Gazette
A few scenes by The Daily Gazette reporter/photographer Stan Hudy of the 2023 July 4 parade in Alplaus, NY. The small hamlet has hosted this small-town parade for more than 40 years.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, July 6, 2023
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:50AM
``` ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
-
WHAT...Heat index values 95 to 99 expected.
-
WHERE...The Hudson River Valley, Mohawk River Valley of southern Herkimer, Montgomery and Schenectady Counties, Capital District, southern and central Taconics and the Lake George Saratoga Region including the Glens Falls area.
-
WHEN...From noon today to 8 PM EDT this evening.
-
IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The highest temperatures and heat indices will generally be found in the urban valley locations and peak in the mid to late afternoon for a couple of hours.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, July 6, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Give public access to contracts signed during emergencies With New York state’s finances and accounting policies being what they are, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli could have tweeted about…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam’s first cannabis dispensary nears Planning Commission approval https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Wednesday, July 5, 2023-Episode 289-Kimberly Collins focuses on women’s involvement in the 1912 Appalachian Coal Mine Wars in her native West Virginia in her historical novel “Blood Creek.”
“She always wanted more than she had. Would it ever be enough?”
In 1912 West Virginia, starving coal miners are arming themselves and threatening to strike. Wealthy coal operators have hired the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to protect their fortunes and crush the rebellious miners by whatever means necessary—no matter how violent. Long-smoldering resentments are about to erupt into one of the largest armed insurrections in US history: The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars.
The latest contribution to the Historians Podcast fund drive came from Frank Yunker who maintains an online archive of our Focus on History columns.
Please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Help us provide history podcasts on war correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the Battle of 1777 at Saratoga and an upcoming interview with Audrey Kepferberg "it's all about the old movies". Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large and small are appreciated.
Tomorrow from The Daily Gazette
Memories of the class of 1949
The reunion season has been in high gear and Amsterdam High School class of 1949 observed their 60th this month at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Fort Johnson. In 1949, that golf course was called the Antlers.
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Eric Schnitzer spoke at the Saratoga Springs History Museum in Saratoga Springs, NY on October 23, 2019 about the new book he has co-authored, "Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga – 1777."
Posted by Saratoga History
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, July 5, 2023
68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 89. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 67. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Thursday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Sunny and hot, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 97. Light and variable wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersState report: Crowds stressing Adirondacks High Peaks ADIRONDACKS — A new state report released Monday found Adirondack Park and the High Peaks are showing signs of ecological… Around Town: A snapshot of the week June 27-July 4, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Johnstown, Northampton, Root, Troy — Images (10 photos) AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from our communities…. NYRA announces events for summer meet at Saratoga Race Course SARATOGA SPRINGS — New York Racing Association (NYRA) on Tuesday announced the lineup of attractions, entertainment and events for the…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Fultonville teen’s time on governor’s Youth Council provides political experience, fosters big dreams
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Fourth of July through the years
By Bob Cudmore
Horses owned by carpet maker Stephen Sanford of Amsterdam became fixtures at the nearby Saratoga racetrack in the late 1800s.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Matinee Races at the family’s Hurricana Farm on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July. Some 15,000 attended the event during its last year.
“I read in the papers about General Sanford, the sporting man,” Sanford said in 1906. “I never presumed to be a sporting man, but I am proud of it. Call me a sporting man if you like.”
FCHS
YouTube Tour (Down the Page)
https://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/
FOURTH OF JULY TRAGEDY
A steep grade, human error and a wet night contributed to an appalling accident on the Mountain Lake Electric Railroad near Gloversville on July 4, 1902.
Fourteen people died and sixty were injured. Most victims were Gloversville excursionists who had traveled up Bleecker Mountain to Mountain Lake for a day of fun capped by fireworks. The lake had a resort hotel.
Two trolleys collided and both hurtled down the tracks on the steep hill. Brakes were applied to no avail. One car was put into reverse. That blew circuit breakers plunging both cars into darkness.
People jumped from one trolley car as it left the tracks. Others were thrown beneath the car as it landed on its side. As the rails separated the other trolley also left the tracks but remained upright.
Thrown from one of the cars, 17-year old F. Willi Berghoff stopped the next car by shouting and waving his hat.
It took two hours before power was restored and help arrived. Victims were taken to the old Nathan Littauer Hospital by trolley car.
The Mountain Lake Electric Railroad had opened in 1901. After the accident, lawsuits bankrupted the company and it was reorganized as The Adirondack Lakes Traction Company. The Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad then bought the company.
The hotel at the lake was destroyed by fire in 1908. The trolley line closed in 1918.
According to historian Jerry Snyder, a railroad history group went up the route a few years ago. Snyder said some members found brackets used to hold overhead wire supports after all these years.
According to Amsterdam historian Jerry Snyder, a railroad history group went up the old trolley line route years ago. Snyder said some members found brackets used to hold overhead wire supports after all these years.
CONEY ISLAND NORTH
The Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad’s Sacandaga Park lasted much longer than Mountain Lake,
The heyday of that amusement facility was 1902 to 1920. Nicknamed Coney Island North, the park featured a golf course, bowling alleys, midway, donkey and pony rides, roller coaster, Kinescope Theater, water rides, miniature train rides, boats, swimming and a classic carousel.
John Philip Sousa played Sacandaga Park as did Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields. Baseball teams from Johnstown, Amsterdam and Gloversville drew big crowds to the park’s Sport sland.
The amusement park was torn down in 1930, when the area was flooded to create the flood control reservoir today called Great Sacandaga Lake.
MUSIC AND TRAINS
Summertime in the 1940s in Amsterdam meant concerts by Mohawk Mills Band, formed mainly from employees of the carpet mill and directed by Frank or his brother Harry Musolff.
The band played the overture to “Oklahoma” one year and had the tune down pat. A long freight train rumbled by making it impossible for the musicians to hear each other. When the train passed, the trumpets had finished but the trombones were still playing.
The rumble of passing trains continues to affect concerts at today’s Riverlink Park in Amsterdam.
Tomorrow Bob Cudmores conversation with Kimberly Collins
Wednesday, July 5, 2023-Episode 289-Kimberly Collins focuses on women’s involvement in the 1912 Appalachian Coal Mine Wars in her native West Virginia in her historical novel “Blood Creek.”
“She always wanted more than she had. Would it ever be enough?”
In 1912 West Virginia, starving coal miners are arming themselves and threatening to strike. Wealthy coal operators have hired the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to protect their fortunes and crush the rebellious miners by whatever means necessary—no matter how violent. Long-smoldering resentments are about to erupt into one of the largest armed insurrections in US history: The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars.
Thursday, July 6, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Memories of the class of 1949
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Fulton County Historical Society / Museum Fulton County NY Museum virtual tour Posted by shilohsignals March 26, 2015 Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, July 4, 2023
71 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 7:01AM
Independence Day A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 2pm and 4pm. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. West wind 3 to 6 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFultonville teen’s time on governor’s Youth Council provides political experience, fosters big dreams FULTONVILLE — Fultonville’s Tyler Couture wants to become a politician for one reason: to make an impact on as many… Proposed $65M warehouse off I-88 gets OK in Schoharie SCHOHARIE — One of Schoharie County’s largest development projects in recent history has the greenlight. Planning officials in the town…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews After nearly 10 years, state Legislature passes Tedisco’s bill to create veteran internship program at state Capitol https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Monday, July 3, 2023-Story behind the story- Amsterdam man among those rescued from a sunken submarine.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you!
Tuesday, July 4, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Fourth of July through the years.
Horses owned by carpet maker Stephen Sanford of Amsterdam became fixtures at the nearby Saratoga racetrack in the late 1800s.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Matinee Races at the family’s Hurricana Farm on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July.
Wednesday, July 5, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, October 25, 2019-Episode 289-Kimberly Collins focuses on women’s involvement in the 1912 Appalachian Coal Mine Wars in her native West Virginia in her historical novel “Blood Creek.”
Thursday, July 6, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Memories of the class of 1949
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Hands too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs
By Bob Cudmore
Donato “Danny” Persico entered the submarine’s escape hatch, crawling up a steel ladder as his hands were too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs.
Persico, who lived on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side, was one of the survivors from the submarine U.S.S. Squalus, which sank May 23, 1939 in the Atlantic Ocean off the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire.
Valves malfunctioned during a test dive on the new submarine. The after compartments filled with water, drowning 26 men. Squalus settled on the ocean floor in 243 feet of water. Persico was almost crushed by a torpedo.
"This happened so fast, there was no chance for an alarm," Persico told Daily Gazette. "We lost power and lost lights.”
In forward compartments, sealed by watertight doors, 33 men were still alive.
"I had goose bumps. I was scared,” Persico said. At 20, he was the youngest man on board. Survivors donned woolen coats and stayed still, using as little air as possible.
Persico was among the last to be rescued on the fourth trip of a diving bell deployed from the rescue ship Falcon. Rescuers used the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber, a diving bell that could withstand depths beyond lethal limits.
The first three trips went perfectly. Captain Oliver Naquin, Persico and six other sailors were in the diving bell for the last rescue. About halfway up, there were problems with the lifting cables.
Rescuers dropped the diving bell back to the bottom and pulled it in by hand with only one frayed strand of cable. The final rescue took many hours using that frayed cable.
Persico’s father had died in 1929. The family, including Persico’s mother Carmela Pinto, were kept informed as the rescue unfolded by Amsterdam Police who stopped at the family home with updates
The family received two telegrams. The first said Persico was alive. The second said he had been rescued.
When his mother visited Persico at a hospital after the rescue, he told her he would continue in the submarine service, adding his shipmates felt the same.
The Navy was able to raise the Squalus. It was repaired and recommissioned as the Sailfish and was awarded nine battle stars in World War II.
Persico served aboard two other submarines. One of them, U.S.S. Batfish, sank three Japanese subs. He earned a Bronze Star. A stone marking his Navy service is at Fifth Ward Veterans Park.
His nephew Anthony Signoracci said Persico, “Always had a sly smile on his face. I think it was because he cheated certain death.”
Persico retired from the Navy in 1956 as a chief torpedo man and recruiter and then had a career as a heavy equipment salesman in the Capital Region for L.B. Smith Company.
Amsterdam historian Hugh Donlon wrote the Recorder story in 1961 when Persico visited Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for the first time since 1939. He was there for the launch of the nuclear submarine Tinosa.
On hand for a picture were Persico, Congressman Sam Stratton and John Donlon, Hugh’s son. John was executive officer of Tinosa and later commanded nuclear submarines.
Persico married Felicia Puglia of Amsterdam in 1973. They met at the bar of the former Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Amsterdam. They married years later when Persico returned to Amsterdam after his mother died. They had no children. “He was my hero,” Felicia said.
In 2000 Persico was one of the Squalus survivors at a ceremony naming a destroyer for the man who organized their rescue, Charles “Swede” Momsen.
Persico died in 2001. The intersection of Florida Avenue and Bridge Street was named Persico Square that year.
Amsterdam History from YouTube
Posted by rgoing
REMAINS OF THE DAY: Walter Elwood Museum On September 17, 2011, numerous volunteers helped empty the rooms of the Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam, NY which were destroyed by the flood in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. The river literally ran through the museum, the Colonial Era homestead of Guy Johnson. Here's what came out from the mud. ....and the well known train went by, and Thanks rgoing for the history Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 3, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:09AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Independence Day Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 3, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersNorthville annual Doins Festival Parade — Images (27 photos, 1 video) NORTHVILLE — The village of Northville hosted its annual Doins Festival to celebrate the Fourth of July on Friday and…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam residents’ concerns mounting over proposed West End development AMSTERDAM — Results of a shadow study for a pair of four-story buildings proposed in Amsterdam’s... https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Daily Gazette Revolutionary War ‘Liberty Flag’ with Scotia roots may be last one in existence SCOTIA — Nicholas G. Veeder knew very well the value of a historic relic, having, you could say, been one…https://dailygazette.com/ Hands too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs
By Bob Cudmore
Donato “Danny” Persico entered the submarine’s escape hatch, crawling up a steel ladder as his hands were too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs.
Persico, who lived on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side, was one of the survivors from the submarine U.S.S. Squalus, which sank May 23, 1939 in the Atlantic Ocean off the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire.
Valves malfunctioned during a test dive on the new submarine. The after compartments filled with water, drowning 26 men. Squalus settled on the ocean floor in 243 feet of water. Persico was almost crushed by a torpedo.
"This happened so fast, there was no chance for an alarm," Persico told Daily Gazette. "We lost power and lost lights.”
In forward compartments, sealed by watertight doors, 33 men were still alive.
"I had goose bumps. I was scared,” Persico said. At 20, he was the youngest man on board. Survivors donned woolen coats and stayed still, using as little air as possible.
Persico was among the last to be rescued on the fourth trip of a diving bell deployed from the rescue ship Falcon. Rescuers used the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber, a diving bell that could withstand depths beyond lethal limits.
The first three trips went perfectly. Captain Oliver Naquin, Persico and six other sailors were in the diving bell for the last rescue. About halfway up, there were problems with the lifting cables.
Rescuers dropped the diving bell back to the bottom and pulled it in by hand with only one frayed strand of cable. The final rescue took many hours using that frayed cable.
Persico’s father had died in 1929. The family, including Persico’s mother Carmela Pinto, were kept informed as the rescue unfolded by Amsterdam Police who stopped at the family home with updates
The family received two telegrams. The first said Persico was alive. The second said he had been rescued.
When his mother visited Persico at a hospital after the rescue, he told her he would continue in the submarine service, adding his shipmates felt the same.
The Navy was able to raise the Squalus. It was repaired and recommissioned as the Sailfish and was awarded nine battle stars in World War II.
Persico served aboard two other submarines. One of them, U.S.S. Batfish, sank three Japanese subs. He earned a Bronze Star. A stone marking his Navy service is at Fifth Ward Veterans Park.
His nephew Anthony Signoracci said Persico, “Always had a sly smile on his face. I think it was because he cheated certain death.”
Persico retired from the Navy in 1956 as a chief torpedo man and recruiter and then had a career as a heavy equipment salesman in the Capital Region for L.B. Smith Company.
Amsterdam historian Hugh Donlon wrote the Recorder story in 1961 when Persico visited Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for the first time since 1939. He was there for the launch of the nuclear submarine Tinosa.
On hand for a picture were Persico, Congressman Sam Stratton and John Donlon, Hugh’s son. John was executive officer of Tinosa and later commanded nuclear submarines.
Persico married Felicia Puglia of Amsterdam in 1973. They met at the bar of the former Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Amsterdam. They married years later when Persico returned to Amsterdam after his mother died. They had no children. “He was my hero,” Felicia said.
In 2000 Persico was one of the Squalus survivors at a ceremony naming a destroyer for the man who organized their rescue, Charles “Swede” Momsen.
Persico died in 2001. The intersection of Florida Avenue and Bridge Street was named Persico Square that year.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
July
Here’s the schedule (subject to change):
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovitch, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer wrote the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovitch discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC public radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.
Friday, July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.
Friday, July 28, 2023- Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode. Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow. Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you!
Schenectady County Historical Society
YouTube
Posted May 30, 2020 Colonial society was not free or equal. In this video we look at the people who are most often overlooked or forgotten when talking about New York States Past. We'll be talking about slavery at the Mabee Farm. We're always excited when school groups come to visit! But when they can't visit, we've made a series of videos to serve as a virtual tour. This video is designed to speak to the NYS 4th Grade Curriculum but all others are free to watch.
Episode 433-A history of the Mohawk River with Mary Zawacki, executive director of the Schenectady County Historical Society. When the last Ice Age began to melt 22,000 years ago, the Mohawk River flowed with more force than Niagara Falls.
Mohawk Valley 4th of July Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 2, 2023
66 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:18AM
Rain and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between noon and 3pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 75. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 8pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy, with a low around 67. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Light and variable wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Independence Day Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, July 2, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersRevolutionary War ‘Liberty Flag’ with Scotia roots may be last one in existence SCOTIA — Nicholas G. Veeder knew very well the value of a historic relic, having, you could say, been one… Amsterdam Mohawks beat Watertown Rapids, give Griffin 500th win with team — Images (7) AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam Mohawks posted an 18-8 victory over the Watertown Rapids on Friday night at Rao Family Stadium…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam native, Albany Academy graduate Jackson enjoying first steps of NBA journey with Bucks For Andre Jackson Jr., June 22 will forever remain a special date. “That was a great night,” Jackson said Saturday,…
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4th at The Fort this Weekend Fort Plain Museum
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1078
Saturday, July 1, 2023-From the archives- Episode 121, July 22, 2016- Jack Kelly discusses topics as diverse as the origin of the Mormon religion and how Americans learned how to make cement in his book “Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal”
...more Jack Kelly on YouTube
NYSL https://www.nysoclib.org/
Founded in 1754, New York City's oldest library is a thriving community of readers, writers, and families. We are open to all for reading, reference, and many events.
recorded September 21, 2016
The New York Society Library presents Jack Kelly, who discusses the spiritual and political upheavals along the Erie Canal from its opening in 1825 through 1844.
Sunday, July 2, 2023 -Focus on History here on The Historians
Read the story this Weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorded
Donato “Danny” Persico entered the submarine’s escape hatch, crawling up a steel ladder as his hands were too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs.
Persico, who lived on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side, was one of the survivors from the submarine U.S.S. Squalus...
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, June 30, 2023
61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:35AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT FRIDAY NIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates.. until midnight EDT Friday night.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, June 30, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFree summer meal program locations in Schenectady, Saratoga, Fulton, Montgomery counties; Meal site rundown CAPITAL REGION – With school ending, free summer meal programs for area youth have started to pop up throughout the…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Schenectady Pride applauds new laws protecting LGBTQ+ rights As many states across the nation are moving to pass discriminatory laws targeting transgender...
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4th at The Fort this Weekend
Fort Plain Museum
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1078
Summer years ago in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
In 1896, there was horse racing in Amsterdam in July with the summer meet of the Amsterdam Fair and Driving Association. According to the web site www.mohawkvalleywev.com, the summer of 1900 did not have an “exceedingly hot day” until July 8.
In 1912, public concerts began in July near Amsterdam’s Market and Main streets. A recreation camp for National Guard soldiers was opened in the summer of 1914 in Tribes Hill; 54 students were attending Amsterdam summer school that year.
The first 1918 pilgrimage to Auriesville Shrine took place August 4 with the faithful coming from Albany and Schenectady.
SUMMER GOLF
The first golf course built in the Amsterdam area was the private Antlers Country Club, opened in 1901 on land in Fort Johnson and Tribes Hill off Route 5. Today, the facility is the Rolling Hills Golf Course.
City residents discussed the idea of an Amsterdam municipal course as early as 1929. By 1934, the choice was made to build on 200 acres of farmland on the border between the city and town of Amsterdam off Van Dyke Avenue.
Construction was made possible through a $100,000 federal appropriation and $23,000 in city funds. The course opened in 1938. Mayor Arthur Carter was instrumental in advocating for the golf course and the facility is named for him.
The designer was Robert Trent Jones, who went on to be a legend in golf course design. A native of England who grew up in Rochester, New York, Jones created his own landscape architecture curriculum while attending Cornell University. He began his career by designing six federally funded golf courses, including Amsterdam’s.
VACANT SUMMER STREETS
On warm summer evenings in the 1940s, the streets of Amsterdam’s West End were sometimes deserted.
To supplement food available under wartime rationing, the Italian-American residents were tending vegetable gardens on the fertile flat land south of their homes between the railroad tracks and Mohawk River.
They built poles for pole beans and lattices to keep tomatoes off the ground. They grew lettuce, zucchini and dandelions, much as their ancestors had done in southern Italian communities such as Pisciotta in the province of Campania.
THE BAND PLAYED
Summertime in the 1940s meant concerts performed by the Mohawk Mills Band, formed from employees of the carpet mill and directed by Frank Musolff until he entered military service in 1942. Then, Musolff’s brother Harry became band director.
Reminiscent of issues faced today by the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra at Riverlink Park, the Mohawk Mills Band was once bested by a freight train in an East End performance at Coessens Park in the late 1940s.
The band played the overture to “Oklahoma” and had the tune down pat, according to Harry Musolff’s son, Harry Irving Musolff.
A long freight train rumbled by making it impossible for the musicians to hear each other. When the train finally passed, the trumpets had finished but the trombones were still playing.
PRIDE AND A PARADE
In July of 1954, Amsterdam celebrated its 150th birthday with a ten-division parade. The Vail Mills drive-in float featuring young women in bikinis was a crowd pleaser.
Celebrations went on for weeks at local taverns and ethnic social clubs, which had chapters of the Brothers of the Brush (who did not shave) and Sisters of the Swish (who wore long dresses).
The Sesquicentennial, as it was called, was a joyous and raucous event that took place at the beginning of the end of the city’s prominence as a carpet-manufacturing center.
Ironically, one of the floats in the 1954 parade was a flying carpet. Within a year, Bigelow-Sanford, one of the city’s major carpet makers, was moving out of town.
Saturday, July 1, 2023-From the archives- Episode 121, July 22, 2016- Jack Kelly discusses topics as diverse as the origin of the Mormon religion and how Americans learned how to make cement in his book “Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal”
Sunday, July 2, 2023 -Focus on History- Amsterdam man among those rescued from a sunken submarine
As The Historians Podcast makes a path to #500 this fall, we look back...
Bob Cudmore on YouTube
August 18, 2016
The Jewish View
Bob has authored three books about the Mohawk Valley in which he discusses the area’s connection to Kirk Douglas, Sam Goldwyn, Lucius Littauer and Rabbi Bloom. Two mayors of Amsterdam were Jewish. There were many non-Jewish connections as well that would surprise you such as Ed Sullivan and Fredric Remington. This is a fascinating recollection of the Mohawk Valley communities of Amsterdam, Gloversville and Fonda, yes, Henry, Peter and Jane Fonda’s roots are from the Mohawk Valley.
Tomorrow
Friday, June 30, 2023-Episode 481--Chris Wimmer is author of The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends to demonstrate the overlapping context of their stories and to illustrate the historical importance of that summer, all layered with highlights of significant milestones in 1876: the inaugural baseball season of the National League; the final year of President Ulysses S. Grant’s embattled administration; the debut of an invention called the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell; the release of Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer;” and many more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 29, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:17AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates...until midnight EDT tonight.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 29, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAir quality conditions from Canadian wildfires expected to deteriorate through Thursday Gov. Kathy Hochul is warning that the state is expected to experience low air quality conditions similar to earlier this…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam athletic director Steve Nolan retiring Friday https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Summer in Amsterdam years ago.
In 1896, there was horse racing in Amsterdam in July with the summer meet of the Amsterdam Fair and Driving Association. According to the web site www.mohawkvalleywev.com, the summer of 1900 did not have an “exceedingly hot day” until July 8.
As The Historians Podcast makes a path to #500 this fall, we look back...
Bob Cudmore on YouTube
August 18, 2016
The Jewish View
Bob has authored three books about the Mohawk Valley in which he discusses the area’s connection to Kirk Douglas, Sam Goldwyn, Lucius Littauer and Rabbi Bloom. Two mayors of Amsterdam were Jewish. There were many non-Jewish connections as well that would surprise you such as Ed Sullivan and Fredric Remington. This is a fascinating recollection of the Mohawk Valley communities of Amsterdam, Gloversville and Fonda, yes, Henry, Peter and Jane Fonda’s roots are from the Mohawk Valley.
Friday, June 30, 2023-Episode 481--Chris Wimmer is author of The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends to demonstrate the overlapping context of their stories and to illustrate the historical importance of that summer, all layered with highlights of significant milestones in 1876: the inaugural baseball season of the National League; the final year of President Ulysses S. Grant’s embattled administration; the debut of an invention called the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell; the release of Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer;” and many more.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 28, 2023
67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:44AM
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9am, then a chance of showers between 9am and 11am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind 6 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersHochul: New Yorkers should prep for possible low air quality, storms ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul is once again warning New Yorkers of a possible return of low air quality conditions…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Mayfield supervisor primary sees Brandon Lehr stand tall MAYFIELD — Gloversville firefighter and motorcycle crash survivor Brandon Lehr handily won what is...
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Bob with Kitchen Table History
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is at the midpoint and we’re $900 below where we should be. If you can, please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal. Help us provide more history programing on Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution, the Wild West and much more.
Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large or small are appreciated.
Guest: Bob Cudmore (Columnist) and Author of "The Hidden History of the Mohawk Valley".
Schenectady Today back in 2013
by Gregg Millett
Monday, June 26, 2023-Story behind the story-Dave Noyes growing up in Fort Johnson; plus an apology...story about 6 minutes.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Amsterdam’s unforgettable day.
Sam Vomero will never forget Monday, July 20th, 1942, the day the Yankees and the carnival both came to Amsterdam.
Wednesday, June 28, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 44, January 23, 2015 Richard Norton Smith author of “On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller.”
Thursday, June 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Summer in Amsterdam years ago.
Friday, June 30, 2023-Episode 481--Chris Wimmer is author of The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
The summer of 1876 was a key time period in the development of the mythology of the Old West. Many individuals who are considered legends by modern listeners were involved in events that began their notoriety or turned out to be the most famous—or infamous—moments of their lives. Those individuals were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James.
Growing up in Fort Johnson and an apology
By Bob Cudmore
Constant reader and frequent contributor David Edward Noyes, 92, of Evergreen, Colorado, has passed away.
Dave was born in 1931, the son of Harold and Edwina Gerling Noyes. He was the second of four boys and grew up in Fort Johnson.
Dave said when he was a child, adults in Fort Johnson provided children lifetime values by deed and example and maintained an active community.
He recalled commercial institutions in Fort Johnson such as Whalen’s grocery store, Huen’s gas station, Sweet’s furniture store and Tollner’s ice cream shop.
Dave was the second of four brothers. His brother Dan drowned in the Mohawk River in 1947; his brother Randy died in an accident while serving the U.S. Air Force.
Dave attended Fort Johnson grammar and junior high schools.
The Fort Johnson Athletic Association produced top speed skaters in the 1940s including Hank Flesch, Don Talmadge, Gene Gage, George Hare and Ted Ellenwood, Jr.
Dave described himself as one of the “run of the mill” skaters in Fort Johnson, winning a few medals along the way. He kept skating until knee and hip replacement surgeries in 2000.
Dave learned to fly at the Carpet City Airport at Midline Road and Route 107 in Perth. The local airport flourished in the late 1940s.
Dave was in the Air Scout program in 1947. The curriculum officially included only pre-flight activities, but Dave and his fellow Scouts actually flew planes with local World War II veterans as instructors.
The Scouts wore powder blue uniforms and had World War II surplus gear at the airport including a miniature jet engine.
“Firing it up was quite impressive,” Dave said. “Pleasant memories, great learning experience.”
Dave worked on footballs for Collette’s in Amsterdam as a high school student. He was paid in cash, some of which went into his bank account, Dave said, “With amount entered via ink pen (still have those bank books).”
He graduated in 1949 from Wilbur H. Lynch Senior High in Amsterdam and went on to the SUNY College of Forestry and Environmental Science in Syracuse.
He entered the US Army in 1952 and served with an armored division in Germany. After military service he resumed his college studies and graduated with honors. He married Mary Ann Gawron of Amsterdam, who survives him, in 1956.
Dave joined the Johns Manville Corporation as a research engineer. His career took him to the world headquarters of Johns Manville in Denver. He retired in 1994 as a manager of environmental affairs.
The village of Fort Johnson is slated to formally dissolve on the last day of this year, becoming a hamlet in the town of Amsterdam. The town will become responsible for public works in Fort Johnson. Residents voted 90 to 23 to dissolve the village in a referendum late last year.
Dave’s daughter, Julie Matern, said, “Dad did know about this; although he understood the logic of it, he was disappointed/saddened by the absorption of his ‘little burg.’ Not a big fan of consolidation in general.
“I am happy to report his childhood home is in the best shape it’s been in 40 years.”
An apology
In a letter to the editor Mark Gibbons of Niskayuna properly criticizes me for using the word “immigrant” in a recent column to describe a person who had moved from Puerto Rico to New York State.
Mr. Gibbons correctly points out Puerto Ricans are American citizens as Puerto Rico is a U. S. territory. I apologize and regret the error which, as Mr. Gibbons writes, unfortunately “adds to this misguided notion” that “Puerto Ricans are foreigners, not American citizens.”
More Wild West-no one is sure if they knew it at the time or they needed to pay the rent
Episode 398- John Boessenecker, author of Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit.
Mohawk Valley Weather for a New Week, Monday, June 26, 2023
Humidity 90%
70 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:11AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Southeast wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm. Low around 64. East wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tuesday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 11am. High near 80. Southeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, June 26, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersPennsylvania man alleged in Johnstown bank heist conspiracy pleads guilty ALBANY — An out-of-state man with white supremacist ties faces a maximum prison sentence of five years in connection to…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Federal funding will extend broadband in rural areas of Montgomery, Fulton counties MONTGOMERY AND FULTON COUNTIES — Areas that are underserved by high-speed internet or lack access...
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The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is at the midpoint and we’re $900 below where we should be. If you can, please make a donation today toward our $7000 goal. Help us provide more history programing on Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution, the Wild West and much more.
Donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and donations large or small are appreciated.
Dave was the second of four brothers. His brother Dan drowned in the Mohawk River in 1947; his brother Randy died in an accident while serving the U.S. Air Force.
Growing up in Fort Johnson and an apology
By Bob Cudmore
Constant reader and frequent contributor David Edward Noyes, 92, of Evergreen, Colorado, has passed away.
Dave was born in 1931, the son of Harold and Edwina Gerling Noyes. He was the second of four boys and grew up in Fort Johnson.
Dave said when he was a child, adults in Fort Johnson provided children lifetime values by deed and example and maintained an active community.
He recalled commercial institutions in Fort Johnson such as Whalen’s grocery store, Huen’s gas station, Sweet’s furniture store and Tollner’s ice cream shop.
Dave was the second of four brothers. His brother Dan drowned in the Mohawk River in 1947; his brother Randy died in an accident while serving the U.S. Air Force.
Dave attended Fort Johnson grammar and junior high schools.
The Fort Johnson Athletic Association produced top speed skaters in the 1940s including Hank Flesch, Don Talmadge, Gene Gage, George Hare and Ted Ellenwood, Jr.
Dave described himself as one of the “run of the mill” skaters in Fort Johnson, winning a few medals along the way. He kept skating until knee and hip replacement surgeries in 2000.
Dave learned to fly at the Carpet City Airport at Midline Road and Route 107 in Perth. The local airport flourished in the late 1940s.
Dave was in the Air Scout program in 1947. The curriculum officially included only pre-flight activities, but Dave and his fellow Scouts actually flew planes with local World War II veterans as instructors.
The Scouts wore powder blue uniforms and had World War II surplus gear at the airport including a miniature jet engine.
“Firing it up was quite impressive,” Dave said. “Pleasant memories, great learning experience.”
Dave worked on footballs for Collette’s in Amsterdam as a high school student. He was paid in cash, some of which went into his bank account, Dave said, “With amount entered via ink pen (still have those bank books).”
He graduated in 1949 from Wilbur H. Lynch Senior High in Amsterdam and went on to the SUNY College of Forestry and Environmental Science in Syracuse.
He entered the US Army in 1952 and served with an armored division in Germany. After military service he resumed his college studies and graduated with honors. He married Mary Ann Gawron of Amsterdam, who survives him, in 1956.
Dave joined the Johns Manville Corporation as a research engineer. His career took him to the world headquarters of Johns Manville in Denver. He retired in 1994 as a manager of environmental affairs.
The village of Fort Johnson is slated to formally dissolve on the last day of this year, becoming a hamlet in the town of Amsterdam. The town will become responsible for public works in Fort Johnson. Residents voted 90 to 23 to dissolve the village in a referendum late last year.
Dave’s daughter, Julie Matern, said, “Dad did know about this; although he understood the logic of it, he was disappointed/saddened by the absorption of his ‘little burg.’ Not a big fan of consolidation in general.
“I am happy to report his childhood home is in the best shape it’s been in 40 years.”
An apology
In a letter to the editor Mark Gibbons of Niskayuna properly criticizes me for using the word “immigrant” in a recent column to describe a person who had moved from Puerto Rico to New York State.
Mr. Gibbons correctly points out Puerto Ricans are American citizens as Puerto Rico is a U. S. territory. I apologize and regret the error which, as Mr. Gibbons writes, unfortunately “adds to this misguided notion” that “Puerto Ricans are foreigners, not American citizens.”
Monday, June 26, 2023-Story behind the story-Dave Noyes growing up in Fort Johnson; plus an apology. Monday story about 6 minutes.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s unforgettable day.
Wednesday, June 28, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 44, January 23, 2015 Richard Norton Smith author of “On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller.”
Thursday, June 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Summer in Amsterdam years ago.
Friday, June 30, 2023-Episode 481--Chris Wimmer is author of The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
About 20 Years Ago Bob went back on The Radio in The Mohawk Valley, and then about 10 years ago...
One Man Show (Bob Cudmore slide show with music One Man Show written by GOD and Tom Staudle, performed by 2 members of the Tom Staudle choir (Windows Movie)) written 10-27 thru 10-31-2014
The Historians Out West this Week
Episode 398- John Boessenecker, author of Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, June 25, 2023
65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:06AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High near 82. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, June 25, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Legislature left some vital matters unresolved
It’s actually a good thing that the state Assembly didn’t do much when it returned to Albany last week to…**https://dailygazette.com/
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The Arkell Museum in Canajoharie has displayed Vogt’s work as has the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.
Meet Canajoharie, NY!
https://villageofcanajoharie.org/
Homeless man sketched the homes of others
By Bob Cudmore
Fritz Vogt slept in barns and relieved the pain of rheumatism with alcohol. He spoke broken English and died at a poorhouse. Yet he left a collection of 200 drawings that have been prized by art collectors and exhibited at museums
“No one knows what Fritz Vogt did during the first 48 years of his life in Germany, where he was born in 1841,” wrote New York Times reviewer Ken Johnson in 2003.
Vogt came to America in 1890 and spent his last ten years as a traveling artist, recording what Johnson called “lucid descriptions” of the homes of clients, primarily farmers in Schoharie, Montgomery, Otsego, Fulton and Herkimer counties.
He did 40 drawings of farms, churches and other buildings in the town of Sharon, for example, and 25 in Canajoharie.
He died in the poorhouse of the town of Palatine in 1900. The ledger from the Commissioner of the Poor in Palatine for that year, stored at the Old Court House in Fonda, has a notation for a request for remuneration for Vogt’s burial expenses.
The late W. Parker Hayes, Jr., a project director for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition service, produced a catalog book for Vogt’s retrospective, “Drawn Home: Fritz Vogt’s Rural America.” The catalog was published by the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. The Arkell Museum in Canajoharie has displayed Vogt’s work as has the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.
At first, Vogt drew realistically with graphite pencils then switched to colored pencils and his work became more complex with multiple perspectives.
“Somebody could have happened to buy him a set of colored pencils,” Hayes said. “Or somebody said ‘I want this in color’ and all of a sudden his constituency decided, ‘Hey I want my work in color.’”
Why did farmers want pictures of their homes? Hayes said New York agriculture was facing competition from the Midwest. There was nostalgia for the dwindling numbers of “gentleman farmers.” Vogt’s drawings also mirror another late 19th century social trend—publication of county atlases depicting the homes of wealthy people.
Hayes was able to chronicle aspects of Vogt’s life from oral histories recorded in the 1960s, interviews with elderly people who had known Vogt when they were children. Hayes created a database of Vogt’s work to fill in biographical details in that the artist dated and described each drawing.
Hayes said the oral histories noted that Vogt picked hops, “In August of every year from 1891 until he died he didn’t do any drawings. August is the beginning of the hops picking season.”
A few drawings indicate that Vogt was paid a couple of dollars for a specific piece. Vogt was more often paid in kind, with a place to stay, meals or alcohol.
Vogt fit in with the region’s existing German-American population. “He relied on an ethnic network to get the basic things in life and to find patrons,” Hayes said. Vogt had a “good rapport” with children and may have earned money by teaching German.
According to Hayes, Vogt was “a short, smallish man with a quick step, yet slightly rotund.” Hayes added, “He wore five or six second-hand shirts layered over each other, the underlying shirts visible through holes in the outer layers. He slept in the shelter of barns between two buffalo-hides on a pile of hay. When Vogt entered a home to complete his drawings, he wore a pair of slippers or crude shoes fashioned from carpet remnants.”
Hayes wrote, “We are left with the great irony of a homeless man who expressed an intimate knowledge of the idea of home.”
Friday, June 23, 2023-Episode 480
A highlights edition with excerpts from podcasts on the Holocaust, Amsterdam history, Harlem, the Battle of Bennington, desegregation, Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Johnson.
...and into The Weekend
Saturday, June 24, 2023-From the archives- Episode 41, January 2, 2015, Adirondack expert Philip G. Terrie is author of the book “Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks.”
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Focus on History- Dave Noyes, growing up in Fort Johnson; plus an apology
Constant reader and frequent contributor David Edward Noyes, 92, of Evergreen, Colorado, has passed away. Dave was born in 1931
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast
coming this Saturday, June 24 and every Saturday
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 22, 2023
54 (Cool) degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:21AM
Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 77. Southeast wind 3 to 8 mph.
Tonight Isolated showers after 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. East wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 22, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Celebrate the return of Lady Liberty, nod to local history “History and tradition help define a city as much as other factors. And Schenectady not only is rich in history,… Amsterdam adopts zoning laws for cannabis, first dispensary goes to Planning Commission next week AMSTERDAM — The Common Council has adopted zoning regulations covering cannabis retailers and manufacturers in Amsterdam. Now, the first dispensary…**https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews State DMV unveils Capital Region-specific license plate https://www.recordernews.com/*****Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $2610, the end zone $7000 for 2023. It's a bit of a tall order. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson and the Wild West and coming up Movie History. (Episode #500 this November) Please donate online with the link at the top of the page or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 22, 2023
Homeless man sketched the homes of others by Bob Cudmore
Fritz Vogt slept in barns and relieved the pain of rheumatism with alcohol. He spoke broken English and died at a poorhouse. Yet he left a collection of 200 drawings that have been prized by art collectors and exhibited at museums
Fritz Vogt at The Arkell
http://www.arkellmuseum.org/content/fritz-vogt-drawings-sense-place
Friday, June 23, 2023-Episode 480
A highlights edition with excerpts from podcasts on the Holocaust, Amsterdam history, Harlem, the Battle of Bennington, desegregation, Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Johnson.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast
In the email early on Saturday
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 21, 2023
61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:11AM
Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 78. East wind 3 to 7 mph.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. East wind 3 to 7 mph.
Thursday A slight chance of showers after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersCouple with Amsterdam ties charged in woman’s ex-husband murder downstate A husband and wife are facing federal charges for allegedly carjacking and murdering the woman’s ex-husband while they were living… Broadalbin’s Linda Eastman, with 4 village businesses, continues to serve community four decades on BROADALBIN — Linda Eastman has conducted business on North Main Street in Broadalbin since February 1982, when she opened Linda’s…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Gov. Kathy Hochul touts New York’s progress in seizing illegal guns after Duanesburg shooting Friday Gov. Kathy Hochul is touting the state’s progress in seizing illegal guns as part of a multi-state...
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The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $2610, the end zone $7000 for 2023. It's a bit of a tall order. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson and the Wild West and coming up Movie History. (Episode #500 this November) Please donate online with the link at the top of the page or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
The Hart–Agnew Law (Racing returned to New York in 1913)
New York State outlawed betting in 1907 and racing stopped at Saratoga. Temporarily, the Sanfords sold most of their horses to out-of-staters and Canadians, according to Robb.
Walking the horses to Saratoga
By Bob Cudmore
In the early twentieth century, thoroughbred horses owned by Amsterdam carpet mill owner Stephen Sanford were walked each summer to Saratoga from Sanford’s Hurricana Farm.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Hollie Hughes, who served three generations of Sanfords, recalled the annual trek in Alex M. Robb’s book, “The Sanfords of Amsterdam.”
The trip began at the Sanford horse farm on what is now Route 30 in the town of Amsterdam. Efforts are underway to preserve remaining buildings at the complex, originally called Hurricana Farm but later known as the Sanford Stud Farm.
“First, we’d go up to Hagaman, a couple of miles away, and then we’d head for Top Notch, or West Galway, as it’s called,” Hughes said. “That would be about five miles. Then we’d go three miles straight east to Galway village. Then we’d go to West Milton, about seven miles farther east, and there we’d stop at the old Dutch Inn and feed the horses and men. My, those breakfasts tasted good! By that time it would be close to daylight. On the way over, half the horses would be under saddle with boys up. After breakfast the saddles were put on the others which had been led by the men up to this point, and we’d walk the remaining ten miles to Saratoga, coming in by Geyser Spring.”
In 1901, Sanford built his own stable on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga. He had as many as 35 horses at a time. When asked why he kept so many horses, the industrialist replied he was not in the horse raising business for “margin,” in other words for profit.
Author Robb, an official of the New York State Racing Commission in 1969 when he wrote his book about the Sanfords, said that Stephen Sanford started buying the property that would become Hurricana Farm in the 1870s after his doctor recommended he take up farming as a hobby to help with what may have been stomach ulcers. And Robb said that Sanford’s sons—John and William—also encouraged their father in this enterprise because of their own interest in fast horses, especially jumpers. William died in 1896.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Sanford Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July. Trolleys ran continuously up to Market and Meadow Streets. From there, horse drawn wagons took people to the farm. Some automobiles went to the farm as well but were not admitted to the grounds. There was food, drink, music and, of course, horse racing. Some 15,000 attended the event during its last year.
New York State outlawed betting in 1907 and racing stopped at Saratoga. Temporarily, the Sanfords sold most of their horses to out-of-staters and Canadians, according to Robb.
Stephen Sanford was blind the last five years of his life. Born in 1826, he worked with his father John and then on his own to create the Sanford carpet mills. Stephen Sanford went to West Point, served in Congress and was a friend of Ulysses S. Grant.
The old gentleman doted on his grandchildren, in particular his namesake, born in 1899. He gave the boy a Shetland pony almost before the youngster could walk. Young Stephen called the pony Laddie. The grandfather bestowed the nickname Laddie on his grandson as well.
Stephen Sanford died on February 13, 1913. Six months later, racing resumed at Saratoga along with the first running of the Sanford Memorial.
Stephen’s 62-year old son John continued to head the carpet mills and racing stables created during his father’s lifetime. According to Robb, John Sanford inherited $40 million at his father’s death.
Robb wrote, “Hollie Hughes recalls Stephen Sanford as a man with a magnetic personality, one to whom your eyes would turn instinctively, even though he was but one of a hundred men in a crowd. Hollie describes him as tall, thin, straight as a ramrod, his chin (and the chin whiskers) carried high, his right arm across his back. He had a dry wit.”
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Episode 294- There are insights into the life of a reclusive 19th century poet in Marta McDowell’s book, “Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life.” McDowell was gardener-in-residence at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2018.
Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world, but less well known is the fact that she was also an avid gardener—sending fresh bouquets to friends, including pressed flowers in her letters, and studying botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. At her family home, she tended both a small glass conservatory and a flower garden.
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" tomorrow, Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm
https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Fort Johnson, New York, new bridge, Colonial Privy, Kings Colours, back of fort showing gun ports, herb garden, roof of colonal bake oven.
This Thursday, June 22, 2023
Homeless man sketched the homes of others by Bob Cudmore
Fritz Vogt slept in barns and relieved the pain of rheumatism with alcohol. He spoke broken English and died at a poorhouse. Yet he left a collection of 200 drawings that have been prized by art collectors and exhibited at museums
Fritz Vogt at The Arkell
http://www.arkellmuseum.org/content/fritz-vogt-drawings-sense-place
Friday, June 23, 2023-Episode 480 --A highlights edition with excerpts from podcasts on the Holocaust, Amsterdam history, Harlem, the Battle of Bennington, desegregation, Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Johnson.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast each Weekend-Saturday (About 400 history fans are on the list)
bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Tuesday, June 20, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:23AM
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 4pm and 5pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Isolated showers before 9pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 79. East wind 5 to 7 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersMontgomery County to replace Cranes Hollow Road bridge, latest for long-term infrastructure plan AMSTERDAM — An outdated bridge on Cranes Hollow Road in the town of Amsterdam will be replaced next year as part…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Gloversville Police have not released details of Sunday’s officer-involved shooting death of an unarmed person Few details have been released about an officer-involved shooting of an unarmed person that...
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On the subject of horses, in The Gazette today.. Daily Gazette Support Local Journalism To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/ Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition When Credibility Matters
Saratoga Springs could rake in major revenue from potential 2025 Belmont Stakes weekend SARATOGA SPRINGS – Excitement has been buzzing throughout Saratoga Springs since the New York Racing Association announced that Saratoga Race…
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Walking the horses to Saratoga
In the early twentieth century, thoroughbred horses owned by Amsterdam carpet mill owner Stephen Sanford were walked each summer to Saratoga from Sanford’s Hurricana Farm.
The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. We still have a long way to go. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson and the Wild West. Please donate online or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
Wednesday, June 21, 2023-From the Archives-November 29, 2019-Episode 294- There are insights into the life of a reclusive 19th century poet in Marta McDowell’s book, “Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life.” McDowell was gardener-in-residence at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2018.
In Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, award-winning author Marta McDowell explores Dickinson’s deep passion for plants and how it inspired and informed her writing. Tracing a year in the garden, the book reveals details few know about Dickinson and adds to our collective understanding of who she was as a person. By weaving together Dickinson’s poems, excerpts from letters, contemporary and historical photography, and botanical art, McDowell offers an enchanting new perspective on one of America’s most celebrated but enigmatic literary figures.
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" this Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm
https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Fort Johnson, New York, new bridge, Colonial Privy, Kings Colours, back of fort showing gun ports, herb garden, roof of colonal bake oven.
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Homeless man sketched the homes of others
Friday, June 23, 2023-Episode 480 --A highlights edition with excerpts from podcasts on the Holocaust, Amsterdam history, Harlem, the Battle of Bennington, desegregation, Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Johnson.
Up on the roof
By Bob Cudmore
When there was a gathering at Amsterdam’s Clock Tower building at 37 Prospect Street early this month, Paul Russo was happy to attend.
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek celebrated National Trails Day at their first public meeting. There was a discussion of the potential for a pedestrian trail along the North Chuctanunda, the creek which provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
“I always loved that building,” said Paul of the Clock Tower. He lived his first 22 years in Amsterdam then, after college in Albany, he and his wife Elizabeth Dye Russo settled in Johnstown, raising two boys and teaching in the Johnstown schools.
Paul’s father, Carl Russo, worked for Bigelow-Sanford for many years. He was top accounting official for the carpet mill in Amsterdam with a huge office and a secretary on the top floor of the Clock Tower.
Terry Barker, who is restoring and developing the building, took Paul and other guests up on the newly restored roof. Paul, who only visited his father at work once when he lived in Amsterdam, said you can see three-quarters of the city from the roof.
Barker has been working on the Clock Tower for over a decade. He has found what works best is to create and rent small spaces for businesses, professionals and artists. Former Mayor Ann Thane has her art studio there.
Carl Russo was born in Amsterdam, skipped sixth grade and graduated from high school in 1926. He married Bernice Kedzior of Amsterdam.
The family lived first on Route 30 but later bought a house from Bigelow-Sanford in a development nicknamed Hollywood on Park Hill, not too far from the Clock Tower.
Carl and Bernice Russo’s first child was a boy they named Paul, who died as a baby. In 1943 came twins Carol and Karen, followed by Paul in 1945 and Janet in 1947.
Carl worked long hours for Bigelow-Sanford and had a side business, a bowling alley on East Main Street. He enjoyed singing at Butch Robertshaw’s Drum and was a bowler and golfer.
Paul remembers Sunday drives in the family car, a 1947 weathered green Chevrolet.
Carl worked for a time at Bigelow-Sanford in Thompsonville, Connecticut.
In 1955 Bigelow-Sanford closed its Amsterdam operation and relocated to Thompsonville. Carl was offered a job at one of their plants in North Carolina. Instead he wound up staying in Amsterdam, working for the city’s other major carpet maker, Mohasco.
Carl developed colon cancer, but Paul said he and his sisters were told it was an obstruction of the bowels. Paul was in eighth grade in 1959 when he saw a robin in early spring, hoping it was a good sign. Carl Russo died that day.
Paul’s mother got a job with the state tax department in Albany. Someone told Paul that he was now the “man of the house.”
Barker said the Clock Tower was constructed in 1922 and occupied by Bigelow-Sanford in 1923. He has assembled most of the parts needed to fix the clock and hopes the four-sided timepiece can be restored next spring.
After the carpet mill left town, toymaker and Cabbage Patch doll creator Coleco eventually used the Clock Tower Building. Coleco made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the home computer market with its Adam computer and went into bankruptcy in 1988.
Paul gave one of his father’s accounting books to Barker. The developer has collected other memorabilia from people who worked in the building.
As Barker refurbishes the manufacturing floors in the structure he tries to preserve the scratches. He said, “Every scratch is a man’s day’s work.”
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Historians Radio Schedule this Week
Monday and Wednesday WMHT89.1 Public Radio Albany RISE
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, June 18, 2023
58 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:55AM
A slight chance of showers between noon and 2pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 55. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Tuesday A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. East wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, June 19, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Springs could rake in major revenue from potential 2025 Belmont Stakes weekend SARATOGA SPRINGS – Excitement has been buzzing throughout Saratoga Springs since the New York Racing Association announced that Saratoga Race… NEW TALES OF OLD DORP: Turning my attention to Schenectady’s Polish immigrants Schenectady historians tend to focus on the Dutch and English aspects of our collective history. After all, these are the…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Hubbard leads Amsterdam Mohawks past Utica in PGCBL Bryce Hubbard had two hits and three RBIs Sunday to help the Amsterdam Mohawks to a 10-6 Perfect...
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Saturday
David Pietrusza
Bob schedule "On the Radio" today (two episodes) at Noon WCSS Amsterdam 106.9 and WIZR 102.9 Johnstown
Saturday, June 17–Episode 479 – Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle with songs of the American Revolution and Episode 370-Hudson Valley historian A.J. Schenkman has stories from his book “Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York”--including a plot to kidnap General George Washington. Next week Monday and Wednesday Albany Public Radio WMHT 89.1FM Tomorrow, Bob goes Up on The Roof
Sunday, June 18, 2023
When there was a gathering at Amsterdam’s Clock Tower building at 37 Prospect Street early this month, Paul Russo was happy to attend.
Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle
https://www.cosbygibson.com/cosby-tom
BandCamp
https://cosbygibson.bandcamp.com/
https://tomstaudle.bandcamp.com/
This Monday, June 19th, 2023 from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, we’ll hold our fourth annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization with a long history of effectively enacting change through litigation, advocacy, and public education.
As a reminder, Bandcamp Fridays will resume on August 4th, and continue on September 1st, October 6th, November 3rd, and December 1st. https://bandcamp.com/
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast each Weekend (in your email this morning)
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Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, June 17, 2023
61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:07AM
Showers likely before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 69. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Juneteenth A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, June 17, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersTrooper shot on Interstate 88 in Duanesburg; Suspect dead, ID’d as Schenectady man (w/ video) DUANESBURG — A New York state trooper was shot in the arm and then exchanged gunfire with a suspect late Friday… FMCC, Saint Rose partner to address teacher shortages by creating local education pipeline JOHNSTOWN — Fulton Montgomery Community College and The College of Saint Rose have launched a partnership to address widespread teacher…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam displays unity by raising the Pride flag at City Hall AMSTERDAM — On a damp afternoon a rainbow flew over Amsterdam City Hall amidst cheers from over a...
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Cosby Gibson
BandCamp
https://cosbygibson.bandcamp.com/
On Monday, June 19th, 2023 from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, we’ll hold our fourth annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization with a long history of effectively enacting change through litigation, advocacy, and public education.
As a reminder, Bandcamp Fridays will resume on August 4th, and continue on September 1st, October 6th, November 3rd, and December 1st. https://bandcamp.com/
Cosby and Tom on SoundCloud
Saturday, June 17, 2023-From the archives- Friday, August 31, 2018-Historians Episode 230-Presidential historian David Pietrusza discusses his book, “TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy.”
Sunday, June 18, 2023-Focus on History- Up on the roof
When there was a gathering at Amsterdam’s Clock Tower building at 37 Prospect Street early this month, Paul Russo was happy to attend.
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast each Weekend (in your email tomorrow morning)
bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, June 16, 2023
59 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. High near 75. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. Low around 57. West wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 68. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. West wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, June 16, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course picked over Aqueduct for 2025 Belmont Stakes, if needed SARATOGA SPRINGS – If construction at Belmont Park happens as anticipated, Saratoga Race Course will be the one-time location of… New York passes law to require drivers to move over one lane for all disabled vehicles on side of the road The state Legislature this month passed a bill that would require drivers to move over if disabled vehicles are parked…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Ammonia spill at Canajoharie’s former Beech-Nut plant prompts hazmat response, not expected to delay demolition CANAJOHARIE — Emergency crews were called to the former Beech-Nut plant in Canajoharie by contractors preparing the site for demolition…
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Fort Plain Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/
Dark days in Amsterdam in 1955
By Bob Cudmore
The announcement that Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company was leaving Amsterdam for Thompsonville, Connecticut shocked Amsterdam residents and brought joy to people in Thompsonville. The move eliminated 1,650 jobs in Amsterdam, most of them employed in weaving Axminster, a patterned carpet with a cut pile. A 12-person plastic manufacturing plant remained in Amsterdam.
“I remember the announcement of their leaving broadcast over WCSS in 1955 that made the rumors official,” recalled Rochester resident and Amsterdam native Dave Northrup. “It cast a real pall over the city.”
Company president James D. Wise broke the news at Noon on Saturday, January 29. The local papers didn’t print the story until Monday. Historian Hugh P. Donlon said those were “dark days.”
Wise cited competition from new tufted carpet mills in the South, plus competition from woven carpet plants in America and overseas as reasons for consolidation. Local wisdom has held that corporate control passed outside of Amsterdam when the Sanford family merged their company with Bigelow-Hartford in 1929.
New York Governor Averill Harriman moved quickly to publicly pressure Stephen “Laddie” Sanford, the company’s largest stockholder, to do what he could to save jobs in Sanford’s native Amsterdam.
But Sanford, then living in Florida, told reporters, “Conditions in the carpet industry are very bad making it necessary for us to cut down on our overhead.”
Local leaders had been aware of the possibility of Bigelow-Sanford’s departure. A community drive had raised $300,000, secured land for an industrial park on Edson Street and work had begun on a new factory building. Local officials offered the building to Bigelow-Sanford.
The president of the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce, Karl Kempf, told the Daily Gazette that unsuccessful efforts had been made to bring about a merger of Bigelow-Sanford and Amsterdam’s other major rug maker, Mohawk Mills. Kempf said, “Such a merger would have been of obvious benefit to Bigelow-Sanford stockholders.”
Kempf said the move to Connecticut was, “An injustice both to Amsterdam and to the company’s stockholders.”
That January weekend Harriman dispatched his new Commerce Commissioner, Edward P. Dickenson, to Amsterdam for meetings with local leaders. Fred Krokenberger of the textile union told Dickenson his members had accepted concessions. Krokenberger noted that while Amsterdam only had four union grievances in four years, workers in Thompsonville had participated in 17 work stoppages in two years.
Some said the move was engineered by Connecticut’s Governor Abraham Ribicoff, who had met Bigelow-Sanford officials at their 140 Madison Avenue offices in New York City in December 1954.
In Thompsonville, a section of the town of Enfield, prayers of thanksgiving were offered up at Sunday church services that weekend.
Theodore Misaszek, president of Local 2188 of the Textile Workers Union of America was pleased for his workers and community but added, “We feel sorry for the people of Amsterdam and our sincere sympathy is with them.”
In October 1955 more than two million square feet of Bigelow-Sanford factory space divided into 21 parcels was offered for sale at an Amsterdam auction, along with company houses and vacant lots. According to historian Donlon, property assessed at $5 million brought total bids of only $300,000.
Thompsonville merchant Frank Tokarczyk happily told a reporter in 1955 he hoped Bigelow-Sanford would stay 125 years. However, by 1971 the company had closed its Thompsonville mills after moving manufacturing to southern states.
The Enfield Historical Society in Connecticut has an Axminster carpet loom from Bigelow-Sanford’s Thompsonville plant on display at their museum at 1294 Enfield Street. There is still carpet in the loom and society president Tony Secondo would be happy to show it you. More information on carpet making in Thompsonville is on the Web site, http://www.enfieldhistoricalsociety.org
Evenings at Old Fort Johnson "Building the Windsor Chair" Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm https://www.oldfortjohnson.org/
Master furniture maker John Los will be the featured speaker for the first Wednesday lecture of the Old Fort Johnson summer series. He will demonstrate how the classic American Windsor chair was made, using four variations of the style that he built and donated to Old Fort Johnson.
Saturday, June 17, 2023-From the archives- Friday, August 31, 2018-Historians Episode 230-Presidential historian David Pietrusza discusses his book, “TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy.”
Sunday, June 18, 2023-Focus on History- Up on the roof
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast each Weekend
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 15, 2023
60 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:15AM
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. West wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm, then a slight chance of showers between 8pm and 9pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday Showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 15, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersPets Fur Adoption – in Saratoga, Fulton, Montgomery, Albany counties (10 pets featured) CAPITAL REGION – Looking for a shy and snuggly cat or a ball-of-energy dog? Meet some of the Capital Region’s… Amsterdam adjusts eligibility for senior tax exemption to protect ‘economically disadvantaged’ AMSTERDAM — Amsterdam has raised the income eligibility levels for a senior property tax exemption for the first time in…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Assembly to return to Albany next week for special session ALBANY – Members of the Assembly have been asked to return to Albany next week to finish up...
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Thursday, June 15, 2023
A dark day for Amsterdam in 1955
New York Governor Averill Harriman moved quickly to publicly pressure Stephen “Laddie” Sanford, the company’s largest stockholder, to do what he could to save jobs in Sanford’s native Amsterdam.
New (state of the art, as they say" release this Friday)
June 16, 2023 – Episode 479 – Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle with songs of the American Revolution. Previously Cosby and Tom, who live in the Mohawk Valley have done musical programs with songs of the Erie Canal and other historical events.
Saturday, June 17, 2023-From the archives- Friday, August 31, 2018-Historians Episode 230-Presidential historian David Pietrusza discusses his book, “TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy.”
Sunday, June 18, 2023-Focus on History- Up on the roof
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email blast each Weekend
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 14, 2023
54 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:53AM
Showers likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. Patchy fog before 7am. High near 72. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. South wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday A slight chance of showers before 8am, then isolated showers after 9am. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersHochul expands paid family leave program under new contract deal with nearly 100,000 public employees ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul is touting an expansion of the paid parental leave program in the recent labor contract… George Westinghouse, Jr., statue placed in Schenectady Tuesday – Images (3 photos) SCHENECTADY – The bronze statue of George Westinghouse was put into place on Erie Boulevard Tuesday ahead of the official…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Mohawk Town Board poised to update battery storage laws, create regulations allowing event centers TOWN OF MOHAWK — The Mohawk Town Board is preparing to adopt a pair of local laws to increase the...
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Amsterdam man was author and aeronautic expert
By Bob Cudmore
The story of Amsterdam native Adam Golab came to the foreground recently because the Walter Elwood Museum of the Mohawk Valley needed copies of Golab’s popular books for the museum gift shop.
“Adventures of a Small Boy in His Small World” was published in 1994 and illustrated by the author. Ann Peconie, director at the museum, said she gets more requests for Golab’s “The Mighty and Awesome Chuctanunda Creeks Runs Through a Limestone City,” published in 1999.
After detective work on the part of history buff John Szkaradek, copies of one of the books were secured from Golab’s daughter, Carole Martin, who lives in Amsterdam. The book focusing on the Chuctanunda Creek is now available at the 300 Guy Park Avenue museum gift shop for $10. The earlier book is out of print.
Golab, born in 1920, was married to the late Regina Majewski and they had two other children--Lisbeth Golab of Amsterdam and James Golab of North Carolina.
Adam Golab studied aeronautic engineering at the Bedford Technical School in Brooklyn. From 1940 until 1943, he was employed at Precision Instrument Company in Brooklyn and later worked as an aircraft mechanic at Roosevelt Field on Long Island. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1948, including a stint aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard.
Go Fund Me "A check in The U.S. Mail" to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. The Historians #500 Podcast will post this November. Donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
He returned to Amsterdam in 1949 when he secured a position at Schenectady General Electric, first in the steam turbine plant and then at GE Research and Development in Niskayuna. He was a specialist in materials and processes and retired in 1982. His wife died in 2000 and the author died in 2004. They made their home on Wallins Corners Road.
Martin said her father’s first book was a surprise to her but that she was the typesetter for book number two. She has followed in her father’s footsteps to some extent. Martin today works at GE’s Niskayuna research headquarters.
“Adventures of a Small Boy in His Small World” tells tales of Golab’s youth. He lived on Grand Street on Park Hill, adjacent to the Bigelow-Sanford carpet mill. His parents, Joseph and Katherine Kosiba Golab, were Polish immigrants, both of whom worked in the rug mills.
Martin recalled one story from her father’s first book. Since the carpet mills used the North Chuctanunda Creek as a dumping ground for dye and other waste, parents could tell if their children had been playing in the creek if their clothing had picked up unusual colors. Golab also wrote how adventurous boys would walk on the top level of the girders of the old Pulaski Bridge that spanned the creek, connecting Park Hill with the city’s other traditionally Polish neighborhood, Reid Hill.
“The Mighty and Awesome Chuctanunda Creeks Runs Through a Limestone City,” according to Martin, is the story of Amsterdam and the North Chuctanunda Creek. The creek is a character in the book (called Chuck) and the author asks Chuck to describe places, people and things along the route the stream takes on its way from its source north of Amsterdam to the Mohawk River.
Golab had other interests in addition to writing. He was a member of the Sacandaga Boat Club over 40 years and built his first boat. He was a master carpenter and woodworker who built his own home and the custom designed furniture in it. He was a photographer and worked on a photographic almanac of historic barns of the Mohawk Valley.
He enjoyed radio controlled airplanes and was a member of the Empire State Aerosciences Museum in Schenectady. He belonged to a number of historical organizations, including the Elwood Museum.
Bob Cudmore on The Radio this Weekend
Saturday, June 17–Episode 479 – Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle with songs of the American Revolution. Saturday, June 17-Episode 370-Hudson Valley historian A.J. Schenkman has stories from his book “Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York”--including a plot to kidnap General George Washington. WCSS Amsterdam and WIZR Johnstown (Noon Saturday)
Wednesday, June 14, 2023-Polo player and carpet executive Laddie Sanford, a 1940 Northville fire and a newspaper contest from the early 1900s.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
A dark day for Amsterdam in 1955
“I remember the announcement of their leaving broadcast over WCSS in 1955 that made the rumors official,” recalled Rochester resident and Amsterdam native Dave Northrup. “It cast a real pall over the city.”
New release this Friday
June 16, 2023 – Episode 479 – Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle with songs of the American Revolution.
Labor union movement in America.
...every morning at half past 4
Sit Down, 8 Hours, Joe Hill and more
Musicians Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle CD and concert featuring history songs about the labor union movement in America.
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, June 13, 2023
60 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM
A slight chance of showers before 8am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. High near 71. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersWaite: Failures on housing drag down social justice successes
When New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, of Brooklyn, spoke on the Senate floor in support of the “Clean Slate”…**https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
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The Revolutionary War Conference 250 today and tomorrow. Fort Plain Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/ Go Fund Me "A check in The U.S. Mail"
to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023.
The Historians #500 Podcast will post this fall. Donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Bob Cudmore and Scott Haefner talk history
Old Fort Johnson is the 1749 limestone house built by William Johnson on the Mohawk River in colonial New York. It was fortified for protection during the French & Indian Wars from 1755-63. Johnson convened many Native American conferences on this site as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department.
Sunday, June 11, 2023-Bob Cudmore
Focus on History
Going over street to Fort Plain "Posted Tomorrow"
Luxuray manufactured women’s underwear, mainly panties, from 1931 to 1999 in a factory on Willett Street in Fort Plain. Luxuray sold its own line of panties, had a factory store in Fort Plain and supplied retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s.
by Andy Arthur
Driving down NY 10 and heading into and through parts of the village of Fort Plain in Montgomery County.
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Mohawk Valley Weeekend Weather, Saturday, June 10, 2023
47 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:28AM
Isolated showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 74. West wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 48. West wind 3 to 7 mph.
Sunday Isolated showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Monday Rain. High near 71. Southeast wind 7 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, June 10, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersSaratoga Race Course in the conversation as possible site of 2025 Belmont Stakes ELMONT — Triple Crown winners have run at Saratoga Race Course, most recently American Pharoah in 2015. As a measure…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Pride flag to be raised on ceremonial pole installed on lawn alongside Amsterdam City Hall AMSTERDAM — The Pride flag will be raised on the grounds at Amsterdam City Hall in the coming days...
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Old Fort Johnson is the 1749 limestone house built by William Johnson on the Mohawk River in colonial New York. It was fortified for protection during the French & Indian Wars from 1755-63. Johnson convened many Native American conferences on this site as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department. The Revolutionary War Conference 250 starts today Friday, June 9, 2023. Fort Plain Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/ Last-Minute Registrations are being accepted, Thank you!
Mohawk Country Norm Bollen with the Information
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. The Historians #500 Podcast will post this November. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
Saturday, June 10, 2023-Episode 311-Kathryn Smith is a journalist from South Carolina, author of “Gertie: The Fabulous Life of Gertrude Sanford Legendre, Heiress, Explorer, Socialite, Spy.”
Sunday, June 11, 2023-Bob Cudmore
Focus on History
Going over street to Fort Plain “Your article on the Luxuray brought back old memories,” wrote Charles Gehring, who lived in Nelliston as a child.
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Mohawk Valley Weeekend Weather, Friday, June 9, 2023
47 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:25AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a slight chance of showers. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday A slight chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday A slight chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, June 9, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Don’t move county and town elections to even-numbered years It seems like a reasonable idea. But when you break it down, it’s really not. State lawmakers are considering legislation…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Disc golf course unveiled at Sassafras Park in Amsterdam, nine holes are playable now AMSTERDAM — Disc golf has been added to the list of recreation options offered in Amsterdam as the...
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The Revolutionary War Conference 250 starts tomorrow Friday, June 9, 2023. Fort Plain Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/ Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. The Historians #500 Podcast will post this November. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you
Violins and Ginseng
By Bob Cudmore
Arch Kested was a violin maker and ginseng grower from Fonda who was the plaintiff in an assault case that had political overtones.
Born in Broadalbin in 1861 to Henry and Lydia Lansing Kested, Arch Kested married Charlotte Craig in 1891. He became proficient in “hand wood turning,” according to his 1940 obituary.
He was a longtime woodworker at “the old steam mill” in Fonda. His obituary stated, “For many years he was recognized as an expert in the art of violin making and was consulted by many people who possessed violins of various makes.”
Amsterdam native Gail Buchner Breen has a Kested violin made in 1895. There is a crack on the back, which has been repaired. Breen said the violin “has a little bit of a froggy sound when the weather is very humid but is very playable.”
Breen added, “It originally belonged to Charles Rockwell, my maternal grandfather, who lived in Galway. He, along with my grandmother on piano and uncle on accordion, played during the breaks at some of the dances locally around Hagadorn Mills many years ago.”
Another Kested violin from 1893, owned by a collector in the region, is playable but also has a small crack on the back.
The fiddle’s back and sides are maple and the front is spruce. The peg board and other parts are ebony.
GINSENG KING
Kested also was known as the Ginseng King. Ginseng is a root crop that is processed and used as a general health tonic and to treat male sexual dysfunction.
Cornell University has pictures from 1903 posted online showing Kested’s ginseng farm on the Johnstown Road north of Fonda. Kested was shipping ginseng in two tin-lined hardwood barrels to China in 1905. In 1911 Kested and a partner were said to have a $10,000 ginseng crop on hand but were unable to sell it in China because of a war there.
In 1915, Kested reported his ginseng beds were raided twice within a month and about $1000 worth of the roots were stolen. The story reported that Kested sold ginseng in New York City for three to eight dollars a pound. Kested’s ginseng farm was estimated to be the largest in the United States in 1917.
NO VERDICT
Kested was the plaintiff in a politically charged assault case in 1922. Kested alleged that J. Hooker Cross and his son Irving Cross came to his barn and beat him.
The Crosses were upset at stories Kested allegedly was spreading about them and the Crosses contended Kested started the physical fray with his pitchfork. The Crosses left the scene when Kested’s wife suddenly appeared.
A jury in Fonda could not agree on a verdict against the Crosses that June, according to the Recorder. The trial attracted attention as all three men were prominent (the elder Cross was superintendent of horses at the previous year’s Fonda Fair) and involved in Republican politics.
When Kested died, his wife survived as did three sons and three daughters. Kested’s obituary stated, “His genial personality and his kindness endeared him to a large circle of friends and acquaintances.”
ANOTHER VIOLIN MAKER
John S. Hull of Fort Hunter also made violins by hand. The Leader Herald reported that at age eleven Hull started to learn violin-making from his father, John Justin Hull, a violinist and instrument maker in Kingston, Pennsylvania.
The younger Hull trained to be a violinist at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. He ultimately focused on making and especially repairing violins in Fort Hunter. He was especially good at repairing bows. He was relied on by a large clientele of musicians.
Tomorrow the Bob Cudmore conversation with Scott Haefner
Friday, June 9, 2023 – Episode 478 Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson historic site explains how this formerly fortified home of British Indian agent Sir William Johnson was preserved by a grass roots organization, the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Old Fort Johnson is the 1749 limestone house built by William Johnson on the Mohawk River in colonial New York. It was fortified for protection during the French & Indian Wars from 1755-63. Johnson convened many Native American conferences on this site as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department.
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Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 8, 2023
53 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:38AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT THURSDAY NIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates.. until midnight EDT Thursday night.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, June 8, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersFifty years later, Turcotte still has clear view of Secretariat’s incredible Belmont win When you look back, it’s a matter of perspective. Ron Turcotte took a peek behind him as he rode Secretariat… EDITORIAL: Take more time on bill to seal more criminal records State lawmakers, in their desire to pass a significant piece of legislation before they leave Albany for the next six…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Amsterdam to replace lead service lines carrying water to 45 homes AMSTERDAM — Lead service lines carrying water to 45 homes in Amsterdam will be replaced this year...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Still Time to Register (2023 Conference starts this Friday, June 9) The Fort Plain Museum began operation in 1961 as the Fort Plain Restoration with an emphasis on rebuilding Revolutionary War Fort Plain.
The Revolutionary War Conference 250 Friday, Saturday and Sunday in The Mohawk Valley Fort Palin Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062
THE FORT PLAIN MUSEUM, IN THE HEART OF MOHAWK COUNTRY!
A 2nd Bus has been added!
Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers at the auditorium of Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown. This Saturday and Sunday, June 10, 8 am-5 pm and June 11, 8 am to 1 pm at the Revolutionary War conference organized by the Fort Plain Museum.
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023.
Thank you very much. We still have a long way to go. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution by Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle, the Wild West and much more. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you again-every contribution is appreciated.
Tomorrow
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Violins and ginseng
Born in Broadalbin in 1861 to Henry and Lydia Lansing Kested, Arch Kested married Charlotte Craig in 1891. He became proficient in “hand wood turning,” according to his 1940 obituary.
Friday, June 9, 2023 – Episode 478 Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson historic site explains how this formerly fortified home of British Indian agent Sir William Johnson was preserved by a grass roots organization, the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email
"Blast"
bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 7, 2023
48 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:22AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates.. until midnight EDT tonight.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. The air quality index...or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersAs end of legislative session in Albany nears, compromise bill on ‘Clean Slate’ is introduced Legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul appear to have agreed on a deal to pass a bill known as “Clean…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
Montgomery County moves ahead with ambulance purchase FONDA — Montgomery County has purchased a used ambulance and has another brand-new emergency... Amish community helps its own rebuild after barn fire in Canajoharie
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This Friday, Saturday and Sunday in The Mohawk Valley The Revolutionary War Conference 250 Fort Palin Museum https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062
THE FORT PLAIN MUSEUM, IN THE HEART OF MOHAWK COUNTRY!
Still Time to Register for The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley that starts this Friday, June 9, 2023
Plus We Added a 2nd Bus!
Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers this Saturday and Sunday, June 10, 8 am-5 pm and June 11, 8 am to 1 pm at the Revolutionary War conference organized by the Fort Plain Museum.
The speaking program takes place at the auditorium of Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown.
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023.
Thank you very much. We still have a long way to go. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution by Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle, the Wild West and much more. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you again-every contribution is appreciated.
The city was the birthplace of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the 19th century and Rose Knox of Knox Gelatin became one of the country’s first female corporate leaders in the 20th century.
Johnstown celebrates its rich history
By Bob Cudmore
The city of Johnstown, with a population of about 8500, is small but elegant, according to Regent Catherine Grady of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The city is planning a series of events to mark its 250th anniversary this year (2008).
As early as 1758, colonist Sir William Johnson was making plans to encourage Europeans to settle in the area now called Johnstown. Johnson himself established his residence at Johnson Hall, today a state historic site. The elder Johnson named the community after his son John.
“You couldn’t make up (William Johnson’s) life,” said Wanda Burch, site manager of Johnson Hall, speaking at last month’s inaugural 250th anniversary event at St. Patrick’s Masonic Lodge.
British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Johnson was responsible for keeping good relations between Britain and Indian allies including the Mohawk nation. Johnson’s consort was a powerful Mohawk woman, Molly Brant.
Johnson founded St. John’s Episcopal Church and St. Patrick’s Masonic Lodge. Father Ted Monica of St. John’s said Anglican services were first held locally in the 1760s. Mason Wayne Schermerhorn said Johnson was the first master of the lodge in 1766. Today’s lodge has Masonic jewelry dating back to that time. The Johnstown courthouse was built in 1772, the only colonial era courthouse in America still in use.
Mayor Sarah Slingerland and artist Marjorie Marcais unveiled the 250th anniversary poster last month, featuring a portrait of Johnson.
Sir William Johnson died in 1774 before the outbreak of the American Revolution. His family sided with the British and left the area for Canada. John Johnson and his Indian allies attacked the city that was named for him and other parts of the Mohawk Valley during the war.
The last battle of the Revolution was in Johnstown in 1781. Assemblyman Marc Butler, whose district includes the city, has a special interest in the British sympathizer who played a role in that battle, Walter Butler. The Assemblyman noted that Walter Butler was probably regarded locally as the Osama Bin Laden of his day.
Although Assemblyman Butler is not descended from Walter Butler, the Assemblyman lives in Newport near where the 18th century soldier died.
Fire Chief Bruce Heberer told the anniversary kickoff that the city fire department is observing its 200th anniversary this year. Heberer noted the first fire company had 24 members and the department today has 24 firefighters.
Johnstown city historian Noel Levee said that as the community was the first county seat of the colonial Tryon County and the postwar Montgomery County, Johnstown was prominent early on. National dignitaries including Daniel Webster visited Johnstown.
The city was the birthplace of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the 19th century and Rose Knox of Knox Gelatin became one of the country’s first female corporate leaders in the 20th century.
With neighboring Gloversville, Johnstown became a center for glove manufacturing in the 19th and part of the 20th centuries.
Fulton County historian Peter Betz is convinced the 250th anniversary celebration will help participants realize that history is about people.
Among anniversary events scheduled this year is an Elizabeth Cady Stanton women’s symposium March 15 at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. The Fulton County Historical Society will have a Johnstown exhibit from May through October at their Gloversville museum. Market Days will be held at Johnson Hall on June 7 and 8.
September 13 will be marked by a parade and there will be historic home tours that month.
In November, the Colonial Little Theatre will present a radio show called “Lady of Johnstown—Rose Knox.” That month there will be a Rose Knox birthday party at Knox Mansion and a cook off featuring Knox Gelatin recipes.
by Darryl Kenyon(2015)
YouTube (Subscribe to the Channel)
I was recently in Johnstown NY and did a walking tour video of the Historic Town.
Wednesday, June 7, 2023-From the Archives-August 5, 2022-Episode 434-NBC TV has aired an episode of their family history show Who Do You Think You Are including interviews filmed in Fonda and Johnstown. Actor Nick Offerman (who plays Ron Swanson in the sitcom Parks and Recreation) traced his ancestors to families from upstate New York. Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar, Montgomery County historian, explains why Fonda’s Old Courthouse is a mecca for genealogists and historians.
Thursday, June 8, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Violins and ginseng
Friday, June 9, 2023 – Episode 478 Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson historic site explains how this formerly fortified home of British Indian agent Sir William Johnson was preserved by a grass roots organization, the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Sign-up for the Bob Cudmore email
"Blast"
bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, June 6, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:59AM
``` ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TUESDAY NIGHT...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued a Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates.. until midnight EDT Tuesday night.
Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an air quality index value of 100 for ozone. The air quality index... or AQI...was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern.
When pollution levels are elevated...the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include the very young and those with pre existing respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease. Those with symptoms should consider consulting their personal physician.
For additional information, please visit the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website at, https://on.ny.gov/nyaqi, or call the Air Quality Hotline at 800-535- 1345. ```
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. Widespread haze before 1pm, then widespread haze after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. West wind 9 to 13 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Widespread haze before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. West wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 70. Northwest wind 11 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Daily Gazette *Support Local JournalismTo subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/Paper-Paper, On-line and e-editionWhen Credibility MattersEDITORIAL: Bills will take more waste out of the environment New York state lawmakers have the rare opportunity, before they leave Albany this week, to make a significant and long-lasting… Price Chopper/Market 32 parent company Northeast Grocery names new Chief Information Officer SCHENECTADY — Northeast Grocery Inc., the parent company of Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Market, has named a new executive… Northville, Northampton head into summer with shared police force NORTHVILLE — There’s a new chief on the beat. Richard Richardson, a former Gloversville detective lieutenant, is at the helm…***https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews
As state legislative session comes to close, environmental advocates renew push to reduce plastic waste State lawmakers and environmental advocates on Monday urged legislative leaders in the Assembly...
https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/**
Over The Weekend
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Thank you very much. We still have a long way to go. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution by Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle, the Wild West and much more. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you again-every contribution is appreciated.
Monday, June 5, 2023-Story behind the story-early Latino immigrant Aldlmo Canacho
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Johnstown history
The city of Johnstown, with a population of about 8500, is small but elegant, according to Regent Catherine Grady of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The city is planning a series of events to mark its 250th anniversary this year (2008).
Wednesday, June 7, 2023-From the Archives-August 5, 2022-Episode 434-NBC TV has aired an episode of their family history show Who Do You Think You Are including interviews filmed in Fonda and Johnstown. Actor Nick Offerman (who plays Ron Swanson in the sitcom Parks and Recreation) traced his ancestors to families from upstate New York. Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar, Montgomery County historian, explains why Fonda’s Old Courthouse is a mecca for genealogists and historians.
Thursday, June 8, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Violins and ginseng
Friday, June 9, 2023 – Episode 478 Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson historic site explains how this formerly fortified home of British Indian agent Sir William Johnson was preserved by a grass roots organization, the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Puerto Rican immigrant marks milestone birthday
By Bob Cudmore
One of the first Latino immigrants to Amsterdam recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
City Mayor Michael Cinquanti said in a Facebook post that Aldelmo (Al) Camacho’s family including grandson Rob Camacho held the celebration at the Century Club.
Cinquanti wrote, “(Al) and his beloved wife Tina have contributed so much to our community since settling here in 1951 and to be on hand to see him share this incredible milestone with his loving family and friends was indeed a privilege.”
Aldelmo Camacho grew up on a farm near Yauco, a small city in south Puerto Rico. The youngest of ten children, he joined the Army in 1942 and served as a medical surgery technician.
After the war, he attended business college where he met his future wife, Ernestina (Tina) Perez. In 1948, they married and the family grew with the birth of two daughters.
Aldelmo said in a 2004 interview that two of his brothers had moved to America and settled in Amsterdam, attracted by newspaper ads from the carpet industry.
In 1950, Aldelmo left his family and arrived in Amsterdam on a Sunday in June. He had his first job the next day, making pocketbooks for Central Leather.
“When I came here, you could have a job, quit the job and get another job in that same building with another company,” Aldelmo said. “If you didn’t have a job here it was because you didn’t want to work.”
Aldelmo stayed in Amsterdam four months but returned to Yauco because he missed his family. There was no work in Puerto Rico so Aldelmo headed north again. This time he ran a milling machine at Collette’s, preparing rubber for tennis and beach balls.
Within a few months, Tina and the children moved to Amsterdam and Tina began work at Amsterdam Glove. Their first home was in the former Amsterdam Hotel on Main Street. Apartments followed and then their own houses on Academy Street and Bunn Street.
There were only a few Latinos in Amsterdam in the early 1950s. “When we came in it was just Puerto Ricans and Cubans,” Aldelmo said. Today, Amsterdam’s many Latinos also have roots in Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico and other countries.
In 1953, the Camachos were instrumental in forming the Spanish American Club, which closed in 2004.
Tina held jobs at Chalmer’s Button Shop, Hanover Dress, Martin Jay Dress and Mohawk Dress. She also earned her high school diploma and attended Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
“We made an honest dollar every place we went,” Tina said. “We started at 75 cents an hour and then it went up to a dollar an hour. We lived on that.”
Aldelmo worked several years at the Naval Depot in Scotia and then was a dress cutter at Hanover’s. Hanover’s closed its Amsterdam plant in 1972 and wanted Aldelmo to relocate to Vermont. Instead, the Camachos returned to Puerto Rico.
“We went back and I got a job in San Juan cutting dresses,” Aldelmo said. “But I was in San Juan and (Tina) was in Yauco, a hundred miles apart and we stayed just seven weeks. When we left Puerto Rico it was one way of living. When we went back it was too different. It was a different country for us.”
Back in Amsterdam, Aldelmo secured jobs at Coleco, then Gem Urethane, Bojud Knitting and General Electric before his retirement.
“This town (Amsterdam) came to be more important than the town where I was born,” said Aldelmo, who has a reputation for his skill at dominoes. “This town for me is like my hometown. It’s where I’ve raised my family.”
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" (into your email box each Saturday)
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, June 5, 2023
51 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:54AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Thanks to an extremely generous and anonymous $1000 donation, The Historians Podcast fund drive has now raised $2610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Thank you very much. We still have a long way to go. Please help us provide more history programing on Fort Ticonderoga, Old Fort Johnson, songs of the American Revolution by Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle, the Wild West and much more. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you again-every contribution is appreciated.
Puerto Rican immigrant marks milestone birthday
By Bob Cudmore
One of the first Latino immigrants to Amsterdam recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
City Mayor Michael Cinquanti said in a Facebook post that Aldelmo (Al) Camacho’s family including grandson Rob Camacho held the celebration at the Century Club.
Cinquanti wrote, “(Al) and his beloved wife Tina have contributed so much to our community since settling here in 1951 and to be on hand to see him share this incredible milestone with his loving family and friends was indeed a privilege.”
Aldelmo Camacho grew up on a farm near Yauco, a small city in south Puerto Rico. The youngest of ten children, he joined the Army in 1942 and served as a medical surgery technician.
After the war, he attended business college where he met his future wife, Ernestina (Tina) Perez. In 1948, they married and the family grew with the birth of two daughters.
Aldelmo said in a 2004 interview that two of his brothers had moved to America and settled in Amsterdam, attracted by newspaper ads from the carpet industry.
In 1950, Aldelmo left his family and arrived in Amsterdam on a Sunday in June. He had his first job the next day, making pocketbooks for Central Leather.
“When I came here, you could have a job, quit the job and get another job in that same building with another company,” Aldelmo said. “If you didn’t have a job here it was because you didn’t want to work.”
Aldelmo stayed in Amsterdam four months but returned to Yauco because he missed his family. There was no work in Puerto Rico so Aldelmo headed north again. This time he ran a milling machine at Collette’s, preparing rubber for tennis and beach balls.
Within a few months, Tina and the children moved to Amsterdam and Tina began work at Amsterdam Glove. Their first home was in the former Amsterdam Hotel on Main Street. Apartments followed and then their own houses on Academy Street and Bunn Street.
Tomorrow, Monday, June 5, 2023-Story behind the story-early Latino immigrant Aldlmo Canacho(Podcast about 5 Minutes)
There were only a few Latinos in Amsterdam in the early 1950s. “When we came in it was just Puerto Ricans and Cubans,” Aldelmo said. Today, Amsterdam’s many Latinos also have roots in Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico and other countries.
In 1953, the Camachos were instrumental in forming the Spanish American Club, which closed in 2004.
Tina held jobs at Chalmer’s Button Shop, Hanover Dress, Martin Jay Dress and Mohawk Dress. She also earned her high school diploma and attended Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
“We made an honest dollar every place we went,” Tina said. “We started at 75 cents an hour and then it went up to a dollar an hour. We lived on that.”
Aldelmo worked several years at the Naval Depot in Scotia and then was a dress cutter at Hanover’s. Hanover’s closed its Amsterdam plant in 1972 and wanted Aldelmo to relocate to Vermont. Instead, the Camachos returned to Puerto Rico.
“We went back and I got a job in San Juan cutting dresses,” Aldelmo said. “But I was in San Juan and (Tina) was in Yauco, a hundred miles apart and we stayed just seven weeks. When we left Puerto Rico it was one way of living. When we went back it was too different. It was a different country for us.”
Back in Amsterdam, Aldelmo secured jobs at Coleco, then Gem Urethane, Bojud Knitting and General Electric before his retirement.
“This town (Amsterdam) came to be more important than the town where I was born,” said Aldelmo, who has a reputation for his skill at dominoes. “This town for me is like my hometown. It’s where I’ve raised my family.”
June on The Historians with Writer, Radio, Internet, NewsPaper Man Bob Cudmore
Friday, June 9, 2023 –Episode 478-Scott Haefner of Old Fort Johnson historic site explains how this formerly fortified home of British Indian agent Sir William Johnson was preserved by a grass roots organization, the Montgomery County Historical Society.
Old Mount Johnson
An original mini documentary directed, produced, filmed & edited by Aaron Smith. It explores the history of William Johnson and Old Fort Johnson located in Upstate New York. Starring: Rachel Bliven - Museum Director Scott Haefner - Site Manager
Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
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Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, June 4, 2023
46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
An instant after the jury foreman read the first guilty manslaughter verdict, Nauman Hussain’s girlfriend, Melissa Bell, let out a…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The morning Weather in Amsterdam
A slight chance of showers before 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Northeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
This Morning at 9:30
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting tomorrow, Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
CHUCTUNUNDA CREEK TRAIL -POWERHOUSE SECTION
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
The 2023 theme 1760
Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
Today in The Daily Gazette and On-line tomorrow on The Historians
Sunday, June 4, 2023-Aldelmo Camacho at 100 years old
Aldelmo Camacho grew up on a farm near Yauco, a small city in south Puerto Rico. The youngest of ten children, he joined the Army in 1942 and served as a medical surgery technician.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast"
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, June 3, 2023
64 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:03AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Please contribute to our 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting tomorrow, Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
CHUCTUNUNDA CREEK TRAIL -POWERHOUSE SECTION
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Saturday June 3, 2023-Michael Mauro DeBonis discusses his New York History Blog article on Canastota, N.Y., boxing champion Carmen Basilio
Sunday, June 4, 2023-Aldelmo Camacho at 100 years old
One of the first Latino immigrants to Amsterdam recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
City Mayor Michael Cinquanti said in a Facebook post that Aldelmo Camacho’s family including grandson Rob Camacho held the celebration at the Century Club.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" this Saturday
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, June 2, 2023
62 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:21AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Please contribute to our 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Weston, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1839, started America’s fascination with long distance walking in 1861 when he trudged from Boston to Washington to fulfill a bet that he would accomplish the feat in ten days if Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election.
Walking through the Mohawk Valley
By Bob Cudmore
When marathon walker Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Weston, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1839, started America’s fascination with long distance walking in 1861 when he trudged from Boston to Washington to fulfill a bet that he would accomplish the feat in ten days if Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election.
Weston’s walk took ten hours longer than ten days but he became famous for the effort, giving people a diversion in a very dark time.
After the Civil War ended, Weston walked from Portland, Maine to Chicago, Illinois, in 1867 to win a prize of $10,000. Gamblers took to betting on competitive walkers.
Weston the pedestrian, as he famously called himself, was in Amsterdam in October 1894 as part of a walk around New York State.
He passed through Amsterdam again on his walk from Portland, Maine, to Chicago in 1907 at age 68. When he started out, Weston was doing 50 miles a day.
Weston went through Amsterdam on March 19, 1909 on his 4,000 mile walk from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, a journey that took 104 days.
On his way back he went through Amsterdam on the night of April 26, 1910, receiving the tumultuous welcome that was reported by the New York Times.
The Amsterdam Recorder had sent a reporter west of Tribes Hill to walk with Weston on the approach to Amsterdam, Hundreds were cheering the pedestrian along the road through Tribes Hill and the village of Akin, later renamed Fort Johnson,
Weston frequently doffed his hat to acknowledge women well-wishers and spectators waving American flags.
The Recorder wrote, “The younger ones cared not where they dodged and occasionally one of them would get directly in the pathway of the walker or else bump against him in the rear.”
When the crowds got too close Weston would shout, “Please keep 10 feet away/”
The Amsterdam police chief escorted Weston from the city line on Guy Park Avenue, where the first fireworks were heard. Weston and his entourage turned down Caroline Street then headed east on Division Street.
When Weston turned right on Market Street, a flying wedge of high school boys made it possible for him to continue moving forward through the huge crowd,
“It was then that enthusiasm let loose,” the Recorder wrote, “And the sirens of the automobiles
coupled with the red firesticks and Roman candles made a din that Market Street has never before seen.”
Fireworks ignited the awning on John Larrabee’s hardware store but the blaze was quickly extinguished “with the aid of water thrown from the upper windows.”
Weston went inside the Barnes Hotel on Market Street and was “whisked to his room” where he met with Stephen Sanford, Amsterdam’s most prominent mill owner/
After Sanford left, Weston rested. He came down about two a.m. saying he was “feeling bully.” He had breakfast and then resumed his marathon trek, heading for Schenectady, Troy and ultimately New York City. There he expected to give up walking for a while “and go on the lecture platform” with his topic being "The Vicissitudes of a Pedestrian."
The last reference to Weston being in Amsterdam came in 1922 when the then 82-year old walker came through town September 23 on his way to New York City.
Weston was hit by a New York City taxicab in 1927. Badly injured, he stopped walking. He died in 1929 and was buried in New York City.
Matthew Keagle
Artillery in the 18th century was organized by the weight of its shot, but shot was more than just the size of the cannonball.
Tomorrow, Bob Cudmores conversation with Curator Matthew Keagle
"1760"
Friday, June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
Saturday June 3, 2023-Michael Mauro DeBonis discusses his New York History Blog article on Canastota, N.Y., boxing champion Carmen Basilio
Sunday, June 4, 2023-Aldelmo Camacho at 100 years old
One of the first Latino immigrants to Amsterdam recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
City Mayor Michael Cinquanti said in a Facebook post that Aldelmo Camacho’s family including grandson Rob Camacho held the celebration at the Century Club.
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting this Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
CHUCTUNUNDA CREEK TRAIL -POWERHOUSE SECTION
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" this Saturday
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 1, 2023
59 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:33AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Last day of May
Historians Episode 213-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir
First day of June
Weston the pedestrian
When marathon walker Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
Weston, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1839, started America’s fascination with long distance walking in 1861 when he trudged from Boston to Washington to fulfill a bet that he would accomplish the feat in ten days if Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election.
Join Fort Ticonderoga's Curator Dr. Matthew Keagle for a history of the French Lines on the Carillon Battlefield.
This Friday Bob Cudmores conversation with Curator Matthew Keagle
"1760"
Friday, June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
This Saturday in Amsterdam
North Chuctanunda Creek Friends to Meet
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" this Saturday
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, May 31, 2023
55 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:20AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
It's all in the details! Check out Curator Matt Keagle unfold the history of this Spanish 12-pounder bronze cannon using largely overlooked clues. Scroll down for Matthew Keagle on YouTube
On The Historians this Friday
June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $1610 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Thanks to Bob Burns for our most recent contribution. Please donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution is appreciated.
Love letters from the Depression
By Bob Cudmore
In the summer of 1931, my parents both were working and lived on what my father called “long distance love.”
Born in Torrington, England in 1909, Clarence Cudmore came to America with his mother Elizabeth and siblings in 1912.
My grandfather Harry Cudmore had emigrated to Amsterdam the year before to weave silk at Fownes Brothers glove mill on Grove Street. The family settled in a duplex at 36 Eagle Street, three houses away from Harry and Bryna Demsky, whose son became the actor Kirk Douglas.
The home owner where my grandparents lived was Robert Brown. Brown and his wife Beatrice lived in half of the house. Beatrice was my grandfather’s sister who had come to Amsterdam years before.
Julia Cook, my mother, was born in Randall in 1913. Her father Yates was a storekeeper who died unexpectedly at age 63 in 1915. My grandmother and her three children moved to Amsterdam after World War I. Grandmother Margaret operated a boarding house at 107 1/2 Forbes Street.
Both my parents grew up in the city’s East End and met at the East Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church, which is now a community center.
Clarence left school to work in Mohawk Carpet Mills near his Eagle Street home. Julia skipped two grades and graduated from high school at age 16 in 1930.
She went off to Albany Normal School, the predecessor of SUNY Albany, but left school because of emotional and money problems.
Julia and her older sister Jane spent the summer of 1931 working as maids at a Catskill resort, the Terrace Farm Inn in Phoenicia. Their mother had grown up in Chichester near Phoenicia and relatives kept their eyes on the girls.
That summer Julia, 17, and Clarence, 22, exchanged 24 letters.
“It seemed awfully queer and funny to me Sunday not having you come after me and loving me too,” Julia wrote in June.
Clarence responded with a story about a rain-soaked church picnic in Tribes Hill where the minister’s car got stuck on wet grass and Clarence helped put chains on the tires, “I had my new suit on, so you could imagine how mad I was.”
“Oh, by the way, I have an appointment with my cousin on Thursday to go to see (the movie) ‘Dracula’ at Fleischmanns,” Julia wrote. “You don’t mind, do you? He’s my cousin and we’ll be chaperoned thank God.”
The carpet mill where Clarence worked closed for inventory the last week in June. Julia responded, perhaps sarcastically, that it was good of the mill owners to give her beau a vacation.
In July Julia had an “attack of hysterics.” Clarence told her of a wedding at their Amsterdam church where the 100 guests were served sandwiches left over from a church picnic.
Julia refused two dates and said business was brisk at the inn. Clarence hitched a ride with Julia’s sister’s fiancé Peter Segen for a visit in Phoenicia.
Julia came down with stomach ulcers. A doctor prescribed medicine and put her on a bland diet. Clarence replied, “If I was the doctor, I wouldn’t give you anything but love and kisses.”
Clarence wrote in August, “I don’t like the idea of living on long distance love.”
Julia and Clarence were married by the Reverend Frank T. Love at the East Main Street Methodist Church parsonage in Amsterdam in April 1934, the day after my father’s 25th birthday. Their first child, Arlene, was born in August 1935. I came along ten years later.
Clarence and Julia had been married 60 years when Clarence died in 1994. Julia died two years later.
Last day of May
Historians Episode 213-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir about the 1960s medical team at Roswell Park in Buffalo who made great strides in treating cancer: “Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood Leukemia.”
First day of June
Weston the pedestrian
When marathon walker Edward Payson Weston strode into Amsterdam in 1910, the New York Times reported that Weston received “the merriest reception which has been accorded him at any place during his walk across the continent.”
It's all in the details! Check out Curator Matt Keagle unfold the history of this Spanish 12-pounder bronze cannon using largely overlooked clues.
Friday, June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
North Chuctanunda Creek Friends to Meet this Saturday
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" sent early each Saturday with the latest Historians information
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, May 30, 2023
56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:14AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting this Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Monday, May 29, 2023
Story behind the story- Women’s panties made in Fort Plain; N. Chuctanunda Creek Trail
Village of Fort Plain, New York
https://villageoffortplain.com/
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Long distance love
In the summer of 1931, my parents both were working and lived on what my father called “long distance love.”
Born in Torrington, England in 1909, Clarence Cudmore came to America with his mother Elizabeth and siblings in 1912.
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Historians Episode 213-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir about the 1960s medical team at Roswell Park in Buffalo who made great strides in treating cancer: “Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood Leukemia.”
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Weston the pedestrian
Friday, June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
Luxuray in Fort Plain; Chuctanunda trail in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
A company with the poetic name Luxuray bought a multi-storied factory building on Willett Street in Fort Plain in 1931 to manufacture women’s underwear, mainly panties.
The building was first used in 1874 by the Shipman Spring and Axle Works. That business moved to Illinois in 1894, a loss keenly felt in Fort Plain according to historian Rob Carter.
From 1900 to 1931 the Bailey brothers wove silk in the Willett Street complex. Then Luxuray entered the picture,
Soon after acquiring the Fort Plain property in 1931, Luxuray began expanding.
“When this work is finished,” wrote the Otsego Farmer newspaper in 1933, “Luxuray Inc. will be one of the most complete and modern underwear plants in the United States, with a force of employees totaling from 250 to 300.”
The Gloversville Morning Herald that year reported Luxuray was implementing two shifts in Fort Plain and making rayon underwear.
Luxuray sold its own line of panties and supplied stores like Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s. Luxuray had a factory store in Fort Plain.
One company executive in the 1970s boasted, “We make everything from a skimpy string bikini up to a size 68-inch hip.
The predominantly female Luxuray employees, most of them operating sewing machines, were noticed in local newspapers for sporting events, employee parties and good deeds. Luxuray regularly advertised for more workers.
Rolls of cotton, nylon, acetate and other materials were trucked to Fort Plain, and Luxuray’s cutting room staff was responsible for minimizing fabric waste.
In 1945 many of the women from Luxuray used their own funds to help pay for a bingo party for soldiers recovering from war wounds at a Utica hospital.
Some 250 employees and friends gathered for Luxuray’s annual clambake and dance in 1948. There was also a softball game and tug-of-war.
Luxuray had several corporate owners. In the 1950s it became part of Beaunit Corporation. The Fort Plain plant was sold to a group of local Mohawk Valley investors in 1974. The number of employees had shrunk from several hundred to about 70 people.
“They may not know it,” wrote reporter Charles Tobey in a story in the Courier Standard Enterprise in 1984, “But right now, thousands of women are wearing panties made in Fort Plain.”
Harry Reeder, manager of the plant in the 1970s and 1980s, told the newspaper, “We like to think of ourselves as a good place to work.”
Lightning apparently started a fire that damaged the roof of the Fort Plain factory in 1986. The company kept going.
Foreign competition led to Luxuray’s demise. The company merged with Johnstown Knit in the closing years of the 20th century. By 1999 underwear production had ceased in Fort Plain.
North Chuctanunda Creek Friends to Meet this Weekend
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
History from The Mohawk Valley with Bob Cudmore
More on The Musicians of Ma’alwyck
Violinist Ann-Marie Barker Schwarz explores the history of high quality music in the early days of radio. Edward Rice played the violin during WGY Schenectady’s first broadcast on February 20, 1922. Barker Schwarz is the founder of Musicians of Ma’alwyck and took part in WGY’s 100th anniversary broadcast.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" sent early each Saturday
Be the first on your block
Mohawk Valley Memorial Day Weekend Weather, Monday, May 29, 2023
57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:06AM
FORT PLAIN — The former Masonic Temple in Fort Plain is one step closer to restoration and reuse for an…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
In 1945 many of the women from Luxuray used their own funds to help pay for a bingo party for soldiers recovering from war wounds at a Utica hospital.
This afternoon at 3 in Amsterdam Trinity Lutheran Church, 42 Guy Park Ave. Requiem: What remains is love by Maria Riccio Bryce
Luxuray in Fort Plain; Chuctanunda trail in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
A company with the poetic name Luxuray bought a multi-storied factory building on Willett Street in Fort Plain in 1931 to manufacture women’s underwear, mainly panties.
The building was first used in 1874 by the Shipman Spring and Axle Works. That business moved to Illinois in 1894, a loss keenly felt in Fort Plain according to historian Rob Carter.
From 1900 to 1931 the Bailey brothers wove silk in the Willett Street complex. Then Luxuray entered the picture,
Soon after acquiring the Fort Plain property in 1931, Luxuray began expanding.
“When this work is finished,” wrote the Otsego Farmer newspaper in 1933, “Luxuray Inc. will be one of the most complete and modern underwear plants in the United States, with a force of employees totaling from 250 to 300.”
The Gloversville Morning Herald that year reported Luxuray was implementing two shifts in Fort Plain and making rayon underwear.
Luxuray sold its own line of panties and supplied stores like Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s. Luxuray had a factory store in Fort Plain.
One company executive in the 1970s boasted, “We make everything from a skimpy string bikini up to a size 68-inch hip.
The predominantly female Luxuray employees, most of them operating sewing machines, were noticed in local newspapers for sporting events, employee parties and good deeds. Luxuray regularly advertised for more workers.
Rolls of cotton, nylon, acetate and other materials were trucked to Fort Plain, and Luxuray’s cutting room staff was responsible for minimizing fabric waste.
In 1945 many of the women from Luxuray used their own funds to help pay for a bingo party for soldiers recovering from war wounds at a Utica hospital.
Some 250 employees and friends gathered for Luxuray’s annual clambake and dance in 1948. There was also a softball game and tug-of-war.
Luxuray had several corporate owners. In the 1950s it became part of Beaunit Corporation. The Fort Plain plant was sold to a group of local Mohawk Valley investors in 1974. The number of employees had shrunk from several hundred to about 70 people.
“They may not know it,” wrote reporter Charles Tobey in a story in the Courier Standard Enterprise in 1984, “But right now, thousands of women are wearing panties made in Fort Plain.”
Harry Reeder, manager of the plant in the 1970s and 1980s, told the newspaper, “We like to think of ourselves as a good place to work.”
Lightning apparently started a fire that damaged the roof of the Fort Plain factory in 1986. The company kept going.
Foreign competition led to Luxuray’s demise. The company merged with Johnstown Knit in the closing years of the 20th century. By 1999 underwear production had ceased in Fort Plain.
North Chuctanunda Creek Friends to Meet
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting Saturday June 3, 9:30 am at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments.
An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco.
Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall.
The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Monday, May 29, 2023
Story behind the story- Women’s panties made in Fort Plain; N. Chuctanunda Creek Trail
The story from Bob about 6 minutes
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Long distance love
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Historians Episode 213-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir about the 1960s medical team at Roswell Park in Buffalo who made great strides in treating cancer: “Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood Leukemia.”
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Weston the pedestrian
Friday, June 2, 2023-Episode 477- Curator Matthew Keagle discusses Fort Ticonderoga historic site this season. Visitors will experience 1760 at the fort and see how British soldiers and American provincials ensure military dominance on Lake Champlain and deep into the heart of French Canada.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" sent early each Saturday
Be the first on your block
Mohawk Valley Memorial Day Weekend Weather, Sunday, May 28, 2023
53 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
7 O'Clock this Evening First Reformed Church, 8 N. Church St., Schenectady
and Sunday 3PM in Amsterdam at Trinity Lutheran Church, 42 Guy Park Ave.
Requiem: What remains is love by Maria Riccio Bryce
Bob Cudmore and Maria Riccio Bryce "Requiem" The Conversation
Episode 476-Journalist Paul Kix documents how the 1963 desegregation campaign in Birmingham Alabama changed race relations in America. Martin Luther King, Jr., was imprisoned and wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Kix’s book is titled You Have to Be Prepared to Die before You Can Begin to Live.
Entertainer-turned-activist Harry Belafonte risked his life to post bail to get Dr. King out of jail. Kix says everything that happened after Birmingham—from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to Southern states allowing interracial marriage--stemmed from this one moment in time sixty years ago.
Saturday, May 27, 2023- Episode 126, August 26, 2016-Christopher Kelly talks about the Romans, Garibaldi, Mussolini and more in discussing his latest book with Stuart Laycock, “Italy Invades: How the Italians Conquered the World.”
Italy Invades, full of restless adventurers, canny generals, and the occasional scoundrel, is a fast-paced and compelling read, the perfect sequel to America Invades.
Recreating their success with America Invades, Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock take another global tour, this time starting from Italy and exploring that country's military involvements throughout the ancient and modern worlds.
The Sunday Bob Cudmore Story
May 28, 2023-Focus on History-Women’s panties made in Fort Plain; N. Chuctanunda Creek
Soon after acquiring the Fort Plain property in 1931, Luxuray began expanding
On your schedule for Next Weekend
North Chuctanunda Creek Friends to Meet, Saturday June 3, 2023 9:30 am
Friends of North Chuctanunda Creek Incorporated will celebrate National Trails Day at their first public meeting at the Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect Street in Amsterdam.
Maps will show completed trails and future construction. There will be refreshments. An elevator to the top floor of the Clock Building will enable attendees to enjoy the view from the historic structure that once was part of Bigelow Sanford Carpet and later toymaker Coleco. Outdoors on June 3, John Naple will lead an optional mile-long walk along the North Chuctanunda Creek. The walk will go through the former Sanford Mill Complex from Locust Avenue to Church Street, stop at the creek overlook in back of Kelloggs and Miller’s former linseed oil plant, and go down Church Street to opposite City Hall. The North Chuctanunda Creek provided water power to many of Amsterdam’s 19th century mills.
Sign-up for the Cudmore email "Blast" sent early each Saturday, keep up with The Mohawk Valley History Schedule
Mohawk Valley Memorial Day Weekend Weather, Saturday, May 27, 2023
46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:33AM
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $1535 toward our $7000 goal for 2023. Once again donations are at a standstill. PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution, large or small, is appreciated.
Monday, May 8, 2023
Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Tuesday, May 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Marching drum corps in World War II
After all these years, Sylvia Zimolka Stock and Frank Yazum remember the colors their rival Amsterdam drum corps wore during World War Two
Wednesday, May 10, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 158, April 7, 2017-Folksingers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle perform songs from the early days of the Erie Canal. The building of the canal began two hundred years ago. Cosby and Tom have also appeared on Historians Podcast with songs about being a lumberjack, poetry of Poe and Kipling put to music, and labor union songs.
Thursday, May 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The Rockon Wye
A recent column about the Rockton Wye section of Amsterdam prompted this query from Amtrak engineer and rail fan Paul Larner, “Are you aware of the origin of the name Rockton Wye?”
Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s. Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.
By Bob Cudmore
Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Into his seventies Deal was able to make an impact on a conversation by jumping onto a table from a standing position,
Born January 29 1882 at a home on Amsterdam’s Division Street, he was the son of entrepreneur Charles Deal and Eugenia Deal.
Charles Deal moved his family to West Galway after Burt was born and the elder Deal operated a shoddy mill. The mill used scraps from woolen underwear to make new but inferior woolen yarn.
When Burt was six years old the Blizzard of 1888 and his younger brother Howard arrived simultaneously. The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days until the roads were cleared.
The Deals after a time moved back to Amsterdam and Burt graduated from Amsterdam High School, then on Academy Street.
He helped principal Wilbur H. Lynch pack his books for a trip to Mexico for an administrative teaching job.
In 1900 Deal pitched for the Creelers baseball team, named for the textile workers who tended Amsterdam’s carpet weaving looms.
Deal went to college in 1903, joined a fraternity and played football. He had to leave without a degree and come back to Amsterdam because his family had financial reverses.
Deal went to work. He was with the production department of General Electric in Schenectady and then in sales for 17 years at International GE. He was employed at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam for five years.
Amsterdam Mayor James Cline appointed Deal to his first political job on the Civil Service Commission. A Republican, Deal was elected as Sixth Ward Alderman from 1932 to 1938.
Deal opposed Democratic Mayor Arthur Carter and Carter’s New Deal programs. Deal said despite his last name he had no connection to President Roosevelt’s New Deal or President Truman’s Fair Deal. As a tribute to his people skills, however, he was elected vice president of the Democratic Party controlled common council in 1937.
Deal’s former high school principal Wilbur H, Lynch succeeded Carter as mayor. Lynch appointed Deal the city clerk in 1944 and 1945.
Democrat Joseph Hand was elected mayor in 1945 but lost to Deal in the 1947 election. Deal was reelected three times.
Deal enjoyed establishing a friendship with Jan D’Ailly, the mayor or burgomaster of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He once took the burgomaster on a fall tour of upstate New York.
Deal was not an activist mayor and was friendly to industry. Unfortunately many problems caused decline of industry in the area including Amsterdam’s carpet mills.
Deal was the mayor in 1954 when Amsterdam’s sesquicentennial was celebrated with a huge parade and other festivities.
In 1955, as Deal’s fourth term was coming to an end, Bigelow Sanford carpet announced it was leaving Amsterdam. Deal and city Republican chair Walter Going decided it was time for a change.
Frank Martuscello ran that year on the GOP ticket and was elected, the city’s first Italian-American mayor.
Deal was 73 when he left politics. His eightieth birthday was the occasion for stories about his career by two giants of local journalism, Sam Zurlo in the Gazette and Hugh Donlon in the Recorder. Deal’s life is also chronicled in one of Michael Cinquanti’s books on Amsterdam birthdays.
Deal never married and lived in a house on Division Street which he called Gracie Mansion, a reference to the mayoral residence in New York City.
Deal died in 1967 at the Lamp Nursing Home. He was 84 and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 this fall
Bryan Jackson is author of Why the Titanic Was Doomed.
Titanic – the most magnificent ocean liner of her time – was doomed and destined for disaster before she ever left the docks at Southampton. Doomed by her owner, doomed by her designers, doomed by the men who sailed her -- doomed even by her sister ship.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, May 8, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
By Bob Cudmore
Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Into his seventies Deal was able to make an impact on a conversation by jumping onto a table from a standing position,
Born January 29 1882 at a home on Amsterdam’s Division Street, he was the son of entrepreneur Charles Deal and Eugenia Deal.
Charles Deal moved his family to West Galway after Burt was born and the elder Deal operated a shoddy mill. The mill used scraps from woolen underwear to make new but inferior woolen yarn.
When Burt was six years old the Blizzard of 1888 and his younger brother Howard arrived simultaneously. The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days until the roads were cleared.
The Deals after a time moved back to Amsterdam and Burt graduated from Amsterdam High School, then on Academy Street.
He helped principal Wilbur H. Lynch pack his books for a trip to Mexico for an administrative teaching job.
In 1900 Deal pitched for the Creelers baseball team, named for the textile workers who tended Amsterdam’s carpet weaving looms.
Monday more from Bob "The story behind the Story" (a six minute podcast)
Deal went to college in 1903, joined a fraternity and played football. He had to leave without a degree and come back to Amsterdam because his family had financial reverses.
Deal went to work. He was with the production department of General Electric in Schenectady and then in sales for 17 years at International GE. He was employed at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam for five years.
Amsterdam Mayor James Cline appointed Deal to his first political job on the Civil Service Commission. A Republican, Deal was elected as Sixth Ward Alderman from 1932 to 1938.
Deal opposed Democratic Mayor Arthur Carter and Carter’s New Deal programs. Deal said despite his last name he had no connection to President Roosevelt’s New Deal or President Truman’s Fair Deal. As a tribute to his people skills, however, he was elected vice president of the Democratic Party controlled common council in 1937.
Deal’s former high school principal Wilbur H, Lynch succeeded Carter as mayor. Lynch appointed Deal the city clerk in 1944 and 1945.
Democrat Joseph Hand was elected mayor in 1945 but lost to Deal in the 1947 election. Deal was reelected three times.
Deal enjoyed establishing a friendship with Jan D’Ailly, the mayor or burgomaster of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He once took the burgomaster on a fall tour of upstate New York.
Deal was not an activist mayor and was friendly to industry. Unfortunately many problems caused decline of industry in the area including Amsterdam’s carpet mills.
Deal was the mayor in 1954 when Amsterdam’s sesquicentennial was celebrated with a huge parade and other festivities.
In 1955, as Deal’s fourth term was coming to an end, Bigelow Sanford carpet announced it was leaving Amsterdam. Deal and city Republican chair Walter Going decided it was time for a change.
Frank Martuscello ran that year on the GOP ticket and was elected, the city’s first Italian-American mayor.
Deal was 73 when he left politics. His eightieth birthday was the occasion for stories about his career by two giants of local journalism, Sam Zurlo in the Gazette and Hugh Donlon in the Recorder. Deal’s life is also chronicled in one of Michael Cinquanti’s books on Amsterdam birthdays.
Deal never married and lived in a house on Division Street which he called Gracie Mansion, a reference to the mayoral residence in New York City.
Deal died in 1967 at the Lamp Nursing Home. He was 84 and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.
Monday, May 8, 2023
Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Tuesday, May 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Marching drum corps in World War II
After all these years, Sylvia Zimolka Stock and Frank Yazum remember the colors their rival Amsterdam drum corps wore during World War Two
Wednesday, May 10, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 158, April 7, 2017-Folksingers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle perform songs from the early days of the Erie Canal. The building of the canal began two hundred years ago. Cosby and Tom have also appeared on Historians Podcast with songs about being a lumberjack, poetry of Poe and Kipling put to music, and labor union songs.
Thursday, May 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The Rockon Wye
Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s. Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.
Historians Broadcast Schedule
Sunday, May 7 WBDY Binghamton 99.5FM and this Monday and Wednesday WMHT89.1FM Public Radio Albany RISE.
Joyce Stah, on the history of RISE, WMHT's radio information service for the blind and print disabled in New York's Capital Region and Hudson Valley. RISE volunteers read articles from newspapers, periodicals and books to audiences who would otherwise be unable to access such information. RISE depends on donations from organizations and individuals. RISE also carries each episode of The Historians Podcast.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 this fall
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, May 7, 2023
Five miles. That’s how far the driver of the car carrying Kaylin Gillis had to drive to find cellphone service…
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The Historians with Bob Cudmore on local and Public Radio the WWW and in print every weekend Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Next radio broadcast tomorrow at Noon "WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM"
Friday, May 5, 2023-Episode 473-Bob Cudmore provides a Focus on History podcast with topics including an eccentric philosopher, the Demskys of Eagle Street, Amsterdam’s agile mayor Burt Deal and how boxing flourished in 1930s Amsterdam. Dave Greene remembers how he met boxing great Jake LaMotta.
Saturday May 6, 2023-From the Archives-August 14, 2020-Episode 331-Joanne Blaauboer has been researching the old Presbyterian Church graveyard in the hamlet of Fish House on Great Sacandaga Lake. Church deacon Abraham Beecher is buried there. He was the cousin of famous author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Sunday, May 7, 2023- Focus on History-Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Into his seventies Deal was able to make an impact on a conversation by jumping onto a table from a standing position
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 this fall
Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.” The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools. Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, May 5, 2023
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Shell guns were developed just before the Civil War, Von Hasseln said. They fired spherical shells filled with explosives that could tear “jagged holes” in wooden ships as well as igniting “powder, shells, combustibles, and the like.”
The cannon at Amsterdam’s Fairview Cemetery
By Bob Cudmore
A large cannon that marks the veterans’ plot at Amsterdam’s Fairview Cemetery was forged during the Civil War.
City historian Robert H. von Hasseln did extensive research in federal archives and local newspapers on the history of the gun.
Von Hasseln wrote, “It was born in 1864 in the fires of the cast iron forges of Builders Foundry in Providence, Rhode Island.” It was the 183rd eleven inch Dahlgren Shell Gun manufactured for the United States Navy. These guns were named for their inventor, Rear Admiral John Dahlgren.
Shell guns were developed just before the Civil War, Von Hasseln said. They fired spherical shells filled with explosives that could tear “jagged holes” in wooden ships as well as igniting “powder, shells, combustibles, and the like.”
Gun number 183 appeared in federal records at the Mare Island Naval Yard near San Francisco in 1866, according to Von Hasseln. It is not known if the gun had been mounted on any ship prior to 1877 when number 183 was among about fifty Dahlgren guns converted into eight inch rifles.
Builders Foundry Link
http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=1951
Von Hasseln wrote, “It became clear the best way to defeat armored vessels was a pointed rifled projectile (think giant rifle bullet): spinning on its longitudinal axis like a well-thrown football.” The conversion of number 183 was probably done at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York.
Visible on the gun is this notation “P; EJH: 1877” which Von Hasseln said means the gun was proved (test fired), with initials of the federal inspector and the date. Also on the piece you can read: “8 Inch Rifle; 17,240 lbs; No. 13.” This indicates caliber and type, weight of tube alone and a new registry number.
The red cannonballs stacked next to the Fairview gun, Von Hasseln said, are eleven inch spherical shells that the piece originally fired, not the eight inch conical rifle shells it fired after conversion.
Gun 183-13 saw service around the world on the USS Monongahela, Pensacola and Essex. It was later used for training and tests, then stored at the Washington Navy Yard. Some converted eleven inch shell guns were used on ships guarding the East Coast in the Spanish American War.
Fairview Cemetery was established off Steadwell Avenue in Amsterdam’s west end in 1899. Members of the E. S. Young Post 33 of the Grand Army of the Republic, an association of Union Civil War veterans, decided to create a veterans’ plot at Fairview as they had at Green Hill Cemetery.
In early 1906, the Reverend Putnam Cady of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church on Guy Park Avenue gave a talk about his world travels to raise funds to ship and mount the gun. Other fundraisers would continue for two more years, although the cannon was delivered and installed with a flag pole in July of that year.
At the dedication, Reverend Cady said: “Mounted on the decks of men-of-war, it was ever ready to obey the gunner’s will, and with its brazen throat commands respect for the stars and stripes that floated above it. Now that its active usefulness is past what better place could it occupy than this where sleep the men who have fought and stacked their arms for the last time?”
Von Hasseln said “in one of those strange twists of history,” Reverend Cady lived in the same house in Amsterdam where Von Hasseln and his wife Maria Riccio Bryce now reside.
Von Hasseln wrote that most of the original eleven inch shell guns were scrapped, “Others became pier-side and traffic bollards, a few museum displays, and one – an everlasting memorial to Amsterdam veterans.”
The Historians with Bob Cudmore on local and Public Radio the WWW and in print every weekend Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Tomorrow
Friday, May 5, 2023-Episode 473-Bob Cudmore provides a Focus on History podcast with topics including an eccentric philosopher, the Demskys of Eagle Street, Amsterdam’s agile mayor Burt Deal and how boxing flourished in 1930s Amsterdam. Dave Greene remembers how he met boxing great Jake LaMotta.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 this fall(we think in the month of November)
New York State historian Devin Lander discusses plans to observe the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, May 4, 2023
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
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Tomorrow, Thursday, May 4, 2023
The cannon at Fairview Cemetery
Von Hasseln wrote, “It was born in 1864 in the fires of the cast iron forges of Builders Foundry in Providence, Rhode Island.”
Builders Foundry
“In marked contrast to the equipment are the buildings themselves. They are simply a series of additions made from time to time, to an original foundry building, as business demanded it. The original building was erected as early as 1822, and probably earlier, before the days of railroads and steamboats. This fact explains the unsatisfactory location of the works.
http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=1951
The Historians with Bob Cudmore on local and Public Radio the WWW and in print every weekend Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
A new conversation posted each Friday on The Historians. Working to podxcast #500 this fall
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Margaret Weitekamp
In addition to serving as the department chair, Dr. Margaret A. Weitekamp curates the Museum's social and cultural history of spaceflight collection, more than 5,000 artifacts that include space memorabilia and space science fiction objects. These everyday mementos of the space age—which include toys and games, medals and awards, buttons and pins, as well as comics and trading cards—complete the story about spaceflight told by the Museum's collection of space hardware and technologies.
Friday, May 5, 2023-Episode 473-Bob Cudmore provides a Focus on History podcast with topics including an eccentric philosopher, the Demskys of Eagle Street, Amsterdam’s agile mayor Burt Deal and how boxing flourished in 1930s Amsterdam. Dave Greene remembers how he met boxing great Jake LaMotta.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 this November
James Kirby Martin is executive producer of the documentary Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed. The film is based on Martin’s 1997 book Benedict Arnold Revolutionary Hero. The documentary is streaming on several TV platforms, narrated by Martin Sheen and stars Peter O’Meara. Three men from the Mohawk Valley area created the documentary: Niskayuna native Chris Stearns, Saratoga Springs native Tom Mercer and Fort Johnson native Anthony Vertucci.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, May 3, 2023
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The shipwrecks were found in Burlington Harbor, Vermont in 1980. The boats were equipped for sailing.
The tractor trailer of the Erie Canal
By Bob Cudmore
The canal schooner was the tractor trailer of the Erie Canal according to historian and tugboat captain Art Cohn. Cohn visited Amsterdam and Canajoharie this month as part of the legacy tour of the replica canal schooner Lois McClure and its companion tugboat.
The Lois McClure, built for the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, was launched in 2004 and named in honor of a major contributor to the project.
The original canal schooners were constructed to take advantage of the first widening on the Erie Canal that took place in 1862 during the Civil War,
Cohn said, “The boat that you’re on is a replica of a boat that would have been built literally that year to accommodate more freight to go through the system. And we know this because we’ve located two of these boats, exact examples, both built in 1862, intact and on the bottom of Lake Champlain.”
The shipwrecks were found in Burlington Harbor, Vermont in 1980. The boats were equipped for sailing.
Cohn said it took some time to convince established historians that these canal boats were actually used as sailing vessels. There is a 1900 postcard photo showing a canal schooner sailing on Lake Champlain.
The boats sailed when traveling on Lake Champlain and wide rivers such as the Hudson and St. Lawrence. The schooners did not sail on the canals.
The boats sailed from lake ports to the entrance to the Champlain Canal. There the masts were lowered, sails either stowed on board or on shore and teams of horses began pulling the schooners through the canal system.
Cohn said, “These boats were highly engineered to be able to fit the locks primarily and the canal prism of their time.”
Canal schooners, like the tractor trailer trucks on the road today, essentially carried all kinds of freight: lumber, bricks, building materials, coal, agricultural products and manufactured goods.
The schooners did not carry passengers on the canals. That was the job of the packet boats, Cohn said. The packet boats were a tremendous convenience in the early years of the Erie Canal, cutting down the travel time between Albany and Buffalo.
The railroads, however, took the passenger business away from the packet boats very quickly in the nineteenth century. So quickly, Cohn said, that packet boats disappeared before the age of photography.
The canal schooners hung on into the early days of the Barge Canal when the canal no longer had a towpath for horses and mules. Then the schooners moved through the canal pushed by companion tugboats lashed to their sides.
Cohn said he and the crew love taking the Lois McClure and its tug to stops around the canal, “If you look around today you can hear the kids, the parents the grandparents, all looking at this boat and asking the same questions. They’re in wonderment of a boat that in her day, the people wouldn’t have given it a second look. Today she’s a rock star.”
The Historians with Bob Cudmore on local and Public Radio and the WWW and in print every weekend Daily Gazette
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023-From the Archives- August 7, 2020-Episode 330-Margaret Weitekamp chairs the space history department at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. She is author of “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program.”
In addition to serving as the department chair, Dr. Margaret A. Weitekamp curates the Museum's social and cultural history of spaceflight collection, more than 5,000 artifacts that include space memorabilia and space science fiction objects. These everyday mementos of the space age—which include toys and games, medals and awards, buttons and pins, as well as comics and trading cards—complete the story about spaceflight told by the Museum's collection of space hardware and technologies.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
The cannon at Fairview Cemetery
A large cannon that marks the veterans’ plot at Amsterdam’s Fairview Cemetery was forged during the Civil War. City historian Robert H. von Hasseln did extensive research in federal archives and local newspapers on the history of the gun.
Friday, May 5, 2023-Episode 473-Bob Cudmore provides a Focus on History podcast with topics including an eccentric philosopher, the Demskys of Eagle Street, Amsterdam’s agile mayor Burt Deal and how boxing flourished in 1930s Amsterdam. Dave Greene remembers how he met boxing great Jake LaMotta.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 coming this Fall
Keeping history alive during the pandemic with Jim Richmond from Saratoga County History Roundtable, plus the impact of Spencer and Katrina Trask on Saratoga Springs.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, May 2, 2023
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Nellie married William Dery of Amsterdam in 1902. The couple had a daughter name Mildred. The Derys were unhappy and separated. In 1917, Nellie and William Marshall Junior began living together in Fort Johnson.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore on local and Public Radio and the WWW and in print every weekend Daily Gazette
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Likable Fort Johnson man fatally shot
By Bob Cudmore
Likable, boisterous William H. Marshall, Jr. was shot twice through the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.
Marshall was separated from his wife and children; they were living in Oneida County. The fatal bullets came from a revolver held by a woman the newspapers described as Marshall’s paramour, Nellie Bostwick Dery.
Marshall died soon after arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam. He never regained consciousness and could not tell police how he had been shot. Bostwick Dery swooned after the gun was fired, was tranquilized and hospitalized at Amsterdam City Hospital that night.
District Attorney Newton Herrick contended Marshall’s death was a homicide, with the motive being that Nellie had become jealous of attentions Marshall supposedly was giving to another woman.
The dead man was born in Fort Johnson and lived there his whole life. He had been employed in Amsterdam knitting mills but toward the end of his life worked with his father in a gardening business and a Fort Johnson coal yard.
Nellie was born in Perth, the daughter of Robert and Ada Bostwick.
Nellie married William Dery of Amsterdam in 1902. The couple had a daughter name Mildred. The Derys were unhappy and separated. In 1917, Nellie and William Marshall Junior began living together in Fort Johnson.
Nellie was in her middle 30s at the time of the shooting. William, the victim, was almost 28.
Nellie phoned the victim’s father, William Marshall Sr., almost immediately after the shooting, saying, "Come over right away. Something awful has happened."
The victim’s father and other acquaintances said Nellie and William Jr, were happy together. At her trial Nellie testified that if her companion was seeing another woman, she did not know about it.
Defense attorney A. Howard Burtch said of William Junior, “A big good natured fellow, rough in his manners, rough in his play. They (William and Nellie) were frequent attendees at the vaudeville and burlesque shows in Amsterdam. They were always together and always happy up to the time of the accident.”
Nellie’s version of the shooting was that she and William Jr. had been annoyed by rats on an ash pile in the backyard where garbage was dumped during the winter. She took the revolver to Marshall so he would either shoot the rats or show her how to use the weapon.
She said she carried the gun in her right hand and had a comb in the other hand as she wanted to comb Marshall’s hair. In her effort to give him the gun as he sat in a chair, she said she accidentally discharged the weapon not once but twice.
The first trial at County Court in Fonda resulted in a deadlocked jury in July 1919. The Gloversville Morning Herald reported five jurors were for conviction on second degree murder, one was for manslaughter and six were for acquittal.
In a second trial in April 1920, there was difficulty getting enough jurors as many members of the male jury pool did not want to decide the fate of a female murder defendant. Women were not common on juries until the second half of the twentieth century. After deliberations, jury foreman Edward J. Gilbert of Fonda said their verdict was not guilty.
Nellie made a scene after the verdict in her expressing thanks to the jurors who hurriedly left the building.
Nellie later worked as a dressmaker and married a Mohawk Carpet Mill employee, Wallace Smalley. The Smalleys lived a quiet life on Devendorf Street in Amsterdam. Nellie died in 1958 and was buried at Hagaman Cemetery.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 coming this Fall
Call it a Conversation, Interview or Podcast
Charles Gehring’s life work has been to translate Old Dutch language documents from the 17th century New Netherland colony in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Gehring is Director of the New Netherland Research Center at the New York State Education Department in Albany. His work has been used by many historians, including Russell Shorto whose book “The Island at the Center of the World” is a history of New York City dating back to colonial Dutch times.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, April 30, 2023
An agile Amsterdam mayor, posted next week here on The Historians
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Friends of The Historians with Bob Cudmore
On local and Public Radio and the WWW
The 2023 Go Fund Me needs your contribution
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
U.S. Mail 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
..a gift or payment to a common fund or collection and Thank You
Sunday, April 30, 2023-A shooting death in Fort Johnson- Focus on History from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Likable, boisterous William H. Marshall, Jr. was shot twice through the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.
Marshall was separated from his wife and children; they were living in Oneida County.
Meryl Frank Episode 472
A thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed family memoir: Meryl Frank’s journey to seek the truth about a beloved and revolutionary cousin, a celebrated actress in Vilna before World War II, and to answer the question of how the next generation should honor the memory of the Holocaust.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 coming this Fall
Call it a Conversation, Interview or Podcast
Journalist David Levine is author of “The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years.” His book explains how Hudson New York for a time was part of the whaling industry. He also includes stories about Alexander Hamilton, the Mohicans and slavery in the time of Dutch colonial rule.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, April 29, 2023
An agile Amsterdam mayor
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Friday, April 28, 2023
Episode 472
Meryl Frank
A thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed family memoir: Meryl Frank’s journey to seek the truth about a beloved and revolutionary cousin, a celebrated actress in Vilna before World War II, and to answer the question of how the next generation should honor the memory of the Holocaust.
Saturday April 29, 2023-From the Archives- July 24, 2020-Episode 328-Amy Catania of Historic Saranac Lake explains how that upstate New York community became a center for the treatment of tuberculosis.
Sunday, April 30, 2023-A shooting death in Fort Johnson- Focus on History from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Likable, boisterous William H. Marshall, Jr. was shot twice through the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.
Marshall was separated from his wife and children; they were living in Oneida County.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 coming this Fall
Call it a Conversation, Interview or Podcast
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, April 28, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
“It was a solemn moment in the drug store,” Tralka wrote in his new memoir, “Diary of a Replacement Soldier.”
Recollections of war
By Bob Cudmore
A Virginia doctor has written a new book recalling his World War II memories of both the home front in Amsterdam and the last days of the war in Europe.
George A. Tralka was at his family’s James Street home in Amsterdam the afternoon that radio broadcasts were interrupted to report the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Tralka at first thought Pearl Harbor was in Alaska.
Tralka’s parents went ahead with their plans to go out that day and to have Tralka watch his younger sisters. The next day as Tralka delivered the Schenectady Gazette he heard President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech on the radio when he made his newspaper delivery to Reid Hill Pharmacy.
“It was a solemn moment in the drug store,” Tralka wrote in his new memoir, “Diary of a Replacement Soldier.”
The first member of Tralka’s group at St. Mary’s High School to go off to war left in July 1943. After their buddy’s train left Amsterdam, friends gathered at Rapello’s Pharmacy and, according to Tralka, “Raised high our chocolate sodas and wished him good luck.”
As his senior year in high school drew to a close, Tralka enlisted in an Army training program. His notice to report came a few days before his senior prom and he was so busy getting ready to go that he failed to notify his date that he couldn’t attend the prom. Later his brother accepted Tralka’s high school diploma and he was told the “applause was enthusiastic.”
For three months, Tralka attended a course in pre-engineering at the University of Delaware, followed by basic training in Arkansas. Once overseas he became an infantry replacement in France and a rifleman with the 103rd Division in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns. After the war he was discharged as a private first class and went to medical school.
His book benefits from Tralka’s artistic skills—many of his war stories are illustrated with his own drawings. There are also photos and other visual reproductions in the book.
During his career Tralka practiced medicine in Washington, D.C. and Vienna, Virginia for government agencies and in private practice.
ORGANIST FATHER
Tralka’s father Joseph was for many years the organist and choir director at St. Stanislaus Church in Amsterdam. Joseph Tralka, whose own father was a church organist, emigrated from partitioned Poland at age 17 to play organ music for a settlement of Poles in Parana, Brazil. He married there and even took part in a posse that went off to fight natives who had attacked their settlement.
He and his wife relocated to the United States and lived in a variety of places, including Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. There he was a professor of music at Alliance College. His first wife died in 1935 and he remarried.
Joseph Tralka was not making much money at Alliance College. The work was enjoyable but all consuming. He left the college and moved from place to place playing organ at Polish Roman Catholic parishes, finally settling at St. Stanislaus in Amsterdam where he was church organist until 1954.
Joseph Tralka made a modest salary from the church and had a modest sign in the front window of his parlor offering private musical lessons. George Tralka wrote, “I remember that he could be a little deflated when requested by earnest and hopeful neighborhood mothers on occasion to teach introductory accordion to their fair haired nine-year-olds in as few lessons as possible.”
Joseph Tralka also made some money at the end of each year with door to door sale of Christmas wafers, a traditional holiday perk for Polish church organists.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Historian Episode #500 coming this Fall
Call it a Conversation, Interview or Podcast
Former New York Times investigative reporter Howard Blum exposes the danger posed by the suspected infiltration of America’s Central Intelligence Agency by a series of Russian spy agency moles through the years. Blum’s new book is “The Spy Who Knew Too Much.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, April 27, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Thursday, April 27, 2023
A replacement soldier.
George A. Tralka was at his family’s James Street home in Amsterdam the afternoon that radio broadcasts were interrupted to report the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Tralka at first thought Pearl Harbor was in Alaska.
Friday, April 28, 2023
Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Author John Gearing and editor Chris Leonard discuss their book “Schenectady Genesis, Volume II: The Creation of an American City from an Anglo-Dutch Town, ca. 1760-1800.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, April 26, 2023
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Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Robin Oliveira discusses her book “Winter Sisters,” set in Albany, N.Y., in 1879. Oliveira grew up in the Albany area and is also author of a novel about a Civil War physician, “My Name is Mary Sutter.” Sutter is a major character in “Winter Sisters.”
New York, 1879: An epic blizzard descends on Albany, devastating the city. When the snow finally settles, two newly orphaned girls are missing. Determined not to give up hope, Dr. Mary Sutter, a former Civil War surgeon, searches for the two sisters
Thursday, April 27, 2023
A replacement soldier.
A Virginia doctor has written a new book recalling his World War II memories of both the home front in Amsterdam and the last days of the war in Europe.
Friday, April 28, 2023-Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Unearthed is the story of Meryl’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Coming in May on The Historians
Friday, May 12, 2023
Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s. Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Monday, April 24, 2023-Story behind the story(Monday Podcast)Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023-The family who built Amsterdam-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette
The family construction company founded by John J. Turner built Amsterdam’s Clock Building, the former Elks Lodge on Division Street and schools including today’s Lynch Literacy Academy.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023-Robin Oliveira discusses her book “Winter Sisters,” set in Albany, N.Y., in 1879. Oliveira grew up in the Albany area and is also author of a novel about a Civil War physician, “My Name is Mary Sutter.” Sutter is a major character in “Winter Sisters.”
New York, 1879: An epic blizzard descends on Albany, devastating the city. When the snow finally settles, two newly orphaned girls are missing. Determined not to give up hope, Dr. Mary Sutter, a former Civil War surgeon, searches for the two sisters
Thursday, April 27, 2023-A replacement soldier.
Friday, April 28, 2023-Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Unearthed is the story of Meryl’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy.
Boxing a popular sport in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam was a boxing mecca in the 1930s and 1940s—a legacy of boxing matches arranged for soldiers at the city’s National Guard Armory, now a boutique hotel called Amsterdam Castle.
Fights also were staged at Lanzi’s Arena on Bridge Street by the family who still operates an Amsterdam restaurant called Lorenzo’s South Side. Sometimes bouts were held at the former junior high school gym on Guy Park Avenue.
Sammy and Jimmy Pepe, who owned a West End restaurant, trained fighters and were friends with German heavyweight Max Schmeling. Jo Jo Zeno had training quarters on East Main Street.
For many years in the 1990s school teacher George Lazarou wrote a weekly history article in the Amsterdam Recorder called "A bit of reminiscing" and frequently discussed boxing.
In a 1999 interview for the WMHT-TV documentary Carpet City, Lazarou was asked why boxing thrived in 1930s Amsterdam, “That’s a good question. All I can say is that we had so many good athletes here. Great athletes who were proficient in basketball, baseball, softball, hockey. Boxing was just another sport.”
Lazarou, who died at age 91 in 2012, was a fighter himself in Amsterdam back in the day. He was trained by his friend Buddy Benoit. Benoit had been trained by Jo Jo Zeno.
Lazarou said, “Buddy Benoit and I went to school together. He became a professional fighter. He fought Jake LaMotta and barely lost. He was that good.”
Benoit began his boxing career in 1936 when he was 16 years old, according to an article written by Lazarou. In a span of 11 years Benoit amassed a total of 120 amateur and 76 professional fights.
In 1939 Benoit won a decision over another one of Amsterdam’s great fighters, welterweight William “Sailor” Barron. An estimated 1,600 people jammed into Lanzi’s Arena to watch that match.
“Sailor” Barron served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Lazarou wrote Barron took part in an estimated 500 fights, including bouts when he served in the Navy. He also worked as a bartender at Schenectady’s Hotel Van Curler and maintained decorum in the movie theater as head usher at the Rialto in Amsterdam.
Barron died unexpectedly at age 60 in 1950. Lazarou wrote, “It was said that a chip of Amsterdam died with him. For such was the image of the man.”
Lazarou wrote of Benoit, “Turning professional in 1940 and fighting under the name of Buddy O’Dell, he compiled an enviable record of 66 victories, losing a ten round decision to the tough and rugged Jake LaMotta in 1942.” O’Dell was Benoit’s mother’s maiden name.
In one of his history books, Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti wrote about Benoit, whose real name was Delor Benoit, Jr. Benoit’s father had moved to Amsterdam from Canada and worked in one of the carpet mills.
Benoit survived the sinking of the USS Princeton during World War II in the battle of Leyte Gulf off the Philippines.
After his boxing career Benoit lived in California, according to Cinquanti, and became a claims adjuster for an insurance company. The former boxer died in 2014.
In another article about Amsterdam boxers from the 1930s, Lazarou listed some of the names of local fighters of that day: Matt and Dominick Perfetti, Sammy Crocetti, “Measles” Raco, Carl Palombo, Frank Piccola, Vic Rodrigo, Shorty Persico, Tony Squillace, Freddy and Dunk Baia, Pete and John Duchessi, Buddy Lenahan, Johnny Carp, Matty Syzdek, Tony Conti, Joe Nagorka, Cliff Gaskins, Buddy Lenahan, Mickey DeBerry, Young Rappo, Frankie and Tony Marcellino. Amsterdam Mixed Martial Arts fighter “Tommy Gunnz” Marcellino is related to Frankie and Tony Marcellino.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, April 24, 2023
NORTH BROADALBIN — Environmental regulators are no longer accepting feedback regarding a controversial proposal to plant over the beachy remains…
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Sammy and Jimmy Pepe, who owned a West End restaurant, trained fighters and were friends with German heavyweight Max Schmeling. Jo Jo Zeno had training quarters on East Main Street.
Boxing a popular sport in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam was a boxing mecca in the 1930s and 1940s—a legacy of boxing matches arranged for soldiers at the city’s National Guard Armory, now a boutique hotel called Amsterdam Castle.
Fights also were staged at Lanzi’s Arena on Bridge Street by the family who still operates an Amsterdam restaurant called Lorenzo’s South Side. Sometimes bouts were held at the former junior high school gym on Guy Park Avenue.
Sammy and Jimmy Pepe, who owned a West End restaurant, trained fighters and were friends with German heavyweight Max Schmeling. Jo Jo Zeno had training quarters on East Main Street.
For many years in the 1990s school teacher George Lazarou wrote a weekly history article in the Amsterdam Recorder called "A bit of reminiscing" and frequently discussed boxing.
In a 1999 interview for the WMHT-TV documentary Carpet City, Lazarou was asked why boxing thrived in 1930s Amsterdam, “That’s a good question. All I can say is that we had so many good athletes here. Great athletes who were proficient in basketball, baseball, softball, hockey. Boxing was just another sport.”
Lazarou, who died at age 91 in 2012, was a fighter himself in Amsterdam back in the day. He was trained by his friend Buddy Benoit. Benoit had been trained by Jo Jo Zeno.
Lazarou said, “Buddy Benoit and I went to school together. He became a professional fighter. He fought Jake LaMotta and barely lost. He was that good.”
Benoit began his boxing career in 1936 when he was 16 years old, according to an article written by Lazarou. In a span of 11 years Benoit amassed a total of 120 amateur and 76 professional fights.
In 1939 Benoit won a decision over another one of Amsterdam’s great fighters, welterweight William “Sailor” Barron. An estimated 1,600 people jammed into Lanzi’s Arena to watch that match.
“Sailor” Barron served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Lazarou wrote Barron took part in an estimated 500 fights, including bouts when he served in the Navy. He also worked as a bartender at Schenectady’s Hotel Van Curler and maintained decorum in the movie theater as head usher at the Rialto in Amsterdam.
Barron died unexpectedly at age 60 in 1950. Lazarou wrote, “It was said that a chip of Amsterdam died with him. For such was the image of the man.”
Lazarou wrote of Benoit, “Turning professional in 1940 and fighting under the name of Buddy O’Dell, he compiled an enviable record of 66 victories, losing a ten round decision to the tough and rugged Jake LaMotta in 1942.” O’Dell was Benoit’s mother’s maiden name.
In one of his history books, Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti wrote about Benoit, whose real name was Delor Benoit, Jr. Benoit’s father had moved to Amsterdam from Canada and worked in one of the carpet mills.
Benoit survived the sinking of the USS Princeton during World War II in the battle of Leyte Gulf off the Philippines.
After his boxing career Benoit lived in California, according to Cinquanti, and became a claims adjuster for an insurance company. The former boxer died in 2014.
In another article about Amsterdam boxers from the 1930s, Lazarou listed some of the names of local fighters of that day: Matt and Dominick Perfetti, Sammy Crocetti, “Measles” Raco, Carl Palombo, Frank Piccola, Vic Rodrigo, Shorty Persico, Tony Squillace, Freddy and Dunk Baia, Pete and John Duchessi, Buddy Lenahan, Johnny Carp, Matty Syzdek, Tony Conti, Joe Nagorka, Cliff Gaskins, Buddy Lenahan, Mickey DeBerry, Young Rappo, Frankie and Tony Marcellino. Amsterdam Mixed Martial Arts fighter “Tommy Gunnz” Marcellino is related to Frankie and Tony Marcellino.
Monday, April 24, 2023-Story behind the story(Monday Podcast)Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023-The family who built Amsterdam-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette
Wednesday, April 26, 2023-Robin Oliveira discusses her book “Winter Sisters,” set in Albany, N.Y., in 1879. Oliveira grew up in the Albany area and is also author of a novel about a Civil War physician, “My Name is Mary Sutter.” Sutter is a major character in “Winter Sisters.”
Thursday, April 27, 2023-A replacement soldier.
Friday, April 28, 2023-Episode 472-In Unearthed Meryl Frank tells the story of her cousin Frany Winter, a celebrated Yiddish actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Frank spent many years researching how her cousin Frany died.
Unearthed is the story of Meryl’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, April 23, 2023
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Tomorrow, Sunday, April 23, 2023
Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport
Sammy and Jimmy Pepe, who owned a West End restaurant, trained fighters and were friends with German heavyweight Max Schmeling. Jo Jo Zeno had training quarters on East Main Street.
A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
How the Adirondack forest preserve was motorized. The guest is John Warren, founder and editor of New York Almanack.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, April 22, 2023
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Sunday, April 23, 2023-Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport
Amsterdam was a boxing mecca in the 1930s and 1940s—a legacy of boxing matches arranged for soldiers at the city’s National Guard Armory, now a boutique hotel called Amsterdam Castle. Fights also were staged at Lanzi’s Arena on Bridge Street...
The need to raise $150.00 this Weekend
2023 goal $7000.00
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
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Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Jack Kelly is author of “Valcour: The 1776 Campaign (on Lake Champlain) That Saved the Cause of Liberty.”
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, April 21, 2023
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This Sunday, April 23, 2023-Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport
Agile Amsterdam mayor was a great story teller
By Bob Cudmore
Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts as a young man.
Into his seventies Deal was able to make an impact on a conversation by jumping onto a table from a standing position,
Born January 29 1882 at a home on Amsterdam’s Division Street, he was the son of entrepreneur Charles Deal and Eugenia Mills Stanley Deal.
Charles Deal moved his small family to West Galway after Burt was born and the elder Deal operated a shoddy mill. The mill used scraps from woolen underwear to create new but inferior woolen yarn.
When Burt was six years old the Blizzard of 1888 and his younger brother Howard arrived. The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days until the roads were cleared.
The Deals after a time moved back to Amsterdam and Burt graduated from Amsterdam High School, then on Academy Street.
He helped principal Wilbur H. Lynch pack his books for a trip to Mexico for an administrative teaching job.
In 1900 Deal pitched for the Creelers baseball team in Amsterdam, named for the textile workers who tended Amsterdam’s carpet weaving looms.
Deal went to college in 1903, joined a fraternity and played football but had to leave without a degree and come back to Amsterdam because his family had financial reverses.
He went to work. He was with the production department of General Electric in Schenectady and then was in sales for 17 years at International GE. He was employed at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam for five years.
Amsterdam Mayor James Cline gave Deal his first political job on the Civil Service Commission in 1913. A Republican, Deal was elected as Sixth Ward Alderman from 1932 to 1938.
Deal opposed Democratic Mayor Arthur Carter and the New Deal programs. Deal said despite his last name he had no connection to President Roosevelt’s New Deal or President Truman’s Fair Deal. As a tribute to his people skills, however, he was elected vice president of the Democratic Party controlled common council in 1937.
Deal’s former high school principal Wilbur H, Lynch succeeded Arthur Carter as mayor. Lynch appointed Deal as city clerk in 1944 and 1945.
Democrat Joseph Hand was elected mayor in 1945 but lost to Deal in the 1947 election. Deal was reelected three times.
He was not an activist mayor and was friendly to industry. Unfortunately many problems caused decline of the industrial giants of the area including Amsterdam’s Bigelow Sanford and Mohawk carpet mills.
Deal enjoyed establishing a friendship with Jan D’Ailly, the mayor or burgomaster of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He once took the burgomaster on a fall tour of upstate New York.
In 1955, as his fourth term was coming to an end, Bigelow Sanford announced it was leaving Amsterdam. Deal and city Republican chair Walter Going decided it was time for new blood. Republican Frank Martuscello ran that year and was elected, the city’s first Italian-American mayor.
Deal was 73 when he left politics. His eightieth birthday was the occasion for major stories about his career by Sam Zurlo in the Daily Gazette and Hugh Donlon in the Amsterdam Recorder. His life is also chronicled in one of Michael Cinquanti’s books on Amsterdam birthdays.
Deal never married and lived in a house on Division Street which he called Gracie Mansion, a tip of the hat to the mayoral residence in New York City.
Deal died in 1967 at the then Lamp Nursing Home in the city. He was 84 and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.
Tomorrow, Posted Early
Friday, April 21, 2023
Episode 471-A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
Saturday April 22, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 157, March 31, 2017-Former CIA historian Nicholas Reynolds discusses author Ernest Hemingway’s involvement with American and Soviet spy agencies in the 1940s. Reynolds is author of “Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy.”
Sunday, April 23, 2023-Boxing a popular Amsterdam sport
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Archive story for Thursday, April 20, 2023
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Ann Maria Bullock Schram of Amsterdam, was a volunteer nurse in the American Civil War. Montgomery County NY historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar discusses her research on Schram’s life.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, April 20, 2023
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The Historians Podcast fund drive for 2023 needs a little Help
We’ve raised $1135 toward our $7000 goal. Online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts as a young man.
Friday, April 21, 2023-Episode 471-A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Leader Herald columnist Peter Betz has documented how Johnstown celebrated the Fourth of July 200 years ago with cannon shots, a parade and celebration at a local hotel. Revolutionary War veterans were still alive for these festivities. Betz also has details on Johnstown native Enos Throop who served as governor of New York from 1829 to 1832.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, April 19, 2023
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Fort Johnson man fatally shot at supper time
By Bob Cudmore
William H. Marshall, Jr., 27, was shot twice in the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.
The fatal shots came from a revolver apparently held by Nellie Bostwick Dery, a woman in her thirties who had been living with Marshall for two years. He was separated from his wife and children who were living in Oneida County.
Nellie Bostwick, born in Perth, was the daughter of Robert and Ada Bostwick. She married William Dery of Amsterdam in 1902. The couple had a daughter named Mildred. Nellie and William separated in 1917.
Almost immediately after the shots were fired, Bostwick Dery phoned William Marshall Sr., the victim’s father, saying, "Come over right away. Something awful has happened."
The gravely wounded man had worked in Amsterdam knitting mills but recently had joined his father in the garden business.
When the father arrived he found his son still alive, sitting in a chair, bleeding profusely. The father called a doctor, Richard Canna, and police. Bostwick Dery was hysterical and was tranquilized with a shot from a hypodermic syringe when the doctor arrived.
She was taken to Amsterdam City Hospital. Her lover, who never regained consciousness, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital where he died fifteen minutes after being admitted.
The Historians Podcast fund drive for 2023
We’ve raised $1135 toward our $7000 goal. Online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
The Fort Johnson shooting was front page news the following day in the Amsterdam Recorder. Another front page story worried that although World War I was over, civilization was facing chaos from Russia’s Bolshevik revolution. More men were arriving home from the Great War.
The Fort Johnson case went to trial in July. District Attorney Newton Herrick argued that Marshall’s death was a homicide, with the motive being that Bostwick Dery had become jealous of attentions Marshall was giving to another woman.
The defendant stated that if Marshall was unfaithful to her, she did not know it. Her version of the reason for the fatal incident was that she and Marshall had been annoyed by rats on an ash pile in the backyard. She took Marshall’s revolver to him that night so he would either shoot a rat she had just seen or show her how to use the weapon.
She carried the gun in her right hand and had a comb in the other hand as she wanted to comb Marshall’s unkempt hair. In her effort to give him the gun, she accidentally discharged the weapon not once but twice.
Defense attorney A. Howard Burtch said Marshall was, “A big good natured fellow, rough in his manners, rough in his play. (He and Bostwick Dery) were frequent attendees at the vaudeville and burlesque shows in Amsterdam. They were always together and always happy up to the time of the accident.
The trial at County Court in Fonda resulted in a deadlocked jury. Five jurors were for conviction on second degree murder, one was for manslaughter and six were for acquittal.
In a second trial in April 1920, there was difficulty getting enough jurors, as many men did not want to serve on a jury deciding the fate of a female murder defendant. Women were not common on juries until the second half of the twentieth century.
In the second trial, Bostwick Dery was found not guilty. She made a scene after the verdict in her impassioned expressions of thanks to the jurors who hurriedly left the court house.
After her acquittal, Bostwick Dery worked as a dressmaker and married a Mohawk Carpet Mill employee, Wallace Smalley. The Smalleys lived quietly on Devendorf Street in Amsterdam. She died in 1958 and was buried at Hagaman Cemetery.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Friday, April 21, 2023-Episode 471-A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Travis Proulx discusses preservation efforts at the Adirondack home of lumber baron Theodore Basselin in Croghan, New York.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Podcast fund drive for 2023
We’ve raised $1135 toward our $7000 goal. Online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
A suppertime murder in Fort Johnson
William H. Marshall, Jr., 27, was shot twice in the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.
The fatal shots came from a revolver apparently held by Nellie Bostwick Dery...
Wednesday, April 19, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 49, March 2, 2015 Larry Gooley, author of "Terror in the Adirondacks," the story of serial killer Robert Garrow.
Larry Gooley
https://www.lawrencegooley.com/
Thursday, April 20, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Friday, April 21, 2023-Episode 471-A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
The Demskys of Eagle Street
By Bob Cudmore
In his day, ragman Harry Demsky was as well known in Amsterdam as his son Isadore.
Isadore, who was called Izzy, changed his name to Kirk Douglas and became a Hollywood actor and producer after World War II. The comment next to Isadore’s picture in the 1934 Amsterdam high school yearbook stated, “Not to know him argues yourself unknown.”
Harry Demsky, also known as Herschel, was a legendary strong man, drinker and brawler. Kirk Douglas wrote in his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son,” that his father was “the toughest, strongest Jew” in Amsterdam.
Douglas wrote, “There were other stories about my father that raised him to the level of legend: that he popped metal bottle caps and crushed shot glasses with his teeth; that he would go from saloon to saloon with an iron bar, betting for drinks that he could bend it with his bare hands, and doing it.”
According to Douglas’s book, his father was born Herschel Danielovitch in Russia. His wife, Bryna or Bertha Sanglel, was born in Belarus. Their six daughters and one son were born in America. According to census records the children were Bessie, Catherine, Marion, Isadore (Kirk), Ida, Freda and Ruth.
My aunt Vera Cudmore and my mother Julia Cook were childhood friends with the Demsky girls. My mother said she was afraid of Harry Demsky.
Harry left his Eagle Street home most days with his horse-drawn wagon, traveling the streets of Amsterdam yelling “Rags, any rags!”
The rags and scrap metal collected were sold to what we would call a recycling company.
Douglas wrote, “I’d help my father stuff the rags into burlap bags. I’d jab four holes in the top of the bag, lace a woman’s discarded stocking through the holes, knot it, and add it to the pile of bags.”
Harry and his wife Bryna separated in their later years. At Douglas’s expense, Harry lived at Boggie’s Fourth Ward Hotel on Amsterdam’s East Main Street. Bryna resided with one of her daughters in the Capital District and then moved to the Jewish Home for the Aged in Troy.
Harry also stayed at the home of one of their daughters in Troy late in his life and two days before he died in 1954, he was moved to the Jewish Home for the Aged. Douglas visited him but flew back to California early on a Sunday, believing his father was rallying. Harry, 70, died later that day and was buried at the Cranesville cemetery of Congregation Sons of Israel of Amsterdam.
Bill Simons of Oneonta has written several articles about Kirk Douglas and his family for Jewish publications and has visited Harry Demsky’s grave on Cranes Hollow Road in Cranesville, guided there by Amsterdam Eagle Street native John Naple.
Douglas named his Hollywood production company after his beloved mother, Bryna. The actor was at his mother’s bedside in 1958 when she passed away at age 74 at an Albany hospital. Her body was buried at Temple Israel Cemetery in Albany,
When Douglas came back home to Amsterdam in 1985 for the dedication of a park in his honor adjacent to the Chuctanunda Creek, he recalled how his mother would sit on the porch of their home on Eagle Street and say “Ahhh America, such a wonderful land.”
Kirk Douglas died at age 103 in 2020. Historic Amsterdam League installed a marker at the corner of East Main and Eagle streets explaining that the famous actor and producer was born nearby.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
...every morning at half past 4
Sit Down, 8 Hours, Joe Hill and more
Musicians Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle have a new CD and concert featuring history songs about the labor union movement in America.
Mohawk Valley Weather for a New Week, Monday, April 17, 2023
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Episode #500 coming this Fall
Currently in Production, Coming in May
Jim Kaplan/Battle of Bennington
The Historians Podcast fund drive received a much needed boost from the Hagaman Historical Society and a donation from John Noble. We’ve raised $1135 toward our $7000 goal. PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution helps.
The Demskys of Eagle Street
By Bob Cudmore
In his day, ragman Harry Demsky was as well known in Amsterdam as his son Isadore.
Isadore, who was called Izzy, changed his name to Kirk Douglas and became a Hollywood actor and producer after World War II. The comment next to Isadore’s picture in the 1934 Amsterdam high school yearbook stated, “Not to know him argues yourself unknown.”
Harry Demsky, also known as Herschel, was a legendary strong man, drinker and brawler. Kirk Douglas wrote in his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son,” that his father was “the toughest, strongest Jew” in Amsterdam.
Douglas wrote, “There were other stories about my father that raised him to the level of legend: that he popped metal bottle caps and crushed shot glasses with his teeth; that he would go from saloon to saloon with an iron bar, betting for drinks that he could bend it with his bare hands, and doing it.”
According to Douglas’s book, his father was born Herschel Danielovitch in Russia. His wife, Bryna or Bertha Sanglel, was born in Belarus. Their six daughters and one son were born in America. According to census records the children were Bessie, Catherine, Marion, Isadore (Kirk), Ida, Freda and Ruth.
My aunt Vera Cudmore and my mother Julia Cook were childhood friends with the Demsky girls. My mother said she was afraid of Harry Demsky.
Harry left his Eagle Street home most days with his horse-drawn wagon, traveling the streets of Amsterdam yelling “Rags, any rags!”
The rags and scrap metal collected were sold to what we would call a recycling company.
Douglas wrote, “I’d help my father stuff the rags into burlap bags. I’d jab four holes in the top of the bag, lace a woman’s discarded stocking through the holes, knot it, and add it to the pile of bags.”
Tomorrow, Monday, April 17, 2023-The Demskys of Amsterdam(The Podcast)
Douglas said he got to be quite good at stuffing ragbags, “I don’t think I’d have any trouble doing it today.”
Harry and his wife Bryna separated in their later years. At Douglas’s expense, Harry lived at Boggie’s Fourth Ward Hotel on Amsterdam’s East Main Street. Bryna resided with one of her daughters in the Capital District and then moved to the Jewish Home for the Aged in Troy.
Harry also stayed at the home of one of their daughters in Troy late in his life and two days before he died in 1954, he was moved to the Jewish Home for the Aged. Douglas visited him but flew back to California early on a Sunday, believing his father was rallying. Harry, 70, died later that day and was buried at the Cranesville cemetery of Congregation Sons of Israel of Amsterdam.
Bill Simons of Oneonta has written several articles about Kirk Douglas and his family for Jewish publications and has visited Harry Demsky’s grave on Cranes Hollow Road in Cranesville, guided there by Amsterdam Eagle Street native John Naple.
Douglas named his Hollywood production company after his beloved mother, Bryna. The actor was at his mother’s bedside in 1958 when she passed away at age 74 at an Albany hospital. Her body was buried at Temple Israel Cemetery in Albany,
When Douglas came back home to Amsterdam in 1985 for the dedication of a park in his honor adjacent to the Chuctanunda Creek, he recalled how his mother would sit on the porch of their home on Eagle Street and say “Ahhh America, such a wonderful land.”
Kirk Douglas died at age 103 in 2020. Historic Amsterdam League installed a marker at the corner of East Main and Eagle streets explaining that the famous actor and producer was born nearby.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-A suppertime murder in Fort Johnson
Wednesday, April 19, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 49, March 2, 2015 Larry Gooley, author of "Terror in the Adirondacks," the story of serial killer Robert Garrow.
Thursday, April 20, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal
Friday, April 21, 2023-Episode 471-A highlights edition with excepts from: Steve Haggerty on Norman Rockwell’s models; Denise Van Buren on Beacon, New York; Kate Fagan on women’s basketball; Charles Evans on Valerie Andre, French surgeon and rescue pilot; Alan Maddaus, on the Prestons of Galway, a 19th century family; Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of Requiem: What Remains Is Love; Patrick Chaisson on aircraft production in New York State during WW II.”
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
New York State historian Devin Lander discusses plans to observe the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, April 16, 2023
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Saturday April 15, 2023-Matthew Costello, author of “The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President.”
George Washington was an affluent slave owner who believed that republicanism and social hierarchy were vital to the young country’s survival. And yet, he remains largely free of the “elitist” label affixed to his contemporaries, as Washington evolved in public memory during the nineteenth century into a man of the common people, the father of democracy. This memory, we learn in The Property of the Nation, was a deliberately constructed image, shaped and reshaped over time, generally in service of one cause or another.
Episode #500 coming this Fall
The Historians Podcast fund drive received a much needed boost from the Hagaman Historical Society and a donation from John Noble. We’ve raised $1135 toward our $7000 goal. PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution helps.
Focus on History
Sunday, April 16, 2023-The Demskys of Eagle Street
Harry Demsky, also known as Herschel, was a legendary strong man, drinker and brawler. Kirk Douglas wrote in his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son,” that his father was “the toughest, strongest Jew” in Amsterdam.
Episode #470
Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Patrick Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State. The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during a momentous year for the state during the Revolutionary War. Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, April 15, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Historians Episode #470
Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.”
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum will hold its monthly Fly-In Breakfast on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 8:30 am – 10:30 am at 250 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, NY 12302 (off Route 50). Enjoy an assortment of pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, juice, coffee, tea, fruit and more. The breakfast is open to the public.
At 10 am, Historian & Author, Patrick Chaisson, will host a multimedia presentation on the New York Air National Guard in the Vietnam War. Chaisson, himself the son of an Air Guard veteran and a retired Army officer, relates the story of how the New York Air National Guard went from a poorly-funded "flying club for weekend warriors" - as some saw it - to a professional organization that served with distinction in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1969.
His talk will combine period photographs with modern computer technology to share the story of Air Guard flight crews in combat. Those who attend may be surprised how many New York Air National Guard service members fought in the Vietnam conflict - including airmen and airwomen, who lived and served in the local area. Veterans and the general public alike will enjoy this lively, fast-paced presentation about a little-known but important role played by the New York Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
David Brooks from Schoharie Crossing State Historic site in Fort Hunter takes a look at life on the wild side of the Erie Canal with tales about the Kilboys, including balladeer Tom Kilboy. Schoharie Crossing in Fort Hunter, where the old Erie Canal crossed the Schoharie Creek, is now open for the season.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, April 14, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Frothingham began contributing columns on current events to newspapers in New York and other states during the Civil War. He was an advocate for the Union and a supporter of President Abraham Lincoln.
Historians Go Fund Me 2023
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
The U.S. Mail. A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. The goal this year $7,000.00
Fonda area minister was pioneer syndicated journalist
By Bob Cudmore
A minister who spent most of his 92-year life in the Fonda area was a pioneer syndicated journalist.
The New York Herald interviewed Reverend Washington Frothingham in 1912, two years before his death, calling him the dean of American journalism.
Frothingham began contributing columns on current events to newspapers in New York and other states during the Civil War. He was an advocate for the Union and a supporter of President Abraham Lincoln.
Frothingham used pseudonyms to obscure his identity, although several newspapers over the years did stories “outing” the columnist’s real name.
He signed his columns as The Hermit of New York in the Troy Times and New York Herald. He was Macauley in Rochester, the Rosicrucian in Utica and the Demon of Broadway in Hartford.
Over the years his columns were printed by newspapers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and many other cities.
Much of the money he earned from the newspapers he gave to needy people and causes he considered worthwhile.
His will provided the funds needed to start the Frothingham Free Library in Fonda. He paid for a bowling alley and public bath in Fonda and was still swimming there regularly when the Herald interviewed him in 1912.
He told the newspaper he did not favor women’s suffrage. He also expressed concern for the younger generation, saying he feared for the future unless young people turned to the Lord, honored the flag and became good citizens.
Frothingham was born in 1822 in East Fonda and died at his home in Fonda in 1914.
Frothingham’s family—he was the third of ten children—moved from Fonda to Johnstown when he was a young child. His mother was a niece of author Washington Irving and his father was a judge.
Young Frothingham studied at Johnstown Academy and wanted to be a writer. To please his father and help the family, at 18 he moved to New York City and worked in a Broadway store.
He secured a better job with wholesale grocer Edwin D. Morgan. Morgan later was elected governor. After working some time for Morgan, Frothingham and a friend opened their own store.
In 1850 at age 28, Frothingham felt called to the ministry. He sold his share of the business and prepared for the ministry at Princeton, developing skills as a speaker. His first position was at a Presbyterian Church in Guilderland. He opened a Sunday school and preaching station at an Albany machine shop. That effort led to the founding of Albany’s West End Presbyterian Church.
In 1861 Frothingham was invited back to Fonda to restore the declining Reformed church. He succeeded, although his pro-Union and pro-Lincoln political stance ran counter to the secessionist views of some church members.
In 1862 at age 40, Frothingham married Mary Middlemass, a native of Scotland who was a Sunday School teacher. They had no children.
He was called to serve the Tribes Hill Presbyterian Church where he was pastor until 1905.
After his wife died, Frothingham in 1900 married a woman who had been his wife’s nurse, Ella Leavitt of Tribes Hill, a school teacher and correspondent for the Recorder. One source said his first wife’s last words were, “Take care of Ella.”
He was author of several books including histories of Montgomery and Fulton counties. He was friendly with newspaper men and writers including Horace Greeley and William Cullen Bryant.
Frothingham died October 21, 1914 two weeks after suffering a paralyzing stroke. The funeral was held at Fonda Reformed Church and his body was cremated in Troy. There is a memorial to him in Fonda’s Caughnawaga Cemetery.
Historians Episode #470 tomorrow, Friday, April 14, 2023
Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Patrick Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum will hold its monthly Fly-In Breakfast on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 8:30 am – 10:30 am at 250 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, NY 12302 (off Route 50). Enjoy an assortment of pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, juice, coffee, tea, fruit and more. The breakfast is open to the public.
At 10 am, Historian & Author, Patrick Chaisson, will host a multimedia presentation on the New York Air National Guard in the Vietnam War. Chaisson, himself the son of an Air Guard veteran and a retired Army officer, relates the story of how the New York Air National Guard went from a poorly-funded "flying club for weekend warriors" - as some saw it - to a professional organization that served with distinction in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1969.
His talk will combine period photographs with modern computer technology to share the story of Air Guard flight crews in combat. Those who attend may be surprised how many New York Air National Guard service members fought in the Vietnam conflict - including airmen and airwomen, who lived and served in the local area. Veterans and the general public alike will enjoy this lively, fast-paced presentation about a little-known but important role played by the New York Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.” The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools. Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, April 13, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Historians Go Fund Me 2023
Wednesday Morning April 12, 2023 total $1,005.00
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or The U.S. Mail. A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. The goal this year $7,000.00
The Fort Plain Museum Presents The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley June 9-11, 2023
Register on-line https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/conference
Wednesday, April 12, 2023-Tessa Bridal
The Dark Side of Memory examines the largely unknown history of the state sponsored kidnapping of children in Uruguay and Argentina during the Cold War. The author interviewed parents, family members, and the children (now adults) for first person accounts detailing the circumstances of the kidnappings and the illegal adoption of newborns from the torture centers where they were born.
Thursday
April 13, 2023
Fonda minister was pioneer syndicated journalist
Frothingham began contributing columns on current events to newspapers in New York and other states during the Civil War. He was an advocate for the Union and a supporter of President Abraham Lincoln.
Historians Episode #470 this Friday, April 14, 2023
Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Patrick Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum will hold its monthly Fly-In Breakfast on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 8:30 am – 10:30 am at 250 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, NY 12302 (off Route 50). Enjoy an assortment of pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, juice, coffee, tea, fruit and more. The breakfast is open to the public.
At 10 am, Historian & Author, Patrick Chaisson, will host a multimedia presentation on the New York Air National Guard in the Vietnam War. Chaisson, himself the son of an Air Guard veteran and a retired Army officer, relates the story of how the New York Air National Guard went from a poorly-funded "flying club for weekend warriors" - as some saw it - to a professional organization that served with distinction in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1969.
His talk will combine period photographs with modern computer technology to share the story of Air Guard flight crews in combat. Those who attend may be surprised how many New York Air National Guard service members fought in the Vietnam conflict - including airmen and airwomen, who lived and served in the local area. Veterans and the general public alike will enjoy this lively, fast-paced presentation about a little-known but important role played by the New York Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Ben Kemp from Grant Cottage in Wilton New York, where Civil War general and President Ulysses S. Grant died after completing his memoirs.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Small donations this year to The Go Fund Me Thing
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or The U.S. Mail. A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Historians Episode #470 this Friday, April 14, 2023
Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Patrick Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum will hold its monthly Fly-In Breakfast on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 8:30 am – 10:30 am at 250 Rudy Chase Drive, Glenville, NY 12302 (off Route 50). Enjoy an assortment of pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, juice, coffee, tea, fruit and more. The breakfast is open to the public.
At 10 am, Historian & Author, Patrick Chaisson, will host a multimedia presentation on the New York Air National Guard in the Vietnam War. Chaisson, himself the son of an Air Guard veteran and a retired Army officer, relates the story of how the New York Air National Guard went from a poorly-funded "flying club for weekend warriors" - as some saw it - to a professional organization that served with distinction in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1969.
His talk will combine period photographs with modern computer technology to share the story of Air Guard flight crews in combat. Those who attend may be surprised how many New York Air National Guard service members fought in the Vietnam conflict - including airmen and airwomen, who lived and served in the local area. Veterans and the general public alike will enjoy this lively, fast-paced presentation about a little-known but important role played by the New York Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Fly-In if you would like. Pilots: Tower Frequency 121.3; Ground 121.9. Land at Schenectady County Airport and taxi to Richmor Aviation North. Tell them you are going to ESAM.
Lonely hearts killing case linked to Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
An Amsterdam woman was the step-daughter of a 1949 victim of a notorious murderous couple.
Mary C. Fay was listed in the 1930 census as a hospital nurse living in Albany with her father, Matthew Fay, and step-mother, Janet J. Fay (nee Flinn).
Mary Fay married a prominent physician, Alton Spencer. In 1940 Mary and Alton were living in Canajoharie with their daughter. They subsequently moved to Amsterdam.
Matthew Fay, Janet Fay’s husband and Mary Spencer’s father, was a steamfitter. Matthew and Janet lived on Caldwell Street in Albany until Matthew’s sudden death in 1946.
At the end of 1948 Janet Fay, then about 60, was lured into a romantic relationship by Raymond Martinez Fernandez, a native of Hawaii who wore a toupee.
Historian David Fiske wrote in a New York History Blog article, “The modus operandi was to use ‘lonely hearts’ ads to lure lonesome women into romantic situations in order to make use of their financial resources. In several cases (at least) the victims were then murdered.”
Fernandez was joined in the scheme by Martha Beck. Beck, who had children in Florida, was originally earmarked to be one of Fernandez’s victims, but the couple fell in love.
Fiske wrote that Fernandez began courting Fay at her Albany apartment on New Year’s Eve of 1948, “Beck stayed out of the way at a hotel. After their initial meeting, Beck was introduced as the sister of Fernandez (a ploy used with other victims). Before long, Fernandez proposed marriage to the lonesome widow, and she accepted.”
Fiske said Fay introduced her new friends to the Spencers at their Summit Avenue home in Amsterdam in early 1949. Dr. Spencer told the Albany Times Union, “We weren’t suspicious in any way.”
A short time later Fay took several thousand dollars from her bank account, left Albany and went to Valley Stream on Long Island with Fernandez and Beck.
Mary and Alton Spencer received a typed letter supposedly from Fay that did make them suspicious.
"We received many letters from Mrs. Spencer's stepmother," Dr. Spencer told the Times Union. ''None ever were typed. We thought it was very unusual." Mary Spencer went to Albany and convinced police to search for her step-mother.
Police found that Fay was murdered in Valley Stream after Beck became jealous when she saw Fernandez in an embrace with Fay. Beck, who weighed 200 pounds, bludgeoned Fay with a hammer and Fernandez then strangled Fay with a scarf, according to prosecutors.
The couple then went to Michigan, having found another lonely victim there. Fiske wrote, “Their killing spree halted when they were arrested in Michigan, where they admitted to having murdered a woman and her young daughter. Because they were in a state with no death penalty, they also felt comfortable telling police there about a widow they had murdered in New York State.”
Police found Fay’s body in Ozone Park in Queens, buried in the cellar of a house the killers had rented. Mary Spencer went to Queens to identify her step-mother’s body.
New York State, which had a death penalty then, extradited Fernandez and Beck. Fernandez blamed Beck for the killing. He did tell police he had murdered 17 women, but authorities could not confirm that.
Both were found guilty after a 30 day trial that summer. Mary Spencer testified about the visit the two killers had made to her Amsterdam home.
Fernandez, 36, and Beck, 31, professed their love for each other before being executed by electric chair at Sing Sing prison in 1951. The case has been the subject of a book, e-book and 1970 film.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023-Tessa Bridal, a native of Uruguay, tells the stories of people who disappeared during South American political turmoil in the 1970s in her book The Dark Side of Memory.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Fonda minister was pioneer syndicated journalist
The Fort Plain Museum Presents The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley June 9-11, 2023
Register on-line https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/conference
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
Kevin Hall, author of a memoir on growing up in Ilion, New York. Follow this young boy from his ages of 6 through 13, as he explores his hometown of Ilion, the town he grew up in, the neighborhoods he lived in, and the many friends he enjoyed spending time with. Enjoy his many adventures and the sometimes-unexpected consequences of those adventures, not always anticipated by the young boy.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Special Weather StatementNational Weather Service Albany NY317 AM EDT Tue Apr 11 2023NYZ038-040>043-047-050-083-084-120000-Southern Herkimer-Montgomery-Northern Saratoga-Northern Warren-Northern Washington-Schoharie-Southern Saratoga-Southeast Warren-Southern Washington-317 AM EDT Tue Apr 11 2023...ELEVATED RISK FOR FIRE SPREAD THIS AFTERNOON...Minimum relative humidity values will drop to around 20 to 30percent in the Upper Hudson Valley, western and central MohawkValley, and Schoharie County this afternoon. This combined withwesterly winds of 10 to 20 mph and gusts 30 to 40 mph willcontribute to an elevated risk for fire spread this afternoon.The annual statewide burn ban is in effect until May 14th. Noburn permits are issued.
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Small donations this year, a good thing(grassroots)
: not adapted from or added to an existing facility or operation : totally new
It's Monday, April 10, 2023
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or The U.S. Mail. A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, April 10, 2023-Story behind the story, Pastries and popularity and a family of myopes.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023-Honeymoon killers linked to Amsterdam
An Amsterdam woman was the step-daughter of a 1949 victim of a notorious murderous couple.
Mary C. Fay was listed in the 1930 census as a hospital nurse living in Albany with her father, Matthew Fay, and step-mother, Janet J. Fay (nee Flinn).
Wednesday, April 12, 2023-Tessa Bridal, a native of Uruguay, tells the stories of people who disappeared during South American political turmoil in the 1970s in her book The Dark Side of Memory.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Fonda minister was pioneer syndicated journalist
...this Friday
April 14, 2023-Episode 470-Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Patrick Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
Pastries added to popularity and a family of myopes
By Bob Cudmore
John Vidulich, who became one of Amsterdam’s favorite bakers, was a native of Austria who came to America at age 14 in 1898. Born into a family of seven, he and his wife Josephine Guiffre from Genoa, Italy, also had seven children.
Their youngest daughter was Virginia Vidulich, known as Vidge, who attended high school at St. Mary’s Institute during the Great Depression,
By then her father operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue and would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played basketball at home.
After each game, Vidge led a parade of ball players and girlfriends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.
“It helped with my popularity,” said Vidge. Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came often to the bakery for his favorite, doughnuts. Doughnuts were cream filled, jelly filled or plain.
Vidge became Virginia Vidulich O’Brien after marrying Richard O’Brien of Glens Falls in 1946.
The O’Briens lived in Saratoga Springs. Vidge worked in press relations for the Saratoga Harness Track. She conducted tours for school children. She received kudos from sports columnist Art Hoefs for her role in Howard Tupper’s television coverage of harness racing on WRGB.
She was director of the Saratoga Harness Hall of Fame for twenty years. She was the first female member of the National Harness Racing Hall of Fame’s Communicators Corner in Goshen, N.Y.
Later in life she added another nickname, Gertie. Childhood friend and later Malta resident John Bennison explained how Virginia became Vidge in the first place.
John’s father, Harold Bennison, was a native of Frankfort, N.Y., an optometrist who moved to Amsterdam in 1932 with his wife Hazel.
The Bennisons and their seven children rented a home on McElwain Avenue. Next door was the Vidulich family, well known because of their bakery.
Bennison’s sister Anne was the same age as Virginia Vidulich and the girls became lifelong friends.
Bennison added, “Virginia was in and out of our house a lot, and we all loved her. A problem for the younger children was trying to pronounce Virginia Vidulich. What came out was Vidge, which she happily accepted, as it was based on love and respect. Everyone in my family called her Vidge and it was used all day at St, Mary’s school, and she was Vidge for life.”
Bennison moved back to the area after retirement and attended St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa.
Bennison wrote, “One Sunday, I saw Vidge across the church and after Mass, I followed her across the parking lot. I called out, ‘Hi, Vidge!’ She stopped and without turning around, she said, ‘Oh, you must be a Bennison.’ We remained friends until her death in 2010.” She was 91.
Optometrist Harold Bennison died in 1944. His widow put her husband’s optometric equipment in storage. By then the family was living at 252 Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Their son Robert became an optometrist after returning from service in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert used his father’s equipment and established his office on Church Street and later moved his practice to a large store in the Albany area called GEX.
He was the first eye doctor I ever saw. My parents, sister and I all wore glasses and I recall Dr. Bennison used to joke that we were a family of myopes, a scientific word for nearsighted people. Young Dr. Bennison eventually moved to Arizona where he died in the 1980s.
John Bennison, who worked many years for the Boy Scouts, died in 2021 at the age of 92.
The Fort Plain Museum Presents The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley June 9-11, 2023
Register on-line https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/conference
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
The third Highlights Edition of 2022 has excerpts from 12 podcasts including stolen Little League Dreams, an Erie Canal balladeer and a boy’s life in Ilion, New York.
The Historians
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, April 10, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
It is Sunday, April 9, 2023. The need is to raise $350.00 on-line by this eveneing
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or The U.S. Mail. A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Pastries added to popularity and a family of myopes
By Bob Cudmore
John Vidulich, who became one of Amsterdam’s favorite bakers, was a native of Austria who came to America at age 14 in 1898. Born into a family of seven, he and his wife Josephine Guiffre from Genoa, Italy, also had seven children.
Their youngest daughter was Virginia Vidulich, known as Vidge, who attended high school at St. Mary’s Institute during the Great Depression,
By then her father operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue and would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played basketball at home.
After each game, Vidge led a parade of ball players and girlfriends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.
“It helped with my popularity,” said Vidge. Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came often to the bakery for his favorite, doughnuts. Doughnuts were cream filled, jelly filled or plain.
Vidge became Virginia Vidulich O’Brien after marrying Richard O’Brien of Glens Falls in 1946.
The O’Briens lived in Saratoga Springs. Vidge worked in press relations for the Saratoga Harness Track. She conducted tours for school children. She received kudos from sports columnist Art Hoefs for her role in Howard Tupper’s television coverage of harness racing on WRGB.
Early tomorrow morning, Monday, April 10, 2023-Story behind the story, Pastries and popularity and a family of myopes. Thoughts that did not make into the print story, you know, the things that pop into your brain as soon as you are done. This can happen as you are walking down the stairs to put the laundry in.
She was director of the Saratoga Harness Hall of Fame for twenty years. She was the first female member of the National Harness Racing Hall of Fame’s Communicators Corner in Goshen, N.Y.
Later in life she added another nickname, Gertie. Childhood friend and later Malta resident John Bennison explained how Virginia became Vidge in the first place.
John’s father, Harold Bennison, was a native of Frankfort, N.Y., an optometrist who moved to Amsterdam in 1932 with his wife Hazel.
The Bennisons and their seven children rented a home on McElwain Avenue. Next door was the Vidulich family, well known because of their bakery.
Bennison’s sister Anne was the same age as Virginia Vidulich and the girls became lifelong friends.
Bennison added, “Virginia was in and out of our house a lot, and we all loved her. A problem for the younger children was trying to pronounce Virginia Vidulich. What came out was Vidge, which she happily accepted, as it was based on love and respect. Everyone in my family called her Vidge and it was used all day at St, Mary’s school, and she was Vidge for life.”
Bennison moved back to the area after retirement and attended St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa.
Bennison wrote, “One Sunday, I saw Vidge across the church and after Mass, I followed her across the parking lot. I called out, ‘Hi, Vidge!’ She stopped and without turning around, she said, ‘Oh, you must be a Bennison.’ We remained friends until her death in 2010.” She was 91.
Optometrist Harold Bennison died in 1944. His widow put her husband’s optometric equipment in storage. By then the family was living at 252 Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Their son Robert became an optometrist after returning from service in the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert used his father’s equipment and established his office on Church Street and later moved his practice to a large store in the Albany area called GEX.
He was the first eye doctor I ever saw. My parents, sister and I all wore glasses and I recall Dr. Bennison used to joke that we were a family of myopes, a scientific word for nearsighted people. Young Dr. Bennison eventually moved to Arizona where he died in the 1980s.
John Bennison, who worked many years for the Boy Scouts, died in 2021 at the age of 92.
The Fort Plain Museum Presents The Revolutionary War Conference 250 in the Mohawk Valley June 9-11, 2023
Register on-line https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/conference
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday, May 26, 2023 the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany, Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade and Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
A history of the Mohawk River with Mary Zawacki, executive director of the Schenectady County Historical Society. When the last Ice Age began to melt 22,000 years ago, the Mohawk River flowed with more force than Niagara Falls.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, April 9, 2023
Broadalbin-Perth boys’ track and field standout Sam Hotaling won three individual events to lead all competitors in Saturday’s Ken Smith…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
It is Saturday, April 8, 2023
This weekend the need to raise $350.00 on-line Go Fund Me
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
or The U.S. Mail
A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday, May 26, 2023 the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany, Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade and Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Saturday April 8, 2023-Jennifer DeBruin is author of three historical novels and is working on a non-fiction-book on Loyalist espionage during the American Revolution.
The unrivalled beauty and abundance of the Mohawk Valley, engulfed in the fight for liberty, forced the Eamers to choose between the freedom sought by many and the debt to the king who had provided refuge in the burgeoning colony of New York from the religious persecution in their homeland.
Sunday, April 9, 2023- Pastries and popularity and a family of myopes
John Vidulich, who became one of Amsterdam’s favorite bakers, was a native of Austria who came to America at age 14 in 1898. Born into a family of seven, he and his wife Josephine Guiffre from Genoa, Italy, also had seven children.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"
NBC TV has aired an episode of their popular family history show Who Do You Think You Are including scenes filmed in Fonda and Johnstown. Actor Nick Offerman (who plays Ron Swanson in the sitcom Parks and Recreation) traced his ancestors to families from upstate New York. Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar, Montgomery County New York historian, explains why Fonda’s Old Courthouse is a mecca for genealogists and upstate New York historians.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, April 8, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Bob Cudmore The Historians Episode #500 this coming November
The design this weekend to raise $350.00 thru the U.S. Mail or on-line Go Fund Me
A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
The Friday Noon-Time tally for the year $1,005.00 The goal for 2023 $7000.00 Thank You.
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love.
CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library.
On Friday, May 26, 2023 the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany
Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade
Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Saturday April 8, 2023-From the Archives-July 6, 2018-Episode 222-Jennifer DeBruin is author of three historical novels and is working on a non-fiction-book on Loyalist espionage during the American Revolution. Many Loyalists ended up, as did DeBruin’s ancestors, settling in Canada.
A mere shadow in the family tree, little could Eliza have realized the way in which her fifth great-grandmother, Maria Catrina, would step from the shadows of her husband's life to reveal the true price paid for loyalty.
The unrivalled beauty and abundance of the Mohawk Valley, engulfed in the fight for liberty, forced the Eamers to choose between the freedom sought by many and the debt to the king who had provided refuge in the burgeoning colony of New York from the religious persecution in their homeland.
Sunday, April 9, 2023- Pastries and popularity and a family of myopes
Monday, April 10, 2023-Pastries and popularity and a family of myopes (The Podcast)
Bob Cudmore "History from The Mohawk Valley"
Joe Collea Junior is author of Our Town--Ilion, New York: a Selective Look at 300 Years of History. An Ilion native, Collea was a teacher and administrator in Ilion schools and served three terms as mayor of the village.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, April 7, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Maria Riccio Bryce on SoundCloud
This evening at 7 in Hagaman, Bob Cudmore talks history
The Demskys of Amsterdam and a little about the Bob to-do list.
Passion: a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept, Thank You Webster
The Hagaman Historical Society meets at 6:30 pm at the Calvary Reformed Church, 15 Church. Bob’s talk will be at 7 pm. Please use the side entrance to the church. Bob will be accepting donations for The Historians Podcast fund drive.
Go Fund Me Goal in April $1,500.00
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
The Thursday Morning tally no change at $1,005.00, up $50.00 from Monday, Thank You. The need $350.00 by the close of the weekend.
U.S. Mail A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
“Mohawk Valley History with Bob Cudmore”
....from Gloversville
What’s it like to be the boss’s son? Rod Correll is author of the memoir “Learning to Be a Leatherman-A Rite of Passage.” Correll lived in the leather business for 50 years, from childhood up to when he left the business to return to Yale for an MBA.
An artistic gunsmith
By Bob Cudmore
A loom fixer for an Amsterdam carpet mill set up shop as a gunsmith in 1948 and then made his living building custom rifles and repairing firearms until his death in 1960.
Raymond Overbaugh, born in 1903 in the town of Florida, once told a reporter, "I always fooled around with guns in my spare time." He worked 28 years fixing looms for Bigelow-Sanford’s Amsterdam carpet mills before opening his gun shop in a small building next to his home off Route 5 near Cranesville. Later he moved his family and shop to Tribes Hill.
Many American soldiers returning from World War II brought souvenir weapons home from the war, in particular Mauser rifles made for the German army.
According to a 1953 story by Truman Temple in the Daily Gazette, Overbaugh’s best selling items were deer hunting rifles converted from Mauser 8 millimeter rifles. He turned out about 30 rifles a year plus doing repair work.
“The ‘Overbaugh Special’ is in demand all over the country by certain small arms fanatics who can pay the necessary $110 (and up) for a hand-crafted rifle that combines German precision with light handling qualities,” Temple wrote.
Overbaugh knew his hunting customers wanted a firearm much lighter than the one German soldiers carried. He trimmed about a fourth of the weight off each Mauser and the finished product weighed seven pounds
“I just trim down the stock and take a bit of metal off here and there,” Overbaugh said.
Today, Overbaugh’s rifles are seen infrequently at gun shows and can go for $2,000 each, according to firearms fanciers.
John Del Savio, an official of the Pine Tree Rifle Club in Johnstown, said an Overbaugh rifle was known for having diamond shaped inlays, black and white. The black inlays were made from ebony and the white inlays were ivory. Overbaugh also put a tiny signature on the barrels of some of his guns
In the early 1950s Johnstown native David Acker and his father, gun collector Adolph Acker, used to visit Overbaugh’s shop. It was a small space that could comfortably handle a half dozen people.
During one visit by the Ackers a customer came in and inquired about a special firearm order. After he left, the word was passed that the customer was Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas, home for a visit from Hollywood.
Overbaugh said in the 1953 interview that his oddest repair job was work done on two submachine guns for the Amsterdam police. Local police carried the weapons on those days when the carpet mills paid workers in cash. Overbaugh said police never had to fire them.
Overbaugh favored Colt automatic weapons. He said that that the Germans made the best rifles, the British made the best shotguns and the best revolvers were made by Smith & Wesson in America.
Reporter Temple said that Overbaugh’s shop was surrounded by tame squirrels and birds, “He walked to the door and coaxed chickadees down to feed from his hand.
At the time of the interview, Overbaugh said he had 200 guns in his collection, including a German machine gun from World War I that he kept in the basement. His shop was hard to find and he had toyed with the idea of painting the machine gun and putting it in front of his shop as an advertisement. Overbaugh’s collection then also included a half dozen pistols dating from the American Revolution.
Overbaugh’s 1960 obituary noted that he was known for artistic gun building. His wife Olive and son George survived him. George Overbaugh worked with his father for a number of years. Raymond Overbaugh was buried at Amsterdam’s Fairview Cemetery.
Posted Early tomorrow, Friday, April 7, 2023
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love.
CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library.
On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany
Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade
Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, April 6, 2023
A chance of showers, mainly between 10am and 5pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Light southwest wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Tomorrow evening at 7 on the 6th of April in Hagaman.
Bob Cudmore History Talk, you are invited
Let Bob Cudmore aquaint you with the history of your ancestors in The Mohawk Valley
The Hagaman Historical Society meets at 6:30 pm Thursday at the Calvary Reformed Church, 15 Church. Bob’s talk will be at 7 pm. Please use the side entrance to the church. Bob will be accepting donations for The Historians Podcast fund drive.
Go Fund Me Goal in April $1,500.00
Link: The Historians Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
The Wednesday Morning tally steady-going at $1,005.00, up $50.00 from Monday, Thank You. Need to raise $350.00 by Sunday Night.
U.S. Mail A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. (Bob checks the mail twice a day)
“Mohawk Valley History with Bob Cudmore”
David Pietrusza is author of “Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal.”
Wednesday, April 5, 2023-Michael Doyle is author of “The Ministers’ War
Thursday, April 6, 2023-The Artistic Gunsmith
A loom fixer for an Amsterdam carpet mill set up shop as a gunsmith in 1948 and then made his living building custom rifles and repairing firearms until his death in 1960.
Friday, April 7, 2023 (Edit is complete, total time 29 minutes)
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany; Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade; and Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Historians information from over the weekend...
Bob Cudmore is helping Jay Towne and the Foothills Arts Council produce a documentary on December holiday traditions featuring Mohawk Valley people. Interviews are being recorded starting today at the Amsterdam Free Library. We will keep you up to date.
$1,500.00 is the goal in the month of April
The Historians Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
The Monday Morning tally $955.00 (Webster-A tally is a continuous count of something)
U.S. Mail A check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 Fooling the Ragman (and they did it with a smile)
According to Kirk Douglas’s book, his father was born Herschel Danielovitch in Russia and came to America in 1908. His wife Bryna or Bertha Sanglel followed two years later. Their six daughters and one son all were born in America.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023-Michael Doyle is author of “The Ministers’ War: John W. Mears, the Oneida Community, and the Crusade for Public Morality.” The book describes a 19th century utopian community in upstate New York.
Thursday, April 6, 2023-The Artistic Gunsmith
Friday, April 7, 2023-Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany; Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade; and Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
“Inside the Amsterdam City Limits, History with Bob Cudmore”
Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Edmund Wilson and the Mohawk encampment
By Bob Cudmore
Edmund Wilson, a famous journalist and man of letters, visited Chief Standing Arrow at the 1957 Mohawk Indian encampment on farmland adjacent to the Schoharie Creek in Fort Hunter. Wilson wrote about the encounter in his book, “Apologies to the Iroquois.
Standing Arrow put a sign on Route 5-S that said Indian Village. During the previous summer, the Mohawks sold souvenirs to tourists.
The encampment was an attempt to repossess part of an 8,000 acre tract the Mohawks said was not included in land ceded to the U.S. government by the Iroquois Confederacy in the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1784. According to historian and newspaper reporter Hugh Donlon, there was talk of 3,000 Mohawks coming to the settlement from the reservation on the Canadian border with northern New York.
When Wilson arrived, the Chief, also known as Frank Johnson, was away and his family not too willing to communicate. On a second visit, Wilson knocked at the door and no one came to answer it. When Wilson was getting back in his car, Standing Arrow appeared in the doorway and waved to him.
Wilson said, “It was a characteristic of an Indian that, not being up and dressed, he should not shout that he would be out in a minute but should wait until he could present himself with dignity.”
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. We had no donations during the past week and we are way behind last year. Online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you as we work to Historians Episode #500 later this year.
Descended from an upstate New York family named Talcott, Wilson maintained a summer home at Talcottville, north of Utica in Lewis County between the Adirondacks and Tug Hill Plateau.
Wilson found that Standing Arrow was part of an Iroquois nationalist movement with adherents at the Onondaga reservation in the Syracuse area and at reservations in northern New York and Canada.
Inside, Standing Arrow’s hut was “small but not ill-kept.” There was a landscape of a lake hanging on the wall, along with a feathered headdress and a rattle made from the shell of a snapping turtle. Wilson said Standing Arrow, a chief from the St. Regis Reservation, was a charismatic figure.
Although he had heard unfavorable things about Standing Arrow, Wilson was “won over” by the Chief saying, “He appealed to the imagination.” Standing Arrow’s features reminded Wilson of the young Napoleon, even though he had “a slight cast in one eye.”
“He had also, as I could see, some of the qualities of the Mussolinian spellbinder,” wrote Wilson.
Wilson added, “A Mohawk who disapproved of Standing Arrow told me that his eloquence in English – of which his command was imperfect – was nothing to his eloquence in Mohawk.”
Standing Arrow produced a document from attorney E.A. Everett from 1924 backing the Chief’s claim that the Mohawks still owned the land around the Schoharie Creek. Everett credited the Iroquois Confederacy with creating the only pre-European government in America.
Wilson learned that some of the men in the settlement were high steel workers who had labored that year on the nearby Thruway Bridge over Schoharie Creek. That bridge collapsed during flooding 30 years later killing 10 people.
Mohawks are excellent working on tall construction projects--walking on a narrow beam is not difficult for them. Wilson’s book includes “A Study of the Mohawks in High Steel” written by Joseph Mitchell, describing the lives led by Mohawks living in New York City.
After a harsh winter, the Schoharie Creek encampment was gone by the summer of 1958. Eviction orders were served by Sheriff Alton Dingman following court action in March. Some of the Mohawk huts were burned. The Mohawks were offered land in the town of Fulton in Schoharie County but if there was a settlement in Fulton, apparently it was short lived.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, April 3, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
When Wilson arrived, the Chief, also known as Frank Johnson, was away and his family not too willing to communicate. On a second visit, Wilson knocked at the door and no one came to answer it. When Wilson was getting back in his car, Standing Arrow appeared in the doorway and waved to him.
Edmund Wilson and the Mohawk encampment
By Bob Cudmore
Bob will have more information tomorrow. The Story Behind the Story Monday Podcast
Edmund Wilson, a famous journalist and man of letters, visited Chief Standing Arrow at the 1957 Mohawk Indian encampment on farmland adjacent to the Schoharie Creek in Fort Hunter. Wilson wrote about the encounter in his book, “Apologies to the Iroquois.
Standing Arrow put a sign on Route 5-S that said Indian Village. During the previous summer, the Mohawks sold souvenirs to tourists.
The encampment was an attempt to repossess part of an 8,000 acre tract the Mohawks said was not included in land ceded to the U.S. government by the Iroquois Confederacy in the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1784. According to historian and newspaper reporter Hugh Donlon, there was talk of 3,000 Mohawks coming to the settlement from the reservation on the Canadian border with northern New York.
When Wilson arrived, the Chief, also known as Frank Johnson, was away and his family not too willing to communicate. On a second visit, Wilson knocked at the door and no one came to answer it. When Wilson was getting back in his car, Standing Arrow appeared in the doorway and waved to him.
Wilson said, “It was a characteristic of an Indian that, not being up and dressed, he should not shout that he would be out in a minute but should wait until he could present himself with dignity.”
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. We had no donations during the past week and we are way behind last year. PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution helps.
Descended from an upstate New York family named Talcott, Wilson maintained a summer home at Talcottville, north of Utica in Lewis County between the Adirondacks and Tug Hill Plateau.
Wilson found that Standing Arrow was part of an Iroquois nationalist movement with adherents at the Onondaga reservation in the Syracuse area and at reservations in northern New York and Canada.
Inside, Standing Arrow’s hut was “small but not ill-kept.” There was a landscape of a lake hanging on the wall, along with a feathered headdress and a rattle made from the shell of a snapping turtle. Wilson said Standing Arrow, a chief from the St. Regis Reservation, was a charismatic figure.
Although he had heard unfavorable things about Standing Arrow, Wilson was “won over” by the Chief saying, “He appealed to the imagination.” Standing Arrow’s features reminded Wilson of the young Napoleon, even though he had “a slight cast in one eye.”
“He had also, as I could see, some of the qualities of the Mussolinian spellbinder,” wrote Wilson.
Wilson added, “A Mohawk who disapproved of Standing Arrow told me that his eloquence in English – of which his command was imperfect – was nothing to his eloquence in Mohawk.”
Standing Arrow produced a document from attorney E.A. Everett from 1924 backing the Chief’s claim that the Mohawks still owned the land around the Schoharie Creek. Everett credited the Iroquois Confederacy with creating the only pre-European government in America.
Wilson learned that some of the men in the settlement were high steel workers who had labored that year on the nearby Thruway Bridge over Schoharie Creek. That bridge collapsed during flooding 30 years later killing 10 people.
Mohawks are excellent working on tall construction projects--walking on a narrow beam is not difficult for them. Wilson’s book includes “A Study of the Mohawks in High Steel” written by Joseph Mitchell, describing the lives led by Mohawks living in New York City.
After a harsh winter, the Schoharie Creek encampment was gone by the summer of 1958. Eviction orders were served by Sheriff Alton Dingman following court action in March. Some of the Mohawk huts were burned. The Mohawks were offered land in the town of Fulton in Schoharie County but if there was a settlement in Fulton, apparently it was short lived.
Email bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Fooling the ragman
Wednesday, April 5, 2023-
Michael Doyle is author of “The Ministers’ War: John W. Mears, the Oneida Community, and the Crusade for Public Morality.” The book describes a 19th century utopian community in upstate New York.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
The artistic gunsmith
Maria Riccio Bryce
Friday, April 7, 2023
Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany; Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade; and Sunday at 3pm on May 28, at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Amsterdams Oldest House
A look at Guy Park Manor, arguably Amsterdam’s oldest house.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, April 2, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
This Sunday Bob Cudmore The Daily Gazette "Journalist Edmund Wilson at the Mohawk Encampment"
Important Information about The Historians
The Historians Podcast is supported by people like you.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast
We need your donations to keep going. Donations have been few this year.
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore, 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, N.Y. 12302. You may contribute anonymously and a contribution of any size large or small is appreciated. Thanking you in advance for your support.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Conversations and Interviews
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Saturday April 1, 2023-From the Archives-December 28, 2018- Historians Podcast Episode 246-Business reporter Kathleen Day looks at the history of America’s economic cycle of boom, bust and taxpayer-funded bailout. Day is author of “Broken Bargain: Bankers, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street.”
Sunday, April 2, 2023- Journalist Edmund Wilson at the Mohawk Encampment
Edmund Wilson, a famous journalist and man of letters, visited Chief Standing Arrow at the 1957 Mohawk Indian encampment on farmland adjacent to the Schoharie Creek in Fort Hunter. Wilson wrote about the encounter in his book, “Apologies to the Iroquois.”
The Glove Theatre this Weekend
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 31, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Conversations and Interviews
Coming in April
Friday, April 7, 2023-Episode 469- Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. CD recordings are available at Amsterdam Free Library. On Friday May 26, the Requiem will be performed at St Paul’s Episcopal on Hackett Blvd in Albany; Saturday, May 27, at First Reformed on N. Church St in the Schenectady Stockade; and Sunday, May 28 at 3pm at Trinity Lutheran on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam.
Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
Amsterdam remembers Teddy Roosevelt
By Bob Cudmore
Memories of Amsterdam’s Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue where a senior housing project exists today continue to come in.
Evelyn Riccio, retired schoolteacher and librarian, said that the song about junior high quoted in a previous column had a verse, which indicates the song was written specifically for the Amsterdam school. Otherwise, the words—to the tune of “Stars and Stripes Forever”—could be applied to any junior high.
Riccio said the verse went like this:
Other students may think their school’s the best
And serve it with loyal devotion.
But the school that is dear to you and me
Is this school of ours with colors blue and silver.
Riccio said that longtime Roosevelt principal Fritz Heil compiled the lyrics, although another alumna recalled that a student named Barbara Casey wrote the words as part of a school contest.
TEDDY REMEMBERED
` Former student Paul Russo remembered that Heil addressed students on the first day of school in the auditorium, “He said that when he was a kid, Teddy Roosevelt came to town and Heil jumped up on the running board of Roosevelt’s car and shock hands with him.”
There are 20 references to Theodore Roosevelt in Frank Yunker’s online database of newspaper headlines from the early twentieth century in Amsterdam (www.mohawkvalleyweb.com). Roosevelt spoke in Amsterdam in 1898, 1900, 1910 and 1914. When he died in 1919, the city held a Roosevelt Day in which clergymen paid tribute to “the great statesman.”
The junior high was dedicated to the former President on October 2, 1925 with the main address given by state education commissioner Dr. Frank P. Graves.
At Roosevelt Junior High in the late 1950s, student reporter Elizabeth Dye Russo found a ladder sticking up into the attic of the building and covered the story for The Broadcaster, the school newspaper.
“We got permission to go up in the attic and see all the old stuff and I wrote an article about it. I can't remember, however what was up there!”
Several people informed me that the name of my eighth grade homeroom and art teacher was Marian Gode Carnwright, married to John Carnwright, the printing shop teacher.
As Amsterdam was the carpet city, a shop course was taught in textiles, first by a Mr. Noble and then by Bill Fennhahn. My mother was a sewing teacher and my father a carpet weaver so I felt pressure to excel in Fennhahn’s course. I did all right on the sewing machine but, alas, my partner Tom Christman and I messed up the threading of our loom so much that it was beyond help.
Another alumnus recalled that physical education teacher Richard Ruback, who passed away recently, coached a seventh grade basketball team sponsored by a private sports club, the Hurricana Club. Some of the outstanding players in Amsterdam High basketball received a solid foundation in the sport by participating in that club.
A popular student stop near the junior high was Eddie Doyle’s confectionery store, where Eileen Macvean of Amsterdam recalled the big item in her day was the Jo-Jo Pop.
` Students bought school supplies at Sam Soula’s card and magazine store.
Former student Peter Betz said, “We also bought the little glass bottles of colored ink there which in the spring we loaded in our water pistols to shoot at each other as the class lines moved from room to room. That brought a lot of parent complaints so there was a crackdown---locker inspections, confiscation of weapons, etc.
“Sometimes we put cheap perfume in them too but that was a give away as to who was 'armed' so we didn't do that much.”
Tomorrow, Friday, March 31, 2023
#468
Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.
The Glove Theatre
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 30, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Conversations and Interviews
Coming in April
Friday, April 14, 2023-Episode 470-Patrick Chaisson has written a multi-media presentation Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WW II. Chaisson is a retired (26 year) US Army Lieutenant Colonel now an author/historian from Scotia.
Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley
Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized
Bob Cudmore Print Story tomorrow, Thursday
Remembering Teddy Roosevelt
At Roosevelt Junior High in the late 1950s, student reporter Elizabeth Dye Russo found a ladder sticking up into the attic of the building and covered the story for The Broadcaster, the school newspaper.
Friday, March 31, 2023
#468
Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Many readers like to use the U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Pastries helped with popularity
By Bob Cudmore
When Virginia Vidulich O’Brien was attending high school at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam during the Great Depression, she had an in with the basketball team.
Her father John operated Vidulich’s Bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue and would give his youngest daughter the key to the shop when St. Mary’s played at home.
After each game, “Vidge” led a parade of ball players and girl friends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.
“It helped with my popularity,” said O’Brien, who now lives in Saratoga Springs.
Her father was a native of Austria who came to America with his parents at age 14 in 1898. Born into a family of seven, he and his wife Josephine Guiffre Vidulich also had seven children. Josephine was a native of Genoa, Italy.
According to his obituary, Vidulich was baking in Amsterdam by 1919. In 1930 John and his brother Anthony opened the bakery at 63 Guy Park Avenue. Eventually John became sole proprietor.
O’Brien recalled that Izzy Demsky, who became the actor Kirk Douglas, came in all the time for his favorite doughnuts. Doughnuts were cream filled, jelly filled or plain—plain doughnuts were three for a nickel. Vidulich’s also featured charlotte russe, pumpernickel and other breads, sticky buns, coffee cake or kuchen, plus special kuchen for Christmas and Easter.
In addition to Vidulich’s shop on Guy Park Avenue, near the former junior high, John Vidulich operated a second bakery for some years on Market Street. His brother Nicholas was proprietor of a bakery at 300 Locust Avenue.
In 1953 John Vidulich’s health declined and the bakery was taken over by his son John, Jr. The father died that year. John Jr. relocated Vidulich’s Bakery to the corner of Glen and Lincoln Avenues on Market Hill, also in 1953. A popular item in newspaper ads from the 1960s were Vidulich’s chocolate doughnuts.
The bakery closed March 6, 1971 and John Jr. went to work at Dan Dee Donuts at 169 Market St. The matriarch of the family, Josephine Giuffre Vidulich, died that year.
In addition to his baking skills, John Jr. was a well-known local golfer. His brother Larry Vidulich was golf pro at the Antlers in Fort Johnson, Amsterdam Muni and ultimately at the North Shore Country Club in the Chicago area.
Virginia Vidulich O’Brien, now 91, married her late husband Richard when he was a student at Dartmouth College. Virginia worked for many years in press relations and other jobs for the Saratoga Harness Track. She conducted tours for school children in the morning hours. She received kudos from Amsterdam sports columnist Art Hoefs in 1968 for her role in Howard Tupper’s television coverage of the harness track on WRGB. She is the only woman inducted into the National Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Amsterdam resident Diane Hale Smith recently visited O’Brien and took her sticky buns from Amsterdam’s newest bakery, Dolci on Bridge Street.
“They got her personal seal of approval,” Smith said.
O’Brien recalled Smith’s mother—Dorothy Bennett Hale—who used to work at Morrison Putman’s Music Store on Market Street and oversaw listening booths where O’Brien and others could enjoy music of the day for free.
Tomorrow
Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Remembering Teddy Roosevelt
The junior high was dedicated to the former President on October 2, 1925 with the main address given by state education commissioner Dr. Frank P. Graves.
Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Interviews and Conversations. Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History. April on The Historians-Composer, choral director and pianist Maria Riccio Bryce, creator of a new work called Requiem: What Remains Is Love. Coming in November Episode #500
Many readers like to use the U.S. Mail. (You need a pen, check, envelope and stamp) Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank You
..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Monday, March 27, 2023-Story behind the story. We’ll call the baby Harry
Tuesday, March 28, 2023-Pastries produced popularity
“It helped with my popularity,” said O’Brien, who now lives in Saratoga Springs.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.
Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized.
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Remembering Teddy Roosevelt
Some say he had a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity.
Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.
We’ll call the baby Henry
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam.
The nine-member Polish American family lived on Clark Avenue, which runs between Forest and Sloane avenues. In 1931 Albert Sikora is described in a City Directory as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.
One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928. The pregnancy was not discussed with the children and a “birthing lady” attended their mother.
At first shooed out of the house into the rain by their father, the children eventually were brought inside and told to get sheets for the birthing lady to use.
“(Sister) Kay and I ran through the house and started pulling the sheets off the bed,” Paula wrote. “We tried to give them to the birthing lady but she hollered at us--she wanted unused sheets.
“Then all of a sudden we were allowed to go to Mom’s room and she introduced us to our new little fat wrinkled baby brother. I had a new doll to play with! He was so cute. Mom was back. All was well again.”
The baby’s father wanted to name him Alexander, after a Polish prince. Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess. However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American auto maker Henry Ford.
The family always called him. Harry though and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age.
Harry Sikora, who died in 2008, served in the U.S. Army, went to Union College and Syracuse University and became an industrial engineer at IBM. His later years were spent at a farm in Bradford, Pennsylvania and a winter home in Clearwater, Florida.
“Was four years old when I started school in the first grade,” Harry wrote. “Mom lied about my age to get me into school early. Believe she had enough of children by the time I arrived.”
The school was about seven blocks from their home and his mother told Harry to follow the other children to get there.
Paula recalled when the family had no refrigerator, no washing machine and no radio. Eventually, a windup Victrola came their way.
Their father finished building a home in 1923 on a Clark Avenue lot across from the flat they were renting in a four family house. The Sikoras rented out an upstairs flat in their new home.
“Our renter had a radio—wow,” Paula wrote. The tenant played the radio loudly and the Sikora children would gather on the hall steps to hear Fibber McGee and Molly.
Paula married in 1937 but Harry did not want to attend the wedding, saying he would break his six-year perfect school attendance record.
Harry wrote, “Heat came from a wood/coal stove, which heated the kitchen and living room area. Bedrooms were cold during the winter and hot during the summer. Coal bin was located in the basement. Had to be carried upstairs and ashes emptied daily.
“We had two sour cherry trees. One year, dad made cherry wine in the basement. When he wasn't looking, I tasted some of it.”
Ray Knapik and his Mom rented the upstairs flat in Sikoras’ home from 1943 to 1950.
Knapik wrote, “In the back of the house was the community playground known as the Rockton Diamonds. Had a lot of good friends in Rockton and that was our hangout place. Learned how to ice-skate on the sidewalk in front of the house.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 27, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Interviews and Conversations. Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History. Later this year Episode #500
Many fans like to use the U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
..or click the Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
We’ll call the baby Henry
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam.
The nine-member Polish American family lived on Clark Avenue, which runs between Forest and Sloane avenues. In 1931 Albert Sikora is described in a City Directory as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.
One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928. The pregnancy was not discussed with the children and a “birthing lady” attended their mother.
At first shooed out of the house into the rain by their father, the children eventually were brought inside and told to get sheets for the birthing lady to use.
“(Sister) Kay and I ran through the house and started pulling the sheets off the bed,” Paula wrote. “We tried to give them to the birthing lady but she hollered at us--she wanted unused sheets.
“Then all of a sudden we were allowed to go to Mom’s room and she introduced us to our new little fat wrinkled baby brother. I had a new doll to play with! He was so cute. Mom was back. All was well again.”
The baby’s father wanted to name him Alexander, after a Polish prince. Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess. However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American auto maker Henry Ford.
The family always called him. Harry though and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age.
Harry Sikora, who died in 2008, served in the U.S. Army, went to Union College and Syracuse University and became an industrial engineer at IBM. His later years were spent at a farm in Bradford, Pennsylvania and a winter home in Clearwater, Florida.
“Was four years old when I started school in the first grade,” Harry wrote. “Mom lied about my age to get me into school early. Believe she had enough of children by the time I arrived.”
The school was about seven blocks from their home and his mother told Harry to follow the other children to get there.
Paula recalled when the family had no refrigerator, no washing machine and no radio. Eventually, a windup Victrola came their way.
Their father finished building a home in 1923 on a Clark Avenue lot across from the flat they were renting in a four family house. The Sikoras rented out an upstairs flat in their new home.
“Our renter had a radio—wow,” Paula wrote. The tenant played the radio loudly and the Sikora children would gather on the hall steps to hear Fibber McGee and Molly.
Paula married in 1937 but Harry did not want to attend the wedding, saying he would break his six-year perfect school attendance record.
Harry wrote, “Heat came from a wood/coal stove, which heated the kitchen and living room area. Bedrooms were cold during the winter and hot during the summer. Coal bin was located in the basement. Had to be carried upstairs and ashes emptied daily.
“We had two sour cherry trees. One year, dad made cherry wine in the basement. When he wasn't looking, I tasted some of it.”
Ray Knapik and his Mom rented the upstairs flat in Sikoras’ home from 1943 to 1950.
Knapik wrote, “In the back of the house was the community playground known as the Rockton Diamonds. Had a lot of good friends in Rockton and that was our hangout place. Learned how to ice-skate on the sidewalk in front of the house.”
Monday, March 27, 2023-Story behind the story. We’ll call the baby Harry
Tuesday, March 28, 2023-Pastries produced popularity
After each game, “Vidge” led a parade of ball players and girl friends to the bakeshop where they enjoyed the many treats inside.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023-Mark Sullivan discusses his historical novel, The Last Green Valley that chronicles how members of a German family living in Ukraine were able to escape clashing armies in World War II and find a new life in America.
The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for more than a century. But after already living under Stalin’s horrifying regime, Emil and Adeline decide they must run in retreat from their land with the wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Remembering Teddy Roosevelt
Memories of Amsterdam’s Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue where a senior housing project exists today continue to come in.
Friday, March 31, 2023-Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. The lives of seven Preston family members from Galway, N.Y., were impacted by events including Civil War, the Second Great Awakening and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the natural disaster claiming the most lives on US soil.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 26, 2023
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In production on The Historians
Episode 468-Alan Maddaus is author of The Prestons of East Street, the Story of a 19th century American Family. More information next week.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me 2023 needs your partnership in History
On-Line or the U.S. Mail, Use this Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
Saturday March 25
Historian Peter Betz
Sunday, March 26
We’ll call the baby Harry
Bob Cudmore every weekend in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula Sikora Martin, wrote down memories of the birth of her youngest brother in 1928.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 25, 2023
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“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote. “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on. These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This weekend, Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette.
Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Memories of St. Casimir’s
By Bob Cudmore
The pending closure of St. Casimir’s Church has brought back memories for Amsterdam native Richard Sidlauscus. The historically Lithuanian church on East Main Street in Amsterdam is to close in May.
A second generation American of Lithuanian descent, Sidlauscus now lives in Connecticut and has not lived in Amsterdam in 42 years. He has not been to Mass at St. Casimir’s in more than 15 years.
“I finally came to realize that whenever St. Casimir’s is mentioned, it evokes memories of a time, place, people and events that were a major part of my youth,” Sidlauscus wrote.
Sidlauscus said that in his youth Lithuanian was spoken regularly on East Main Street from Schuyler Street to the city line. He remembers the distinctive lilt of Lithuanian, beginning low and ending at a higher pitch. There were businesses with names like Maldutis Bakery, Pakenas Cleaners, and Piliponis Grocery.
“If you were Lithuanian in the Amsterdam I grew up in, St. Casimir’s was the center of your religious and, to a great degree, your family social life,” Sidlauscus wrote. “You went to Mass there; you attended religious instructions in the lower level of the church; you were married there; your children were baptized there. Your relatives were buried in St. Casimir’s Cemetery. You went to church picnics at the grove near the cemetery off Widow Susan Road. You went to family dinners, club banquets, wedding receptions and showers at the American Lithuanian Club on Liberty Street.”
In the summer, the Sidlauscus family usually attended the 8 a.m. service so they could go on picnics to Wells or Great Sacandaga Lake. The rest of the year, the family went to Mass at 9 a.m. as religious instructions followed in the school.
The Mass was in Latin in those days but the gospel was read in English and Lithuanian. Everyone stood for what seemed forever, Sidlauscus said, when the Passion was read as the Palm Sunday gospel.
“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote. “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on. These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar. There were also lights over the altar. With just these lights and candles lit, the church was magical.”
Sidlauscus said his father used to say you could get drunk by breathing in the back of the church among all the standing worshippers who came to midnight Mass directly from their Christmas Eve festivities.
Sidlauscus recalls when the men of the Holy Name Society would march down the aisle to take their places for the annual communion breakfast, wearing suits and
Emil Suda of Amsterdam enjoyed visiting Pingitore’s Shoe Store on East Main Street when he was a child. The proprietors kept toys on the floor to entertain children. Suda said Pingitore’s had a toy dump truck and a silver robot with a flashing light on its head.
Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
Dr. Mahvash M. Majeed "Welcome to the Village" (All the Episodes) on Buzzsprout https://www.buzzsprout.com/1648825
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 23, 2023
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Caroga committee to explore short-term rental regulations
Dr. Mahvash M. Majeed "Welcome to the Village" (All the Episodes) on Buzzsprout https://www.buzzsprout.com/1648825
Wednesday, March 22, 2023-From the Archives- August 12, 2022-Episode 435-Susanne Dunlap discusses her book The Portraitist, a novel based on the life of 18th century French artist Adélaïde Labilleo-Guiard whose life went on amid the changes and terror of the French Revolution.
Memories of St. Casimir’s in Amsterdam
Thursday, March 23, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette
The pending closure of St. Casimir’s Church has brought back memories for Amsterdam native Richard Sidlauscus. The historically Lithuanian church on East Main Street in Amsterdam is to close in May.
Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This coming Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 22, 2023
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Get to the Point
Are all the websites you visit, too busy?
The Historians on one page, no video, no pop-ups and a good story.
Monday, March 20, 2023
Story behind the story Wilson family
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Edmund Wilson at the Mohawk Encampment-Pastries helped with popularity
Four months after the Mohawk Indian encampment began on farmland off Route 5-S adjacent to the Schoharie Creek in 1957, world-renowned man of letters Edmund Wilson paid a visit to Chief Standing Arrow and his followers.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023-From the Archives- August 12, 2022-Episode 435-Susanne Dunlap discusses her book The Portraitist, a novel based on the life of 18th century French artist Adélaïde Labilleo-Guiard whose life went on amid the changes and terror of the French Revolution.
With a beautiful rival who’s better connected and better trained than she is, Adélaïde faces an uphill battle. Her love affair with her young instructor in oil painting gives rise to suspicions that he touches up her work, and her decision to make much-needed money by executing erotic pastels threatens to create as many problems as it solves.
Memories of St. Casimir’s in Amsterdam
Thursday, March 23, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette
Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This coming Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Amsterdam’s remarkable Wilson family
By Bob Cudmore
Benjamin Wilson responded with more information after reading the recent column describing his Amsterdam ancestors.
Wilson is retired chairman of the prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm of Beveridge & Diamond. A Harvard Law School alumnus, he was an environmental litigator and advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Wilson is the son of the late Harrison Wilson, Junior, a basketball standout at Amsterdam High School in the early 1940s. Harrison Junior went on to become president of Norfolk State University in Virginia in 1975 and led that historically black institution until his retirement in 1997. He died in 2019 at age 94.
Ben Wilson said when he was a child most summers his family in Virginia visited his Amsterdam grandparents, Harrison Senior and Marguerite Wilson, at their home on Cedar Street.
Harrison Senior and Marguerite raised eight children, four male and four female, all born in Amsterdam and now all deceased. They were, from eldest to youngest, Martha Ellen Wilson Marshall, Edward Wilson, Margaret C. Wilson, Mary Alida Wilson, Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Jr., Virginia Wilson Howard, Willis Thomas Wilson and Albert John Wilson.
Marguerite and Harrison Senior emphasized education in raising their family. Marguerite, formerly a school teacher in Kentucky, was named Mother of the Year in a national competition.
Martha, the eldest Amsterdam Wilson sibling, won the girls’ acting award when she graduated high school in 1931. She was a classmate of Isadore Demsky who became the movie actor Kirk Douglas. Martha became a nurse in El Paso, Texas, and her mother Marguerite died in El Paso in 1960.
The youngest Amsterdam Wilson sibling, Albert, died last year. He was an honors student and athlete at Lynch High School and Indiana University. He became a real estate attorney, and was a pioneer in corporate social responsibility. Ben Wilson said, “He helped develop corporate America’s response to investment in South Africa in the late 1980s and 1990s.”
Ben Wilson remembers visiting the Amsterdam parking lot on Federal Street which the Wilsons operated near, he said, a diner with great hamburgers and the police station, which had a soda machine.
Ben Wilson said, “We visited my grandfather Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Sr. at the parking lot, and my father and uncles would help my grandfather at the parking lot. My grandfather worked that lot every day until his mid-eighties. He died in 1982 ar age 93.
“We engaged in typical family activities, visiting the museum in Albany, the World’s Fair in New York City and going to Caroga Lake and Lake George.
“I had an interest in history and the year before I went away to school my parents took me to General Herkimer’s home and the area homes of Sir William Johnson. This was helpful when I had to read “Drums Along the Mohawk” for English class. My teacher could not believe I had actually been to several sites described in the novel.”
Ben’s brother the late Harrison Wilson III was the father of National Football League quarterback Russell Wilson, now with the Denver Broncos.
In 2016 Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Junior, who hosts a public television genealogy program, interviewed Russell at a public event called the Richmond Forum.
Gates found that Harrison Wilson, Senior, came to Amsterdam from Kentucky in 1920 in part because he had an older brother Albert in Amsterdam. Gates said Harrison Senior owned property in Kentucky. His father had been enslaved and fought with the Colored Troops of the Union army in the Civil War.
Ben Harrison’s sister April Wilson Woodard is a TV journalist known for her work as a correspondent on the newsmagazine Inside Edition.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 20, 2023
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Harrison Senior and Marguerite raised eight children, four male and four female, all born in Amsterdam and now all deceased. They were, from eldest to youngest, Martha Ellen Wilson Marshall, Edward Wilson, Margaret C. Wilson, Mary Alida Wilson, Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Jr., Virginia Wilson Howard, Willis Thomas Wilson and Albert John Wilson.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This coming Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Amsterdam’s remarkable Wilson family
By Bob Cudmore
Benjamin Wilson responded with more information after reading the recent column describing his Amsterdam ancestors.
Wilson is retired chairman of the prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm of Beveridge & Diamond. A Harvard Law School alumnus, he was an environmental litigator and advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Wilson is the son of the late Harrison Wilson, Junior, a basketball standout at Amsterdam High School in the early 1940s. Harrison Junior went on to become president of Norfolk State University in Virginia in 1975 and led that historically black institution until his retirement in 1997. He died in 2019 at age 94.
Ben Wilson said when he was a child most summers his family in Virginia visited his Amsterdam grandparents, Harrison Senior and Marguerite Wilson, at their home on Cedar Street.
Harrison Senior and Marguerite raised eight children, four male and four female, all born in Amsterdam and now all deceased. They were, from eldest to youngest, Martha Ellen Wilson Marshall, Edward Wilson, Margaret C. Wilson, Mary Alida Wilson, Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Jr., Virginia Wilson Howard, Willis Thomas Wilson and Albert John Wilson.
Marguerite and Harrison Senior emphasized education in raising their family. Marguerite, formerly a school teacher in Kentucky, was named Mother of the Year in a national competition.
Martha, the eldest Amsterdam Wilson sibling, won the girls’ acting award when she graduated high school in 1931. She was a classmate of Isadore Demsky who became the movie actor Kirk Douglas. Martha became a nurse in El Paso, Texas, and her mother Marguerite died in El Paso in 1960.
The youngest Amsterdam Wilson sibling, Albert, died last year. He was an honors student and athlete at Lynch High School and Indiana University. He became a real estate attorney, and was a pioneer in corporate social responsibility. Ben Wilson said, “He helped develop corporate America’s response to investment in South Africa in the late 1980s and 1990s.”
Ben Wilson remembers visiting the Amsterdam parking lot on Federal Street which the Wilsons operated near, he said, a diner with great hamburgers and the police station, which had a soda machine.
Ben Wilson said, “We visited my grandfather Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Sr. at the parking lot, and my father and uncles would help my grandfather at the parking lot. My grandfather worked that lot every day until his mid-eighties. He died in 1982 ar age 93.
“We engaged in typical family activities, visiting the museum in Albany, the World’s Fair in New York City and going to Caroga Lake and Lake George.
“I had an interest in history and the year before I went away to school my parents took me to General Herkimer’s home and the area homes of Sir William Johnson. This was helpful when I had to read “Drums Along the Mohawk” for English class. My teacher could not believe I had actually been to several sites described in the novel.”
Ben’s brother the late Harrison Wilson III was the father of National Football League quarterback Russell Wilson, now with the Denver Broncos.
In 2016 Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Junior, who hosts a public television genealogy program, interviewed Russell at a public event called the Richmond Forum.
Gates found that Harrison Wilson, Senior, came to Amsterdam from Kentucky in 1920 in part because he had an older brother Albert in Amsterdam. Gates said Harrison Senior owned property in Kentucky. His father had been enslaved and fought with the Colored Troops of the Union army in the Civil War.
Ben Harrison’s sister April Wilson Woodard is a TV journalist known for her work as a correspondent on the newsmagazine Inside Edition.
Monday, March 20, 2023-Story behind the story Wilson family
"High Steel"
Tuesday, March 21, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Edmund Wilson at the Mohawk Encampment-Pastries helped with popularity
Wednesday, March 22, 2023-From the Archives- August 12, 2022-Episode 435-Susanne Dunlap discusses her book The Portraitist, a novel based on the life of 18th century French artist Adélaïde Labilleo-Guiard whose life went on amid the changes and terror of the French Revolution.
With a beautiful rival who’s better connected and better trained than she is, Adélaïde faces an uphill battle. Her love affair with her young instructor in oil painting gives rise to suspicions that he touches up her work, and her decision to make much-needed money by executing erotic pastels threatens to create as many problems as it solves.
Memories of St. Casimir’s in Amsterdam
Thursday, March 23, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette
Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 19, 2023
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The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. Bob on the Radio today. Noon, WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and WIZR Johnstown 102.9. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Working to Episode #500 later this year.
Saturday March 18, 2023-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan with the story of Jimmy McManus
Tomorrow, the full print story about Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Wilson is retired chairman of the prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm of Beveridge & Diamond.
Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 18, 2023
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The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This Sunday more on Amsterdam’s Wilson family. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob Cudmore and The Historians on Radio this weekend in The Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier, New York State
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Saturday March 18, 2023-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan explains the role played by Democratic Party district leader Jimmy McManus in reviving the Broadway theater industry and the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan.
Sunday, March 19, 2023 Bob has more on Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Benjamin Wilson responded with more information after reading the recent column describing his Amsterdam ancestors.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 17, 2023
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The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This Sunday more on Amsterdam’s Wilson family. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob Cudmore and The Historians on Radio this weekend in The Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier, New York State
Presumed dead, Amsterdam man survived the war
By Bob Cudmore
An Amsterdam man presumed dead during World War II survived the war and lived until 2003.
Attorney Robert N. Going in his book “Honor Roll: The World War II Dead of Amsterdam, N.Y.” listed the death of Private First Class Anthony “Doc” Kosiba of 39 McCleary Avenue.
Inducted in 1943, Kosiba arrived in England in the summer of 1944. He fought in France, Belgium and Germany.
Kosiba’s wife Olga received a telegram from the War Department that her husband was killed in action on German soil on October 6, 1944. His age was 35. The Recorder printed Kosiba’s obituary and a funeral Mass was held.
Going now has learned from family members that some time after the funeral, Olga Kosiba received a letter from her husband.
“It took a good deal of tear-wiping before she finally noticed the date on the letter,” Going said. “It was after the date of the telegram announcing his death.”
Going said that Kosiba had been wounded so badly that initially he was thought to be dead, “Doubtless his dog tags were gathered up and it was only later when they came back for the body that someone realized he was alive.
“After spending some time in Army hospitals, he came home to Olga and Amsterdam and lived a long and fruitful life.”
Kosiba earned the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and European Campaign medals. After the war, he returned to his job at the Fitzgerald Bottling Company in Amsterdam. He was a production manager for the Fitzgerald and PepsiCola companies until his retirement.
Olga Kosiba, who had worked for Mohasco, died in 1998. Anthony Kosiba died on March 6, 2003 at age 94 at the Wilkinson nursing home on Route 30. The couple had no children. They were members of St. Stanislaus Church.
DARK DAYS
Stephen Sanford, arguably Amsterdam’s most famous horseman, ended his life unable to attend races at Saratoga.
Sanford, who founded Amsterdam’s first major carpet mill, created Hurricana Farm in the 1870s on what is now Route 30.
According to Alex M. Robb’s book “The Sanfords of Amsterdam,” Sanford’s doctor recommended the industrialist take up thoroughbred breeding as a hobby to help with stomach ulcers. Sanford horses, especially jumpers, were a mainstay every summer at the Saratoga racing meet, founded in 1863.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Sanford Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July. Thousands attended each year.
In 1908, Stephen Sanford went blind.
And in the last two years of his life the races he loved at Saratoga were cancelled.
Today the future of racing at Saratoga is threatened by economics and state government dysfunction. A hundred years ago the issue was morality.
The reform movement was a reaction to the devil may care attitude of the Gay Nineties. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed a law that banned bookmaking at horse tracks in the state. The tracks, including Saratoga, were closed in 1911 and 1912. Hughes later served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Sanfords sold most of their horses to out-of-staters and Canadians when the track closed, according to Robb.
Stephen Sanford died on February 13, 1913. Six months later, the state allowed racing to resume at Saratoga along with the first running of a race named to honor Amsterdam’s premiere racing family, the Sanford Memorial.
The Amsterdam horse farm—later called Sanford Stud Farm—continued under the management of Stephen Sanford’s descendants until 1977. Today the Friends of Sanford Stud Farm are making an effort to restore the remaining farm buildings.
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Saturday March 18, 2023-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan explains the role played by Democratic Party district leader Jimmy McManus in reviving the Broadway theater industry and the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan.
Sunday, March 19, 2023- More on Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Benjamin Wilson responded with more information after reading the recent column describing his Amsterdam ancestors.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 16, 2023
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The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. Working on an interview with Maria Riccio Bryce “Requiem” that should post in April. The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Bob Cudmore and The Historians on Radio and The Internet. The Historians airs today on Albany Public Radio WMHT89.1FM RISE that serves The Hudson Valley
Wednesday, March 15, 2023-Episode 399 Stephen Riegel is author of Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age NY.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Presumed dead
An Amsterdam man presumed dead during World War II survived the war and lived until 2003.
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 15, 2023
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His father wanted to name the baby Alexander, after a Polish prince. Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess. However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American industrialist Henry Ford. The family always called him Harry and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This Sunday more on Amsterdam’s Wilson family and later this month Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302 Bob Cudmore and The Historians on Radio and The Internet (to be honest, radio is more fun)
Sikora family memories
By Bob Cudmore
Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam. The family lived on Clark Avenue and in 1931 Albert Sikora is described as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.
One of Albert and Katie’s daughters, Paula, wrote down her memories of the birth of her youngest brother Harry in 1928. The pregnancy was not discussed with the six other children and at the time of the birth, a “birthing lady” attended their mother.
At first shooed out of the house into the rain by their father, the children eventually were brought inside and told to get sheets for the birthing lady to use.
“(Sister) Kay and I ran to the house and started pulling the sheets off the bed,” Paula wrote. “We tried to give them to the birthing lady but she hollered at us--she wanted unused sheets. Then all of a sudden we were allowed to go to Mom’s room and she introduced us to our new little fat wrinkled baby brother. I had a new doll to play with! He was so cute. Mom was back. All was well again.”
His father wanted to name the baby Alexander, after a Polish prince. Paula’s name, for example, was in reality Pelagia Julianna, the name of a Polish princess. However, his mother prevailed and the baby was named Henry, after the American industrialist Henry Ford. The family always called him Harry and he legally changed his name to Harry when he came of age.
Harry Sikora died March 28 this year at age 79 in Florida. His wife Joan plus three children and their spouses survive along with grandchildren.
Harry Sikora served in the U.S. Army, went to Union College and Syracuse University and became an industrial engineer at IBM, retiring in 1985. His later years were spent at a farm in Bradford, Pennsylvania and a winter home in Clearwater, Florida.
“Was four years old when I started school in the first grade,” Harry wrote of his childhood in Amsterdam. “Mom lied about my age to get me into school early. Believe she had enough of children by the time I arrived.”
The grade school was about seven blocks from their Clark Avenue home and his mother told him to follow the other children to get to school.
His sister Paula married in 1937 but Harry did not want to attend the wedding because he had a perfect school attendance record for six years.
Paula recalled the days when the family had no radio. Eventually, a windup Victrola came their way.
Their father built them a new home on Clarke Avenue and an upstairs flat was rented.
“Our renter had a radio—wow,” Paula wrote. “On Saturday night, there was a program, Fibber McGee and Molly at 8:00 p.m. She would turn it on loud and we kids sat on the hall steps and listened to the half hour program. What a treat!”
As far as Harry was concerned, there always was radio in the house, but not enough.
“Mom would turn the radio off when sleep time approached, usually in the middle of a very interesting program,” he wrote. “No mercy from her here.
“Heat came from a wood/coal stove, which heated the kitchen and living room area. Bedrooms were cold during the winter and hot during the summer. Coal bin was located in the basement. Had to be carried upstairs and ashes emptied daily. Burned tons of coal every year.
“We had two sour cherry trees. One year, dad made cherry wine in the basement. When he wasn't looking, I tasted some of it.”
Wednesday, March 15, 2023-Episode 399 Stephen Riegel is author of Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age NY.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Presumed dead
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 14, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDTWEDNESDAY...* WHAT...Heavy, wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 16 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 to 45 mph.* WHERE...The Greater Capital District, Mohawk Valley, and portions of the Upper Hudson Valley in eastern New York including the Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs areas.* WHEN...Through 8 AM EDT Wednesday.* IMPACTS...Travel will be very difficult to impossible, including the this morning and evening commutes. The weight of the snow on tree branches will result in power outages. Snowfall rates will exceed one inch per hour at times, especially this morning with locally higher rates possible depending on where the heaviest snow bands develop. Strong winds will also result in very low visibility, especially today into tonight.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Very heavy snow expected this morning. This will be a long duration and high-impact snow event.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Monday, March 13, 2023-Vaudeville days (the Podcast) from dancing to roller skating
...a type of entertainment popular chiefly in the US in the early 20th century, featuring a mixture of specialty acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance.
The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. Later this month Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023-The Daily Gazette-SIkora family memories from The City of Amsterdam, New York
Descendants of Albert and Katie Sikora have preserved fascinating accounts of daily life during the 1920s and 1930s in Amsterdam. The family lived on Clark Avenue and in 1931 Albert Sikora is described as a spinner at Mohawk Carpet Mills.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023-Episode 399 Stephen Riegel is author of Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age NY.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Presumed dead
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
Vaudeville days--from dancing to roller skating
By Bob Cudmore
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in 1923 in a vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater on Market Street, part of the Keith vaudeville circuit.
People referred to her as St. Vitus, Mosquito and Lightning. Born into a large Irish-American family, Inez took up the stage after her father died.
Vaudeville was a mix of specialized stage acts including dancers, singers, comedians and even roller skaters. Vaudevillians toured America, some visiting big cities and others going to smaller towns like Amsterdam.
My father, a teen ager at the time, recalled he could watch a movie and four or five vaudeville acts at one of Amsterdam’s theaters for 25 cents in the 1920s.
One Amsterdam movie theater prided itself on not providing vaudeville. The Orpheum, on Market Street did feature movie stars on tour making personal appearances.
Dancer Inez Courtney left vaudeville for Broadway, and was performing in “The Wild Rose” and other musicals in 1926. She won acclaim for her role in the 1927 musical “Good News” about college life.
In 1930 she went to Hollywood. Under contract with Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures, Courtney appeared in non-musical roles, usually as the wise-cracking friend of actresses such as Jean Harlow or Ginger Rogers.
Courtney performed in 58 films between 1930 and 1940 including “The Raven”, “Suzy”, and “Turnabout”, her last movie.
She was married twice, the second time to an Italian nobleman. When she retired from the movies in 1940 they moved to Rome Italy where her husband Luigi Filiesi was a wine merchant. She died of undisclosed causes at a hospital in New Jersey in 1975 at age 67.
Another vaudeville act that originated in Amsterdam had a long run but never made it to the movies. Hyman and his brother Barney Nathan were roller skaters.
According to the American Vaudeville Museum, there was a roller skating vogue in the early 1900s including Dare Devil Frank, Fielding and Carlos and the Skating Macks.
The Nathan Brothers’ act was created by Hy Nathan when he ran the roller skating rink at a facility called the Colonial on Liberty Street in Amsterdam.
Roller skating was advertised four days a week at the Colonial in 1906.
A 1912 newspaper story reported that Hy Nathan canceled a ten mile skating race between Alfred Shrubb, the English champion, and Billy Queal, the American champion, which had been scheduled for the Colonial. Nathan said there was not sufficient interest in the race.
Hy and Barney Nathan toured on the Keith vaudeville circuit in America starting in 1918. They also performed in Europe. In February 1922 Hy Nathan was quoted by the Recorder as saying that the brothers were on tour in Ireland with their self-described “sensational” roller skating act. The Nathans performed in Ireland during the first day of freedom for the Irish Free State.
The news account stated, “They expect to fill a number of European engagements before returning to America. Hy Nathan was home last summer on a brief visit.”
In 1924 a newspaper story reported the Nathan Brothers were in Paris and about to tour Germany with stops in Berlin and Munich. In 1928 the skating brothers sent a card from Hamburg to Amsterdam friend James Aiken via the mail service of the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin.
A 1929 Amsterdam newspaper account of a contested will involving property in the Nathan family lists Hyman Nathan as one of the heirs. No further word turns up, however, on the career of Hy and Barney Nathan, the vaudeville roller skaters.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 13, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENINGTO 8 AM EDT WEDNESDAY...* WHAT...Heavy, wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 16 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 to 45 mph.* WHERE...The Greater Capital District, Mohawk Valley, and portions of the Upper Hudson Valley in eastern New York.* WHEN...From 8 PM Monday to 8 AM EDT Wednesday.* IMPACTS...Travel will be very difficult to impossible. This includes the Tuesday morning and evening commute. The weight of the snow on tree branches may result in power outages. Snowfall rates will reach 1 to 2 inches per hour at times with locally higher rates possible depending on where the heaviest snow bands develop. Strong winds will also result in very low visibility, especially Tuesday into Tuesday night.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...This will be a long duration and high- impact snow event. Prepare now for this upcoming winter storm.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
In 1930 she went to Hollywood. Under contract with Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures, Courtney appeared in non-musical roles, usually as the wise-cracking friend of actresses such as Jean Harlow or Ginger Rogers.
Vaudeville days--from dancing to roller skating
By Bob Cudmore
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in 1923 in a vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater on Market Street, part of the Keith vaudeville circuit.
People referred to her as St. Vitus, Mosquito and Lightning. Born into a large Irish-American family, Inez took up the stage after her father died.
Vaudeville was a mix of specialized stage acts including dancers, singers, comedians and even roller skaters. Vaudevillians toured America, some visiting big cities and others going to smaller towns like Amsterdam.
My father, a teen ager at the time, recalled he could watch a movie and four or five vaudeville acts at one of Amsterdam’s theaters for 25 cents in the 1920s.
One Amsterdam movie theater prided itself on not providing vaudeville. The Orpheum, on Market Street did feature movie stars on tour making personal appearances.
Dancer Inez Courtney left vaudeville for Broadway, and was performing in “The Wild Rose” and other musicals in 1926. She won acclaim for her role in the 1927 musical “Good News” about college life.
In 1930 she went to Hollywood. Under contract with Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures, Courtney appeared in non-musical roles, usually as the wise-cracking friend of actresses such as Jean Harlow or Ginger Rogers.
Courtney performed in 58 films between 1930 and 1940 including “The Raven”, “Suzy”, and “Turnabout”, her last movie.
She was married twice, the second time to an Italian nobleman. When she retired from the movies in 1940 they moved to Rome Italy where her husband Luigi Filiesi was a wine merchant. She died of undisclosed causes at a hospital in New Jersey in 1975 at age 67.
Another vaudeville act that originated in Amsterdam had a long run but never made it to the movies. Hyman and his brother Barney Nathan were roller skaters.
According to the American Vaudeville Museum, there was a roller skating vogue in the early 1900s including Dare Devil Frank, Fielding and Carlos and the Skating Macks.
The Nathan Brothers’ act was created by Hy Nathan when he ran the roller skating rink at a facility called the Colonial on Liberty Street in Amsterdam.
Roller skating was advertised four days a week at the Colonial in 1906.
A 1912 newspaper story reported that Hy Nathan canceled a ten mile skating race between Alfred Shrubb, the English champion, and Billy Queal, the American champion, which had been scheduled for the Colonial. Nathan said there was not sufficient interest in the race.
Hy and Barney Nathan toured on the Keith vaudeville circuit in America starting in 1918. They also performed in Europe. In February 1922 Hy Nathan was quoted by the Recorder as saying that the brothers were on tour in Ireland with their self-described “sensational” roller skating act. The Nathans performed in Ireland during the first day of freedom for the Irish Free State.
The news account stated, “They expect to fill a number of European engagements before returning to America. Hy Nathan was home last summer on a brief visit.”
In 1924 a newspaper story reported the Nathan Brothers were in Paris and about to tour Germany with stops in Berlin and Munich. In 1928 the skating brothers sent a card from Hamburg to Amsterdam friend James Aiken via the mail service of the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin.
A 1929 Amsterdam newspaper account of a contested will involving property in the Nathan family lists Hyman Nathan as one of the heirs. No further word turns up, however, on the career of Hy and Barney Nathan, the vaudeville roller skaters.
Monday, March 13, 2023-Vaudeville days (the Podcast) from dancing to roller skating
Tuesday, March 14, 2023-History from the Daily Gazette-SIkora family memories
Wednesday, March 15, 2023-Episode 399 Stephen Riegel is author of Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age NY.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Presumed dead
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore The City of Amsterdam, New York.
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me Drive.
Use this Link
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or
U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 12, 2023
...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY AFTERNOONTHROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...* WHAT...Heavy wet snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 12 to 18 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph at times.* WHERE...Hudson and Mohawk Valleys of eastern New York as well as southern Litchfield County in northwestern Connecticut.* WHEN...From Monday afternoon through Wednesday morning.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening commutes.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...This has the potential of being a long duration and high-impact snow event for eastern New York and western New England. Heavy wet snow combined with strong winds will likely lead to downed trees and power outages across the area. Please begin preparing now for this upcoming winter storm event.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.GAZETTE – Spring is the perfect time for introspection and renewal, so here at The Gazette we’re observing the changing…
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GLOVERSVILLE — The Fulton County Historical Society neither accepts nor dismisses the existence of ghosts. But they welcome believers.
Tonight at 7
$30 FCHS MEMBERS; $35 NON-MEMBERS
TICKETS REQUIRED
Gloversville ghosts? Utica area paranormal agents ready to probe the undead
https://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/
The Bob Cudmore conversation with Denise Doring VanBuren president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Tomorrow, Focus on History
Vaudeville days--from dancing to roller skating
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in 1923 in a vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater on Market Street, part of the Keith vaudeville circuit.
The Historians with Bob Cudmore The City of Amsterdam, New York.
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me is in need of $200.00 by the first of April.
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Bob on The Radio Today
Two Historians Podcasts at Noon and Noon and a half
Denise Doring VanBuren and Leigh Eckmier from Gilbertsville
WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM and WIZR Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 11, 2023
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The Beacon Historical Society was founded in 1976 with a mission to discover, procure, preserve, and present the history of Beacon, New York and its antecedent communities of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing and local environs.
https://www.beaconhistorical.org/
Gloversville ghosts? Utica area paranormal agents ready to probe the undead
GLOVERSVILLE — The Fulton County Historical Society neither accepts nor dismisses the existence of ghosts. But they welcome believers.
Saturday Night at 7
https://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/
The Historians with Bob Cudmore The City of Amsterdam, New York. The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me drive keeps Mohawk Valley History Alive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 10, 2023
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In his book “Past and Present,” Tony Pacelli said the Swingsters dressed as hillbillies and made sweet music the hard way, “The instruments consisted of a guitar, a stovepipe with a kazoo on the end and a washboard with attached novelties such as whistles, horns and a toy trombone with a kazoo attached to it. The group was similar to the Spike Jones Band.”
Gloversville ghosts? Utica area paranormal agents ready to probe the undead
GLOVERSVILLE — The Fulton County Historical Society neither accepts nor dismisses the existence of ghosts. But they welcome believers.
https://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/
The Historians with Bob Cudmore The City of Amsterdam, New York. The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me drive keeps Mohawk Valley History Alive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
If you knew Susie
By Bob Cudmore
Angelo Sardonia was born in 1911 in Poultney, Vermont and moved to Amsterdam as a young boy. His nickname was “Susie.” Unlike Johnny Cash, he enjoyed the name.
Sardonia’s daughter Maryann Salm said the nickname could have come after her father formed a band in the 1930s, Susie’s Washboard Band also known as Susie’s Swingsters. Other band members were Joe Iannotti, Dennis “Junior” Hasenfuss and Jim “Dale” Dallesandro.
In his book “Past and Present,” Tony Pacelli said the Swingsters dressed as hillbillies and made sweet music the hard way, “The instruments consisted of a guitar, a stovepipe with a kazoo on the end and a washboard with attached novelties such as whistles, horns and a toy trombone with a kazoo attached to it. The group was similar to the Spike Jones Band.”
The Swingsters weere a hit at the 1930 Sportsmen’s Show in Amsterdam and at Leggiero’s gas station on Bridge Street on the South Side where the band drummed up business Wednesday nights.
They played out-of-town gigs, including the Schine Theatre in Ilion. Pacelli said Schine, based in Gloversville, wanted the band to perform at all its upstate theaters but the deal never finalized. The group disbanded in the 1940s.
Sardonia worked at Chalmers Knitting Mill and its successor Montco, heading the knitting room, the dye house and maintenance. He also owned a tavern named Susie’s on Bridge Street across from the mill. He was married to Helen Reichel and they had a son and two daughters.
In World War II Sardonia edited the South Side Servicemen’s News to keep soldiers far away up to date on local happenings.
Salm said, “Dad was never drafted. I think The Servicemen's News was a way he could help. That little newspaper was quite an undertaking. It took contributions, and social functions to raise money. The Recorder and staff were also a great help to my Dad.”
Salm said the newsletters were funny and sad, “It was as though you met someone on the street you knew and stopped to talk.”
The war literally came to Sardonia’s home on October 13, 1943. That night a twin-engine Army transport plane crashed in a rural section of Amsterdam’s South Side as the plane’s four-man crew parachuted to safety. Remarkably, there were no injuries. The plane was on a flight between Rome and Schenectady when its engines went out.
Captain John F. Pope, the last to exit the plane, was found wandering on Dewitt Street. He apparently had landed on the roof of Sardonia’s house or on the nearby porch of Charles Frohlich.
After the war, Sardonia was instrumental in building the Fifth Ward Memorial Park on Bridge Street.
Sardonia served over 20 years as Fifth Ward Alderman, from 1944 to 1948 then from 1958 to 1973, when he lost an election to Lawrence Morini.
Sardonia’s nephew Michael Chiara was impressed that his uncle always stood when he spoke at the Common Council, while most members stayed seated during their speeches.
Longtime friend Bert DeRose recalled that in one campaign, Sardonia organized a Kettle Band, young people banging on tin cans and buckets drumming up votes for Sardonia.
After 36 years of marriage, Helen Reichel Sardonia died in 1968. In 1972, Sardonia married Margaret Schultz. Angelo Sardonia died at age 76 on July 3, 1987.
March 10. 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third book about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 9, 2023
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The Historians with Bob Cudmore
The City of Amsterdam, New York
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me drive keeps Mohawk Valley History Alive
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023-From the Archives, Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it.
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.
Thursday, March 9, 2023-If you knew Susie
Angelo Sardonia was born in 1911 in Poultney, Vermont and moved to Amsterdam as a young boy. His nickname was “Susie.” Unlike Johnny Cash, he enjoyed the name.
Beacon New York Historical Society
Edit is complete, posted early Friday
March 10. 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third book about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The men of the league became famous for hearty pancake suppers served in the junior high cafeteria. There were canoe tipping, ax wielding, fly-casting and sharp shooting competitions and demonstrations, along with professional exhibits. In 1937, the show featured the world’s biggest snowshoe, sent by a Maine manufacturer.
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me drive keeps Mohawk Valley History on The WWW known to some as the internet and Radio (Local and Public)
With the nudge of a button...The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or the little white truck we all observe on the roads-U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Sportsmen’s Shows in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
March and April were the months for the annual Sportsmen’s Shows put on by the Amsterdam Fish and Game League from the 1930s into the 1950s. The shows were held in the gymnasium and auditorium of the former Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue during the school’s Easter vacation.
“It was a big thing,” said city resident Mario Checca. “They chopped wood, sawed wood and rolled logs on the water.”
The league formed in 1931 and the annual shows began in 1933, first at the South Side armory then the junior high. Some years were missed during and after World War II but the event resumed with an entire week of activities in the late 1940s, attracting tens of thousands of visitors. Proceeds went for fish stocking and other conservation work.
The men of the league became famous for hearty pancake suppers served in the junior high cafeteria. There were canoe tipping, ax wielding, fly-casting and sharp shooting competitions and demonstrations, along with professional exhibits. In 1937, the show featured the world’s biggest snowshoe, sent by a Maine manufacturer.
Entertainers were brought in. One local native recalled a performance by a young Minnie Pearl. In 1938 league members put on a skit called “Trappers’ Justice” in which local marksman W.H. Jacoby hit the bulls eye on a card held by Robert Knapp, while Art Grass played the harmonica. Leyman and Arnold Watson of Hope Falls won the men’s log sawing contest that year while Mildred Moore and Sarah Colson won the women’s competition.
In 1946, the show featured state lumberjack championship events. There was no show in 1947 but in 1948, the event ran for eight days, featuring live bears and trick log rollers from Michigan. An estimated 25,000 attended. There was a live radio broadcast by Gloversville station WENT.
Local banker Charles Wharton, who died in 2004 at the age of 97, was founding treasurer of the fish and game league and a prime mover in organizing the annual shows. Wharton said that people came from all over the state on buses and up from New York City to “see how we did things.”
“Real pine logs right out of the woods,” Wharton said, were used for the log rolling competition. So many pine boughs decorated the junior high, he said, that, “The place smelled like the north woods.”
Adirondack hermit Noel Rondeau used to put on a demonstration, setting up a camp inside the school. Rondeau came out of his hermitage in the Cold River area of the western high peaks, sometimes with help from a state helicopter, to appear in many New York sportsmen’s shows in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Amsterdam shows ended sometime in the 1950s, after professional entertainment companies that competed with the volunteer event asked the State Education Department to rule if it was proper to hold the shows in a public school.
Historian Hugh Donlon said the answer from the state was “an official frown,” adding, “That brought an end to one of the most ambitious and successful community undertakings ever recorded in the valley.”
WHY FLORIDA?
Florida formed as a Montgomery County township on March 12, 1793. One explanation for using that name is that March 12 was the anniversary of explorer Ponce de Leon’s Easter Day landing on the coast of what he named Florida down south. The explorer derived the name from a Spanish phrase meaning feast of flowers.
An unusual name in the town of Florida is the hamlet of Minaville. According to Kelly Farquhar’s book “Montgomery County,” Minaville was named in honor of Mexican-American war hero, General Francis Mina.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023-From the Archives, Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it.
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.
Thursday, March 9, 2023-Daily Gazette-If you knew Susie
Denise Doring VanBuren
Friday, March 10. 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third book about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me second week of March.
Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or the U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, March 6, 2023
“Smoke.” More information about the Weekend story
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Focus on History "The Daily Gazette"
Amsterdam Sportsmen’s Shows
The league formed in 1931 and the annual shows began in 1933, first at the South Side armory then the junior high.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023-From the Archives, Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
The History artical this Thursday
Susie and if you knew her
noun ; a · a distinct often numbered section of a writing. an article of the constitution ; b · a separate clause ; c · a stipulation in a document
Friday, March 10. 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third book about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Reginald Harris and Smoke
By Bob Cudmore
Two years after the soldiers came home from World War II, Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam published a small picture book called “Smoke: The Story of a Fight.”
The unusual title linked the smoke of hearth fires and factories on the home front, "the servant of man," with the smoke of warfare, "the master."
“Smoke” was dedicated to the 1200 men and women of Mohawk "who answered the call to duty" and "the thirty-three who will never return." Loy Baxter designed the book. The author was Reginald Harris.
The fabric used to bind “Smoke” was canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. The war machine did not need carpets. From 1941 to 1945, Mohawk and Bigelow Sanford, the city's other major carpet mill, converted production to the manufacture of canvas, tarpaulins and blankets.
Millions of yards of cotton duck were made for tents, tarpaulins and turret covers. Amsterdamians also produced more than five million blankets for the war effort.
"Men lived in blankets," wrote Harris, "Men waited in blankets. Men fought in blankets. Men died in blankets."
In “Smoke,” Harris described local volunteer and salvage efforts, "Mohawk people gave up their leisure hours to roll bandages, collect clothing for war torn countries and raise thousands of dollars for relief."
Harris also lauded blood, bond and salvage drives on the home front, "It got so you didn't dare put your evening paper down for fear of losing it to the salvage drive."
In a printed insert, Mohawk president Howard Shuttleworth expressed pride in company workers "who gave unselfishly of their time and who spent long hours at their machines that we might fulfill the demands of the War Department for our wartime products."
The machine shop and foundry at the carpet mills also turned out a control stick support for the Navy Hellcat airplane and machinery used in radar, landing craft and tanks.
Mohawk employed a record 5,500 workers during the war at its lower mill in the East End and upper mill on Lyons Street, the factory complex devastated by arson fires in 1992 and 1994.
A native of Kidderminster, England, “Smoke” author Reginald Harris came to Amsterdam as an infant. He was an executive at Mohawk Carpets and after the war became administrative assistant to company president Herbert Shuttleworth II,
Harris actually was best known for his musical ability. He earned a music degree at Syracuse University. Proficient in playing piano and organ he was choir director for many years at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. He brought together male and female singing groups during the 1940s to form the Mohawk Mills Chorus.
The songsters appeared on NBC television in 1949 singing Christmas tunes with Roberta Quinlan on her Mohawk Showroom program. The next day the chorus recorded an album at the RCA Victor studio in Manhattan.
It took six hours to record the album, according to chorus member Ralph Cook of Amsterdam. The group had gone to New York in three Pullman cars and Cook recalled the carpeting in the Pullmans was from the looms of Mohawk.
In that era, chorus members Genevieve Warner and Albert Sochin Da Costa went on to perform professionally with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Harris died unexpectedly at age 55 in 1960. The Recorder eulogized him as “a citizen of culture and good taste, he possessed an abiding love of good music.”
The chorus was subsidized by the carpet mill during Harris’s lifetime but when Mohawk left Amsterdam the singing organization sought other funding and since 1962 has been called the Mohawk Valley Chorus. Membership has expanded well beyond the Amsterdam area.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 6, 2023
Joan Spencer Szablewski’s fascination with history didn’t really start until the death of an aunt, but once she started looking…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The "just out" Historians schedule for the week is posted scroll down
Sportsmen’s Shows and Susie
Sunday, March 5, 2023
The fabric used to bind “Smoke” was canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. The war machine did not need carpets. From 1941 to 1945, Mohawk and Bigelow Sanford, the city's other major carpet mill, converted production to the manufacture of canvas, tarpaulins and blankets.
Reginald Harris and Smoke
By Bob Cudmore
Two years after the soldiers came home from World War II, Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam published a small picture book called “Smoke: The Story of a Fight.”
The unusual title linked the smoke of hearth fires and factories on the home front, "the servant of man," with the smoke of warfare, "the master."
“Smoke” was dedicated to the 1200 men and women of Mohawk "who answered the call to duty" and "the thirty-three who will never return." Loy Baxter designed the book. The author was Reginald Harris.
The fabric used to bind “Smoke” was canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. The war machine did not need carpets. From 1941 to 1945, Mohawk and Bigelow Sanford, the city's other major carpet mill, converted production to the manufacture of canvas, tarpaulins and blankets.
Millions of yards of cotton duck were made for tents, tarpaulins and turret covers. Amsterdamians also produced more than five million blankets for the war effort.
"Men lived in blankets," wrote Harris, "Men waited in blankets. Men fought in blankets. Men died in blankets."
In “Smoke,” Harris described local volunteer and salvage efforts, "Mohawk people gave up their leisure hours to roll bandages, collect clothing for war torn countries and raise thousands of dollars for relief."
Harris also lauded blood, bond and salvage drives on the home front, "It got so you didn't dare put your evening paper down for fear of losing it to the salvage drive."
In a printed insert, Mohawk president Howard Shuttleworth expressed pride in company workers "who gave unselfishly of their time and who spent long hours at their machines that we might fulfill the demands of the War Department for our wartime products."
The machine shop and foundry at the carpet mills also turned out a control stick support for the Navy Hellcat airplane and machinery used in radar, landing craft and tanks.
Mohawk employed a record 5,500 workers during the war at its lower mill in the East End and upper mill on Lyons Street, the factory complex devastated by arson fires in 1992 and 1994.
A native of Kidderminster, England, “Smoke” author Reginald Harris came to Amsterdam as an infant. He was an executive at Mohawk Carpets and after the war became administrative assistant to company president Herbert Shuttleworth II,
Harris actually was best known for his musical ability. He earned a music degree at Syracuse University. Proficient in playing piano and organ he was choir director for many years at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. He brought together male and female singing groups during the 1940s to form the Mohawk Mills Chorus.
The songsters appeared on NBC television in 1949 singing Christmas tunes with Roberta Quinlan on her Mohawk Showroom program. The next day the chorus recorded an album at the RCA Victor studio in Manhattan.
It took six hours to record the album, according to chorus member Ralph Cook of Amsterdam. The group had gone to New York in three Pullman cars and Cook recalled the carpeting in the Pullmans was from the looms of Mohawk.
In that era, chorus members Genevieve Warner and Albert Sochin Da Costa went on to perform professionally with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Harris died unexpectedly at age 55 in 1960. The Recorder eulogized him as “a citizen of culture and good taste, he possessed an abiding love of good music.”
The chorus was subsidized by the carpet mill during Harris’s lifetime but when Mohawk left Amsterdam the singing organization sought other funding and since 1962 has been called the Mohawk Valley Chorus. Membership has expanded well beyond the Amsterdam area.
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me in March.
Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or the U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, March 6, 2023-Story behind the story-Reginald Harris and “Smoke.”
Tuesday, March 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette—Amsterdam Sportsmen’s Shows
Wednesday, March 8, 2023-From the Archives, Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
Thursday, March 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-If you knew Susie
Friday, March 10. 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third book about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 5, 2023
AMSTERDAM — Mohawk CoWorks became the first shared office space in Amsterdam and Montgomery County when doors opened at 2…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Tomorrow, posted early, The story of "Smoke"
Reginald Harris
The fabric used to bind “Smoke” was canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. The war machine did not need carpets.
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me in March.
Need to raise $100.00 this weekend. Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or the U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
March on The Historians
Friday, March 10, 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books and editor of a third about Beacon’s history. Dia Beacon, a modern art museum, revived formerly industrial Beacon starting in 2003.
Residents of Beacon, New York, are justifiably proud of a community that is rich in history and promise. In this exquisite collection of images, local historians Robert J. Murphy and Denise Doring VanBuren uncover the fascinating past of Beacon and
the people who have called it home.
Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady and writes for Sports Illustrated.
Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire. Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers for the French army in Indochina in the 1950s. She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.
Episode 464
Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, March 4, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THISEVENING...* WHAT...Heavy snow. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 15 inches, with the greatest amounts across the southern Adirondacks and southern Green Mountains. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.* WHERE...The western and southern Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Lake George Saratoga region, and northern portions of the Capital District in eastern New York and southern Vermont.* WHEN...Until 7 PM EST this evening.* IMPACTS...Travel will be very difficult due to snow covered roadways and reduced visibility.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The combination of strong winds and the weight of the snow may lead to downed tree branches resulting in some power outages. Some sleet may mix in for parts of the western Mohawk Valley. The snow will start to taper off during this afternoon.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.SCHENECTADY — General Electric is set to make an $11 million investment in its Schenectady plant as part of $450…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me in March. Need to raise $100.00 this weekend. Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or the U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks
Friday, March 3, 2023
Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Dressed in quaint work clothing, the models were dairy farmers, carpenters, country doctors, soldiers, and mechanics. Norman Rockwell’s Models features non-fiction narratives telling the story of these folks during an era when they helped the war effort, farmed with horses, and received home visits from doctors.
Saturday March 4, 2023
Neil Yetwin, a history teacher, is author of a book on a War of 1812 hero who became the first Jewish New York State Assemblyman, “To My Son: The Life and War Remembrances of Captain Mordecai Myers.”
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Reginald Harris and “Smoke.”
The unusual title linked the smoke of hearth fires and factories on the home front, "the servant of man," with the smoke of warfare, "the master."
The Historians with Bob Cudmore now on Audacy
https://www.audacy.com/podcast/the-historians-3c5a2
This Weekend on Radio across The Mohawk Valley from one side to the other of (a place, area, etc.).
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 3, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PMEST SATURDAY...* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 7 to 14 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.* WHERE... Herkimer and Montgomery Counties.* WHEN...From 6 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Saturday.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult due to snow covered roadways and reduced visibility.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow rates may exceed one inch per hour at times tonight.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
“The Mohican Indians living in the upper Hudson Valley called their enemies, who lived in the valley to their west, 'Mohowaug’—they eat living creatures,” Keesler said in an interview in 2002. Europeans corrupted the Mohican slur into the word Mohawk. Keesler said the Mohawks called themselves “Kanyenkehaka” and the valley they lived in “Kanyenka.”
The 2023 Historians Podcast Go Fund Me in the month of March. "need a little Elbow Grease" Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or the U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Recalling historian M. Paul Keesler
By Bob Cudmore
Later this year, relatives and friends of the late M. Paul Keesler hope to publish the book that the late Mohawk Valley historian and outdoorsman was working on before his death. Keesler died of cancer on July 27, 2005 at age 67.
The working title for Keesler’s last book was “Mohawk—Discovering the Valley of the Crystals.”
The Mohawks did not choose to be called by that name, according to Keesler.
“The Mohican Indians living in the upper Hudson Valley called their enemies, who lived in the valley to their west, 'Mohowaug’—they eat living creatures,” Keesler said in an interview in 2002. Europeans corrupted the Mohican slur into the word Mohawk. Keesler said the Mohawks called themselves “Kanyenkehaka” and the valley they lived in “Kanyenka.”
For years, the common wisdom was that the Mohawks were calling themselves the “people of the flint” and calling their homeland the “place of the flint.”
But Keesler came to the conclusion that the Mohawks’ name for themselves meant “people of the crystals” and the name for the homeland meant “place of the crystals.”
Flint was important for making cutting edge tools and weapons but no major source of flint has been found in the Mohawk Valley. University at Albany anthropologist Dean Snow has pointed out that the valley is a major source of clear quartz crystals embedded in dolostone rocks. These crystals are called “Herkimer diamonds” today and a tourist site north of Herkimer exists where people look for these “diamonds.”
“Crystals were symbolically important (to American Indians) as amulets of success, health and long life,” Keesler said. “The Mohawks were the main suppliers of quartz crystals up to 1644.”
Keesler added, “Mohawks and Indians around the Northeast used these crystals as a religious item. They were found at gravesites.”
Before he died, Keesler maintained a “book-in-progress” web site as he gathered information for his book--www.paulkeeslerbooks.com He explored the 161 miles of the river from Rome to Waterford, 30 miles on foot and the rest by canoe. He also explored tributaries including the Schoharie Creek and the two Chuctanunda creeks in Amsterdam.
Keesler once said, “Exploring is more fun than writing. I keep coming across things and start wondering why this is here, why is this old mill dam here, why is this village here.”
Originally an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration, Keesler began his writing career in 1966 with a magazine article about fishing on West Canada Creek. For several years, he wrote the outdoors column for the Utica Observer Dispatch. In 1972, he founded the Mid York Sportsman magazine, which became the New York Sportsman in 1975. In 1992, he retired as editor of the magazine and wrote three books about history and the outdoors. “Kuyahoora—Discovering West Canada Valley” was a book he published in 1999 describing the history and wildlife of the valley of the West Canada Creek, which flows into the Mohawk River at Herkimer. Keesler lived in Newport, along the creek. Kuyahoora was the Indian name for the creek and means “leaping waters” because of a spectacular waterfall.
This past week, a portion of State Route 28 between Middleville and its junction with Route 12 in Mapledale was named the M. Paul Keesler Memorial Highway.
"He was the nicest, loving, good-hearted man you could ever ask for," Gert Keesler, his wife of 24 years, told the Utica Observer Dispatch at the time of his death.
"Everyone looked up to him when it came to outdoor communications," said friend and fellow outdoor enthusiast Bill Lloyd, also of Newport. "He was the premier authority when it came to the outdoors in New York."
Friday, March 3, 2023- Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Saturday March 4, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 102, March 13, 2016- Neil Yetwin, a history teacher, is author of a book on a War of 1812 hero who became the first Jewish New York State Assemblyman, “To My Son: The Life and War Remembrances of Captain Mordecai Myers.”
Sunday, March 5, 2023-Reginald Harris and “Smoke.”
Two years after the soldiers came home from World War II, Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam published a small picture book called “Smoke: The Story of a Fight.”
The Historians with Bob Cudmore now on Audacy
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 2, 2023
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGHSATURDAY EVENING...* WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.* WHERE...The southern Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley, and Lake George Saratoga Region in eastern New York.* WHEN...From Friday evening through Saturday evening.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow is expected to begin across the region Friday evening and become moderate to locally heavy Friday night into Saturday morning before tapering off Saturday afternoon.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Just off the digital press
Friday, March 3, 2023- Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast ready money. Much Thanks to all who do every year. Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or hurry off a check Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Bridge Line Historical Society
Thursday, March 2, 2023
Remembering historian Paul Keesler
Later this year, relatives and friends of the late M. Paul Keesler hope to publish the book that the late Mohawk Valley historian and outdoorsman was working on before his death. Keesler died of cancer on July 27, 2005 at age 67.
The working title for Keesler’s last book was “Mohawk—Discovering the Valley of the Crystals.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast ready money. Much Thanks to all who do every year. Online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or hurry off a check Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
My father recalled he could watch a movie and four or five vaudeville acts at one of Amsterdam’s theaters for 25 cents in the 1920s.
Vaudeville days
By Bob Cudmore
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in the vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater in Amsterdam in October 1923. People referred to her as St. Vitus, Mosquito and Lightning. Born into a large Irish-American family, Inez took up the stage after her father died.
Vaudeville was a mix of specialized stage acts including dancers, singers, comedians and even roller skaters. Vaudevillians toured America, some visiting big cities and others going to smaller towns.
My father recalled he could watch a movie and four or five vaudeville acts at one of Amsterdam’s theaters for 25 cents in the 1920s. The Rialto on Market Street was part of the Keith vaudeville circuit.
At least one Amsterdam movie theater prided itself on not providing vaudeville. The Orpheum, on Market Street, did feature movie stars on tour making personal appearances.
By 1926 dancer Inez Courtney of Amsterdam had left vaudeville for Broadway, performing in “The Wild Rose” and other musicals. She won acclaim for her role in the 1927 musical “Good News” about college life. In 1930 she went to Hollywood.
Under contract with Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures, Courtney appeared in non-musical roles, usually as the wise-cracking friend of actresses such as Jean Harlow or Ginger Rogers. Courtney performed in 58 films between 1930 and 1940 including “The Raven”, “Suzy”, and “Turnabout”, her last movie.
Courtney was married twice, the second time to an Italian nobleman. When she retired from the movies in 1940 she moved to Rome with her husband Luigi Filiesi, a wine merchant. She died of undisclosed causes at a hospital in New Jersey in 1975 at the age of 67.
ROLLER SKATES
Another vaudeville act that originated in Amsterdam apparently never made it to the movies. Hyman and his brother Barney Nathan were roller skaters.
According to the American Vaudeville Museum, there was a roller skating vogue in the early 1900s including Dare Devil Frank, Fielding and Carlos and the Skating Macks.
The Nathan Brothers’ act was created by Hy Nathan when he ran the roller skating rink at a facility called the Colonial on Liberty Street in Amsterdam. Roller skating was advertised four days a week at the Colonial as early as 1906.
A 1912 newspaper story reported that Hy Nathan had canceled a ten mile roller skating race between Alfred Shrubb, the English champion, and Billy Queal, the American champion, which had been scheduled for the Colonial. Nathan said there was not sufficient interest in the race.
Hy and Barney Nathan toured on the Keith vaudeville circuit in America starting in 1918. They also performed in Europe. In February 1922 Hy Nathan was quoted by the Recorder as saying that the brothers were on tour in Ireland with their self-described “sensational” roller skating act. The Nathans performed in Ireland during the first day of freedom for the Irish Free State,
The news account stated, “They expect to fill a number of European engagements before returning to America. Hy Nathan was home last summer on a brief visit.”
In 1924 a newspaper story reported the Nathan Brothers were in Paris and about to tour Germany with stops scheduled in Berlin and Munich. In 1928 the skating brothers sent a card from Hamburg, Germany to Amsterdam friend James Aiken via the mail service of the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin.
A 1929 Amsterdam newspaper account of a contested will involving property in the Nathan family lists Hyman Nathan as one of the heirs. No further word turns up, however, on the career of Hy and Barney Nathan, the vaudeville roller skaters.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 45, January 30, 2015 Railfan Jim Bachorz of Bridge Line Historical Society
Thursday, March 2, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Remembering historian Paul Keesler
Friday, March 3, 2023- Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 28, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THISEVENING...* WHAT...Heavy snow. Additional snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches. Higher amounts of 3 to 7 inches over the southern Adirondacks.* WHERE...Eastern New York including the southern Adirondacks, northern and eastern Catskills, Helderbergs, Mohawk Valley and Hudson Valley west of the river including Albany and Schenectady.* WHEN...Until 7 PM EST this evening.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow totals will be lowest near the Hudson River and highest over higher terrain in the Adirondacks, Helderbergs, and eastern Catskills.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Monday, February 27, 2023
Story behind the story, radio star King Owen.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive. Our latest donors were David Gauthier and Audrey Kupferberg. Please donate online at The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. So far we have raised $770. Thank you!
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Vaudeville Days
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in the vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater in Amsterdam in October 1923. People referred to her as St. Vitus, Mosquito and Lightning.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 45, January 30, 2015 Railfan Jim Bachorz of Bridge Line Historical Society
Thursday, March 2, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Remembering historian Paul Keesler
Friday, March 3, 2023- Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
The Mohawk Valley looking west, add 5 to 10 inches of snow tomorrow
The NWS report "Down the Page"
The king of morning radio; baseball at Shuttleworth Park
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
King Owen was a radio star and night club entertainer. He died in 1955 from long standing health problems, perhaps tuberculosis, at age 40.
His real name was Avery King Clizbe, Junior. His nephew William Clizbe, president of the Broadalbin-Kennyetto Historical Society, researched his uncle’s life.
The singer was born in Amsterdam in 1914, the son of Avery King Clizbe, Senior, head teller at City National Bank, and Mary Clizbe. The singer’s brother James, William Clizbe’s father, was two years older. The family lived on Church Street in a row of brownstones between Grove and High streets.
Avery, Junior, learned to play piano and cello. He performed hillbilly music on WGY in the 1930s. He sang with the High Boys and Radio Rangers, Doye O’Dell and Max Raney on the Schenectady station.
Avery moved to Connecticut where he was part of a musical group who performed on NBC’s Blue Network with over 33 affiliate radio stations around the country.
Avery came back to the Mohawk Valley in 1938 and married Gene Haff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Haff of Broadalbin. Avery and Gene had two daughters, Marcia and Lynne.
The couple made their home in Broadalbin but Avery pursued his career on the road, checking in with postcards and telegrams. He played in the western United States and performed at Radio City in New York City with Doc Schneider and the Texans. He also played the organ for some network radio shows in New York
In the mid-1940s Avery came back to Broadalbin. He was hospitalized for a time at the Homer Folks Tuberculosis Hospital in Oneonta.
William Clizbe said his uncle played piano plus organ, guitar, cello and accordion. He recalled that his uncle smelled of tobacco and carried an inexhaustible supply of pink Canada Mints.
“He was an incredible talent,” William Clizbe said. “He could listen to a song twice and then play the tune.”
As King Owen, Avery played piano, sang, took requests and bantered on the radio during his last years, first on WCSS in Amsterdam then at WENT in Gloversville-Johnstown.
At WENT King Owen did not perform country music but instead sang the popular songs of the day.
He met Helen Comrie, the station bookkeeper. She became his second wife after he and Gene Haff divorced.
According to WENT’s 1952 broadcast schedule printed in the Leader Herald, the station signed on at 6:28 a.m. A religious program, news, weather, sports, a show called Cock-A-Doodle Review and a segment named Quiet Time advanced the clock to 7:40 when King Owen took to the airwaves. He performed until 9:45 when it was time for In Town Today followed at 10 by Arthur Godfrey on the CBS radio network.
After leaving WENT, King Owen was on the air at WWSC radio in Glens Falls in 1954. He died the next year at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
WENT has a picture of the smiling singer in a suit and what looks like a bow tie, at a piano in front of a WENT banner. The picture is signed, “Airfully Yours, King Owen.”
HEAVY HITTER
Reader Bill Tucker commented on the recent column on Amsterdam’s Shuttleworth Park.
Tucker played a high school baseball game there in 1965 as a junior from Albany’s Vincentian Institute. Tucker remembered the ball field was big and deep in center field.
One of Tucker’s best friends blasted one there as a pinch hitter, “He got all of it so hard that it hit the fence sign on one bounce.
“Now it is great to know Joe (Dimaggio) and Yogi (Berra) played there too!!!”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, February 27, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PMEST TUESDAY...* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches.* WHERE...Ulster, Greene, Schoharie, Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga, Fulton, Montgomery, Hamilton, Warren, and southern Herkimer Counties.* WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Tuesday.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow totals will be lowest near the Hudson River and highest over portions of the southern Adirondacks and eastern Catskills. Snow will be heaviest between 9 pm this evening and 5 am Tuesday, where snowfall rates of 0.5 to 1 inch per hour are expected.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.SARATOGA SPRINGS – After some initial concern, the city’s soon-to-be third fire station is expected to open on time in June. …
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Go Fund Me 2023 "forge ahead" this week to raise $100.00. Use the Historians Go Fund Me link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or the U.S.Mail Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
The king of morning radio; baseball at Shuttleworth Park
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
King Owen was a radio star and night club entertainer. He died in 1955 from long standing health problems, perhaps tuberculosis, at age 40.
His real name was Avery King Clizbe, Junior. His nephew William Clizbe, president of the Broadalbin-Kennyetto Historical Society, researched his uncle’s life.
The singer was born in Amsterdam in 1914, the son of Avery King Clizbe, Senior, head teller at City National Bank, and Mary Clizbe. The singer’s brother James, William Clizbe’s father, was two years older. The family lived on Church Street in a row of brownstones between Grove and High streets.
Avery, Junior, learned to play piano and cello. He performed hillbilly music on WGY in the 1930s. He sang with the High Boys and Radio Rangers, Doye O’Dell and Max Raney on the Schenectady station.
Avery moved to Connecticut where he was part of a musical group who performed on NBC’s Blue Network with over 33 affiliate radio stations around the country.
Avery came back to the Mohawk Valley in 1938 and married Gene Haff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Haff of Broadalbin. Avery and Gene had two daughters, Marcia and Lynne.
The couple made their home in Broadalbin but Avery pursued his career on the road, checking in with postcards and telegrams. He played in the western United States and performed at Radio City in New York City with Doc Schneider and the Texans. He also played the organ for some network radio shows in New York
In the mid-1940s Avery came back to Broadalbin. He was hospitalized for a time at the Homer Folks Tuberculosis Hospital in Oneonta.
William Clizbe said his uncle played piano plus organ, guitar, cello and accordion. He recalled that his uncle smelled of tobacco and carried an inexhaustible supply of pink Canada Mints.
“He was an incredible talent,” William Clizbe said. “He could listen to a song twice and then play the tune.”
As King Owen, Avery played piano, sang, took requests and bantered on the radio during his last years, first on WCSS in Amsterdam then at WENT in Gloversville-Johnstown.
At WENT King Owen did not perform country music but instead sang the popular songs of the day.
He met Helen Comrie, the station bookkeeper. She became his second wife after he and Gene Haff divorced.
According to WENT’s 1952 broadcast schedule printed in the Leader Herald, the station signed on at 6:28 a.m. A religious program, news, weather, sports, a show called Cock-A-Doodle Review and a segment named Quiet Time advanced the clock to 7:40 when King Owen took to the airwaves. He performed until 9:45 when it was time for In Town Today followed at 10 by Arthur Godfrey on the CBS radio network.
After leaving WENT, King Owen was on the air at WWSC radio in Glens Falls in 1954. He died the next year at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
WENT has a picture of the smiling singer in a suit and what looks like a bow tie, at a piano in front of a WENT banner. The picture is signed, “Airfully Yours, King Owen.”
Tomorrow, Monday, February 27, 2023-Story behind the story, more about radio star King Owen.
HEAVY HITTER
Reader Bill Tucker commented on the recent column on Amsterdam’s Shuttleworth Park.
Tucker played a high school baseball game there in 1965 as a junior from Albany’s Vincentian Institute. Tucker remembered the ball field was big and deep in center field.
One of Tucker’s best friends blasted one there as a pinch hitter, “He got all of it so hard that it hit the fence sign on one bounce.
“Now it is great to know Joe (Dimaggio) and Yogi (Berra) played there too!!!”
Tuesday, February 28, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Vaudeville Days
Wednesday, March 1, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 45, January 30, 2015 Railfan Jim Bachorz of Bridge Line Historical Society
Thursday, March 2, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Remembering historian Paul Keesler
Friday, March 3, 2023- Episode 464-Steve Haggerty is author of Norman Rockwell’s Models: In and Out of the Studio. In 1940, illustrator Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary and their three sons moved to West Arlington, Vermont. The artist discovered a treasure trove of models. Haggerty’s book‘details these models’ lives, friendships with the artist and experiences in his studio.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, February 26, 2023
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGHTUESDAY EVENING...* WHAT...Moderate to locally heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches possible. The highest snowfall totals will likely occur in the high terrain of the southern Adirondacks, southern Greens, Berkshires, and eastern Catskills. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.* WHERE...In New York, the southern Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley, Schoharie Valley, Helderbergs, Capital District, Ulster County and Greene County. In Connecticut, Litchfield County. In Massachusetts, Berkshire County. In southern Vermont, Bennington and Windham Counties.* WHEN...From Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates could approach 1 inch per hour Monday night into early Tuesday morning.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Radio Schedule today, Saturday, February 25 at Noon and 12:35 on WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM and WIZR, Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM and in Northville 104.3FM. Sunday 4:30PM WBDY Binghamton and next week on Albany Public Radio WMHT89.1FM RISE
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The Historians Go Fund Me 2023. A rocky start, but picking up steam Thanks to The Historians people The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
On-Line or a check, envelope and stamp Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Before Bob, King Owen
Gloversville radio star
The story posted tomorrow morning
The singer was born in Amsterdam in 1914, the son of Avery King Clizbe, Senior, head teller at City National Bank, and Mary Clizbe.
Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 25, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
As the man said "I hear Bob is back on the Radio"
The Historians Radio Schedule Saturday, February 25 at Noon and 12:35 on WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM and WIZR, Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM and in Northville 104.3FM. Next week on Albany Public Radio WMHT89.1FM RISE
The Historians Go Fund Me 2023 is Afoot
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
The Historians on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/obudmore
Saturday February 25, 2023-Tom Flynn of the Center for Inquiry tells about Central New York’s Freethought Trail, including the Dresden, N.Y. birthplace of the 19th century’s best known agnostic speaker, Robert Green Ingersoll. Tom Flynn’s interview for Historians Podcast took place July 7, 2021. He died August 23, 2021.
The Historians with the News of the Day "100 Years Ago"
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Gloversville radio star
King Owen
His real name was Avery King Clizbe, Junior. His nephew William Clizbe, president of the Broadalbin-Kennyetto Historical Society, researched his uncle’s life.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, February, 24, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Thursday, Zero Two, Two Three, Twenty Twenty Three
The Historians Go Fund Me 2023 is Afoot
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
The Historians Radio Schedule Saturday, February 25 at Noon and 12:35 on WCSS Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM and WIZR, Johnstown 102.9FM and 930AM and in Northville 104.3FM. Next week on Albany Public Radio WMHT89.1FM RISE
When ice cream cones were made at home
A life of carpets and horse racing
By Bob Cudmore
When Fanny Markes was a little girl in the early 1900s, she carried ice cream cones from her home on Elizabeth Street in Amsterdam to a candy store on Brookside Avenue operated by her brother Charles and his partner, Amos Hill. Fanny's mother, also named Fanny, made the cones at home, pressing them with a device like a waffle iron.
The store, called Hill and Markes, later became a wholesale distributing company. In 1927, Hill and Markes bought a building at Grove and Chuctanunda Streets that served as headquarters for the business until torn down for urban renewal in the 1970s.
Fanny Markes married Edwin Tallman in 1917. Edwin served in World War I and became a chauffeur for Dr. Lew Finch on Market Street. The Tallmans lived on Romeyn Avenue and Fanny was a bookkeeper at Hill and Markes.
Their son Schuyler served in World War II and became a student of military history. Now retired, he was a wire operator for Merrill Lynch.
Fanny's memories of the early days were passed on to her son and daughter-in-law, Marilyn Terwillegar Tallman, after Schuyler and Marilyn moved into Fanny's Romeyn Avenue home to care for Fanny. Schuyler and Marilyn, who have known each other since they were children, still live in that home. Their family has kept some memorabilia from the early days of Hill and Markes, including a sign from the Grove Street warehouse.
Marilyn Tallman recalled that Fownes Brothers, the glove maker, rented space on the third floor of the Hill and Markes building. The workers at Fownes, including Marilyn's grandmother, would stop by the candy distributor on their way out of the building to buy candy bars. The company also had a machine that made popcorn.
Uncle Charles (Markes) was a hard worker and helped many people, Schuyler Tallman said.
The Finkle and Packer families operate Hill and Markes today at a location on Route 5S in the town of Florida.
CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY
John Sanford assumed control of the family carpet mills in Amsterdam after the death of his father Stephen in 1913 and felt the need to reorganize.
The younger Sanford brought in William Hill Cooper, a native of England who had been president of Adirondack Power and Light Company in Amsterdam. Cooper became Sanford's first vice president in charge of production, a post he held until about the time that Sanford merged with Bigelow Hartford of New England in 1929. Cooper's son Wellesley then became general superintendent of Bigelow Sanford in Amsterdam.
Perhaps the diligence of the Coopers enabled the Sanfords to devote more time to their passion, horse racing. According to coverage of William Cooper's 1937 death in The Recorder, he was a man who hid a gentleness of heart beneath a gruff exterior.
In 1918, Cooper had a home built at 230 Market Street, a brick building different from neighboring wood frame homes. In later years, the Cooper home was owned by Herbert Singer of Amsterdam Printing, Dr. Fred Pipito, then Jeannie Morris, whose father was affiliated with the Schine Theatres.
Today the home is owned by local attorney Kris Singh and his wife Sunita, who have been told by previous owners that the same man who worked on the Sanford mansion on Church Street, currently Amsterdam City Hall, may have designed the Cooper residence.
According to historian Jacqueline Murphy, John Sanford inherited the Church Street residence from his father Stephen and expanded it starting in 1913, hiring builder John Turner. Turner added the front portico, a third floor and made other improvements.
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Saturday February 25, 2023-Tom Flynn of the Center for Inquiry tells about Central New York’s Freethought Trail, including the Dresden, N.Y. birthplace of the 19th century’s best known agnostic speaker, Robert Green Ingersoll. Tom Flynn’s interview for Historians Podcast took place July 7, 2021. He died August 23, 2021.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Gloversville radio star King Owen
King Owen was a radio star and night club entertainer. He died in 1955 from long standing health problems, perhaps tuberculosis, at age 40.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, February 23, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST THISMORNING...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation. Additional snow and sleet accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Capital Region, Helderbergs, eastern Catskills, Taconics, and southern Litchfield County Connecticut.* WHEN...Until 10 AM EST this morning.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Light wintry mix will taper off to drizzle and freezing drizzle by the mid-morning hours.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Go Fund Me 2023 is Afoot
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
How to write historical fiction with Alyson Richman, co-author with Shaunna Edwards of The Thread Collectors, a Civil War historical novel.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Vaudeville Days
Vaudeville was a mix of specialized stage acts including dancers, singers, comedians and even roller skaters. Vaudevillians toured America, some visiting big cities and others going to smaller towns.
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 22, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOONTO 10 AM EST THURSDAY...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 4 inches and ice accumulations of a light glaze up to two tenths of an inch.* WHERE...Southern Litchfield County in northwestern Connecticut and the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys, eastern Catskills, Helderbergs, the immediate Capital District, the Taconics and portions of the mid-Hudson Valley in eastern New York.* WHEN...From 4 PM this afternoon to 10 AM EST Thursday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...For areas near and north of Interstate 90, snowfall rates Wednesday evening may reach 0.5 inch to 1 inch per hour before transitioning to a wintry mix.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The fabric used to bind Smoke is canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. From 1941 to 1945, Mohawk and Bigelow Sanford, the city's other major carpet mill, converted production to the manufacture of canvas, tarpaulins and blankets.
The Historians Go Fund Me 2023 The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
or a check to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Smoke -- Carpet Mill Picture Book Awakens Wartime Memories
by Bob Cudmore
Two years after the boys came home from World War Two, Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam published a small but handsome picture book called Smoke: The Story of a Fight.
The idea of the unusual title was to link the smoke of hearth fires and factories on the home front, "the servant of man," with the smoke of warfare, "the master."
The book was dedicated to the 1200 men and women of Mohawk "who answered the call to duty" and "the thirty-three who will never return." Loy Baxter designed the book.
In a printed insert, Mohawk president Howard Shuttleworth expressed pride in company workers "who gave unselfishly of their time and who spent long hours at th machines that we might fulfill the demands of the War Department for our wartime products."
The fabric used to bind Smoke is canvas, produced at Mohawk during the war. From 1941 to 1945, Mohawk and Bigelow Sanford, the city's other major carpet mill, converted production to the manufacture of canvas, tarpaulins and blankets. Millions of yards of cotton duck were made in Amsterdam and used for tents, tarpaulins and gun and turret covers. Amsterdamians also produced more than five million blankets for the war effort.
"Men lived in blankets," wrote Mohawk executive Reginald Harris, the author of Smoke. "Men waited in blankets. Men fought in blankets. Men died in blankets."
The machine shop and foundry at the carpet mills also turned out war products -- a control stick support for the Navy Hellcat fighter, for example, and machinery used in radar, landing craft and tanks. Other local products made for wartime use included rayon for airplane tires, bulletproof gasoline tanks and torpedo turbine wheels.
Mohawk employed a record 5,500 workers during the war at its lower mill in the East End and upper mill on Lyons Street, the factory complex devastated by fires in 1992 and 1994.
In World War Two, as in all American wars of the past hundred years with the exception of the current war on terrorism, there was a definite distinction between the home front and the overseas war zones.
The home front in World War Two was marked by rationing, blackouts and salvage drives.
Amsterdam historian Hugh Donlon wrote that gasoline, meat and other commodities were rationed. Restaurants were exempt from meat rationing, according to Donlon, so that "the more affluent were eating out, enjoying meals of higher grade while saving (meat ration) stamps issued for home supply."
"It was a new discipline for the freedom-loving and many resented the irksome restrictions," Donlon wrote.
Blackouts were conducted at night with "full public compliance" never achieved, said Donlon, despite extensive efforts. Similarly, daytime air raid drills, announced by a siren atop the downtown bank building, had mixed results as people scooted from downtown doorways to check on air raid compliance.
"This laxity was condoned," Donlon said, "with explanation that there would probably be livelier response if real bombs were to fall."
In Smoke, Harris described local volunteer and salvage efforts during the war: "Mohawk people gave up their leisure hours to roll bandages, collect clothing for wartorn countries and raise thousands of dollars for reli
Harris also lauded blood, bond and salvage drives on the home front: "It got so you didn't dare put your evening paper down for fear of losing it to the salvage drive."
A native of England who came to America when he was 18 months old, Harris worked in personnel at the carpet company, was convention director and personal assistant to the company president.
Harris is best remembered as a choral director and musician; he had earned a music degree at Syracuse University. From 1940 until his unexpected death at age 55 in 1960, he directed vocal music groups sponsored by the carpet mill, most notably the Mohawk Mills Chorus, the predecessor of today's Mohawk Valley Chorus. He was also organist and choir director at St. Ann's Episcopal Church.
Material for this article was derived from Smoke: The Story of a Fight, by Reginald Harris and Amsterdam, New York: Annals of a Mill Town, by Hugh P. Donlon.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
How to write historical fiction with Alyson Richman, co-author with Shaunna Edwards of The Thread Collectors, a Civil War historical novel.
1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Vaudeville Days
Red haired Amsterdam native Inez Courtney was 15 when she performed a specialty dance act during a three day run in the vaudeville show at the Rialto Theater in Amsterdam in October 1923. People referred to her as St. Vitus, Mosquito and Lightning. Born into a large Irish-American family, Inez took up the stage after her father died.
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Go Fund Me goal this week $150.00 The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Use the link or a check in The U.S. Mail to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, February 20, 2023-Story behind the story (Podcast about 7 minutes), the Mohawk Valley reindeer man
Tuesday, February 21, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Smoke
Two years after the boys came home from World War Two, Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam published a small but handsome picture book called Smoke: The Story of a Fight.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023-From the Archives, October 7-Episode 443-How to write historical fiction with Alyson Richman, co-author with Shaunna Edwards of The Thread Collectors, a Civil War historical novel.
1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.
Thursday, February 23, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Vaudeville Days
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley’s reindeer man
By Bob Cudmore
Mohawk Valley native Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary, had a major impact on life in Alaska.
Born in in 1834 in the hamlet of Minaville in the town of Florida south of Amsterdam, Jackson was the son of farmer and legislator, Samuel C. Jackson, and his wife, Delia Sheldon Jackson, daughter of New York State Assembly Speaker Alexander Sheldon.
The Jackson name was bestowed on the Erie Canal community of Port Jackson in 1835. Port Jackson was later annexed by the city of Amsterdam and is known today as Amsterdam’s South Side.
Jackson attended Union College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He was graduated, ordained and married within one week in 1858. His wife was Mary Voorhees from Mill Point in Glen.
Jackson wanted to be a foreign missionary but was turned down by the Presbyterian Church because of poor eyesight and short stature—he was five feet tall.
According to Troy genealogy/history researcher Rebecca Rector, who provided information for this column, the Albany Times Union reported that Jackson “was diminutive in nature, but became fairly sturdy by forcing himself into the rugged life.”
Instead of becoming a foreign missionary, Jackson served on the American frontier. He established over one hundred churches and missions, including the first Presbyterian churches in Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Arizona.
In 1877, Jackson went to Alaska and, although he never permanently lived there, was appointed superintendent of education in 1885.
Some academics and native people have criticized Jackson’s English-only approach to education. Professor Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska said Jackson’s efforts were a detriment to native languages.
Jackson found the indigenous people were starving. American whalemen had destroyed the whales and walruses the natives depended on for food. The introduction of firearms decimated fur-bearing land animals.
Jackson was editor of the North Star monthly newspaper in Sitka, Alaska. In 1888 North Star reported, “The neglected condition of these (Native) people lay like a heavy weight upon the large and loving heart of Dr. Sheldon Jackson.”
Jackson visited Siberia and found people there relied on domesticated reindeer for food. He raised funds to introduce reindeer herds in Alaska.
Sent by the U.S. government to Lapland and Norway, he purchased over 500 reindeer and secured a colony of Laplanders to look after the animals until Alaskans were trained in how to raise reindeer.
Jackson said that “the reindeer is to the far North what the camel is to desert regions.” Union College honored Alaska’s “Reindeer Man” at their 1900 Founders Day. The Schenectady Gazette called Jackson the “dynamic St. Paul of America.”
Jackson collected Alaskan artifacts and this collection became the basis for the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka. Rosemary Carlton, in a 2006 article, called into question what she said was Jackson’s “duplicitous” collection of traditional artifacts from native peoples he had worked hard to change.
Toward the end of his life Jackson lived in Washington, D.C., working for the Alaskan division of the U.S. Bureau of Education. His wife died in 1908. Jackson died the next year and is buried in Minaville’s Chuctanunda Cemetery.
Biographer Robert L. Stewart said Jackson was able to “triumph over physical weakness when sustained by high purpose and unfaltering hope.”
Jackson’s daughter, Delia S. Jackson was a founder of the National Women’s Party, a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage. She died in Washington in 1952.
Time Magazine in 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the 49th state, and placed Jackson as number two on a list of top ten Alaskans. The magazine praised him for “setting up free public schools for Native American, Eskimo and white children.”
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Monday, February, 20, 2023
GLOVERSVILLE — A shortage of police officers last year resulted in huge overtime expenses for Gloversville, with some officers earning more…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Go Fund Me goal this week $150.00 The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Use the link or a check in The U.S. Mail to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Keep Mohawk Valley History on local radio and Albany Public Radio each week WMHT89.1FM (Tomorrow and Wednesday)
Our latest donor is author and Amsterdam native Dave Northrup.
Fictional short stories related to Amsterdam, NY during its rise and fall in the 1900's. Amazon
Gloversville radio star King Owen in The Daily Gazette today, posted on The Historians next weekend
Mohawk Valley’s reindeer man
By Bob Cudmore
Mohawk Valley native Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary, had a major impact on life in Alaska.
Born in in 1834 in the hamlet of Minaville in the town of Florida south of Amsterdam, Jackson was the son of farmer and legislator, Samuel C. Jackson, and his wife, Delia Sheldon Jackson, daughter of New York State Assembly Speaker Alexander Sheldon.
The Jackson name was bestowed on the Erie Canal community of Port Jackson in 1835. Port Jackson was later annexed by the city of Amsterdam and is known today as Amsterdam’s South Side.
Jackson attended Union College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He was graduated, ordained and married within one week in 1858. His wife was Mary Voorhees from Mill Point in Glen.
Jackson wanted to be a foreign missionary but was turned down by the Presbyterian Church because of poor eyesight and short stature—he was five feet tall.
According to Troy genealogy/history researcher Rebecca Rector, who provided information for this column, the Albany Times Union reported that Jackson “was diminutive in nature, but became fairly sturdy by forcing himself into the rugged life.”
Instead of becoming a foreign missionary, Jackson served on the American frontier. He established over one hundred churches and missions, including the first Presbyterian churches in Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Arizona.
In 1877, Jackson went to Alaska and, although he never permanently lived there, was appointed superintendent of education in 1885.
Some academics and native people have criticized Jackson’s English-only approach to education. Professor Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska said Jackson’s efforts were a detriment to native languages.
Jackson found the indigenous people were starving. American whalemen had destroyed the whales and walruses the natives depended on for food. The introduction of firearms decimated fur-bearing land animals.
Jackson was editor of the North Star monthly newspaper in Sitka, Alaska. In 1888 North Star reported, “The neglected condition of these (Native) people lay like a heavy weight upon the large and loving heart of Dr. Sheldon Jackson.”
Jackson visited Siberia and found people there relied on domesticated reindeer for food. He raised funds to introduce reindeer herds in Alaska.
Sent by the U.S. government to Lapland and Norway, he purchased over 500 reindeer and secured a colony of Laplanders to look after the animals until Alaskans were trained in how to raise reindeer.
Jackson said that “the reindeer is to the far North what the camel is to desert regions.” Union College honored Alaska’s “Reindeer Man” at their 1900 Founders Day. The Schenectady Gazette called Jackson the “dynamic St. Paul of America.”
Jackson collected Alaskan artifacts and this collection became the basis for the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka. Rosemary Carlton, in a 2006 article, called into question what she said was Jackson’s “duplicitous” collection of traditional artifacts from native peoples he had worked hard to change.
Toward the end of his life Jackson lived in Washington, D.C., working for the Alaskan division of the U.S. Bureau of Education. His wife died in 1908. Jackson died the next year and is buried in Minaville’s Chuctanunda Cemetery.
Biographer Robert L. Stewart said Jackson was able to “triumph over physical weakness when sustained by high purpose and unfaltering hope.”
Jackson’s daughter, Delia S. Jackson was a founder of the National Women’s Party, a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage. She died in Washington in 1952.
Time Magazine in 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the 49th state, and placed Jackson as number two on a list of top ten Alaskans. The magazine praised him for “setting up free public schools for Native American, Eskimo and white children.”
Monday, February 20, 2023-Story behind the story (Podcast about 7 minutes), the Mohawk Valley reindeer man
Tuesday, February 21, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Smoke-The story of a fight
Wednesday, February 22, 2023-From the Archives, October 7-Episode 443-How to write historical fiction with Alyson Richman, co-author with Shaunna Edwards of The Thread Collectors, a Civil War historical novel.
Thursday, February 23, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Vaudeville Days
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-In this first Highlights Edition of 2023 we revisit: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie, Alan Maddaus on a jet bomber crash in New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Mark Dawidziak on Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, February 19, 2023
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This Weekend On-Line
From the Archives-February 25, 2022-Episode 411-Jim Coulthart is an aviation historian. He has a collection of WWII aircraft incidents, and accidents with ties to Central New York.
Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
The Historians Go Fund Me goal this weekend $150.00
This is the 2023 link
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
Objective $7000. Please donate with the 2023 link or a check in The U.S. Mail to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Keep Mohawk Valley History on local radio every weekend(today WCSS Amsterdam at Noon-106.9FM and Albany Public Radio each week WMHT89.1FM
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Bob Cudmore stories in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder
Gloversville radio star King Owen
On The Historians Sunday
The Mohawk Valley Reindeer Man
Mohawk Valley native Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary, had a major impact on life in Alaska.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 18, 2023
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Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and “in great distress” on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own?
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mark+Dawidziak&i=audible&ref=dp\_byline\_sr\_audible\_1
The Historians Go Fund Me to raise $150.00 this weekend
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
We’ve now raised just under $600.00 toward the 2023 objective of $7000. Please donate with the 2023 link or a check in The U.S. Mail to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Keep Mohawk Valley History on local radio every weekend and Albany Public Radio each week WMHT89.1FM
This Weekend On-Line
From the Archives-February 25, 2022-Episode 411-Jim Coulthart is an aviation historian. He has a collection of WWII aircraft incidents, and accidents with ties to Central New York.
Bob Cudmore stories in The Daily Gazette (you know the Paper-Paper and e edition) each Weekend
Gloversville radio star King Owen
On The Historians Sunday
The Mohawk Valley Reindeer Man
Mohawk Valley native Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary, had a major impact on life in Alaska.
Born in in 1834 in the hamlet of Minaville in the town of Florida south of Amsterdam, Jackson was the son of farmer and legislator, Samuel C. Jackson, and his wife, Delia Sheldon Jackson, daughter of New York State Assembly Speaker Alexander Sheldon.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, February 17, 2023
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The 2023 Historians Go Fund Me
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
We’ve now raised $595 toward the 2023 goal of $7000. Please donate online or a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023-From the Archives, June 25, 2021-Episode 376-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan considers the impact of black separatist leader Marcus Garvey on African independence.
Thursday, February 16, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Snow day in Amsterdam
With winter approaching, more memories are surfacing of snowstorms years ago. Tom Pikul grew up in the 1950s on Park Hill in Amsterdam near the Pulaski Bridge and recalled the childhood pleasures of snow days.
“An especially snowy night was the herald of a fantastic possibility: schools closing the next day,” Pikul wrote.
Mark Dawidziak
Amazon
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Friday, February 17, 2023-Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 15, 2023
SUMMIT — While sitting on his brother’s deck down the road from the remains of his gutted trailer in the…
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Being a city of hills, Amsterdam was ideal for the winter sport of bobsledding. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, winter coasting carnivals brought visitors from miles around to slide down steep city thoroughfares including Market, Northampton, Bell and Locust.
Thank you for the snappy response to our plea for donors to the 2023 Historians Podcast. Thanks to New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan and to Amsterdam native Tom Urbelis for their generous donations. The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore We’ve now raised $595 toward the 2023 goal of $7000. Please donate online or dispatch a check Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Amsterdam was once a bobsled center
By Bob Cudmore
Being a city of hills, Amsterdam was ideal for the winter sport of bobsledding. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, winter coasting carnivals brought visitors from miles around to slide down steep city thoroughfares including Market, Northampton, Bell and Locust.
The Amsterdam Daily Democrat gave a full account of a nighttime coasting carnival in February 1887 on Market Street. There was a parade and parties after the races, which went on into the night. Red flares and Japanese lanterns lighted the course.
The bobsleds had front and rear steering, clanging bells and brake systems, according to historian Hugh Donlon, “Much depended on the steersmen and brakeman of the teams that ranged from 10 to 20 men, all colorfully uniformed. The Joker Club, for instance, wore red St. Nicholas caps, red coats, blue cuffs and collars, blue knee breeches, red stockings and low shoes.”
Despite the precautions, serious and even fatal accidents sometimes resulted and the sport was finally banned in the 1920s, when motor traffic increased.
For the coasting carnival on Valentine’s night in 1887 the weather was not ideal according to the Daily Democrat. Amsterdam had thaw and slush, not the clear, bracing weather that was desired. Nonetheless the newspaper reported the evening was “fairly successful.”
A dozen or more coasting clubs arrived from Albany on the 6:16 p.m. train, which included a special car for their handsome bobsleds or bobs. The Thirteenth Brigade Band of the National Guard played to greet them. The “hungry bobbers” did “ample justice” to food provided at the Y.M.C.A. and the Hotel Warner.
The band played again at 7:30 p.m. for a parade through downtown and up Market Street hill for a fireworks display. Albany’s clubs included several named Yum Yum. Other clubs included Beverwyck, Monitor and even a club named for Tammany Hall, the New York Democratic Party political machine.
The newspaper reported, “The bobbers presented a very pleasing appearance in their neat and tasteful uniforms. The Beverwyck club were attired in dark blue and white, the Yum Yums in orange, the Monitor club in gray, and the Tammany Hall club in plaid suits.”
Clubs from Fort Plain and other points west arrived on the 8:43 p.m. train. Coasting began at 9 p.m. There were no races as it was too dark.
The Democrat wrote, “The bob Beverwyck made the first trip down the slide. As it was turning the corner at the foot of the hill it went over the bank. The bobs Niagara, Bob Moore and Nonpareil, which were close behind, ran into the Beverwyck. The crews of
the bobs were thrown into a confused mass. Several persons received injuries.”
The bobs were hauled by teams of horses up Northampton Road to the top of Market Street hill for the next event. Yum Yum ’88 tipped over during the second slide down the hill. On that run, Yum Yum ’87 collided with Yum Yum ‘86.
The wounded were taken to the house of Dr. Timmerman. One injured man spent the night at the Hotel Warner and was attended by two Amsterdam doctors.
Despite the accidents, the Democrat wrote, “The heavy bobs sped down the hill like lightning and the coasters greatly enjoyed the sport. The Tammany Hall was one of the fastest, if not the most fleet bob on the slide. The Flyway of Fort Plain made good time.”
The Amsterdam Coasting Association entertained at a party at the Y.M.C.A. after the event. The out of town teams left on midnight trains east and west.
Some Albanians stayed overnight and enjoyed a barouche ride the next day. A barouche is a stylish horse drawn carriage.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023-From the Archives, June 25, 2021-Episode 376-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan considers the impact of black separatist leader Marcus Garvey on African independence.
Thursday, February 16, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Snow day in Amsterdam
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mark+Dawidziak&i=audible&ref=dp\_byline\_sr\_audible\_1
Friday, February 17, 2023-Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Thank you for the quick response to our plea for donors to the 2023 Historians Podcast. Thanks to New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan and to Amsterdam native Tom Urbelis for their generous donations.
The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore
We’ve now raised $595 toward the 2023 goal of $7000. Please donate online or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. NYC attorney and historian Jim Kaplan wrote, “You are a great resource to the people of New York State. As your New York City correspondent, I am proud to participate and encourage you to continue your efforts to expand your listener base.”
Monday, February 13, 2023
Story behind the story, Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Tuesday, February 14, 2023-From the Daily Gazette-On Valentine’s night in 1887, a bobsled coasting carnival provided spectacle and chaos in Amsterdam
The Amsterdam Daily Democrat gave a full account of a nighttime coasting carnival in February 1887 on Market Street. There was a parade and parties after the races, which went on into the night. Red flares and Japanese lanterns lighted the course.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023-From the Archives, June 25, 2021-Episode 376-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan considers the impact of black separatist leader Marcus Garvey on African independence.
Thursday, February 16, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Snow day in Amsterdam
Friday, February 17, 2023-Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
A Mystery of Mysteries is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes. It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror
This weekend on The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Mohawk Valley’s Reindeer Man
Focus on History
Mohawk Valley native Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary, had a major impact on life in Alaska.
Wilson Family Story
He will understand and say well done
By Bob Cudmore
National Football League quarterback Russell Wilson, now with the Denver Broncos, has ancestors who lived in Amsterdam.
Russell Wilson’s great grandfather, Harrison Wilson Senior, was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, relocating to Amsterdam in 1910.
Harrison Senior and his wife Marguerite Ayers Wilson raised eight children. Marguerite’s grandmother had taught at a one room school in Kentucky.
Harrison Senior was a plasterer, although racial discrimination kept him out of the union. He later was the maintenance man for Amsterdam builder and landlord Thomas McGibbon.
The Wilson children all pursued substantial careers in education, law, health care, industry, media and sports.
Harrison Senior’s son, Harrison Wilson, Junior, shined shoes and delivered newspapers as a seven-year-old. His mother told him he looked like his grandfather and that instilled pride in the young man.
He was the only African American on Amsterdam High School’s championship basketball team during the 1942-43 season. Coach Ed Cionek called him the team’s “key player.”
Harrison Junior and his siblings were childhood friends of the late restaurateur Sam Pepe Junior when both families lived on West Main Street. Pepe recalled going to YMCA summer camp with Harrison Junior and Wilson’s brother Willis.
Pepe said he could always find Harrison Junior in a crowd because of his distinctive walk and a small gray spot on the back of his head.
Harrison Senior heroically saved the lives of two female pin setters working at a bowling alley in an East Main Street building owned by McGibbon which was destroyed by fire in April 1943.
McGibbon died later that year and left a private parking lot in busy downtown Amsterdam to the Wilsons. The lot was on Federal Street between Church and Chuctanunda streets.
A Wilson family member kept watch on the cars from inside a small shed. They would brush the snow off your car and back it out for you if necessary.
Harrison Junior played every sport he could in high school, even speed skating. After graduation in 1943, he entered the U.S. Navy and was tops in his class at basic training. He was a hospital corpsman.
When World War II ended, he became a student and basketball star at Kentucky State, then basketball coach at Jackson State in Mississippi. He taught at Jackson State and earned a doctorate at Indiana University.
He frequently visited his parents in Amsterdam and provided help to young African Americans who wanted to pursue higher education.
He spoke at a 1957 vesper service at St. Paul’s AME Zion Church then on Cedar Street. The church was torn down when the Amsterdam elderly high rise and town house apartments were built.
Marguerite Wilson died in 1960. Soloist Marilyn Lyons sang “He Will Understand and Say Well Done” at Marguerite’s funeral.
Harrison Junior became president of Norfolk State University in Virginia in 1975 and led that historically black institution until his retirement in 1997.
Harrison, Senior died in 1982 at 94. Harrison Junior was guest speaker at an Amsterdam High School graduation in the 1990s.
One of Harrison Junior’s six children, Harrison Wilson III, was a Dartmouth graduate and attorney who almost got into playing professional football with the San Diego Chargers. Harrison III died from complications from diabetes in 2010. Harrison Junior passed away in 2019 at age 94.
NFL quarterback Russell Wilson is the son of Harrison Wilson III, grandson of Harrison Junior and great grandson of Harrison Senior.
When Russell Wilson was quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks, he led the team to victory in Super Bowl 48 on February 2, 2014. The Seahawks lost to New England in the 2015 Super Bowl.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, February 13, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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He will understand and say well done
By Bob Cudmore
National Football League quarterback Russell Wilson, now with the Denver Broncos, has ancestors who lived in Amsterdam.
Russell Wilson’s great grandfather, Harrison Wilson Senior, was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, relocating to Amsterdam in 1910.
Harrison Senior and his wife Marguerite Ayers Wilson raised eight children. Marguerite’s grandmother had taught at a one room school in Kentucky.
Harrison Senior was a plasterer, although racial discrimination kept him out of the union. He later was the maintenance man for Amsterdam builder and landlord Thomas McGibbon.
The Wilson children all pursued substantial careers in education, law, health care, industry, media and sports.
Harrison Senior’s son, Harrison Wilson, Junior, shined shoes and delivered newspapers as a seven-year-old. His mother told him he looked like his grandfather and that instilled pride in the young man.
He was the only African American on Amsterdam High School’s championship basketball team during the 1942-43 season. Coach Ed Cionek called him the team’s “key player.”
Harrison Junior and his siblings were childhood friends of the late restaurateur Sam Pepe Junior when both families lived on West Main Street. Pepe recalled going to YMCA summer camp with Harrison Junior and Wilson’s brother Willis.
Pepe said he could always find Harrison Junior in a crowd because of his distinctive walk and a small gray spot on the back of his head.
Harrison Senior heroically saved the lives of two female pin setters working at a bowling alley in an East Main Street building owned by McGibbon which was destroyed by fire in April 1943.
McGibbon died later that year and left a private parking lot in busy downtown Amsterdam to the Wilsons. The lot was on Federal Street between Church and Chuctanunda streets.
A Wilson family member kept watch on the cars from inside a small shed. They would brush the snow off your car and back it out for you if necessary.
Harrison Junior played every sport he could in high school, even speed skating. After graduation in 1943, he entered the U.S. Navy and was tops in his class at basic training. He was a hospital corpsman.
When World War II ended, he became a student and basketball star at Kentucky State, then basketball coach at Jackson State in Mississippi. He taught at Jackson State and earned a doctorate at Indiana University.
He frequently visited his parents in Amsterdam and provided help to young African Americans who wanted to pursue higher education.
He spoke at a 1957 vesper service at St. Paul’s AME Zion Church then on Cedar Street. The church was torn down when the Amsterdam elderly high rise and town house apartments were built.
Marguerite Wilson died in 1960. Soloist Marilyn Lyons sang “He Will Understand and Say Well Done” at Marguerite’s funeral.
Harrison Junior became president of Norfolk State University in Virginia in 1975 and led that historically black institution until his retirement in 1997.
Harrison, Senior died in 1982 at 94. Harrison Junior was guest speaker at an Amsterdam High School graduation in the 1990s.
One of Harrison Junior’s six children, Harrison Wilson III, was a Dartmouth graduate and attorney who almost got into playing professional football with the San Diego Chargers. Harrison III died from complications from diabetes in 2010. Harrison Junior passed away in 2019 at age 94.
NFL quarterback Russell Wilson is the son of Harrison Wilson III, grandson of Harrison Junior and great grandson of Harrison Senior.
When Russell Wilson was quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks, he led the team to victory in Super Bowl 48 on February 2, 2014. The Seahawks lost to New England in the 2015 Super Bowl.
Monday, February 13, 2023-Story behind the story, Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Tuesday, February 14, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-On Valentine’s night in 1887, a bobsled coasting carnival provided spectacle and chaos in Amsterdam
Being a city of hills, Amsterdam was ideal for the winter sport of bobsledding. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, winter coasting carnivals brought visitors from miles around to slide down steep city thoroughfares including Market, Northampton, Bell and Locust.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023-From the Archives, June 25, 2021-Episode 376-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan considers the impact of black separatist leader Marcus Garvey on African independence.
Thursday, February 16, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Snow day in Amsterdam
Friday, February 17, 2023-Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and revisits the moments of his storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, February 12, 2023
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette
Bob Cudmore
The Mohawk Valley Reindeer Man
In the e-edition and Street Paper
Posted next Sunday, February 19th here on The HistoriansLeader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
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Saturday February 11, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 172, July 14, 2017, Roger Seiler has written an historical novel “Master of Alaska,” based on the story of Aleksandr Baranov, a merchant who served as governor of Russian Alaska from 1799 to 1818.
Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
Meet- N-Greet with 2 former World Series Champions
Saturday, February 11, 2023
BRING ON BASEBALL SEASON
City of Amsterdam
https://www.amsterdamny.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=910&month=2&year=2023&day=11&calType=0
Call Ahead
Lorenzo’s Southside from 3:30- 4:30pm Meet- N-Greet with 2 former World Series Champions Charlie Hayes and Cecil Fielder! Area Baseball Fans, coaches and parents bring your inspired baseball players to meet these two legends!
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Russell Wilson’s great grandfather, Harrison Wilson Senior, was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, relocating to Amsterdam in 1910.
They say it's winter, not sure. 58 next Thursday
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 11, 2023
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette
Bob Cudmore
The Mohawk Valley Reindeer Man
In the e-edition and Paper "The pulp type product you hold in your hands"Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
Friday, February 10, 2023
Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
Saturday February 11, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 172, July 14, 2017, Roger Seiler has written an historical novel “Master of Alaska,” based on the story of Aleksandr Baranov, a merchant who served as governor of Russian Alaska from 1799 to 1818.
Master of Alaska -the exciting story of Aleksandr Baranov, a charismatic Russian leader, who left his family in 1790 to sail to Alaska as chief manager. Shipwrecked, he survived a harsh wilderness; motivated Aleuts to help him; married a young Native; and endured massacres from the Tlingit, meddling priests, the Battle of Sitka and a running duel with powerful Tlingit Chief Katlian.
Sunday, February 12, 2023-Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, February 10, 2023
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING...* WHAT...West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected.* WHERE...The southern and eastern Adirondacks, Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, eastern Catskills, Helderbergs, Capital Region, Saratoga Region, northern Taconics, the Green Mountains of southern Vermont and the Berkshires.* WHEN...Until 10 PM EST this evening.* IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a highprofile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.
This Weekend in The Daily Gazette Bob Cudmore
The Mohawk Valley reindeer man
in the Paper-Paper and e-editionLeader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
In 1935 the Recorder reported that Florence and her colleague Imogene Cook directed students in a play called “A Better Plan.” Instead of playing Halloween pranks on people, the characters in the play gave a sick child a “grand surprise on Halloween.”
Florence Collins, Reid Hill’s favorite teacher
By Bob Cudmore
Florence Collins lived most of her life in the house where she grew up on Amsterdam’s Pulaski Street in the then predominately Polish enclave called Reid Hill.
Born in 1911, her parents were Anthony and Pelagia Lulkowska Dabrowski. They had come to America from Torun, Poland, birthplace of Copernicus. Her given first name was long and Polish and, according to her son’s eulogy, she decided to call herself “Florence” because of a neighbor woman who had that name.
A graduate of Amsterdam High, Florence earned her teaching certificate at Oneonta Normal School.
She served forty years as a fourth and fifth grade teacher in her Amsterdam neighborhood’s public school, Vrooman Avenue Elementary.
In 1935 the Recorder reported that Florence and her colleague Imogene Cook directed students in a play called “A Better Plan.” Instead of playing Halloween pranks on people, the characters in the play gave a sick child a “grand surprise on Halloween.”
Florence’s father died in 1937. In 1939 she married Henry Paierski of Schenectady, who changed his last name to Page. Henry took ill and died in 1943. He had been in the engineering department at the Alco locomotive plant in Schenectady.
Florence married her second husband, postal worker Andrew Collins, in 1951. Their son David became a pediatric anesthesiologist.
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Florence Collins was an inspiring teacher according to students and fellow educators. Teaching reading was one of her specialties. Collins excelled at helping young students learn to read and also volunteered to help immigrants learn to speak and read English.
Sometimes when she walked home from school, she was accompanied by an honor guard of neighborhood students.
One high point in her career was in 1955 when she and her class of fifth graders produced two programs on the Eskimos of Alaska that aired live on WRGB television.
Sheldon Jackson, a native of Minaville south of Amsterdam, was a missionary who had a major impact on Alaska’s natives, so the television project had a local history aspect. As one of her students that year, I wore a parka and carried a small harpoon on television.
Legendary Amsterdam High basketball coach John A. Varsoke was principal at Vrooman Avenue in 1968 and spoke approvingly of Collins’s work.
“She never hesitates to cooperate and lend herself to difficult situations,” Varsoke wrote in a performance appraisal. “Her patience and concern for individual differences are a few of her attributes.
For her part she was proud that Tim Kolojay and Tom Urbelis, members of Varsoke’s Fabulous Five high school basketball team in the 1962-63 season, were her students.
Collins retired in 1976. Her mother died in 1984. Her husband died in 1999.
When Collins moved into the Sarah Jane Sanford Home on Guy Park Avenue in 2004, administrator Jeanne So remembered “an agile 92-year old” who was “twirling in the hallway outside her bedroom door, wearing a flowing floor-length skirt.”
“I have never forgotten the way you had of instilling into young minds that we were all special,” wrote her 1934 fourth grade student Stanley Goscinski (Gordon) in a letter to Collins in 2011.
“My goal was to teach with enthusiasm and compassion,” Collins replied. “After this letter I feel my goal was achieved. Stanley you have given me everlasting youth through these memories.”
Before her death Collins moved to a facility in Quincy, Pennsylvania near her son and daughter-in-law’s home. She died April 8 at age 105. After services in Amsterdam she was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Johnson. She is also survived by three grandchildren, two of them are medical doctors and the third is a teacher.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
Saturday February 11, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 172, July 14, 2017, Roger Seiler has written an historical novel “Master of Alaska,” based on the story of Aleksandr Baranov, a merchant who served as governor of Russian Alaska from 1799 to 1818.
Sunday, February 12, 2023-Amsterdam’s Wilson family
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, February 9, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Go Fund Me for 2023 is open for the season.
Historians on The WWW and Radio as we sail in year 10
On-Line https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
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Bob's whereabouts
Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Episode 417
Author Bryan Jackson presents a new and unique look at the many circumstances that came together the night of April 14, 1912 to claim over 1,500 lives and leave Titanic lying in 12,000 feet of water on the bottom of the North Atlantic.
Thursday, February 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Reid Hill’s favorite teacher
Florence Collins
Born in 1911, her parents were Anthony and Pelagia Lulkowska Dabrowski. They had come to America from Torun, Poland, birthplace of Copernicus. Her given first name was long and Polish and, according to her son’s eulogy, she decided to call herself “Florence” because of a neighbor woman who had that name.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
...PATCHY BLACK ICE EARLY THIS MORNING...With temperatures near or below freezing in much of the area earlythis morning, residual moisture will freeze on ground surfaces.This will result in patchy black ice on untreated roads andwalkways, creating slippery conditions. Roads that appear wet mayactually contain black ice. Motorists and pedestrians are urged touse caution if out and about this morning. While driving, allowfor extra distance between vehicles.Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 8, 2023
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In recent years, however, some academics and native people have criticized, for example, Jackson’s English-only approach to educating native speakers. Professor Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska said Jackson’s efforts were a detriment to native languages. Jackson also has been faulted for his dealings with Native Americans and Mormons in the lower 48 states.
Minaville native well-known in Alaska
By Bob Cudmore
Born in the town of Florida hamlet of Minaville in 1834 and buried at the hamlet’s Chuctanunda Cemetery in 1909, Sheldon Jackson had a major impact on Alaska.
Many praise Jackson for improving conditions for Alaska’s native peoples. He was called the “dynamic St. Paul of America” in Daily Gazette coverage of his achievements in 1934. Elizabeth Tower wrote a sympathetic biography of the missionary in 1988.
Time Magazine in 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the 49th state, and placed Jackson as number two on a list of the top ten Alaskans. The magazine praised him for “setting up free public schools for Native American, Eskimo and white children.”
In recent years, however, some academics and native people have criticized, for example, Jackson’s English-only approach to educating native speakers. Professor Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska said Jackson’s efforts were a detriment to native languages. Jackson also has been faulted for his dealings with Native Americans and Mormons in the lower 48 states.
Jackson was the son of a prosperous Minaville farmer and legislator, Samuel C. Jackson, and his wife Delia Sheldon Jackson, daughter of New York State Assembly Speaker Alexander Sheldon.
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is in progress for the new year. $7000 by December 31. Online use this link https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
Envelope and Stamp Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
Samuel C. Jackson’s father was a merchant, farmer, legislator and military officer also named Samuel Jackson.
The family name was given to the Erie Canal community of Port Jackson in 1835. Port Jackson was later annexed by the city of Amsterdam and is known today as the city’s South Side.
Sheldon Jackson’s family were devout Presbyterians. He attended Union College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He was graduated, ordained and married within one week in 1858. His wife was Mary Voorhees from Mill Point in Glen.
Reverend Jackson wanted to be a foreign missionary but was turned down by the church because of concerns for his poor eyesight and short stature—he was just five feet tall.
Instead, he became a missionary on the American frontier. He established over one hundred churches and missions, including the first Presbyterian churches in Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Arizona. He traveled over a million miles in his career.
In 1877, Jackson went north to Alaska and, although he never permanently lived there, was appointed superintendent of education in the territory in 1885.
Jackson found the natives were starving. American whalemen had destroyed the whales and walruses the natives depended on for food. The introduction of firearms also decimated fur-bearing animals in the interior.
Jackson visited Siberia and found the indigenous people there relied on domesticated reindeer for food. Jackson raised funds to introduce reindeer herds in Alaska.
Sent by the U.S. government to Lapland and Norway in 1898, he purchased over 500 reindeer and secured a colony of Laplanders to look after the animals until Alaskan natives were trained in how to raise reindeer.
He collected native artifacts and his collection was the basis for the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, which he helped create in 1888. Rosemary Carlton, in a 2006 article, however, called into question what she called Jackson’s “duplicitous” collection of traditional artifacts from native peoples he had worked hard to change
Toward the end of his life Jackson lived in Washington, D.C., where he served with the Alaskan division of the U.S. Bureau of Education. His wife died in 1908. Jackson died the next year.
In 1955 teacher Florence Collins and her class of fifth graders from Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue School produced two programs on the native peoples of Alaska and Sheldon Jackson that aired live on WRGB television.
As one of her students that year, I wore a parka and carried a small harpoon on television.
Wednesday, February 8, 2023-Episode 417-Bryan Jackson is author of Why the Titanic Was Doomed. Titanic, the most magnificent ocean liner of her time, was destined for disaster before she left the docks at Southampton according to Jackson--doomed by her owner, designers and the men who sailed her.
Author Bryan Jackson presents a new and unique look at the many circumstances that came together the night of April 14, 1912 to claim over 1,500 lives and leave Titanic lying in 12,000 feet of water on the bottom of the North Atlantic.
Thursday, February 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Reid Hill’s favorite teacher
Florence Collins lived most of her life in the house where she grew up on Amsterdam’s Pulaski Street in the then predominately Polish enclave called Reid Hill.
Friday, February 10, 2023-Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 7, 2023
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The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is afoot! The Twenty Twenty Three goal is $7000. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
New to the production list, The Bob Cudmore interview with Steve Haggerty, Norman Rockwell’s models. Likely posted (such as well might happen or be true; probable) in early March
Monday, February 6, 2023-Story behind the story, Shuttleworth Park
Tuesday, February 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sheldon Jackson from Minaville had a big impact on Alaska
Born in the town of Florida hamlet of Minaville in 1834 and buried at the hamlet’s Chuctanunda Cemetery in 1909, Sheldon Jackson had a major impact on Alaska
Wednesday, February 8, 2023-From the Archives-We don't know Yet
Thursday, February 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Reid Hill’s favorite teacher
Friday, February 10, 2023-Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962.
By Bob Cudmore
The Amsterdam baseball stadium and adjacent land that we call Shuttleworth Park has had several other names through the years.
Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that Edward and Thomas McCaffrey built the facility which they called Crescent Park, in 1914 along the North Chuctanunda Creek in the city’s Rockton section,. Many patrons went there on trolleys of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad.
Crescent Park became Jollyland when it was taken over by Fred J. Collins in 1923.
Americana collector Scott Meikle of Brooklyn once asked for information on a photo he purchased of a smiling beauty queen with a banner over her shoulder that said Miss Jollyland.
Meikle wrote, “From her hairstyle and bathing suit, I’d guess the photo dates from the late 1920s to early 1930s. I like the image because the girl seems very real and good-humored.”
Jollyland made use of one of Amsterdam’s industrial products—buttons. The Chalmers family had factories that produced knit goods, tools and hardware. Arthur and his father Harvey Chalmers also started Hampshire Pearl Button Company in 1898 over the North Chuctanunda Creek.
Donlon wrote the plant originally made buttons from clamshells from the Mississippi River, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.”
Buttons were so plentiful that walkways at Jollyland were paved with discarded buttons from the Chalmers mill. That memory came from Amsterdamian Margaret Reilly.
Music was a part of the entertainment at Jollyland. Jerry Barnell and His Society Orchestra played there in the 1930s. Barnell went on to be the bandleader at Amsterdam High School.
Mohawk Carpet Mills started using Jollyland for employee events in 1927. The park was renamed Mohawk Mills Park in 1934 when the carpet mill took over the facility for its 2,800-member employee association. The company promised to use a “force of men” to renovate the park for a grand opening that year.
Mohawk Mills Park had a baseball diamond, tennis courts, dance pavilion, merry-go-round, whip, aerial swing, roller skating rink and what were called chair-o-planes. Amsterdam resident Sophie Gomula said there was a miniature train.
A 1934 newspaper story stated, “A mammoth opening and field day is planned. The public is cordially invited to join the employees of the mills in making this an occasion to be remembered. It will be recalled that in 1929, the field day held at the park brought out an attendance of from 12,000 to 15,000 people.”
In 1939, Mohawk Mills Park became home of the Amsterdam Rugmakers, a New York Yankees farm team in the Canadian-American league. Virginia Dybas Czelusniak used to go to the games. Admission was 40 cents and the scorecard cost five cents. Czelusniak, who grew up on Crane Street, said she and her friends liked talking with the young ballplayers.
The Yankees played two exhibition games at Mohawk Mills Park in the 1940s. Joe DiMaggio was on the field in in 1942 and Yogi Berra played there in 1949. Local minor league baseball declined then disappeared in the 1950s.
In 1977, the park received its current name, Herbert Shuttleworth II Park.
Shuttleworth was the last local chief executive of Mohawk Carpet and Mohasco and also was president of the Rugmakers baseball team in its heyday.
Amsterdam baseball coach Brian Spagnola is credited with bringing the Amsterdam Mohawks collegiate team to the local scene and working to improve Shuttleworth Park.
This year Spagnola was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame. Spagnola played and coached at the collegiate level and coached in other areas of the Capital Region.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, February 6, 2022
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By Bob Cudmore
The Amsterdam baseball stadium and adjacent land that we call Shuttleworth Park has had several other names through the years.
Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that Edward and Thomas McCaffrey built the facility which they called Crescent Park, in 1914 along the North Chuctanunda Creek in the city’s Rockton section,. Many patrons went there on trolleys of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad.
Crescent Park became Jollyland when it was taken over by Fred J. Collins in 1923.
Americana collector Scott Meikle of Brooklyn once asked for information on a photo he purchased of a smiling beauty queen with a banner over her shoulder that said Miss Jollyland.
Meikle wrote, “From her hairstyle and bathing suit, I’d guess the photo dates from the late 1920s to early 1930s. I like the image because the girl seems very real and good-humored.”
Jollyland made use of one of Amsterdam’s industrial products—buttons. The Chalmers family had factories that produced knit goods, tools and hardware. Arthur and his father Harvey Chalmers also started Hampshire Pearl Button Company in 1898 over the North Chuctanunda Creek.
Donlon wrote the plant originally made buttons from clamshells from the Mississippi River, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.”
Buttons were so plentiful that walkways at Jollyland were paved with discarded buttons from the Chalmers mill. That memory came from Amsterdamian Margaret Reilly.
Music was a part of the entertainment at Jollyland. Jerry Barnell and His Society Orchestra played there in the 1930s. Barnell went on to be the bandleader at Amsterdam High School.
Mohawk Carpet Mills started using Jollyland for employee events in 1927. The park was renamed Mohawk Mills Park in 1934 when the carpet mill took over the facility for its 2,800-member employee association. The company promised to use a “force of men” to renovate the park for a grand opening that year.
Mohawk Mills Park had a baseball diamond, tennis courts, dance pavilion, merry-go-round, whip, aerial swing, roller skating rink and what were called chair-o-planes. Amsterdam resident Sophie Gomula said there was a miniature train.
A 1934 newspaper story stated, “A mammoth opening and field day is planned. The public is cordially invited to join the employees of the mills in making this an occasion to be remembered. It will be recalled that in 1929, the field day held at the park brought out an attendance of from 12,000 to 15,000 people.”
In 1939, Mohawk Mills Park became home of the Amsterdam Rugmakers, a New York Yankees farm team in the Canadian-American league. Virginia Dybas Czelusniak used to go to the games. Admission was 40 cents and the scorecard cost five cents. Czelusniak, who grew up on Crane Street, said she and her friends liked talking with the young ballplayers.
The Yankees played two exhibition games at Mohawk Mills Park in the 1940s. Joe DiMaggio was on the field in in 1942 and Yogi Berra played there in 1949. Local minor league baseball declined then disappeared in the 1950s.
In 1977, the park received its current name, Herbert Shuttleworth II Park.
Shuttleworth was the last local chief executive of Mohawk Carpet and Mohasco and also was president of the Rugmakers baseball team in its heyday.
Amsterdam baseball coach Brian Spagnola is credited with bringing the Amsterdam Mohawks collegiate team to the local scene and working to improve Shuttleworth Park.
This year Spagnola was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame. Spagnola played and coached at the collegiate level and coached in other areas of the Capital Region.
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is afoot! The Twenty Twenty Three goal is $7000. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
This Week on The Historians with Bob Cudmore, more on the Amsterdam Reads Program from Sunday, January 29th.
Moderated by Bob Cudmore
Dr. Majeed (center) will be recording an interview with Bob this Wednesday for her podcast "The Village"
When complete the conversation will be posted here on The Historians
Bob Cudmore and Alan Maddaus this Friday
February 10, 2022- Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47 jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 1962.
Beginning with WW II Allied raids on Nazi Germany, the story continues with the onset of the Cold War, development of the jet-engine bomber, and the US strategy of nuclear deterrence. The ultimate sacrifice by some crews of the USAF B-47 Fleet-the high price of preserving the peace.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, February 5, 2023
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The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
U.S. Mail
Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Shuttleworth Park through the years
Americana collector Scott Meikle of Brooklyn once asked for information on a photo he purchased of a smiling beauty queen with a banner over her shoulder that said Miss Jollyland.
Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a comic novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Next Week on The Historians with Bob Cudmore
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Friday, February 10, 2022- Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47 jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 1962.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 4, 2023
...WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST TODAY...* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills. Wind chills as low as 30 to 45 below zero.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Helderbergs and eastern Catskills in eastern New York.* WHEN...Until noon EST today.* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure youwear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to this week’s donors—Amsterdam Reads and Anonymous.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Shuttleworth Park through the years
Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that Edward and Thomas McCaffrey built the facility which they called Crescent Park, in 1914 along the North Chuctanunda Creek in the city’s Rockton section,. Many patrons went there on trolleys of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Friday, February 3, 2023
...WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST SATURDAY...* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 30 to 40 below zero.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Helderbergs and eastern Catskills in eastern New York.* WHEN...From 6 AM this morning to noon EST Saturday.* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Wind chills will plummet today, and will be 20 to 30 below zero through the day. The lowest wind chills are expected tonight into early Saturday morning. Winds will gust from 30 to 45 miles per hour into tonight, which could result in in isolated power outages.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure youwear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Smith will accompany U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Saratoga, to the annual State of the Union address in…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/the-historians-podcast
Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to this week’s donors—Amsterdam Reads and Anonymous.
Memories of Rocco Petrone
By Bob Cudmore
Retired teacher Joe Inglese from the town of Florida has contributed more memories of Amsterdam’s rocket man, Rocco Petrone.
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln compiled biographical data on Petrone, launch director at Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida who was what the New York Times called a “driving force” in the Apollo moon program.
Inglese wrote, “When I was in high school at the old Perth Central School I remember that our guidance counselor Bob Coluni had a framed photo of Rocco Petrone in his West Point uniform hanging in his office. The picture was certainly motivational for many of us at that time.
“In the 1990s when my wife and I took our daughters to visit my in-laws in Florida during a February vacation we visited the space center. In the Apollo Building we saw the actual mission control center from July of 1969.
“My father-in-law Marc Palombi and I both yelled out when we saw Rocco Petrone in the clips. We had our pride on our sleeves as we explained to the other patrons that Rocco was from our hometown.”
Petrone was born in Amsterdam in 1926 to Italian immigrant parents. He died in 2006 and Petrone Square in downtown Amsterdam is named for him.
CIVIC BOOSTER
Amsterdam’s Board of Trade, predecessor of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, was instrumental in the movement to make Amsterdam a city in 1885.
The effort to incorporate as a city initially ran into opposition in Albany. Governor Grover Cleveland and the State Legislature brushed off the idea of making Amsterdam a city in 1884 because the local delegation had not gone through proper political channels and lacked a formal promotional organization.
This rebuff from Albany led about 100 civic boosters to form the Board of Trade to lobby the politicians in Albany. The Amsterdam city charter came into existence on April 16, 1885.
Industrialists such as carpet magnate Stephen Sanford and knitting mill owner Theodore Yund were key to the organization. The booster group also included merchants such as Dater Shaul, physicians such as S.H. French and clergymen, politicians, lawyers and even newspaper people.
At the 1902 annual Board of Trade meeting, Morning Sentinel newspaper editor George H. Loadwick gave an impassioned speech praising the city’s growth from the time of its founding as a hamlet a century earlier around Albert Vedder’s gristmill on the Chuctanunda Creek.”
“The creaking of Vedder’s mill has given place to a chorus of industry in which thousands of mighty wheels whirl and spin in merry thrift,” Loadwick said. “The old creek, once the power upon which the commercial life of this community depended may now ripple along in its lazy beauty since steam, with all its power, has pushed it aside.”
Loadwick was described by historian Washington Frothingham as a keen with and brilliant debater who was “blunt and abrupt in manner and speech.”
In his 1902 Board of Trade speech, Loadwick praised the growth of industry, “The carpet mills, the oil mills, the knitting mills, foundries, rug mills and scores of other industries, great and small that add to the noises of the world are active evidence of the strides of enterprise and advancement.”
He added that wagon springs made in Amsterdam “afford comfort to the carriage riding world” while every “well-swept household in America” benefits from Amsterdam-made brooms.
POINT BREEZE
The Point Breeze Farm was a landmark at the intersection of Golf Course Road and Steadwell Avenue years ago. Owned by Hanson Mabie, the property boasted a classy red barn with stenciled horses on the doors. Some of the farm lanes had masonry entryways.
Friday, February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Saturday February 4, 2023-From the Archives- May 18, 2018-Historians Episode 215- Michael Doyle is the author of “The Ministers’ War: John W. Mears, the Oneida Community, and the Crusade for Public Morality.” A new book on a 19th century utopian community in upstate New York.
Sunday, February 5, 2023-Shuttleworth Park through the years
The Amsterdam baseball stadium and adjacent land that we call Shuttleworth Park has had several other names through the years.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, February 2, 2023
...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM FRIDAY TO NOON ESTSATURDAY...* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 25 to 40 below zero.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Helderbergs and eastern Catskills.* WHEN...From 6 AM Friday to noon EST Saturday.* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The lowest wind chills are expected Friday night into early Saturday morning.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Avoid outside activities if possible. When outside, make sure youwear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
A new month on The Historians, were loaded for bear, but we don't shoot bear!
We will find a good picture of a bear and post it tomorrow.
Friday, February 3, 2023-Episode 460-When Mommy Was a Commie is a historical comic novel set in Schenectady in the 1950s, inspired by episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Friday, February 10, 2022- Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 1962.
Friday, February 17, 2022- Episode 462-Author Mark Dawidziak investigates Edgar Allan Poe’s strange death in Baltimore, and chronicles Poe’s storm-tossed life in his book A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Friday, February 24, 2022-Episode 463-The first Highlights Edition in 2023 with excerpts from these podcasts: Bill Buell’s Schenectady stories from the 1920s, NY State Historian Devin Lander, Jerry Snyder on ghost tours and more in Amsterdam, Jon Sorensen’s book When Mommy Was a Commie and Alan Maddaus on a U.S. jet bomber that crashed in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in 1962
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway!
Mohawk Valley History on the Internet and Radio
Use the 2022 link for 2023, the goal is $7000. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
The U.S. Mail
Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Thursday, February 2, 2023-Rocco Petrone, Amsterdam’s rocket man
Retired teacher Joe Inglese from the town of Florida has contributed more memories of Amsterdam’s rocket man, Rocco Petrone.
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln compiled biographical data on Petrone, launch director at Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida who was what the New York Times called a “driving force” in the Apollo moon program.
Friday, February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 1, 2023
...WIND CHILL WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE THURSDAY NIGHTTHROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills possible. Wind chills as low as 30 to 45 below zero.* WHERE...The Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Glens Falls Saratoga region, Capital District and northern Taconics of eastern New York and all of southern Vermont.* WHEN...From late Thursday night through Saturday afternoon.* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The coldest wind chills will be Friday night into Saturday morning.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway!
The 2022 Link is OK to use for 2023 Thanks (It's a teck thing, there are people on the back side of the moon who understand these things, they have yet to get back to us)
The 2023 goal is $7000. Be among the first to contribute to this year’s campaign. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to this week’s donors—Maria Riccio Bryce and Bill Simons.
Picture:Daily Gazette
A modern meat market for the 1930s
By Bob Cudmore
Two experienced butchers opened a high end meat market at 23 Market Street in bustling downtown Amsterdam on Saturday, February 23, 1929, eight months before the stock market crashed.
According to a promotional newspaper article, Zeiser & Lasher was the city’s model market, “One of the finest and most modern meat markets in New York State and one that will contain every known appliance, electrical and otherwise, for the scientific handling of market produce” The store boasted that it sold quality meats, “If you want the best, we have it.”
Co-owner Carl Hugo Zeiser came to America from Germany when he was three years old and was a 35 year meat market veteran in Gloversville. Zeiser had worked with his father in Gloversville making sausage. Ellery Lasher was an Amsterdam native with 25 years of meat market experience in Amsterdam and Gloversville. He had worked three summers at markets in Alexandria Bay in northern New York.
Emil W. Suda of Amsterdam has a photo from the store’s grand opening. Eight vases filled with flowers are lined up atop the modern white enamel display case, which is trimmed in black. The case, chock full of meat, was made by Frigidaire and installed by John E. Larrabee Company, the hardware store just down the street. The cooling box was protected by four inches of cork.
The new market promised that customer areas would be warm while the meat would be kept in the cooler case or cold storage. The butcher shop had modern machinery for cutting meat and making meat products.
Hansen and Dickson at 35 Main Street installed the shiny Armstrong checkered black and white linoleum. The walls of the establishment were ivory and buff.
The opening day ads touted beef, veal, chicken, pork, lamb, store-made sausage and First Prize hams. There was free delivery citywide and to Fort Johnson. You could call in your order to the store’s three digit phone number, 641. Zeiser & Lasher promised the best ham for Easter in 1931. Ham ends were 15 cents a pound.
Amsterdam native Barbara Case of Cape Coral, Florida, has a picture of a sign made in 1929 promising, “We handle Zeiser & Lasher sausage and bolognas.” The sign hung in a meat market operated by Lang and Shandorf near Mill Point on Route 161 in the town of Glen, adjacent to Schoharie Creek. Shandorf was the uncle of Case’s husband Richard. The sign was painted at Emil Zillgitt’s photo studio on East Main Street in Amsterdam.
Zeiser & Lasher seemed to disappear in 1932. The City Directory that year showed City Cash Market occupying Zeiser & Lasher’s old space at 23 Market Street. Zeiser later operated the Hotel Wells in Wells, N.Y. in Hamilton County. He died in 1948. Lasher apparently relocated to Scotia.
In 1932 City Cash Market’s proprietors were Clara Farina and Vincent Giamio. The Farinas, James and Clara, also operated East End Fish Market at 201 East Main, which was their residential address. And they ran International Meat Market at 203 East Main. Vincent Giamio, who lived at 218 East Main, was part of all three businesses. A 1936 ad for City Cash Market stated they sold meats wholesale and retail. Ham was 24 cents a pound.
City Directories listed over 100 groceries and meat markets in Amsterdam in the 1930s. Some were chains such as A & P and Central Market. Local markets included Shelly’s at 283 East Main, Alexander Zielinski at 13 Hibbard, Beer’s Grocery at 86 Prospect, Albino Barnell at 50 Florida Avenue and Castler & Burns at 113 East Main.
Wednesday, February 1, 2023-From the Archives- Historians Episode 213-May 4 2018-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir about the 1960s medical team at Roswell Park in Buffalo who made great strides in treating cancer: “Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood Leukemia.”
When Eric Wendel was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1966, the survival rate was less than 10 percent. Today, it is 90 percent. Even as politicians call for a "Cancer Moonshot", this accomplishment remains a pinnacle in cancer research.
Thursday, February 2, 2023- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Rocco Petrone, Amsterdam’s rocket man
Friday, February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Monday, January 30, 2023-Story behind the story, Sanford Stud Farm fire
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. Be among the first to contribute to this year’s campaign. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to this week’s donors—Maria Riccio Bryce and Bill Simons.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023-A modern meat market in the 1930s
Two experienced butchers opened a high end meat market at 23 Market Street in bustling downtown Amsterdam on Saturday, February 23, 1929, eight months before the stock market crashed.
Wednesday, February 1, 2023-From the Archives- Historians Episode 213-May 4 2018-Tim Wendel is author of a family memoir about the 1960s medical team at Roswell Park in Buffalo who made great strides in treating cancer: “Cancer Crossings: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest for a Cure to Childhood Leukemia.”
Thursday, February 2, 2023- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Rocco Petrone, Amsterdam’s rocket man
Friday, February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a novel set in Schenectady in the early 1950s, inspired by real-life episodes from America’s spy war with Russia. Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter covering government and politics for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.
By Bob C.udmore
No human lives were lost but 25 thoroughbred horses and a guard dog died in the January 9, 1939 fire at Sanford Stud Farm just north of Amsterdam’s city limits on Route 30. Damage was estimated at $200,000.
Sam Hildebrandt, founder of the preservation group Friends of Sanford Stud Farm, said one theory about the 1939 fire is that it was started on purpose by a disgruntled worker, angered at the hazing new farmhands were subjected to by old-timers.
However, research done by Patrick Boles, a volunteer with the Friends, indicated the exercise boy involved appears to have started the fire accidentally, although the youth was punished for violating terms of a parole he was serving while working at the farm.
Newspaper accounts reported William H. Dougrey, 15, from Glens Falls started the fire by disposing of his lighted cigarette inside a barn. Even if Dougrey had no intention of starting the blaze, Boles said smoking was prohibited inside Sanford’s barns because of the fear of fire. No charges were filed in connection with the fire itself.
The youth had been sent to work at Sanford farm after getting into unspecified trouble in Glens Falls. After the fire, Sanford head trainer Hollie Hughes saw to it that the youth was sent back to Glens Falls court. There Dougrey was found guilty of violating parole and served time at a state penal reformatory.
Former Sanford jockey Louis Hildebrandt, Sam’s father, said, “All of the farm employees who had to clean up after the disastrous fire, could only take the smell, filth and emotion for so long.”
After working on the cleanup, the men would walk across a pasture and take refuge at William Patrick’s Tavern on Locust Avenue. The barkeep let them in the back door, even on Sunday when the bar was closed.
Later the tavern was owned by Stan and Irene Burza and today the building houses Kinowski Insurance Agency.
Carpet mill executive Stephen Sanford started the thoroughbred horse farm, at first called Hurricana, in the 1870s. His doctor advised Sanford a farm might ease his stomach ulcers if it took him away from the stress at his mills.
Sanford’s horses raced at Saratoga. Sanford’s sons—John and William—encouraged their father because of their own interest in fast horses, especially jumpers. William died in 1896.
In 1901, Stephen Sanford built his own stable on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga Springs. He had as many as 35 horses at a time.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to July 4th.
New York outlawed betting in 1907 and racing stopped at Saratoga. Temporarily, the Sanfords sold most of their horses.
Stephen Sanford was blind the last five years of his life. He died on February 13, 1913 at 86. Six months later, racing resumed at Saratoga along with the first running of the Sanford Memorial.
After 1913, John Sanford headed both the family carpet mills and horse farm. The farm produced famous thoroughbreds, including 1916 Kentucky Derby winner George Smith and the winner of the 1923 English Grand National polo championship.
John Sanford died eight months after the 1939 horse barn fire. John’s son, Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, a famous horseman, and John’s two daughters took over the farm. Bigelow-Sanford Carpet left Amsterdam in 1955. The farm was put up for sale in 1976, the year before Laddie died.
The site of the former sprawling farm in the town of Amsterdam has been developed into a shopping mecca featuring Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Home Depot and other big box stores.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 30, 2023
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
This afternoon at 2
Bob Cudmore Moderator
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion. Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital.
Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Sunday, January 29th Kick-Off Event 2023 Book of the Year "The Girl in His Shadow" by Audrey Blake
The story of one woman who believed in scientific medicine before the world believed in her
Rescued from a pandemic’s wreckage and raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft, orphan Nora Beady cares little for Victorian conventions. While other young ladies busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora perfects her sutures and anatomical illustrations.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, January 29, 2023
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. Be among the first to contribute to this year’s campaign. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thanks to this week’s donors—Maria Riccio Bryce and Bill Simons.
By Bob C.udmore
No human lives were lost but 25 thoroughbred horses and a guard dog died in the January 9, 1939 fire at Sanford Stud Farm just north of Amsterdam’s city limits on Route 30. Damage was estimated at $200,000.
Sam Hildebrandt, founder of the preservation group Friends of Sanford Stud Farm, said one theory about the 1939 fire is that it was started on purpose by a disgruntled worker, angered at the hazing new farmhands were subjected to by old-timers.
However, research done by Patrick Boles, a volunteer with the Friends, indicated the exercise boy involved appears to have started the fire accidentally, although the youth was punished for violating terms of a parole he was serving while working at the farm.
Newspaper accounts reported William H. Dougrey, 15, from Glens Falls started the fire by disposing of his lighted cigarette inside a barn. Even if Dougrey had no intention of starting the blaze, Boles said smoking was prohibited inside Sanford’s barns because of the fear of fire. No charges were filed in connection with the fire itself.
The youth had been sent to work at Sanford farm after getting into unspecified trouble in Glens Falls. After the fire, Sanford head trainer Hollie Hughes saw to it that the youth was sent back to Glens Falls court. There Dougrey was found guilty of violating parole and served time at a state penal reformatory.
Former Sanford jockey Louis Hildebrandt, Sam’s father, said, “All of the farm employees who had to clean up after the disastrous fire, could only take the smell, filth and emotion for so long.”
After working on the cleanup, the men would walk across a pasture and take refuge at William Patrick’s Tavern on Locust Avenue. The barkeep let them in the back door, even on Sunday when the bar was closed.
Later the tavern was owned by Stan and Irene Burza and today the building houses Kinowski Insurance Agency.
Carpet mill executive Stephen Sanford started the thoroughbred horse farm, at first called Hurricana, in the 1870s. His doctor advised Sanford a farm might ease his stomach ulcers if it took him away from the stress at his mills.
Sanford’s horses raced at Saratoga. Sanford’s sons—John and William—encouraged their father because of their own interest in fast horses, especially jumpers. William died in 1896.
In 1901, Stephen Sanford built his own stable on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga Springs. He had as many as 35 horses at a time.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to July 4th.
New York outlawed betting in 1907 and racing stopped at Saratoga. Temporarily, the Sanfords sold most of their horses.
Stephen Sanford was blind the last five years of his life. He died on February 13, 1913 at 86. Six months later, racing resumed at Saratoga along with the first running of the Sanford Memorial.
After 1913, John Sanford headed both the family carpet mills and horse farm. The farm produced famous thoroughbreds, including 1916 Kentucky Derby winner George Smith and the winner of the 1923 English Grand National polo championship.
John Sanford died eight months after the 1939 horse barn fire. John’s son, Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, a famous horseman, and John’s two daughters took over the farm. Bigelow-Sanford Carpet left Amsterdam in 1955. The farm was put up for sale in 1976, the year before Laddie died.
The site of the former sprawling farm in the town of Amsterdam has been developed into a shopping mecca featuring Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Home Depot and other big box stores.
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Tomorrow at 2PM
Bob Cudmore Moderator
Sunday, January 29th Kick-Off Event 2023 Book of the Year "The Girl in His Shadow"
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion. Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital.
Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, January 28, 2023
Saturday January 28, 2023
Bob Cudmore and Dave Greene discuss bowling and pinsetting in upstate New York during the twentieth century.
Sunday, January 29, 2023-The Sanford Stud Farm fire posted here on The HistoriansThe Early Names of Shuttleworth Park
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History in The Gazette this Weekend
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
2PM this Sunday, January 29, 2023
Kick-Off Event
2023 Book of the Year "The Girl in His Shadow"
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion. Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital.
Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Bob Cudmore will Moderate
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, January 27, 2023
The Early Names of Shuttleworth Park By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History in The Gazette this Weekend
SCHENECTADY — With John Riccitello’s Restaurant set to close on Sunday after 61 years in operation, the restaurant’s owners were…
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
This Sunday in Amsterdam
Bob Cudmore will moderate
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion this Sunday January 29, 2023 at 2 pm. Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital.
Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Russian disaster revived local submarine story
By Bob Cudmore
The explosion onboard the Russian submarine Kursk in August 2000 prompted an Amsterdam man to open up about his own rescue from a stricken submarine.
Hydrogen peroxide in a torpedo on the Kursk exploded, causing other warheads to detonate, sending the submarine to the bottom of the Barents Sea, north of Russia. All 188 sailors on board died. Their bodies and the submarine were recovered in 2001 by a Dutch underwater team.
Three days after the Kursk explosion, Donato Persico of Amsterdam was interviewed about submarine disasters by Lee Coleman for the Daily Gazette. “Dan” Persico had been aboard the USS Squalus in May, 1939 when there was a valve failure and the boat sank 243 feet to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
"This happened so fast, there was no chance for an alarm," Persico said. "We lost power and lost lights.” The Amsterdam sailor was almost crushed by a torpedo.
Persico and other crew members closed watertight doors to prevent the entire submarine from flooding. As the submarine sank, 29 sailors drowned. Survivors donned woolen submarine coats and tried to stay still and use as little oxygen as possible.
"It was cold and dark," Persico said. "I had goose bumps . . . I was scared.” At 20, he was the youngest man on board. Persico was among the last of 33 crew members rescued in multiple trips of a diving bell deployed by the rescue ship Falcon on the surface.
"It was the best ride I had in my life, the ride in that bell," Persico said.
Persico said when the diving bell was about half-way up, there was a problem with the lifting cables, "They dropped us back to the bottom and pulled it in by hand with only one strand of cable. I was on the last trip and rode up with the captain (Oliver F. Naquin of New Orleans).”
Anne Persico Signoracci of Cohoes, Donato’s sister, said the family was kept informed as the rescue unfolded by Amsterdam Police officers who periodically stopped at the family home with updates. Signoracci said the experience gave her brother a new lease on life.
Persico served with distinction aboard two other submarines in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. One of them, USS Batfish, sank three Japanese submarines in a period of 76 hours. Persico retired in 1956 as a chief torpedo man and embarked on a career as a heavy equipment salesman for the L.B. Smith Co., covering the Capital Region.
He married Felicia Puglia of Amsterdam in 1974. They had met during a chance encounter between Persico and another sailor and Puglia and one of her girlfriends at the bar of the former Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Amsterdam. After that meeting they did not see each other for ten years. They married when Persico returned to Amsterdam permanently after his mother died. The couple had no children.
“He was my hero,” Felicia Persico said. “A wonderful man, good sailor, a good husband.”
Persico retired in the 1970s and made trips with Felicia to Florida during the winter months. They retained a residence on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side. They were active in a submariner veterans’ organization. In September 2000 Persico was one of two Squalus survivors who shook hands with Navy Secretary Richard Danzig at a ceremony naming a Navy destroyer for the man who organized the Squalus rescue, Charles “Swede” Momsen.
Persico died January 26, 2001. Family and friends lobbied the city of Amsterdam for a memorial to honor the submariner. The intersection of Florida Avenue and Bridge Street was named Persico Square that September.
Friday, January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, January 26, 2023
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion this Sunday January 29, 2023 at 2 pm. The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist and podcaster Bob Cudmore, will be held in the auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Jerry Snyder talks about this year’s Historic Amsterdam League calendar focusing on that city’s vanished industries. Plus Kelly Farquhar and Norm Bollen report on a recently found letter from a Revolutionary leader in the Mohawk Valley that makes reference to the Boston Tea Party.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
A submariner’s tale.
The explosion onboard the Russian submarine Kursk in August 2000 prompted an Amsterdam man to open up about his own rescue from a stricken submarine.
Friday, January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, January 25, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THISMORNING TO 1 AM EST THURSDAY...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.* WHERE...Western Massachusetts and the Capital District, Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys, Helderbergs, and Washington County in eastern New York.* WHEN...From 10 AM this morning to 1 AM EST Thursday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates could be around half an inch per hour at times this afternoon and evening. Snow will turn to rain this evening in the Hudson Valley, with some light freezing rain possible elsewhere. Gusty winds this evening could result in isolated power outages.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.Leader Herald
Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Johnstown Town Board approves Route 349 water study by Jason Subik
Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
This Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist and podcaster Bob Cudmore. Location: in the auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez).
Amsterdam barber was African American political leader
By Bob Cudmore
An Amsterdam barber, Robert A. Jackson, may have been active in the Underground Railroad and was an African American political leader in the late 1800s.
Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said, “It is very possible that (Jackson) had Underground Railroad connections because he was not too far away from Chandler Bartlett’s shoe store that also reputedly sheltered freedom seekers. Jackson’s barber shop was in an upper floor over 69 East Main Street which would be approximately where the Riverfront Center now sits. He lived on Charles Street.”
In the late 1800s there were newspaper accounts describing Jackson’s role in what were then called Colored Conventions at the Montgomery County and state level
According to research compiled by historian Christopher Philippo, Jackson was one of five men appointed at a statewide convention of black Republicans to prepare an address to voters in 1872.
In 1879 Jackson was chosen for the committee on principles and rules at the Colored Men’s Montgomery County Convention in Fonda. He was named an at-large delegate to the group’s state convention in Elmira.
In August 1884 Jackson delivered a rousing speech in support of Republican Presidential candidate James Blaine and his running mate John Logan at a celebration of emancipation held in Canajoharie. Other events that day included a parade, music and a reading of the emancipation proclamation.
The Amsterdam Daily Democrat reported that Jackson’s speech was fluent and enthusiastic and was applauded throughout, “Mr. Jackson clearly and forcibly reviewed the history of his people since the war, showing the marked difference between the attitudes of the two great parties toward them.
“The Republicans, he said, had given them the treatment they deserved and had done all in their power to dignify their condition, whereas the policy of the Democrats toward them has resulted only in their detriment.”
Blaine and Logan narrowly lost the Presidential election that year to New York Governor Grover Cleveland and his running mate Thomas Hendricks. Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected President since 1856. He carried New York by a margin of just over a thousand votes to clinch the election.
In October 1884 the Amsterdam Daily Democrat printed an interview with Jackson who had recently returned from a trip to Philadelphia for the national convention of what were then called the Colored Masons. Another newspaper reported that Jackson came originally from Troy and had joined the Masons there.
The Amsterdam paper’s interview took place at Jackson’s barber shop and he reportedly “talked rapidly away as he stropped his razor.”
Jackson said the convention was the largest ever because it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation in Boston of the first lodge of black Free Masons in America.
Jackson said, “(The convention) was marked by a grand parade in which 25 lodges were represented in a membership of 2,000 , comprising delegates from Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Ohio.
In 1886 the Amsterdam paper reported “tonsorial artist Robert Jackson” was spending Sunday with friends in Minaville. Jackson died in February 1893 and was about sixty.
Farquhar said, “According to my records he was married to Hannah Herod and they had at least five children. One of their daughters, Agnes, died at the age of seven in 1882 due to meningitis. Agnes, Hannah and Robert are all buried in Green Hill Cemetery, possibly along with a couple of other daughters.”
Farquhar and Judith Wellman have written “Uncovering the Underground Railroad: Abolitionism and African American Life in Montgomery County, N.Y. 1820-1890.” It is available at Farquhar’s office at the Old Courthouse in Fonda.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Jerry Snyder talks about this year’s Historic Amsterdam League calendar focusing on that city’s vanished industries. Plus Kelly Farquhar and Norm Bollen report on a recently found letter from a Revolutionary leader in the Mohawk Valley that makes reference to the Boston Tea Party.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
A submariner’s tale.
...and Friday Jerry Snyder again
Friday, January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, January 24, 2023
This Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist, podcaster and old radio guy Bob Cudmore. The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion
Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Monday, January 23, 2023-Story behind the story, Navy submarine captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette- Amsterdam barber was African American political leader
An Amsterdam barber, Robert A. Jackson, may have been active in the Underground Railroad and was an African American political leader in the late 1800s.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 93, January 10, 2016-Jerry Snyder talks about this year’s Historic Amsterdam League calendar focusing on that city’s vanished industries. Plus Kelly Farquhar and Norm Bollen report on a recently found letter from a Revolutionary leader in the Mohawk Valley that makes reference to the Boston Tea Party.
Thursday, January 26- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-A submariner’s tale.
Friday, January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Navy captain was link to Amsterdam’s past
By Bob Cudmore
Born in Amsterdam in 1927, John Donlon was a link to the history of his family and native city. His father Hugh Donlon was a Recorder newspaper columnist and author of a landmark 1980 Amsterdam history book, “Annals of a Milltown”, and other historical publications.
Hugh Donlon died at age 93 in 1989. His son John died at his Connecticut home at age 95 on December 26, 2022.
John had a remarkable career in the U.S. Navy where he became the captain of nuclear submarines. He and his wife, the former Anita Snyder of Pennsylvania, raised seven children. They had 28 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.
John spent his youth living at the Donlon family home on Kimball Street off Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam during the Great Depression. John’s mother was hospitalized in 1932 at the Montgomery County Tuberculosis Sanatorium atop Swart Hill Road in the town of Amsterdam.
Hugh Donlon visited her three or four times a week, climbing Swart Hill from the trolley stop on Route 5 as the family had no car. His wife, Anna Frances Nadler Donlon, died in 1938.
John was the second oldest of four brothers. His three brothers-–Charles, Thomas, and Edward–predeceased him. John wrote of his father, “Hugh truly raised his male quartet almost single-handedly.”
Hugh had help from live in caretakers. John wrote in an email, “Retired bachelor and namesake Uncle Hugh McGrail tided us over into the not-so-banner 1938. Uncle Hughie couldn't boil water when he arrived; he became a great cook in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, he was marvelous around kids. We had fun every day! But even he faded in health and departed for Schenectady.
“We got a full-time, no-nonsense, great cook, opinionated, stern and grandmotherly Sarah Barton of Hagaman in late 1938. She stayed until 1946.”
From an early age, John felt the call of the sea. At nine, he became a Sea Scout.
John’s childhood friends included George Tralka, Harold Langley, Donald Blonkowski and Lou Hage. All attended Amsterdam’s Catholic high school, St. Mary’s. Langley had a movie camera and the group made a horror film using City Hall as a stand in for a mental institution.
The group hung out at Rapello’s Pharmacy or Kansas Restaurant downtown on East Main, and Brownie’s hot dog eatery or Wytrwal’s Furniture on Reid Hill.
Young Donlon sang tenor in an acapella group that, according to a friend, could be heard “in occasionally raffish song” under Guy Park Avenue’s streetlights.
Hugh Donlon, who had a side job as a church organist, had started work on a history book called “The Mohawk Valley” in 1932. He typed the manuscript in a second floor office at the family home.
In the dedication, Donlon credited his sons, “Whose contribution to this book was undisturbed slumber through night hours while their father worked.”
John Donlon wrote, “Those hours were generally from nine p.m. to two a.m. or later. He invariably arose at seven.”
John Donlon preserved his father’s Mohawk Valley manuscript written during the 1930s. Hugh Donlon said the book covered from the Ice Age to 1940.
Many publishers plus Union College and the State were approached but the manuscript remained in John’s possession unpublished until 2015. Writer Dave Northrup edited the manuscript that year with John’s help and oversaw its publication.
Northrup recalled the son's affection and respect for his father's efforts in preserving the history of the region dear to both, "In my communication with him about the project, John often said of his father, 'he was not the smartest man I ever knew, he was the best.' "
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 23, 2023
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THISAFTERNOON...* WHAT...Heavy snow. Additional snow accumulations of 3 to 5 inches for a storm total of 4 to 8 inches with locally higher amounts possible.* WHERE...The Greater Capital Region and Saratoga region, Montgomery County, the central Taconics, and southeast Catskills.* WHEN...Until 1 PM EST Monday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates between a half inch and one inch per hour are possible this morning.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water inyour vehicle in case of an emergency.Over the last few decades, Carl Borst has carved and chiseled a new career for himself. From his backyard studio…
Next Sunday
The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist, podcaster and old radio guy Bob Cudmore.
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion
Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
Location: The auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
This week Jerry Snyder and Jerry Snyder
The Historians schedule for the new week is below The Navy Captian story...
Navy captain was link to Amsterdam’s past
By Bob Cudmore
Born in Amsterdam in 1927, John Donlon was a link to the history of his family and native city. His father Hugh Donlon was a Recorder newspaper columnist and author of a landmark 1980 Amsterdam history book, “Annals of a Milltown”, and other historical publications.
Hugh Donlon died at age 93 in 1989. His son John died at his Connecticut home at age 95 on December 26, 2022.
John had a remarkable career in the U.S. Navy where he became the captain of nuclear submarines. He and his wife, the former Anita Snyder of Pennsylvania, raised seven children. They had 28 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.
John spent his youth living at the Donlon family home on Kimball Street off Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam during the Great Depression. John’s mother was hospitalized in 1932 at the Montgomery County Tuberculosis Sanatorium atop Swart Hill Road in the town of Amsterdam.
Hugh Donlon visited her three or four times a week, climbing Swart Hill from the trolley stop on Route 5 as the family had no car. His wife, Anna Frances Nadler Donlon, died in 1938.
John was the second oldest of four brothers. His three brothers-–Charles, Thomas, and Edward–predeceased him. John wrote of his father, “Hugh truly raised his male quartet almost single-handedly.”
Hugh had help from live in caretakers. John wrote in an email, “Retired bachelor and namesake Uncle Hugh McGrail tided us over into the not-so-banner 1938. Uncle Hughie couldn't boil water when he arrived; he became a great cook in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, he was marvelous around kids. We had fun every day! But even he faded in health and departed for Schenectady.
“We got a full-time, no-nonsense, great cook, opinionated, stern and grandmotherly Sarah Barton of Hagaman in late 1938. She stayed until 1946.”
From an early age, John felt the call of the sea. At nine, he became a Sea Scout.
John’s childhood friends included George Tralka, Harold Langley, Donald Blonkowski and Lou Hage. All attended Amsterdam’s Catholic high school, St. Mary’s. Langley had a movie camera and the group made a horror film using City Hall as a stand in for a mental institution.
The group hung out at Rapello’s Pharmacy or Kansas Restaurant downtown on East Main, and Brownie’s hot dog eatery or Wytrwal’s Furniture on Reid Hill.
Young Donlon sang tenor in an acapella group that, according to a friend, could be heard “in occasionally raffish song” under Guy Park Avenue’s streetlights.
Hugh Donlon, who had a side job as a church organist, had started work on a history book called “The Mohawk Valley” in 1932. He typed the manuscript in a second floor office at the family home.
In the dedication, Donlon credited his sons, “Whose contribution to this book was undisturbed slumber through night hours while their father worked.”
John Donlon wrote, “Those hours were generally from nine p.m. to two a.m. or later. He invariably arose at seven.”
John Donlon preserved his father’s Mohawk Valley manuscript written during the 1930s. Hugh Donlon said the book covered from the Ice Age to 1940.
Many publishers plus Union College and the State were approached but the manuscript remained in John’s possession unpublished until 2015. Writer Dave Northrup edited the manuscript that year with John’s help and oversaw its publication.
Northrup recalled the son's affection and respect for his father's efforts in preserving the history of the region dear to both, "In my communication with him about the project, John often said of his father, 'he was not the smartest man I ever knew, he was the best.' "
Monday, January 23, 2023-Story behind the story, Navy submarine captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette- Amsterdam barber was African American political leader
Wednesday, January 25, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 93, January 10, 2016-Jerry Snyder talks about this year’s Historic Amsterdam League calendar focusing on that city’s vanished industries. Plus Kelly Farquhar and Norm Bollen report on a recently found letter from a Revolutionary leader in the Mohawk Valley that makes reference to the Boston Tea Party.
Thursday, January 26- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-A submariner’s tale.
Friday, January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, January 22, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOONTO 1 PM EST MONDAY...* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 6 inches.* WHERE...Southern Herkimer, Montgomery and Western Ulster Counties.* WHEN...From 4 PM this afternoon to 1 PM EST Monday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates may reach a half inch up to one inch per hour at times this evening and tonight.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist and podcaster Bob Cudmore.
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion
Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
...will be held in the auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
Today, Saturday, January 21, 2023 in The Daily Gazette e edition The Sanford Fire
Sunday, January 22, 2023-Navy submarine captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam
Read the story here on The Historians
Born in Amsterdam in 1927, John Donlon was a link to the history of his family and native city. His father Hugh Donlon was a Recorder newspaper columnist and author of a landmark 1980 Amsterdam history book, “Annals of a Milltown”, and other historical publications.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, January 21, 2023
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion on Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist and podcaster Bob Cudmore.
...will be held in the auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
Saturday January 21, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 267-2019-Linda Thompson is author of the historical novel “The Plum Blooms in Winter.” The book is based on the 1942 American air raid on Tokyo led by pioneer aviator Jimmy Doolittle.
1942. Pilot Dave Delham revels at the success of his historic Japanese bombing mission. Until he's caught and endures years of torture at the hands of cruel captors. Despairing that he'll survive, Dave vows if he escapes, he'll answer God's call on his life.
Sunday, January 22, 2023-Navy submarine captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, January 20, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THISAFTERNOON...* WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations 1 to 4 inches. Highest totals over the southern Adirondacks and the Lake George Region.* WHERE...The central and western Mohawk Valley, the western and southern Adirondacks, and the Lake George Saratoga Region in eastern New York.* WHEN...Until 1 PM EST this afternoon.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the morning commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS... Periods of snow will continue today. Heaviest snow with accumulations will be over the southern Adirondacks and the northern reaches of the Lake George Region.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.There’s no shortage of things to do in the Capital Region, whether you’re looking for live music, films, theater, games…
The Role of Female Doctors and Medical Professionals in Today’s Medicine will be the topic of an Amsterdam Reads panel discussion on Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 pm.
The discussion, moderated by Gazette-Recorder history columnist and podcaster Bob Cudmore, will be held in the auditorium at St. Mary's Carondelet Health Center, 380 Guy Park Avenue across from St. Mary’s Hospital. Physicians taking part in the discussion will include Dr. Emily Etzkorn, Dr. Parul Saxena, Dr. Mahvash Majeed and Dr. Lydia Mawad (Melendez). Amsterdam Reads is focusing this year on The Girl in His Shadow, a historical novel by Audrey Blake set in the era of Victorian medicine.
Death rode the wings of the wind
By Bob Cudmore
Three pioneer aviators, including a Gloversville native, died when their plane crashed into a buckwheat field near Rural Grove in the Montgomery County town of Root on January 8, 1928.
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served on the ground in World War I in the motor transport corps. After the war, he became a pilot as a civilian then rejoined the U.S. Army Flying Corps, earning the rank of captain. Captain Pauley married Marion Howarth of Johnstown. They had no children. He was in the Army reserves when he died.
Pauley headed a company called Flyers, Incorporated, the first commercial air service based in Albany. His firm, headquartered at the Ten Eyck Hotel, carried passengers and freight and flew racing editions of the Albany Journal newspaper to Saratoga Springs for the 1927 horse racing meet. Albany Mayor John Boyd Thatcher mentioned Pauley’s name as the future superintendent of the almost-constructed Albany Airport.
On Sunday, January 8 veteran pilot Raymond Henries flew from Long Island to Albany on his way to Buffalo, delivering a new Fairchild monoplane. The large single engine plane was to be based in Buffalo for Colonial Western Airways. Henries had a passenger, former pilot George Benedict, then in his family’s clothing business in Illinois.
Pauley decided to fly with Henries and Benedict to Buffalo where two planes ordered by Flyers, Inc. were to be delivered. Pauley planned to make arrangements to have his new planes flown to Albany.
Despite thick fog, the Fairchild monoplane left Westerlo Island airfield south of Albany, piloted by Henries, around 2:00 p.m. Several hours later Colonial Western Airways reported the aircraft had not reached Buffalo.
WGY radio in Schenectady announced the plane was missing sometime after 6:00 p.m. Telephone reports poured in from listeners. Some heard what they thought was a crash about 3:00 p.m. near Rural Grove in the town of Root, on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie. A Mrs. Quackenbush of Rural Grove reported she heard a crash and was convinced the plane had fallen.
Early Monday morning Sheriff Seeley Hodge formed a posse of about 30 men who began a ground search. Searchers found the wreckage on Tuesday morning near a farm being worked by J.E. Bartlett off what is today Route 162, between Currytown and Middle Grove. A plane from Schenectady Airport doing an aerial search saw the activity on the ground and landed on a nearby field.
Pilot Henries’s body had been thrown about 75 feet from the main wreckage. The bodies of passengers Pauley and Benedict were found crushed inside the plane.
The Albany Evening News reported, “Death rode on the wings of the wind with the three missing aviators whose bodies were found on a farm hillside near Rural Grove today, strewn with wreckage of their big Fairchild monoplane.”
The crash investigation was hampered in the coming days by the arrival of what authorities estimated to be a total of three thousand to eight thousand gawkers and souvenir hunters. Investigators could not find part of the instrument board of the plane. It was located in the possession of a Gloversville businessman.
The cause of the crash was never pinned down. The thick fog was likely a factor but there were reports from people on the ground who said they heard a plane’s engine overhead that seemed to be misfiring before the accident.
Captain Pauley was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown. His story was researched by his niece, Frances N. Burnham of Scotia, with the assistance of town of Root historian Bill Maring.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, January 19, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THISAFTERNOON TO 1 PM EST FRIDAY...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of up to 2 to 6 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch. The highest snowfall totals will occurr across the Adirondacks and Lake George region.* WHERE...The central and western Mohawk Valley, the western and southern Adirondacks, and the Lake George Saratoga Region in eastern New York.* WHEN...From 1 PM this afternoon to 1 PM EST Friday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute today and the Friday morning commute.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.History, Weather and Mohawk Valley News Headlines
Today, tomorrow and the Weekend (this weekend print story-Navy submarine Captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam)
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Nick Bunker
The story of the American Revolution told from the unique perspective of British Parliament and the streets of London, rather than that of the Colonies.
Charting the three years prior to the war during which the British regime in America was already collapsing, Bunker shows how a lethal combination of politics and personalities led to a war that should never have been fought.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Death rode the wings of the wind
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served on the ground in World War I in the motor transport corps.
Amsterdam Reads 2023 Kick-off event on Sunday, January 29th.
Bob Cudmore will moderate, more information posted next week
The latest from The Historians digital press
This Friday, January 20, 2023
Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, January 18, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST THISMORNING...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of a light glaze.* WHERE...Southern Herkimer, Southern Fulton, Montgomery and Northern Fulton Counties.* WHEN...Until 7 AM EST this morning.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A light wintry mix will continue this morning before tapering off to scattered rain and snow showers today.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.
This Sunday, January 22, 2023- Gazette Story posted on The Historians
Navy submarine Captain John Donlon was a native of Amsterdam
Tuesday
The 1939 fire at the Sanford Stud Farm by Bob Cudmore
A tragic event in Amsterdam’s history was the January 9, 1939 fire that killed 25 thoroughbred horses and did $200,000 damage at the Sanford Stud Farm outside the city limits on Route 30. A police dog also died in the blaze.
Carpet mill executive Stephen Sanford started the farm, at first called Hurricana, in the 1870s. His doctor advised Sanford that a farm might ease his stomach ulcer if it took him away from the stress at his mills. Sanford’s horses raced at Saratoga. Sanford’s sons—John and William—encouraged their father in this enterprise because of their own interest in fast horses, especially jumpers. William died in 1896.
In 1901, Stephen Sanford built his own stable on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga. He had as many as 35 horses at a time.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July.
New York State outlawed betting in 1907 and racing stopped at Saratoga. Temporarily, the Sanfords sold most of their horses, according to Alex Robb in his book, “The Sanfords of Amsterdam.”
Stephen Sanford was blind the last five years of his life. He died on February 13, 1913 at age 86. Six months later, racing resumed at Saratoga along with the first running of the Sanford Memorial.
After 1913, John Sanford headed both the family carpet mills and horse farm. The farm produced many famous thoroughbreds, including 1916 Kentucky Derby winner George Smith and the winner of the 1923 English Grand National polo championship.
John Sanford died eight months after the 1939 horse barn fire. John’s son, Stephen "Laddie" Sanford, a famous horseman, and two of John’s daughters took over the farm. Bigelow-Sanford Carpet left Amsterdam in 1955. The farm was put up for sale in 1976, the year before Laddie Sanford died.
A group called the Friends of the Sanford Stud Farm has been working to restore what remains of the farm buildings.
In 2003, retired Sanford jockey Louis F. Hildebrandt of Perth wrote a book about his horse riding exploits called “Rider’s Up.” His son Sam Hildebrandt, the founder of the Friends organization, is out with a new book on the history of the horse farm, originally called Hurricana because of the strong winds that blow through its location on top of a hill. The new book is called “Hurricana: Thoroughbred Dynasty, Amsterdam Landmark.” It contains 193 photos from 32 different sources.
Sam Hildebrandt said one story about the disastrous 1939 fire is that it was started on purpose by a disgruntled worker, angered at the hazing that new farmhands were subjected to by old-timers.
However, research done by another volunteer with the Friends indicates the exercise boy involved appears to have started the fire accidentally, although the youth was punished for violating terms of a parole he was serving while working at the farm.
Patrick Boles of the town of Amsterdam said newspaper accounts indicate exercise boy William H. Dougrey, 15, from Glens Falls started the fire by disposing of his lighted cigarette inside the barn. Even if Dougrey had no intention of starting the blaze, Boles said that smoking was prohibited inside the Sanford barns because of the fear of fire. No charges were filed in connection with the fire itself.
The youth had been sent to work at the Sanford farm after getting into some unspecified trouble in Glens Falls. After the fire, Sanford head trainer Hollie Hughes saw to it that the youth was sent back to Glens Falls court. There Dougrey was found guilty of violating parole and sent to a state penal reformatory.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 76, August 30, 2015- Nick Bunker
The story of the American Revolution told from the unique perspective of British Parliament and the streets of London, rather than that of the Colonies.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Death rode the wings of the wind
Three pioneer aviators, including a Gloversville native, died when their plane crashed into a buckwheat field near Rural Grove in the Montgomery County town of Root on January 8, 1928
Friday, January 20, 2023-Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, January 17, 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 1 AM ESTWEDNESDAY...* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of a light glaze.* WHERE...Southern Herkimer, Southern Fulton, Montgomery and Northern Fulton Counties.* WHEN...From noon today to 1 AM EST Wednesday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A light wintry mix will develop in the afternoon hours today and continue overnight before tapering off to scattered rain and snow showers shortly before or just after midnight.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.Bob Cudmore will Moderate
Queen Libby of Fonda
By Bob Cudmore
A formidable woman from Italy stopped a train, saved a man from the electric chair and was a major property owner in Fonda.
Born in Atripalda in southern Italy on March 10, 1873, Elizabeth Luciano came to Fonda by herself in 1889 as a teenager and lived at the James Snell house on Railroad Street. She had relatives who lived in Johnstown. Her obituary claimed she was the first Italian immigrant to settle in Fonda.
People in the Mohawk Valley called her Queen Libby or Queen Lib. According to one of her grandchildren, she received her nickname after knocking down a man who had used an ethnic slur about Italians.
“The next time you see me, you bow,” she reportedly told the fallen man, leading him to refer to her as Queen Libby.
She married Italian native, James Cassell, in 1891. They had three children before Cassell died. In 1901 Luciano married Alphonso Mancini; he hailed from Pietramelara, Italy, and worked for the railroad. They had four more children.
The couple returned to Italy for a time where Alphonso was a jailer. Elizabeth came back to America by herself and Alfonso eventually followed her back to Fonda.
Queen Libby ran a boarding house and grocery store in the west end of Fonda, where she fed, housed and cared for Italian Americans who worked on the railroad. She purchased sixteen two family houses in the village. Patsy Cassell, one of Libby’s sons, ran a Fonda tavern called Patsy’s for many years.
In 1923, one of Libby’s daughters, Eva Mancini Pepe, was about to give birth to her first child. Eva was married to Ralph Pepe, whose father, Salvatore, founded Pepe’s Bakery on Amsterdam’s South Side.
According to the Recorder, Libby was informed by telephone that her daughter was about to have a rare Caesarean section at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Libby secured a red flag at the Fonda train station and when an express came “thundering in its usual way” she waved the red flag, convincing the engineer to stop the train and then convincing him to take her to Amsterdam.
Arriving at the hospital, she charged into the operating room. Libby also made a phone call to the New York Central Railroad and demanded that the next possible train stop in Fonda to take her husband to Amsterdam.
The headline from the newspaper read, “Flags train to reach daughter as stork comes: Fonda woman bossed the whole New York Central Railroad but got to Amsterdam hospital on time.”
The child born that day was Vincenza Pepe. Eva Pepe ultimately had seven children and the child she bore in 1924 was Salvatore Pepe of Amsterdam.
“Queen Libby was strong-minded, tough but a gentle grandmother,” Salvatore Pepe said, recalling that Libby gave quarters to her grandchildren.
Ann Sherman of Amsterdam also claimed Queen Libby as a grandmother. Sherman’s mother was Constance Cassell, one of the children from Libby’s first marriage.
According to Sherman, Queen Libby was an interpreter for Italians who could not speak English who were brought before the court in Fonda.
Libby once saved an innocent man who was charged with murder from the electric chair. Libby called Italy where the real murderer had fled and had him sent back to the United States for trial. Governor Franklin Roosevelt was so impressed that he visited Fonda to commend Libby.
Alphonso Mancini died in 1936. Queen Libby suffered a stroke and later died in 1937. Both were buried at St. Cecilia’s Cemetery in Fonda. Her grandchildren said her funeral was one of the biggest funerals ever seen in the village.
Monday, January 16, 2023-Story behind the story, Queen Libby of Fonda.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-The Sanford Stud Farm fire in 1939
A tragic event in Amsterdam’s history was the January 9, 1939 fire that killed 25 thoroughbred horses and did $200,000 damage at the Sanford Stud Farm outside the city limits on Route 30. A police dog also died in the blaze.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023-From the Archives-Episode 76, August 30, 2015- Nick Bunker is author of “An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America.” The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Thursday, January 19- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Death rode the wings of the wind
Friday, January 20, 2023-Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander. 250th American independence anniversary coming in years ahead.
As New York State Historian, my duties are twofold; to help provide support and coordination to the historical field, including local historians, academic historians, and historical societies and museums; as well as to conduct research on various topics relevant to New York State history and the New York State Museum.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, January 15, 2023
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to expand the amount of housing in the state to meet a growing demand, help lower…
The Sunday Print Story on The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Queen Libby was an important and colorful early resident of Fonda
Saturday January 14, 2023
Ricardo Herrera is author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.
In this major new history of the Continental Army's Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Ricardo A. Herrera uncovers what daily life was like for soldiers during the darkest and coldest days of the American Revolution: the Valley Forge winter. Here, the army launched its largest and riskiest operation—not a bloody battle against British forces but a campaign to feed itself and prevent starvation or dispersal during the long encampment. Herrera brings to light the army's herculean efforts to feed itself, support local and Continental governments, and challenge the British Army.
Episode 457
Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
The Historians Podcast 2023 fund drive is now underway! The 2023 goal is $7000. Be the first to contribute to this campaign. You may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you for your support.
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Queen Libby
Mohawk Valley Weather, Saturday, January 14, 2023
Friday, January 13, 2023
Bill Buell
Schenectady County Historian
https://schenectadyhistorical.org/
The Museum & Library is the perfect starting point for discovering the history of Schenectady County.
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Saturday January 14, 2023
Ricardo Herrera is author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.
Herrera is visiting professor at the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Previously he was professor of military history at the School of Advanced Military Studies, US Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as an armorer and cavalry officer in the US Army.
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Queen Libby was an important and colorful early resident of Fonda
She married Italian native, James Cassell, in 1891. They had three children before Cassell died. In 1901 Luciano married Alphonso Mancini; he hailed from Pietramelara, Italy, and worked for the railroad. They had four more children.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Friday, January 13, 2023
Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice
By Bob Cudmore
More than 2,000 people died on May 31, 1889, when the South Fork Dam collapsed at Lake Conemaugh sending a wall of water and debris into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, already experiencing flooding from the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers.
Six weeks later, a flood struck Johnstown, New York along the Cayadutta Creek. The story of the local Johnstown flood is part of the exhibit “Once Upon a Time in Johnstown” at the Fulton County Museum to mark the 250th anniversary of Johnstown’s founding.
Joan Loveday, Fulton County Historical Society president, said in early July of 1889, “After heavy rains, the Cayadutta Creek raised eight feet in 30 minutes and the creek banks and foundations were rapidly inundated as hundreds of people gathered along the creek and bridges to watch the flood.
“Police tried in vain to move sightseers from the water's edge, when many people were dumped into the raging current. Five men died. Four dams and seven bridges were destroyed. Factories and skin mills along the creek were severely damaged.”
The New York Times printed this account on July 11, “This city is slowly relieving itself of the terror which came down upon it with the flood yesterday, and…wonders at the strange coincidence of name and tragedy with that of the unhappy town in Pennsylvania.”
ORGINAL GALLOWS
Also a part of the Johnstown exhibit at the museum is the original gallows used for hangings at the old Fulton County jail.
Loveday said, “When the Johnstown jail was renovated, I believe then Fulton County Historian Lou Decker brought the gallows to the museum and it has been in the basement. I am told it was on display once before. The gallows is a huge wooden beam with a hook on it. Due to the weight of it, we have it suspended on two old glove machines covered with fabric.”
Another exhibit, featuring famous Johnstown women, tells the story of Elizabeth Van Valkenburg, born in 1799, the only woman to be hanged on the gallows on display at the museum.
Loveday said, “A very poor judge of husbands, Elizabeth chose drunkards who were child and wife beaters and non-supporters, who made her and her children's lives miserable. After the death of her first husband who died of stomach problems, she was remarried in six months to John Van Valkenburg in 1834.
“To remedy the abuse of this husband, Elizabeth laced John's brandy with arsenic, which of course made him ill. Suspicions were raised and when Elizabeth heard she was wanted for questioning she was found hiding in the foundation of a Kingsboro home. She was escorted home for the night. She ran off again with the sheriff in hot pursuit and hid in the loft of a barn. Unfortunately, Elizabeth fell through the hay hole in the loft and broke her hip.
“When John died, Elizabeth was incarcerated in the old Johnstown jail for almost a year. At her trial she was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. When she signed a full confession, she confessed to killing her first husband as well. Since Elizabeth was unable to stand, the gallows had to be modified to hang her in a chair. This hanging took place January 24, 1846. Elizabeth is buried without a headstone in the Colonial Cemetery in Johnstown.
“Sympathy ran high for poor Elizabeth, who in 1845 would have had no rights to her children or possessions, had she left her husband. It is a sad story, but part of Johnstown's history.”
The Fulton County Museum, 237 Kingsboro Avenue in Gloversville is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No admission is charged but donations are appreciated.
Friday, January 13, 2023
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Saturday January 14, 2023
Ricardo Herrera is author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.
Herrera is visiting professor at the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Previously he was professor of military history at the School of Advanced Military Studies, US Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as an armorer and cavalry officer in the US Army.
Sunday, January 15, 2023-Queen Libby was an important and colorful early resident of Fonda
Born in Atripalda in southern Italy on March 10, 1873, Elizabeth Luciano came to Fonda by herself in 1889 as a teenager and lived at the James Snell house on Railroad Street.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, January 12, 2023
WEIGHING IN – As Gov. Kathy Hochul walked down the aisle ahead of delivering her State of the State address…
Today the second Highlights Podcast of 2021 features Jim Richmond on Saratoga County history, Mike Hauser on Fulton County sports, Sarah Patten on women spies, Thruway questions from Robert Burns, John Warren on motorization of the Adirondack Park, Jim Kaplan on New York City’s South Street Seaport and Roland Vinyard on West Virginia caver Pete Hauer.
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice
“Police tried in vain to move sightseers from the water's edge, when many people were dumped into the raging current. Five men died.
Friday, January 13, 2023
...there was a good turn to the right
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, January 11, 2023
MINDEN — Less than a month ago, Minden Supervisor Cheryl Reese was taken aback as she watched two-thirds of the…
Amsterdam mourned city official in 1953
Alex Isabel was a champion of area sports
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam was shocked one Sunday morning in January, 1953 when city recreation superintendent Alex H. Isabel, 53, died suddenly of a heart attack at his Forest Avenue home.
Isabel was also a Brooklyn Dodgers scout and basketball and baseball coach at St. Mary’s Institute at the time of his death. Three years later, a Little League baseball field was dedicated in his honor, a field that still bears the family name on Upper Locust Avenue.
“He was never sick a day in his life,” recalled Isabel’s son, Gerard, known as “Pup,” a nickname his father gave him. The night before his death, Alex Isabel spoke at a dinner of the St. Agnello Club, an Italian-American organization in the West End where he spent much of his life.
As were many West Enders, Isabel was born in Pisciotta, Italy. He came to New York City at age six where he lived on Little Italy’s Cherry Street before his family settled in Amsterdam.
Isabel’s athletic skills became apparent when he played baseball for Amsterdam High before World War I, getting an offer from the New York Giants. Instead, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and suffered hearing loss while on board the battleship Michigan.
After the war, Isabel finished high school and played baseball at St. Mary’s Institute. He married Ann Murphy in 1923 and they had three children.
Isabel played and coach baseball in the popular semi-professional leagues of the day. He pitched for the Gloversville-Johnstown Twin Cities and played and managed the Ticonderoga team in the Northern League in 1925 and 1926. He played baseball for teams including the Mohawk Mills Karnaks, Tonquas Tribe and the West End Athletic Club of Albany.
In 1940, Alex Isabel began coaching baseball at St. Mary’s, adding basketball duties a year later.
He became acting recreation superintendent for the city in 1944 when superintendent S. Joseph Golden was serving in the Navy. Golden returned but resigned shortly after the war. Isabel became superintendent from 1946 until his death.
He spearheaded improvements at city playgrounds and led local baseball teams into national tournaments. He made college possible for many youngsters and was lauded for his efforts in fighting juvenile delinquency by keeping youth busy with productive pursuits. He brought in drama teacher Bert DeRose to begin a popular series of summer musicals.
As a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Isabel scoured Upstate New York and parts of New England and Canada. His best-known find was Johnny Podres of Witherbee, New York, who pitched for the Dodgers in the World Series in 1953.
Brothers Guy, Hector and Alex were all involved in operation of Isabel’s Restaurant on West Main Street, although Guy and his wife Ida were the principal restaurateurs. “Pup” Isabel, who was a waiter at Isabel’s, recalled that across from the restaurant on West Main Street in the old days was a public bath, next to a three-chair barbershop, candy store and a poolroom. “Pup” said his father Alex was good at pool, too. He was also a high scoring bowler.
The week that Alex Isabel died, recreation activities halted in Amsterdam. His funeral mass at St. Mary’s Church attracted a huge crowd of state and local dignitaries, a Brooklyn Dodgers delegation, St. Mary’s students and 115 boys from the Little League and Little-Bigger League.
At the 1956 dedication of Alex Isabel Memorial Field, committee chairman Nicholas DeCross stated: “It is hoped that the boys who play on this field will pattern themselves after Alex and attempt to pass on to their boys what he tried to instill in those who played for him.”
Wednesday, January 11, 2023-Our second Highlights Podcast of 2021 features Jim Richmond on Saratoga County history, Mike Hauser on Fulton County sports, Sarah Patten on women spies, Thruway questions from Robert Burns, John Warren on motorization of the Adirondack Park, Jim Kaplan on New York City’s South Street Seaport and Roland Vinyard on West Virginia caver Pete Hauer.
Thursday, January 12-The Daily Gazette-Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice
More than 2,000 people died on May 31, 1889, when the South Fork Dam collapsed at Lake Conemaugh sending a wall of water and debris into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, already experiencing flooding from the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers.
Friday, January 13, 2023
....The hotel became the college
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, January 10, 2023
...again not much weather to report
CANAJOHARIE — At nearly 5 years old, Ellie sure has been involved in more than her fair share of legal…
Monday, January 9, 2023-Story behind the story, Amsterdam Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023-The sudden death of Amsterdam sportsman Alex Isabel
Amsterdam was shocked one Sunday morning in January, 1953 when city recreation superintendent Alex H. Isabel, 53, died suddenly of a heart attack at his Forest Avenue home.
Isabel was also a Brooklyn Dodgers scout and basketball and baseball coach at St. Mary’s Institute at the time of his death.
Wednesday, January 11, 2023-Our second Highlights Podcast of 2021 features Jim Richmond on Saratoga County history, Mike Hauser on Fulton County sports, Sarah Patten on women spies, Thruway questions from Robert Burns, John Warren on motorization of the Adirondack Park, Jim Kaplan on New York City’s South Street Seaport and Roland Vinyard on West Virginia caver Pete Hauer.
Thursday, January 12-The Daily Gazette-Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice
Friday, January 13, 2023
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Think Summer in The Mohawk Valley and East/West
Cycle the Erie Canal Bike Tour
Photo:Dylan Carey
https://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal/annual-bike-tour
July 9-16 2023
The old courthouse, Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics
By Bob Cudmore
The Fulton County Courthouse in Johnstown was one of many topics among Focus on History columns in 2022.
Judge Robert P. Best published the booklet “Everything West of Albany in 1772.” The Johnstown courthouse was built in 1772 when New York State was still a British colony. The structure at 223 West Main Street is the oldest existing courthouse in the state.
Best, who retired in 2006, said, “It (looked) like a movie scene from an old movie of what a courthouse looks like and it still does.”
What’s it like to be the boss’s son? Rod Correll took up that question in a column about his memoir, “Learning to Be a Leatherman-A Rite of Passage.”
Rod, who lived some years in Gloversville, was descended from two important figures in the leather industry, his grandfather Herman Loewenstein and his father
Rudy Correll.
Another Focus on History traced the connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah” in 1994.
Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.
Amsterdam’s Ukrainian community was chronicled in stories about Amsterdam’s Ukrainian Church, St. Nicholas on Pulaski Street, and late local Ukrainian activist Myron Swidersky. Ukrainian immigrant Peter Segen married my mother’s sister.
Amsterdam Fire Department Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini, who died during 2022, added many anecdotes to our local history stories.
Mancini described one fire in which he almost lost his life. That nasty blaze destroyed the Speedline Warehouse on Front Street in the 1990s. An overhead door had burned off giving Mancini and other firefighters access to the building. As they moved forward, a propane tank exploded.
“Three more steps and I would have got it,” Mancini said. The blaze was so intense that burning debris ignited nearby buildings. Mancini said the cause was arson. The case took four years to prosecute but a conviction was finally secured.
A national family history television show focused on a TV celebrity’s Mohawk Valley ancestors in 2022.
Actor Nick Offerman and a production crew from NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” recorded interviews at the Old Courthouse in Fonda, home to Montgomery County’s history and genealogical collections, and the Johnstown Public Library, in the city founded by British colonial leader Sir William Johnson.
Researchers traced Offerman’s roots to a Mohawk Valley couple, Bartholomew and Eva Pickard and their grandson, Joseph Mabee.
The Marquis de Lafayette visited Schoharie Crossing in Fort Hunter by canal boat in 1825 and had a reunion with two Mohawk Valley patriots, Thomas Sammons and his son Simeon.
According to historian and attorney Jim Kaplan there are plans to commemorate Lafayette’s American tour to mark its 200th anniversary in 2024 and 2025.
The Marquis was a wealthy French aristocrat whose father had been killed by the British, when young Lafayette was only two years old.
Lafayette fought alongside George Washington during the American Revolution. Lafayette played a key role in the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.
And according to another column, outdoorsman, historian and educator Donald R. Williams of Gloversville owes a lot to his grandfather, John Whitman.
“He was a carpenter, Adirondack guide and farmer up in the Adirondacks,” Williams said. “And I inherited all my love of the Adirondacks and my love of tools and all those things from my grandfather.”
Williams’ latest book is a hefty volume with many pictures called “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.”
One tool looks like a tennis racquet holding a u-shaped piece of cedar. It was used to fluff up feather beds.
Not much January weather in the weather this Week
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 9, 2023
The old courthouse, Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics
By Bob Cudmore
The Fulton County Courthouse in Johnstown was one of many topics among Focus on History columns in 2022.
Judge Robert P. Best published the booklet “Everything West of Albany in 1772.” The Johnstown courthouse was built in 1772 when New York State was still a British colony. The structure at 223 West Main Street is the oldest existing courthouse in the state.
Best, who retired in 2006, said, “It (looked) like a movie scene from an old movie of what a courthouse looks like and it still does.”
What’s it like to be the boss’s son? Rod Correll took up that question in a column about his memoir, “Learning to Be a Leatherman-A Rite of Passage.”
Rod, who lived some years in Gloversville, was descended from two important figures in the leather industry, his grandfather Herman Loewenstein and his father
Rudy Correll.
Another Focus on History traced the connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah” in 1994.
Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.
Amsterdam’s Ukrainian community was chronicled in stories about Amsterdam’s Ukrainian Church, St. Nicholas on Pulaski Street, and late local Ukrainian activist Myron Swidersky. Ukrainian immigrant Peter Segen married my mother’s sister.
Amsterdam Fire Department Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini, who died during 2022, added many anecdotes to our local history stories.
Mancini described one fire in which he almost lost his life. That nasty blaze destroyed the Speedline Warehouse on Front Street in the 1990s. An overhead door had burned off giving Mancini and other firefighters access to the building. As they moved forward, a propane tank exploded.
“Three more steps and I would have got it,” Mancini said. The blaze was so intense that burning debris ignited nearby buildings. Mancini said the cause was arson. The case took four years to prosecute but a conviction was finally secured.
A national family history television show focused on a TV celebrity’s Mohawk Valley ancestors in 2022.
Actor Nick Offerman and a production crew from NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” recorded interviews at the Old Courthouse in Fonda, home to Montgomery County’s history and genealogical collections, and the Johnstown Public Library, in the city founded by British colonial leader Sir William Johnson.
Researchers traced Offerman’s roots to a Mohawk Valley couple, Bartholomew and Eva Pickard and their grandson, Joseph Mabee.
The Marquis de Lafayette visited Schoharie Crossing in Fort Hunter by canal boat in 1825 and had a reunion with two Mohawk Valley patriots, Thomas Sammons and his son Simeon.
According to historian and attorney Jim Kaplan there are plans to commemorate Lafayette’s American tour to mark its 200th anniversary in 2024 and 2025.
The Marquis was a wealthy French aristocrat whose father had been killed by the British, when young Lafayette was only two years old.
Lafayette fought alongside George Washington during the American Revolution. Lafayette played a key role in the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.
And according to another column, outdoorsman, historian and educator Donald R. Williams of Gloversville owes a lot to his grandfather, John Whitman.
“He was a carpenter, Adirondack guide and farmer up in the Adirondacks,” Williams said. “And I inherited all my love of the Adirondacks and my love of tools and all those things from my grandfather.”
Williams’ latest book is a hefty volume with many pictures called “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.”
One tool looks like a tennis racquet holding a u-shaped piece of cedar. It was used to fluff up feather beds.
Monday, January 9, 2023-Story behind the story, Amsterdam Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023-The sudden death of Amsterdam sportsman Alex Isabel
Wednesday, January 11, 2023-Our second Highlights Podcast of 2021 features Jim Richmond on Saratoga County history, Mike Hauser on Fulton County sports, Sarah Patten on women spies, Thruway questions from Robert Burns, John Warren on motorization of the Adirondack Park, Jim Kaplan on New York City’s South Street Seaport and Roland Vinyard on West Virginia caver Pete Hauer.
Thursday, January 12-The Daily Gazette-Exhibit told of disaster, gallows, justice
Friday, January 13, 2023
Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, January 8, 2023
Saturday January 7, 2023-Historian Peter Betz explores various theories on the origin of the name of the Montgomery County hamlet of Tribes Hill. He also recounts horse runaway stories from Fulton County.
The Erie Canal
https://www.eriecanal.org/Schoharie.html
Sunday, January 8, 2023
The old courthouse, Amsterdam Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics
Another Focus on History traced the connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah” in 1994.
The Old Courthouse "The Podcast"
The Historians making digital hay while the sunshines
January
Friday, January 13, 2023-Episode 457-Historian and Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s. Proctor’s Theatre, Hotel Van Curler, Charles Steinmetz, WGY and more.
Friday, January 20, 2023-Episode 458-New York State Historian Devin Lander on historical plans for 2023.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, January 7, 2023
The Historians this Weekend
Friday, January 6, 2023
Afoot today
Episode 456
The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Saturday January 7, 2023-Historian Peter Betz explores various theories on the origin of the name of the Montgomery County hamlet of Tribes Hill. He also recounts horse runaway stories from Fulton County.
Sunday, January 8, 2023- The old courthouse, Amsterdam Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics
The Fulton County Courthouse in Johnstown was one of many topics among Focus on History columns in 2022.
Judge Robert P. Best published the booklet “Everything West of Albany in 1772.” The Johnstown courthouse was built in 1772 when New York State was still a British colony. The structure at 223 West Main Street is the oldest existing courthouse in the state.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Friday, January 6, 2023
1888 blizzard impacted the living and the dead
By Bob Cudmore
The blizzard of 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States.
The March storm played a role in the funeral of Mrs. Robert Hartley in West Galway and West Charlton near Amsterdam.
In 1860, Amsterdam woodworker Isaac Shuler had opened a shop to make cabinets and furniture. Soon Shuler was making coffins and after the Civil War, he began offering undertaking services.
After Shuler died, W. Max Reid operated the undertaking business. Reid wrote a 1901 history book, “The Mohawk Valley.”
According to a newspaper accounts Mrs. Hartley’s funeral service was held at the Presbyterian Church in West Galway as the blizzard raged on Monday, March 12, 1888. H.O. Wilkie was the undertaker for the Shuler funeral home.
Wilkie had 26 men with him who opened the roads as a procession set out for the West Charlton cemetery. They traveled two miles reaching the farm of John Cunning but could go no farther. The corpse was left at the Cunning farm.
Snow was said to be as high as the backs of the horses as Wilkie and the driver of the team pulling the hearse, Wells Johnson, trekked back to Amsterdam.
No road could be seen and Johnson walked ahead of the team to find the road. Wilkie was thrown from the seat of the hearse several times when they hit potholes. The trip took four hours. Several mourners were stranded for several days at the West Galway church.
Burtiss Deal, born in 1882 in Amsterdam, was living with his parents in West Galway in 1888. His father was operating a textile mill there.
The snowstorm and the birth of Deal’s younger brother Howard occurred simultaneously. The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days until the roads were cleared. Deal was elected mayor of Amsterdam in 1947 and served four, two-year terms.
The 1888 storm dealt a heavy blow to the railroads. A cattle train was stalled between Amsterdam and Tribes Hill. Dead cattle had to be removed from the cars. Passenger and freight trains were stalled in Amsterdam on the north and south sides of the Mohawk River.
Conductor Mason of train 52 on the south side of the river had a big crew and, according to a published account, “Attended to the wants and comforts of his passengers in first class style. The jovial conductor had each foot incased in a canvas bag and presented a comical sight walking around in his improvised snow shoes.”
One reporter wrote, “Mrs. Cole, the New York Central ticket agent, was besieged with questions from belated travelers, but answered every one with a kind word and a smile.”
The wind was described as being “almost a cyclone at times.” As far as the eye could see there was four feet of snow.
Charles Yund, a saloon keeper on Amsterdam’s South Side, stuck a large flag in a snow pile which completely covered one of his entrances. A reporter wrote, “It is intended to notify customers that he is not entirely buried.”
On some city streets where the snow was shoveled, the banks on either side were on a level with the second stories of the houses. Tunnels through the snow were common sights. Citizens were urged to dig out fire hydrants.
There was at least one old timer who was not impressed with the 1888 storm. Stephen R. Voorhees told a reporter that in the winter of 1836 a snow storm had visited the region which was more severe. It snowed steadily, he said, for three days and three nights.
Going into the Weekend
Friday, January 6, 2023
Afoot tomorrow
Episode 456
The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Saturday January 7, 2023-Historian Peter Betz explores various theories on the origin of the name of the Montgomery County hamlet of Tribes Hill. He also recounts horse runaway stories from Fulton County.
Sunday, January 8, 2023- The old courthouse, Amsterdam Ukrainians, Lafayette and other 2022 topics
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, January 5, 2023
The election is over. The holidays are over. The big pay raise is done. And now, after the first day…
Dave Northrup is editor of Hugh Donlon’s “The Mohawk Valley.” Written during the 1930’s when he was a reporter and columnist for the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, “The Mohawk Valley” is Donlon’s history of his native region from the end of the ice age to 1940.
...from The Daily Gazette
Hugh Donlon had started work on a book called “The Mohawk Valley” in 1932. He used one week of his two-week annual vacations to do research at valley libraries and archives. Home research was done at the dining room table. He typed the manuscript in a second floor office and bedroom at the family home, 13 Kimball St.
In the dedication, Donlon credits his sons, “Whose contribution to this book was undisturbed slumber through night hours while their father worked.”
Thursday, January 5, 2023
The blizzard of 1888
The blizzard of 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States.
The March storm played a role in the funeral of Mrs. Robert Hartley in West Galway and West Charlton near Amsterdam.
Friday, January 6, 2023
Episode 456-The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Bohlke and his mother Genevieve stayed home in Scotch Church to make sure the furnace kept working. His father, Harley Bohlke, stayed in Amsterdam with an aunt, Elizabeth Folmsbee on Guy Park Avenue, as he had to operate his business, Mohawk Cleaners & Dyers, on the old Cedar Street.
Winter of 1958
By Bob Cudmore
Ralph Bohlke of Ballston Spa has vivid memories of the February 1958 snowstorm that isolated rural Mohawk Valley families for two weeks or more. For four days a U.S. Army helicopter was used to evacuate isolated families and bring in food, fuel and medicine to Charleston and other towns.
Bohlke lived on the border between Princetown and the town of Florida in the hamlet of Scotch Church. The hamlet was named for Scottish settlers who came there at the end of the Revolutionary War and built a Presbyterian Church. A cemetery near the former church has gravestones dating back to 1802, some of them for Revolutionary War soldiers.
Bohlke was 13 years old in 1958. Snowed in for seven days, relief arrived in the form of a Schenectady County plow that eventually got to Bohlke’s home on Route 160. That evening, a Sunday, produced another big snowfall and they were snowed in for another seven days. Relief finally came about day sixteen from a town of Florida plow.
Bohlke wrote, “The snow was almost even with the telephone lines in Scotch Church because I remember touching them with my hand in front of the church.
“I remember that there was so much blowing snow that it was the only time in my life that I could not get out the front or back door. There was even a porch on the front door, but the snow was still blown up against the door so we couldn’t get outdoors. We had a wood shed attached to the back of the house with a dog door. I climbed out of the dog door to get outside.”
Bohlke and his mother Genevieve stayed home in Scotch Church to make sure the furnace kept working. His father, Harley Bohlke, stayed in Amsterdam with an aunt, Elizabeth Folmsbee on Guy Park Avenue, as he had to operate his business, Mohawk Cleaners & Dyers, on the old Cedar Street.
Bohlke wrote, “I remember digging a tunnel out to the road in the driveway. When my father came home after the two weeks, he had a black bear hat on and when I first saw it I wasn’t sure who or what was coming through that tunnel. Fortunately it was my father with groceries in both arms.
“We had at least six feet of snow in our driveway except for a small area that was cleared out by the wind. My father and I spent a half day with our tractor and a scoop. We only got about 50 feet cleaned out and decided it would take us two more days to get to the road. “
Bohlke’s father called a friend at Rotterdam Septic in Rotterdam Junction to come with a front end loader to clear out the driveway.
Bohlke said, “As kids, we loved the two weeks off. We played basketball in Aucompaugh’s barn and did a lot of tobogganing. We would go right over apple trees, going airborne, and crash into the snow. Since there was so much snow, we would just go right into the snow and get buried. You could not sleigh ride as the snow was too powdery and too deep. Those were the days.”
There were about 100 rescues in rural Montgomery County in February 1958. Grateful families provided plow operators with coffee and sandwiches and even full meals. Some farmers had to dump their spoiling supplies of milk. Amsterdam city schools closed for a week.
The spring of 1958 brought major flooding along the Mohawk River. After that, the Army Corps of Engineers built retaining walls along the south side of the river in Amsterdam.
Wednesday, January 4, 2023-Dave Northrup is editor of Hugh Donlon’s “The Mohawk Valley.” Written during the 1930’s when he was a reporter and columnist for the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, “The Mohawk Valley” is Donlon’s history of his native region from the end of the ice age to 1940.
...from The Daily Gazette
The deck was stacked against reporter and historian Hugh P. Donlon of Amsterdam in the 1930s. Widowed twice, Donlon raised four boys.
Born in Amsterdam in 1896, Donlon’s first memory was of his father’s grocery store at Market and Division Streets. His first job was as a page for the city Common Council.
Historian Bob Going said Donlon met his first wife, Teresa Baier, in 1914 as she sold tickets at the grand opening of Crescent Park, today’s Shuttleworth Park. Teresa died in 1921 after one year of marriage while giving birth to their son Charles.
Donlon and Anna Frances Nadler married in 1924, the year after her graduation from high school. Three more sons arrived at yearly intervals starting in 1928: John, Thomas and Edward.
Donlon became a reporter at the Amsterdam Recorder in 1930 and started writing his Main Street column in 1931. His first history book came out that year, “The Story of Auriesville,” the Mohawk Valley’s famous Catholic Shrine.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 The blizzard of 1888
Friday, January 6, 2023-Episode 456-The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Thanks to your donations The Historians Podcast fund drive has exceeded our $6000 yearly goal in 2022! The current total is $6455. You may still donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on Amsterdam and Johnstown Radio, as well as Public Radio Albany WMHT89.1FM RISE
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, January 3, 2023
Monday, January 2, 2023-Story behind the story, Christmas memories column 2.
My grandmother, Margaret Cook, was a widow with three small children in Randall during World War I, supporting her family by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the Barge Canal against German saboteurs.
Tuesday, January 3, 2023 The winter of 1958
Ralph Bohlke of Ballston Spa has vivid memories of the February 1958 snowstorm that isolated rural Mohawk Valley families for two weeks or more. For four days a U.S. Army helicopter was used to evacuate isolated families and bring in food, fuel and medicine to Charleston and other towns.
Wednesday, January 4, 2023-Dave Northrup is editor of Hugh Donlon’s “The Mohawk Valley.” Written during the 1930’s when he was a reporter and columnist for the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, “The Mohawk Valley” is Donlon’s history of his native region from the end of the ice age to 1940.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 The blizzard of 1888
Friday, January 6, 2023-Episode 456-The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Thanks to your donations The Historians Podcast fund drive has exceeded our $6000 yearly goal in 2022! The current total is $6455. You may still donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on Amsterdam and Johnstown Radio, as well as Public Radio Albany WMHT89.1FM RISE
She is now sending Christmas gifts
By Bob Cudmore
My grandmother, Margaret Cook, was a widow with three small children in Randall during World War I, supporting her family by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the Barge Canal against German saboteurs.
One of the soldiers was Private William J. Allen of Fonda who told Saturday Globe newspaper, “(Margaret) has been cook for the boys at Yosts (across the river from Randall) since the war broke out and 14 of ‘her boys’ are in France and seven more are in training camps. She has mothered them all and the boys look to her for smiles and other necessities as well as for their meals.
“The boys in France who have boarded with her she does not forget but sends them cigarettes or money to buy them. She is now sending Christmas gifts.”
Were snowbanks bigger when we were younger? There could have been more snow. Other old timers have told me though that years ago the snow was plowed, but not removed.
During the 1940s, Amsterdam native Richard Ellers said the snow crunched underfoot, “That crunch is linked in my memory to walking to Christmas midnight Mass at St. Michael’s Church from our home, a flat on East Main Street downtown.”
In his upstairs flat, Ellers could hear a Salvation Army bell ringer on the street below, “There was only single pane glass on the windows. I also can still hear the clink-clink-clink of snow chains on cars driving below. Occasionally every third or fourth clink would be counter pointed with a double thunk, which was the sound of the ends of a broken chain slapping the underside of a fender.”
Shirley Spurles Baroody spent 11 years of her childhood at the Children’s Home, an orphanage at 81 Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam. The home closed in 1957.
In December, the matrons at Children’s Home asked each child for a list of three gifts wanted for Christmas. Baroody remembered getting paper dolls and white socks. The women’s clubs of Amsterdam put on a Christmas party every year for the home.
Jacki Vogel’s parents, Alphonso and Catherine D'Alessandro, owned the Gift & Hobby Shop at Lark and East Main Street in Amsterdam, “I vividly remember Christmas Eves when others were gathering to celebrate the holiday. My dad would still be in the store, awaiting people coming to pick up their layaways. They always went the extra mile to try and locate a special toy that someone would want for a child.”
Amsterdam native Donald Isburgh recalled Christmas Eve services at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church on Division Street, “This was in the years before other local churches had their own Christmas Eve services, and the church was so crowded that the ushers had to set up extra chairs in the center aisle to accommodate everyone.”
When I was young, we went to a candlelight service Christmas Eve at First Methodist Church on Division Street, torn down for urban renewal in 1973. I was always impressed that the choir marched in holding hymnbooks and candles while singing. No one ever tripped and started a fire.
My family used a machine called the Recordio to make 78 rpm discs on Christmas to send to my Aunt Winnie and Uncle Al in Florida. Dinner was always turkey and always good and, after visiting Aunt Pansy, Uncle Percy and their three sons, we came back home and ate yet another meal with Aunts Gladys and Vera.
The Recordio made the move when our family relocated to Amsterdam’s Peter Lane in 1957. At some point, unfortunately, our machine was discarded along with our Recordio discs.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 2, 2023
ALBANY — And just like that, shattered were the remains of a 245-year glass ceiling. Democrats Kathy Hochul and Antonio…
When I was young, we went to a candlelight service Christmas Eve at First Methodist Church on Division Street, torn down for urban renewal in 1973. I was always impressed that the choir marched in holding hymnbooks and candles while singing. No one ever tripped and started a fire.
She is now sending Christmas gifts
By Bob Cudmore
January 1, 2023
My grandmother, Margaret Cook, was a widow with three small children in Randall during World War I, supporting her family by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the Barge Canal against German saboteurs.
One of the soldiers was Private William J. Allen of Fonda who told Saturday Globe newspaper, “(Margaret) has been cook for the boys at Yosts (across the river from Randall) since the war broke out and 14 of ‘her boys’ are in France and seven more are in training camps. She has mothered them all and the boys look to her for smiles and other necessities as well as for their meals.
“The boys in France who have boarded with her she does not forget but sends them cigarettes or money to buy them. She is now sending Christmas gifts.”
Were snowbanks bigger when we were younger? There could have been more snow. Other old timers have told me though that years ago the snow was plowed, but not removed.
During the 1940s, Amsterdam native Richard Ellers said the snow crunched underfoot, “That crunch is linked in my memory to walking to Christmas midnight Mass at St. Michael’s Church from our home, a flat on East Main Street downtown.”
In his upstairs flat, Ellers could hear a Salvation Army bell ringer on the street below, “There was only single pane glass on the windows. I also can still hear the clink-clink-clink of snow chains on cars driving below. Occasionally every third or fourth clink would be counter pointed with a double thunk, which was the sound of the ends of a broken chain slapping the underside of a fender.”
Shirley Spurles Baroody spent 11 years of her childhood at the Children’s Home, an orphanage at 81 Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam. The home closed in 1957.
In December, the matrons at Children’s Home asked each child for a list of three gifts wanted for Christmas. Baroody remembered getting paper dolls and white socks. The women’s clubs of Amsterdam put on a Christmas party every year for the home.
Jacki Vogel’s parents, Alphonso and Catherine D'Alessandro, owned the Gift & Hobby Shop at Lark and East Main Street in Amsterdam, “I vividly remember Christmas Eves when others were gathering to celebrate the holiday. My dad would still be in the store, awaiting people coming to pick up their layaways. They always went the extra mile to try and locate a special toy that someone would want for a child.”
Amsterdam native Donald Isburgh recalled Christmas Eve services at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church on Division Street, “This was in the years before other local churches had their own Christmas Eve services, and the church was so crowded that the ushers had to set up extra chairs in the center aisle to accommodate everyone.”
When I was young, we went to a candlelight service Christmas Eve at First Methodist Church on Division Street, torn down for urban renewal in 1973. I was always impressed that the choir marched in holding hymnbooks and candles while singing. No one ever tripped and started a fire.
My family used a machine called the Recordio to make 78 rpm discs on Christmas to send to my Aunt Winnie and Uncle Al in Florida. Dinner was always turkey and always good and, after visiting Aunt Pansy, Uncle Percy and their three sons, we came back home and ate yet another meal with Aunts Gladys and Vera.
The Recordio made the move when our family relocated to Amsterdam’s Peter Lane in 1957. At some point, unfortunately, our machine was discarded along with our Recordio discs.
Monday, January 2, 2023-Story behind the story, Christmas memories column 2.
Tuesday, January 3, 2023 The winter of 1958
Wednesday, January 4, 2023-Dave Northrup is editor of Hugh Donlon’s “The Mohawk Valley.” Written during the 1930’s when he was a reporter and columnist for the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, “The Mohawk Valley” is Donlon’s history of his native region from the end of the ice age to 1940.
Thursday, January 5, 2023 The blizzard of 1888
Friday, January 6, 2023-Episode 456-The historic Fulton County courthouse, Ukrainians who settled in Amsterdam, Lafayette in Fort Hunter and other 2022 topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, January 1, 2022
Charles Gehring’s life work has been to translate Old Dutch language documents from the 17th century New Netherland colony in New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
Amazon
The records from 1654 to 1679 are
translated from the original Dutch.
This is part of our New Netherland
Documents Series.
Christmas column 2, tomorrow Sunday, January 1, 2023
Bob Cudmore
My grandmother, Margaret Cook, was a widow with three small children in Randall during World War I, supporting her family by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the Barge Canal against German saboteurs.
Coming in January on The Historians a conversation with Jerry Snyder "HAL"
Buddy Levy Episode #455
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 31, 2022
Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it.
Saturday, December 31, 2022-Charles Gehring’s life work has been to translate Old Dutch language documents from the 17th century New Netherland colony in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Gehring is Director of the New Netherland Research Center at the New York State Education Department in Albany.
2023
Sunday, January 1
Christmas column 2
Margaret Cook
One of the soldiers was Private William J. Allen of Fonda who told Saturday Globe newspaper, “(Margaret) has been cook for the boys at Yosts (across the river from Randall) since the war broke out and 14 of ‘her boys’ are in France and seven more are in training camps.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Friday, December 30, 2022
If your coming home to The Mohawk Valley for the new year...
Jacob Snell: a big man at turn of the century
GOP politician occupied many positions by Bob Cudmore
Jacob Snell was a large man. Snell also loomed large in politics in Montgomery County and New York State in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When he died, newspapers called him “one of the best known Republicans in the state.”
Boss Snell’s girth made him an easy target for political cartoonists. A New York Journal cartoon in 1901 showed a seated Snell with a diamond stickpin on his tie. The caption said: “Jacob Snell, whose diamond looks him square in the face.”
Snell’s name came up in an email from Peter Betz, professor emeritus at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, who thought that Snell might have been the political operative indirectly attacked by a Democratic newspaper in Amsterdam in 1889 that was the subject of a previous column. A perusal of a scrapbook at the Montgomery County Department of History and Archives and conversation with Fonda village historian Volkert Veeder led to some fascinating information but no confirmation of the connection to the 1889 Amsterdam article.
According to newspaper obituaries, Jacob Snell was born in Stone Arabia in the Town of Palatine in 1847.and lived on a farm with his parents until about 1870 when he moved to Fonda. While in Palatine, he was elected supervisor and town clerk running as a Republican in a Democratic town. Two of his ancestors—an earlier Jacob and an Alexander Snell—had been elected county sheriff. Jacob Snell ran for sheriff in 1884 and lost but was elected in 1886, serving three years. He also served as chair of the Republican county committee, was a state committeeman and president of the village of Fonda.
He was superintendent of a section of the Erie Canal for a time. He had a company that did roadwork and was president of Mohawk Valley Broom Company of Fonda. He owned a downtown hotel in Fonda, later known as the Hotel Roy. He was president of the County Agricultural Society for two years.
In 1904, Governor Benjamin Odell named Snell the warden of the Napanoch reformatory in Ulster County. Snell had wanted the post of warden at Dannemora prison but didn’t get the job.
At the age of 58, Snell died at the reformatory on December 22nd, 1905.
“An abdominal abscess and acute kidney disease, surgical treatment of which was not practicable because of his immense girth, were the primary causes of his death,” wrote the Schenectady Union.
There is an oft repeated story that when Snell died, the door of the room where he perished had to be enlarged to get his body out.
Amsterdam’s Democratic paper, the Morning Sentinel, came to Republican Snell’s defense on the subject of his size. The Little Falls Times reported that Snell weighed 500 pounds and that 12 men were needed to carry his casket. The Sentinel scoffed at the Times report, saying Snell did not even weigh 400 pounds and that “six small men”: had no trouble handling the casket.
At the funeral in Fonda, Rev. Washington Frothingham paid tribute to Snell’s Revolutionary War ancestors, saying seven of them had given their lives for their country. After the funeral, Snell’s body was taken by train for burial in the Canajoharie Falls Cemetery. He had married Nancy Nellis of Palatine in 1867 and they had two sons and three daughters.
The Canajoharie Courier editorialized that Boss Snell was “unceasing and unrelenting” on behalf of the Republican Party: “A campaign once begun was waged until the polls were closed on election day, so in case of a narrow defeat he never felt the chagrin that he had not made his best and most ardent fight.”
Buddy Levy
Friday, December 30, 2022
Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her. As the ship became icebound, Stefansson disembarked with five companions and struck out on what he claimed was a 10-day caribou hunting trip. Most on board would never see him again.
Saturday, December 31, 2022-Charles Gehring’s life work has been to translate Old Dutch language documents from the 17th century New Netherland colony in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Gehring is Director of the New Netherland Research Center at the New York State Education Department in Albany.
2023
Sunday, January 1
Christmas column 2
My grandmother, Margaret Cook, was a widow with three small children in Randall during World War I, supporting her family by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the Barge Canal against German saboteurs.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 29, 2022
Historians schedule January 2023 includes Bill Buell- Daily Gazette, Devin Lander New York State Historian and Jerry Snyder with more Amsterdam, New York history
This Sunday, January 1, 2023- Christmas column 2
Mohawk Valley History on the WWW and Radio
$75.00 to Go to reach $6,500.00
You may still donate online at www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check(via the good people at The U.S. Postal Service, we need a better word than overworked) made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday
John Sweet is author of “The Sewing Girl’s Tale,” the story of the first published rape trial in American history. Sweet researched Lanah Sawyer’s decision to charge an upper class man named Henry Bedlow with rape, leading to a courtroom drama, riots in the streets, and public debate over class privilege. Sweet is a professor at the University of North Carolina.
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Politician Jacob Snell of Montgomery County
Snell’s name came up in an email from Peter Betz, professor emeritus at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, who thought that Snell might have been the political operative indirectly attacked by a Democratic newspaper in Amsterdam in 1889 that was the subject of a previous column.
Friday, December 30, 2022
Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her. As the ship became icebound, Stefansson disembarked with five companions and struck out on what he claimed was a 10-day caribou hunting trip. Most on board would never see him again.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, December 28, 2022
According to one of her grandchildren, Libby was a large woman who received her nickname when she knocked down a man who had used an ethnic slur about Italians. “The next time you see me, you bow,” Libby told the fallen man, leading him to refer to her as Queen Libby or Queen Lib.
The Historians Go Fund Me
Mohawk Valley History on the Internet and Radio
You may still donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
An Italian immigrant was the queen of Fonda
By Bob Cudmore
People in Fonda called her Queen Libby. A formidable woman from Italy, Queen Libby literally stopped a train, saved a man from the electric chair and became a major property owner in Fonda.
Elizabeth Luciano was born in Pietremalara near Naples, Italy in 1872. She came to America alone when she was 15 and settled in Fonda to be near relatives who lived in Johnstown. She married another Italian immigrant, James Cassell. They had three children before Cassell died at the age of 33. Libby then married Alfonso Mancini, who worked for the railroad, and had four more children. Libby and Alfonso returned to Italy for a time where Alfonso was a jailor. Libby returned to America by herself and Alfonso eventually followed her back to America.
According to one of her grandchildren, Libby was a large woman who received her nickname when she knocked down a man who had used an ethnic slur about Italians. “The next time you see me, you bow,” Libby told the fallen man, leading him to refer to her as Queen Libby or Queen Lib.
Queen Libby ran a boarding house and grocery store in the west end of Fonda, where she fed, housed and cared for Italian immigrants who worked on the railroad. She had a good head for business and purchased 16 two family houses in the village. Patsy Cassell, one of Libby’s sons, ran a popular Fonda tavern called Patsy’s for many years.
In 1923, one of Libby’s daughters, Eva Mancini Pepe, was about to give birth to her first child. Eva had married Ralph Pepe, whose father Salvatore had founded Pepe’s Bakery, still a family business on Amsterdam’s South Side.
According to a clipping from The Recorder from January 20th of 1923, Libby was informed by telephone that her daughter was about to have a rare Caesarean section at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Libby secured a red flag at the Fonda train station and when an express came ‘thundering in its usual way; she waved the red flag, convincing the engineer to stop the train and take her to Amsterdam. Arriving at the hospital, she charged into the operating room. Libby also made a phone call to the New York Central Railroad and demanded that the next possible train stop in Fonda to take her husband to Amsterdam.
The headline from the newspaper clipping reads: “Flags train to reach daughter as stork comes: Fonda woman bossed the whole New York Central Railroad but got to Amsterdam hospital on time.”
The child born that day was Vincenza Pepe, who passed away in 2001. Eva Pepe had seven children and the child she bore in 1924 is Salvatore Pepe of Amsterdam, who has provided information for this story.
“Queen Libby was strong-minded, tough but a gentle grandmother,” Pepe said, recalling that Libby gave quarters to her grandchildren.
Ann Nardick Sherman of Amsterdam also claims Queen Libby as a grandmother. Sherman’s mother was Constance Cassell, one of the children from Libby’s first marriage.
According to Sherman, Libby was an interpreter for Italians who could not speak English who were brought before the court in Fonda. Libby once saved an innocent man from the electric chair. Libby called Italy where the real murderer had fled and had him sent back to the United States for trial. Governor Franklin Roosevelt was so impressed that he visited Fonda to commend Libby and a parade was held in her honor.
Queen Libby died in 1938 and her grandchildren say her funeral was the biggest funeral ever seen in Fonda.
A name from History we don't know, but we use his product all the time.
Charles Martin Hall died on December 27, 1914 was an American inventor and chemist. Best known for his invention in 1886 of an inexpensive method for producing aluminum
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
John Sweet is author of “The Sewing Girl’s Tale,” the story of the first published rape trial in American history. Sweet researched Lanah Sawyer’s decision to charge an upper class man named Henry Bedlow with rape, leading to a courtroom drama, riots in the streets, and public debate over class privilege. Sweet is a professor at the University of North Carolina.
Thursday, December 29, 2022-Politician Jacob Snell of Montgomery County
Boss Snell’s girth made him an easy target for political cartoonists. A New York Journal cartoon in 1901 showed a seated Snell with a diamond stickpin on his tie. The caption said: “Jacob Snell, whose diamond looks him square in the face.”
Friday, December 30, 2022- Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 27, 2022
The sign was refurbished and has been displayed outside City Hall in recent years.
The Historians Podcast fund drive has exceeded our $6000 yearly goal! The current total is $6425. You may still donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Latest donations from Joseph Collea and Scott Lorenz. Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on radio! Each Monday and Wednesday WMHT89.1FM Public Radio Albany RISE
Monday, December 26, 2022-Story behind the story, Christmas memories
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Fonda’s Queen Libby
People in Fonda called her Queen Libby. A formidable woman from Italy, Queen Libby literally stopped a train, saved a man from the electric chair and became a major property owner in Fonda.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
John Sweet is author of “The Sewing Girl’s Tale,” the story of the first published rape trial in American history. Sweet researched Lanah Sawyer’s decision to charge an upper class man named Henry Bedlow with rape, leading to a courtroom drama, riots in the streets, and public debate over class privilege. Sweet is a professor at the University of North Carolina.
Thursday, December 29, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—-Politician Jacob Snell of Montgomery County
Friday, December 30, 2022- Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.
This Sunday, January 1, 2023- Christmas column 2
Amsterdam Christmas memories
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam retail sales records were broken in the 1902 Christmas shopping season. Receipts were up for department stores, dry goods and clothing. Merchants reported a week’s worth of banner shopping days leading up to Christmas.
So many packages and letters crowded the post office, then at East Main and Church Streets that employees had problems finding places to stand to do their jobs.
On Christmas day in 1902 the Salvation Army fed 500 people. Amsterdam Recorder newspaper carrier boys were guests of the publisher Christmas afternoon, seeing the melodrama “A Hidden Crime” at the East Main Street opera house.
The boisterous boys aroused attention before the play started but the newspaper reported the lads settled down to watch the show, “The hearts of the auditors kept going bumpety-bump through the nearly three hours of the play.”
In 1918 seventy soldiers from an Army truck train were entertained at Christmas dinner at the YMCA in Amsterdam by the Red Cross. In 1920 Amsterdam Police enjoyed a Christmas tree and supper at police headquarters.
The Sassafras Bird Sanctuary opened in 1931 and was a popular spot. In winter, children of New East Main Street School prepared a Christmas tree for the Sassafras with food for the birds.
One of the sights in Amsterdam during the heyday of carpet manufacturing was the lighted outline of a Christmas tree on the front of the Clock Building on Prospect Street, then headquarters of Bigelow-Sanford carpets.
Amsterdam had a Christmas parade on November 22 1947 featuring a large balloon train. The parade was covered in the Mohawk Carpets employees’ publication, Tomohawk.
A picture shows a large crowd spilling onto East Main Street to get a view as the engine of the balloon train passed in front of Lindsay’s Shoes. It looks as if the train barely cleared the Christmas decorations hung across the street. The parade began at what was Coessens Park in the East End and traveled down East and West Main Streets.
Santa arrived by helicopter at the parking lot behind Lurie's Department Store in downtown Amsterdam on December 6, 1958.
Santa proceeded on an armored personnel carrier (on loan from the National Guard) to Coessens Park.
A Christmas village had been built at the park and Santa took up residence for three weeks in his workshop as part of Amsterdam's Christmas Festival.
Mayor Thomas F. Gregg said a Christmas Festival was one of his dreams to boost the reputation of Amsterdam. Gregg operated a butcher shop on Railroad Street downtown. A Democrat, he was mayor for one two year term, 1958 and 1959.
Attractions in the festival included a life size 15 piece Nativity scene. A miniature fire truck from Boston gave rides to children. There was a cafeteria with refreshments and Santa's reindeer were on display.
The reindeer were eight English fallow deer rented from Catskill Game Farm. The game farm also provided six llamas, eight sheep and several donkeys. Closed in 2006, Catskill Game Farm was one of the biggest private zoos in America.
A large organ operated by an animated Santa Claus played holiday music at the festival.
The next year, 1959, Coessens Park apparently featured some holiday decorations installed by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. But there was no Christmas Festival in 1959 nor in subsequent years. Mayor Gregg died in 1960.
A large lighted sign had proclaimed Seasons Greetings during the 1958 festival. Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League said the sign was found in the carriage house at City Hall on Church Street.
The sign was refurbished and has been displayed outside City Hall in recent years.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, December 26, 2022
Santa arrived by helicopter at the parking lot behind Lurie's Department Store in downtown Amsterdam on December 6, 1958.
Thanks to your donations The Historians Podcast fund drive has exceeded our $6000 yearly goal! The current total is $6425. You may still donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Latest donations from Joseph Collea and Scott Lorenz. Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on radio!
Amsterdam Christmas memories
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam retail sales records were broken in the 1902 Christmas shopping season. Receipts were up for department stores, dry goods and clothing. Merchants reported a week’s worth of banner shopping days leading up to Christmas.
So many packages and letters crowded the post office, then at East Main and Church Streets that employees had problems finding places to stand to do their jobs.
On Christmas day in 1902 the Salvation Army fed 500 people. Amsterdam Recorder newspaper carrier boys were guests of the publisher Christmas afternoon, seeing the melodrama “A Hidden Crime” at the East Main Street opera house.
The boisterous boys aroused attention before the play started but the newspaper reported the lads settled down to watch the show, “The hearts of the auditors kept going bumpety-bump through the nearly three hours of the play.”
In 1918 seventy soldiers from an Army truck train were entertained at Christmas dinner at the YMCA in Amsterdam by the Red Cross. In 1920 Amsterdam Police enjoyed a Christmas tree and supper at police headquarters.
The Sassafras Bird Sanctuary opened in 1931 and was a popular spot. In winter, children of New East Main Street School prepared a Christmas tree for the Sassafras with food for the birds.
One of the sights in Amsterdam during the heyday of carpet manufacturing was the lighted outline of a Christmas tree on the front of the Clock Building on Prospect Street, then headquarters of Bigelow-Sanford carpets.
Amsterdam had a Christmas parade on November 22 1947 featuring a large balloon train. The parade was covered in the Mohawk Carpets employees’ publication, Tomohawk.
A picture shows a large crowd spilling onto East Main Street to get a view as the engine of the balloon train passed in front of Lindsay’s Shoes. It looks as if the train barely cleared the Christmas decorations hung across the street. The parade began at what was Coessens Park in the East End and traveled down East and West Main Streets.
Santa arrived by helicopter at the parking lot behind Lurie's Department Store in downtown Amsterdam on December 6, 1958.
Santa proceeded on an armored personnel carrier (on loan from the National Guard) to Coessens Park.
A Christmas village had been built at the park and Santa took up residence for three weeks in his workshop as part of Amsterdam's Christmas Festival.
Mayor Thomas F. Gregg said a Christmas Festival was one of his dreams to boost the reputation of Amsterdam. Gregg operated a butcher shop on Railroad Street downtown. A Democrat, he was mayor for one two year term, 1958 and 1959.
Attractions in the festival included a life size 15 piece Nativity scene. A miniature fire truck from Boston gave rides to children. There was a cafeteria with refreshments and Santa's reindeer were on display.
The reindeer were eight English fallow deer rented from Catskill Game Farm. The game farm also provided six llamas, eight sheep and several donkeys. Closed in 2006, Catskill Game Farm was one of the biggest private zoos in America.
A large organ operated by an animated Santa Claus played holiday music at the festival.
The next year, 1959, Coessens Park apparently featured some holiday decorations installed by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. But there was no Christmas Festival in 1959 nor in subsequent years. Mayor Gregg died in 1960.
A large lighted sign had proclaimed Seasons Greetings during the 1958 festival. Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League said the sign was found in the carriage house at City Hall on Church Street.
The sign was refurbished and has been displayed outside City Hall in recent years.
Off the digital press to post this Friday
Friday, December 30, 2022- Episode 455-Buddy Levy author of Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic (1913) Voyage of the Karluk. Levy, who lives in Idaho, is a go-to author for Arctic history.
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, December 25, 2022
Recreation retailer Alpin Haus will be expanding its Route 30 location as it looks to meet increased demand that intensified…
Bob Cudmore and Jim Kaplan talk about the day the British went home
Evacuation Day was November 25, 1783, the day the British left New York City finally ending the American Revolution. Attorney and historian Jim Kaplan discusses the significance of Evacuation Day and how the day has been commemorated through the years.
Bob Cudmore "Focus on History" story tomorrow from The Schenectady Daily Gazette
and Amsterdam Recorder
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Christmas Column 1
On Christmas day in 1902 the Salvation Army fed 500 people. Amsterdam Recorder newspaper carrier boys were guests of the publisher Christmas afternoon, seeing the melodrama “A Hidden Crime” at the East Main Street opera house.
Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 24, 2022
Leader Herald
Make Us A Part Of Your Day
Gloversville animal shelter issues urgent plea for help
Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz
“The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
With a background in filmmaking, graphic design, historical research, and writing, the creative team of Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz bring you their second book that uniquely combines a stunning visual presentation with concise and informative text about the vibrant 400-year history of the mid-Hudson Valley region. The full-color, hardcover book features 950 photographs, postcards, maps, art, and graphics, many never before published and all professionally restored. It's like a documentary film in print!
Saturday a conversation with Jim Kaplan
Evacuation Day was November 25, 1783, the day the British left New York City finally ending the American Revolution. Attorney and historian Jim Kaplan discusses the significance of Evacuation Day and how the day has been commemorated through the years.
Bob Cudmore "Focus on History" story this weekend from The Schenectady Daily Gazette
and Amsterdam Recorder
Sunday, December 25, 2022 Christmas Column 1 posted here on The Historians
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, December 23, 2022
...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...* WHAT...Flooding caused by rain and snowmelt continues to be possible.* WHERE...Western New England and eastern New York, with the exception of the southwestern Adirondacks and southern Herkimer County.* WHEN...Through Saturday morning.* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Moderate to heavy rain combined with snowmelt is expected to lead to minor to moderate flooding on creeks, streams, and rivers. Localized urban and poor drainage flooding is also possible late tonight and Friday due to the combination of rain and snowmelt. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/floodPRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possibleFlood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should beprepared to take action should flooding develop.
In 1918 seventy soldiers from an Army truck train were entertained at Christmas dinner at the YMCA in Amsterdam by the Red Cross. In 1920 Amsterdam Police enjoyed a Christmas tree and supper at police headquarters.
Amsterdam Christmas memories
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam retail sales records were broken in the 1902 Christmas shopping season. Receipts were up for department stores, dry goods and clothing. Merchants reported a week’s worth of banner shopping days leading up to Christmas.
So many packages and letters crowded the post office, then at East Main and Church Streets that employees had problems finding places to stand to do their jobs.
On Christmas day in 1902 the Salvation Army fed 500 people. Amsterdam Recorder newspaper carrier boys were guests of the publisher Christmas afternoon, seeing the melodrama “A Hidden Crime” at the East Main Street opera house.
The boisterous boys aroused attention before the play started but the newspaper reported the lads settled down to watch the show, “The hearts of the auditors kept going bumpety-bump through the nearly three hours of the play.”
In 1918 seventy soldiers from an Army truck train were entertained at Christmas dinner at the YMCA in Amsterdam by the Red Cross. In 1920 Amsterdam Police enjoyed a Christmas tree and supper at police headquarters.
The Sassafras Bird Sanctuary opened in 1931 and was a popular spot. In winter, children of New East Main Street School prepared a Christmas tree for the Sassafras with food for the birds.
One of the sights in Amsterdam during the heyday of carpet manufacturing was the lighted outline of a Christmas tree on the front of the Clock Building on Prospect Street, then headquarters of Bigelow-Sanford carpets.
Amsterdam had a Christmas parade on November 22 1947 featuring a large balloon train. The parade was covered in the Mohawk Carpets employees’ publication, Tomohawk.
A picture shows a large crowd spilling onto East Main Street to get a view as the engine of the balloon train passed in front of Lindsay’s Shoes. It looks as if the train barely cleared the Christmas decorations hung across the street. The parade began at what was Coessens Park in the East End and traveled down East and West Main Streets.
Santa arrived by helicopter at the parking lot behind Lurie's Department Store in downtown Amsterdam on December 6, 1958.
Santa proceeded on an armored personnel carrier (on loan from the National Guard) to Coessens Park.
A Christmas village had been built at the park and Santa took up residence for three weeks in his workshop as part of Amsterdam's Christmas Festival.
Mayor Thomas F. Gregg said a Christmas Festival was one of his dreams to boost the reputation of Amsterdam. Gregg operated a butcher shop on Railroad Street downtown. A Democrat, he was mayor for one two year term, 1958 and 1959.
Attractions in the festival included a life size 15 piece Nativity scene. A miniature fire truck from Boston gave rides to children. There was a cafeteria with refreshments and Santa's reindeer were on display.
The reindeer were eight English fallow deer rented from Catskill Game Farm. The game farm also provided six llamas, eight sheep and several donkeys. Closed in 2006, Catskill Game Farm was one of the biggest private zoos in America.
A large organ operated by an animated Santa Claus played holiday music at the festival.
The next year, 1959, Coessens Park apparently featured some holiday decorations installed by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. But there was no Christmas Festival in 1959 nor in subsequent years. Mayor Gregg died in 1960.
A large lighted sign had proclaimed Seasons Greetings during the 1958 festival. Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League said the sign was found in the carriage house at City Hall on Church Street.
The sign was refurbished and has been displayed outside City Hall in recent years.
Friday, December 23, 2022
Episode 454
Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz
The book begins with a 120-page introduction to Ulster County followed by a wide-ranging look at the lesser-known and nostalgic aspects of Kingston's history.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 22, 2022
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAYMORNING...* WHAT...Flooding caused by rain and snowmelt is possible.* WHERE...Western New England and eastern New York, with the exception of the southwestern Adirondacks and southern Herkimer County.* WHEN...From Friday morning through Saturday morning.* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Moderate to heavy rain combined with snowmelt is expected to lead to minor to moderate flooding on creeks, streams, and rivers. Localized urban and poor drainage flooding is also possible during the day Friday due to the combination of rain and snowmelt. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/floodPRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possibleFlood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should beprepared to take action should flooding develop.Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Steven Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage has fascinating comments on Adirondack structures--bridges, fire towers, great camps and even prisons.
“While I am proud of so many things that we have achieved during my tenure at AARCH – saving Camp Santanoni and the Bow Bridge and helping dozens of communities to undertake transformative preservation projects – I am proudest of the really exemplary public education programs that we have offered every year for nearly thirty years. These tours, workshops, lectures, print and online publications have all helped to create an historic preservation ethic in the region that is broad and deep, on top of which so many other successes will be built.”
Thursday, December 22, 2022- Christmas memories
Christmas always has been hard for people separated by war, whether it is today’s war on terror or World War I, when my grandmother was alive.
Margaret Cook was a widow living with her three small children in Randall...
Friday, December 23, 2022
Episode 454
Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz
The book begins with a 120-page introduction to Ulster County followed by a wide-ranging look at the lesser-known and nostalgic aspects of Kingston's history.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, December 21, 2022
...thru Christmas Day
Amsterdam native Hewson grew up across the street from the Gordons on Hayes Place, “It was right after the war and children didn't have many toys as a lot of them were imported from Japan and Germany and of course, the imports stopped when the war started. They also converted American toy factories into war product factories. There wasn't a lot to choose from and we never missed them.
Toy Tent evokes warm memories
By Bob Cudmore
A recent obituary prompted Linda Hewson of San Diego and her friend, Norma Jean Qualls of Amsterdam, to remember the Toy Tent.
Toy Tent founder Hymen Gordon, 94, died in Florida on May 3. Gordon came to Amsterdam from his native Rochester in 1941 as a manager for Schine Theatres. He was a sign painter and started a sign business. In 1946, Gordon and his wife Vera founded the Toy Tent.
Amsterdam native Hewson grew up across the street from the Gordons on Hayes Place, “It was right after the war and children didn't have many toys as a lot of them were imported from Japan and Germany and of course, the imports stopped when the war started. They also converted American toy factories into war product factories. There wasn't a lot to choose from and we never missed them.
“We kids thought it was very exotic to have a real toy store owner across the street, a person who got to see and handle all this strange new stuff. I remember that Hy Gordon donated very nice toys and games for our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.”
Qualls said, “I remember going to the store each year a couple weeks before Christmas in order to select a doll. Mom felt it better that I make the selection than have her try and read my mind as to what I wanted. I recall the ‘doll room’ was magical! Trying to find the perfect doll was a challenge, but I managed to do it until I was about eleven years old.
“The dolls I viewed were in their boxes, propped up in a horseshoe pattern around a room that contained nothing else.”
David Gordon, son of Hymen and Vera, started working at the Toy Tent when he was very young. Gordon recalled the name of the store might have derived from a product that they sold, a tent made to go over a card table that children could use as a playhouse. The Gordons had the toy tents made by Nelson Taylor and Company of Gloversville, an awning maker. Today, Taylor makes marine products.
THE LOLLIPOP TREE
Gordon said the store had two locations. First, it was on the north side of East Main Street between Slezak’s Men’s Store and Pakenas Cleaners. When the store first opened, the Gordons also sold flowers for Memorial Day and other occasions. After a few years, the store relocated to the south side of East Main between Frankel’s Jewelry and the Mohican Market. The new store had a lollipop tree in the window and black and green tiles on the floor.
The Toy Tent slogan was Amsterdam’s Happy Birthday Store but its big season was always Christmas. Gordon recalls working to nine every night at Christmas time, then driving to toy wholesalers in Albany to replenish stock for the next day. On weekends, a trip would be made to a Pittsfield, Massachusetts, toy wholesaler, the predecessor of Kay Bee Toys.
Like the cobbler’s children who had no shoes, David Gordon doesn’t remember having toys himself! He does remember a late 1940s craze for a toy called Colorforms, pieces of plastic with which you made pictures.
His parents closed the store in the early 1960s, faced with increasing competition from chain retailers who began stocking toys at Christmas.
After the Toy Tent closed, Hymen Gordon became property manager for the Amsterdam Urban Renewal Agency. Vera Gordon died in 1981 and Hymen Gordon relocated to Florida in 1982.
David Gordon went on to own Collette Manufacturing Company, formerly on Clizbe Avenue in Amsterdam. Today, he lives in Jensen Beach, Florida and Lake George, New York.
The Wednesday conversation dates to "the early days of The Historians "2015"
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Steven Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage has fascinating comments on Adirondack structures--bridges, fire towers, great camps and even prisons.
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Main Street, Malone (credit: Christine Bush)
The National Park Service has awarded Adirondack Architectural Heritage a Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant for the Adirondack Rural Revitalization Program.
This $750,000 grant will fund capital rehabilitation grants for historic main street and agricultural buildings in and around the hamlets and villages of the Adirondack region.
Thursday, December 22, 2022- Christmas memories
Margaret Cook
She has mothered them all and the boys look to her for smiles and other necessities as well as for their meals...
Friday, December 23, 2022
Episode 454
Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
With a background in filmmaking, graphic design, historical research, and writing, the creative team of Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz bring you their second book that uniquely combines a stunning visual presentation with concise and informative text about the vibrant 400-year history of the mid-Hudson Valley region.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Monday "Pearl Harbor"
Tuesday, December 20, 2022-Toy Tent evokes warm memories
A recent obituary prompted Linda Hewson of San Diego and her friend, Norma Jean Qualls of Amsterdam, to remember the Toy Tent. Toy Tent founder Hymen Gordon, 94, died in Florida...
Wednesday, December 21, 2022-Steven Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage has fascinating comments on Adirondack structures--bridges, fire towers, great camps and even prisons.
Thursday, December 22, 2022- Christmas memories
Christmas always has been hard for people separated by war, whether it is today’s war on terror or World War I, when my grandmother was alive. Margaret Cook was a widow living with her three small children in Randall...
Kingston the capitol of New York State for "a very short time"
Friday, December 23, 2022- Episode 454- Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
With a background in filmmaking, graphic design, historical research, and writing, the creative team of Stephen Blauweiss and Karen Berelowitz bring you their second book that uniquely combines a stunning visual presentation with concise and informative text about the vibrant 400-year history of the mid-Hudson Valley region. The full-color, hardcover book features 950 photographs, postcards, maps, art, and graphics, many never before published and all professionally restored.
A solemn moment in the drugstore
By Bob Cudmore
The adventure film “South of Tahiti” starring Brian Donlevy was playing at the Strand Theatre on East Main Street in Amsterdam when interrupted Sunday afternoon December 7, 1941 as the news broke that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Radio coverage was piped into the theater and dazed patrons left the building.
The Amsterdam Clubs Association met that day at St. Michael’s Club on Reid Street. Attorney Frederick Partyka urged “member groups to be devoted to true Americanism.”
George A. Tralka was 15 and at his family’s James Street home in Amsterdam when he heard about the attack on the radio. Tralka at first thought Pearl Harbor was in Alaska.
His parents, St. Stanislaus Church choir director Joseph and his wife Martha, went ahead with plans to go out that Sunday and to have George baby sit his younger sisters.
The next day Gorge Tralka delivered copies of the Schenectady Gazette on his paper route. He heard President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech on the radio when making his delivery to Reid Hill Pharmacy.
“It was a solemn moment in the drug store,” Tralka wrote in his memoir, “Diary of a Replacement Soldier.” Tralka survived the war and became a physician in the Washington, D.C. area.
According to Robert Going’s book, “Where Do We Find Such Men,” the first Amsterdam casualty of World War II was William E. Hasenfuss, Jr. from a family of nine children on Northampton Road.
Hasenfuss had enlisted in the Army in 1939. He died at Hickam Air Field in Hawaii. Japanese airplanes shot up the B-24 bomber Hasenfuss was working on.
The idea of naming a naval warship after Amsterdam had been under consideration since 1938. The Chamber of Commerce got behind the campaign as did Mayor Arthur Carter, who knew FDR from Roosevelt’s days as governor in Albany. Construction began on the light cruiser U.S.S. Amsterdam in 1943.
William Hasenfuss Jr.’s mother, Frieda, christened the ship April 25, 1944 at Newport News, Virginia. “I was thinking of William when I smashed that bottle.” Mrs. Hasenfuss said as the vessel slid into the James River.
U.S.S. Amsterdam was one of the ships in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered. Serving onboard was Steve Fitz of Schenectady who became a radio talk show host back home.
Bowling was still going strong in December 1941. My uncle Percy Cudmore was leading the City League with a 192 average.
Cudmore enlisted in the Army, overcoming initial objections to his age, 36, and blood pressure. During his deployment he visited family members living in Pontypridd, Wales. When he saw his Aunt Emma Copp Vodden, he said she looked like Cudmore’s mother Elizabeth who had died in 1934. While visiting the Voddens he played ball with his cousin Ethel.
Cudmore’s eldest son, Roger, said his father was in the artillery and blamed that for hearing problems later in life. He fought in North Africa against German General Erwin Rommel’s forces and possibly in Italy.
An Amsterdam newspaper article from 1943 quoted Corporal Cudmore expressing concern for a lackluster performance by his old bowling team. The sports reporter wrote, “As for Cudmore himself, you can bet all the family heirlooms that he will be bowling as soon as he gets back to the good old USA.”
Cudmore was back in Amsterdam in 1945. He started bowling again, rolling a 269 single in November, near the date when he and Pansy Keller married.
Her father August Keller headed Keller Plumbing and Heating on Shuler Street. A teacher at Snooks Corners School in the town of Florida, Pansy too was a good bowler.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, December 19, 2022
NEW TALES OF OLD DORP – You never know what is under your feet when walking around Schenectady. The remains…
The next day Gorge Tralka delivered copies of the Schenectady Gazette on his paper route. He heard President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech on the radio when making his delivery to Reid Hill Pharmacy.
A solemn moment in the drugstore
By Bob Cudmore
The adventure film “South of Tahiti” starring Brian Donlevy was playing at the Strand Theatre on East Main Street in Amsterdam when interrupted Sunday afternoon December 7, 1941 as the news broke that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Radio coverage was piped into the theater and dazed patrons left the building.
The Amsterdam Clubs Association met that day at St. Michael’s Club on Reid Street. Attorney Frederick Partyka urged “member groups to be devoted to true Americanism.”
George A. Tralka was 15 and at his family’s James Street home in Amsterdam when he heard about the attack on the radio. Tralka at first thought Pearl Harbor was in Alaska.
His parents, St. Stanislaus Church choir director Joseph and his wife Martha, went ahead with plans to go out that Sunday and to have George baby sit his younger sisters.
The next day Gorge Tralka delivered copies of the Schenectady Gazette on his paper route. He heard President Roosevelt’s “day of infamy” speech on the radio when making his delivery to Reid Hill Pharmacy.
“It was a solemn moment in the drug store,” Tralka wrote in his memoir, “Diary of a Replacement Soldier.” Tralka survived the war and became a physician in the Washington, D.C. area.
According to Robert Going’s book, “Where Do We Find Such Men,” the first Amsterdam casualty of World War II was William E. Hasenfuss, Jr. from a family of nine children on Northampton Road.
Tomorrow, Monday, December 19th Bob will add more information about researching this story.
Hasenfuss had enlisted in the Army in 1939. He died at Hickam Air Field in Hawaii. Japanese airplanes shot up the B-24 bomber Hasenfuss was working on.
The idea of naming a naval warship after Amsterdam had been under consideration since 1938. The Chamber of Commerce got behind the campaign as did Mayor Arthur Carter, who knew FDR from Roosevelt’s days as governor in Albany. Construction began on the light cruiser U.S.S. Amsterdam in 1943.
William Hasenfuss Jr.’s mother, Frieda, christened the ship April 25, 1944 at Newport News, Virginia. “I was thinking of William when I smashed that bottle.” Mrs. Hasenfuss said as the vessel slid into the James River.
U.S.S. Amsterdam was one of the ships in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered. Serving onboard was Steve Fitz of Schenectady who became a radio talk show host back home.
Bowling was still going strong in December 1941. My uncle Percy Cudmore was leading the City League with a 192 average.
Cudmore enlisted in the Army, overcoming initial objections to his age, 36, and blood pressure. During his deployment he visited family members living in Pontypridd, Wales. When he saw his Aunt Emma Copp Vodden, he said she looked like Cudmore’s mother Elizabeth who had died in 1934. While visiting the Voddens he played ball with his cousin Ethel.
Cudmore’s eldest son, Roger, said his father was in the artillery and blamed that for hearing problems later in life. He fought in North Africa against German General Erwin Rommel’s forces and possibly in Italy.
An Amsterdam newspaper article from 1943 quoted Corporal Cudmore expressing concern for a lackluster performance by his old bowling team. The sports reporter wrote, “As for Cudmore himself, you can bet all the family heirlooms that he will be bowling as soon as he gets back to the good old USA.”
Cudmore was back in Amsterdam in 1945. He started bowling again, rolling a 269 single in November, near the date when he and Pansy Keller married.
Her father August Keller headed Keller Plumbing and Heating on Shuler Street. A teacher at Snooks Corners School in the town of Florida, Pansy too was a good bowler.
Tuesday, December 20, 2022-Toy Tent evokes warm memories
Wednesday, December 21, 2022-Steven Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage has fascinating comments on Adirondack structures--bridges, fire towers, great camps and even prisons.
Thursday, December 22, 2022- Christmas memories
Kingston the capitol of New York State for "about 9 minutes"
Friday, December 23, 2022- Episode 454- Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of the book “The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, December 18, 2022
More episodes coming in January 2023. Including Daily Gazette reporter Bill Buell on Schenectady in the 1920s. Go Fund Me keeps Local History on The WWW and Radio
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
WCSS 106.9FM Amsterdam today at 12:05PM-Two episodes "HighLights 2022 and The Trinkaus Manor Utica now apartments
In late 2023 Bob will record Historians Episode #500
History "You never run out of things to talk about"
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Chris Leonard, the Schenectady City Historian, talks about the many facets of history in the Electric City
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Pearl Harbor column-solemn moment in the drug store.
George A. Tralka was 15 and at his family’s James Street home in Amsterdam when he heard about the attack on the radio. Tralka at first thought Pearl Harbor was in Alaska.
Last HighLights episode for 2022
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 17, 2022
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Wednesday, December 14, 2022. Your assist keeps The Historians on The World Wide Web and Radio
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022-Episode 346-Christopher Philippo is editor of “The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Volume Four.” Stories include The Green Huntsman and The Christmas Ghost.
The Christmas ghost story tradition is usually associated with Charles Dickens and Victorian England, but -- apparently unknown to historians and scholars -- Christmas ghost stories were extremely widespread and popular in 19th-century America as well, frequently appearing in newspapers and magazines during the holiday season.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
The Italian Gardens in Broadalbin
" Husted, who died in 1921, apparently wanted the gardens to duplicate formal gardens in Italy."
Friday, December 16, 2022
Episode 453
2022 Highlights Edition with excerpts from the secret role of Japanese Americans who fought in the Pacific in World War II; Bob Gumson’s memoir In Blind Sight; Amsterdam’s Guy Park Manor; Anita Sanchez on the history of glaciers and Jim Kaplan on the life of of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, December 14, 2022
...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOONTHROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...* WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 16 inches or more possible.* WHERE...The southwestern Adirondacks, western Mohawk Valley, Schoharie County, eastern Catskills, the Helderbergs, and the western parts of the Lake George/Saratoga area.* WHEN...From Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning.* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact both the morning and evening commute Friday.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow amounts will vary depending on location and elevation, with the greatest snowfall totals expected in the higher elevations. Snowfall rates could exceed one inch per hour.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.TOWN OF AMSTERDAM – An Amsterdam man has been arrested in connection with a person’s overdose death in June, accused…
John E. Larrabee’s 1911 obituary said his store had become the most successful hardware business in the city. Larrabee was succeeded as general manager by his brother-in-law Warner Leavenworth, who died in 1940. Leavenworth’s son Thomas, who had joined the firm in 1931, became president in 1940.
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Your assist keeps The Historians on The World Wide Web and Radio-Albany Public WMHT89.1FM RISE each week, Monday and Wednesday
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
People loved Larrabee’s Hardware
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By Bob Cudmore
Larrabee’s hardware store, located on Market Street in downtown Amsterdam for over 80 years, was a beloved institution.
Born in the town of Amsterdam in 1851, John E. Larrabee began his hardware career working for merchant E. T. Leavenworth. In 1876, Larrabee went into partnership with L. L. Dean. Larrabee later partnered with W. G. Barnes, a store which lasted eight years, under the name of Larrabee & Barnes. In 1889 Larrabee married Louise Leavenworth. They had two daughters.
When the Sanford Homestead Building was constructed by carpet magnate Stephen Sanford on Market Street in 1891, Larrabee opened his own store in the new building. The John E. Larrabee Company sold retail and wholesale hardware and provided supplies for area industries. Located at 5 Market Street the firm expanded and took over 3 Market Street, previously home to the Odd Figure Bazaar.
John E. Larrabee’s 1911 obituary said his store had become the most successful hardware business in the city. Larrabee was succeeded as general manager by his brother-in-law Warner Leavenworth, who died in 1940. Leavenworth’s son Thomas, who had joined the firm in 1931, became president in 1940. By then the store occupied 3 to 9 Market Street on the east side of a busy downtown thoroughfare.
Larrabee’s was sold in 1960 and Tom Leavenworth pursued other business ventures, including his work as treasurer of Amsterdam’s Inman Manufacturing, which made machinery for the box making industry.
The new owners of Larrabee’s, Ailing Beardsley and Mary Louise Rossiter, began an expansion of the firm in 1961, putting more emphasis on selling hardware to new industries that were starting in the area as the large carpet mills exited. Beardsley and Rossiter retained Samuel H. Anderson as store manager and said they were expanding appliance sales along with Larrabee’s previous retail emphasis on hardware, housewares, gifts and toys.
(Anderson was active in politics serving on board of spvsrs he and wife ruth relocated to California in 1967. Anderson had started s.h. Anderson sporting goods with several outlets in new York including at mortan’s in Amsterdam. In ca joined white front department store in LA
Beardsley and Rossiter apparently were related. Beardsley, a World War II infantry veteran who had operated an industrial supply firm in New Jersey, was married to Carol Rossiter. She was originally from Albany, presumably related to Mary Louise Rossiter, who lived in Slingerlands, headed an Albany real estate firm and was treasurer of Livermore Chevrolet.
Beardsley and his family moved to Amsterdam. In 1965 Larrabee’s celebrated 75 years in business. In 1972 Beardsley’s son, also named Ailing, was retail manager of Larrabee's and up for a young business award from the Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Larrabee’s apparently closed in the 1970s but it is not clear exactly when. Historian Jerry Snyder found that the 1973-1974 city directory has the “professional plaza” replacing the Sanford building on Market Street. Furs by Gus was at 3 Market, Hays and Wormuth Insurance at 7, and there was no listing for 5 Market St.
In the 1950s Larrabee’s sold toys especially at Christmas, including Lionel and American Flyer model trains. Each brand installed a model train layout in the store. A 1958 ad offered an American Flyer guided missile train for $33.88 that could fire toy rockets.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022-Episode 346-Christopher Philippo is editor of “The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Volume Four.” Stories include The Green Huntsman and The Christmas Ghost.
A Valancourt Yuletide tradition returns, this time with rare 19th-century tales from U.S. newspapers and magazines
The Christmas ghost story tradition is usually associated with Charles Dickens and Victorian England, but -- apparently unknown to historians and scholars -- Christmas ghost stories were extremely widespread and popular in 19th-century America as well, frequently appearing in newspapers and magazines during the holiday season.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
The Italian Gardens in Broadalbin
Amsterdam transplant Fred Wojcicki from California has contributed a memory of the Italian Gardens of Broadalbin.
“My brother Joe, who lost his life in St. Lo, France on August 18, 1944, worked for Arthur Chalmers who owned the gardens in Broadalbin during the Depression years,” Wojcicki wrote. “I had been on the grounds of the gardens a few times with my brother and can still remember Mr. Chalmers going by in his chauffeured limousine.”
Friday, December 16, 2022-Episode 453-2022 Highlights Edition with excerpts from the secret role of Japanese Americans who fought in the Pacific in World War II; Bob Gumson’s memoir In Blind Sight; Amsterdam’s Guy Park Manor; Anita Sanchez on the history of glaciers and Jim Kaplan on the life of of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 13, 2022
RICHMONDVILLE — The controversial shutdown of Schoharie County’s only warming center can’t be immediately reversed, town Code Enforcement Officer Jay…
TOWN OF FLORIDA — A wedding venue proposed in an existing barn in the town of Florida previously shot down…
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Monday, December 12, 2022. Your help keeps The Historians on The World Wide Web and Radio-Albany Public WMHT89.1FM RISE
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Larrabee’s Hardware
Larrabee’s hardware store, located on Market Street in downtown Amsterdam for over 80 years, was a beloved institution.
Born in the town of Amsterdam in 1851, John E. Larrabee began his hardware career working for merchant E. T. Leavenworth.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022-From the Archives- November 27, 2020-Episode 346-Christopher Philippo is editor of “The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Volume Four.” Stories include The Green Huntsman and The Christmas Ghost.
Thursday, December 15, 2022, From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-The Italian Gardens in Broadalbin
Friday, December 16, 2022-Episode 453-2022 Highlights Edition with excerpts from the secret role of Japanese Americans who fought in the Pacific in World War II; Bob Gumson’s memoir In Blind Sight; Amsterdam’s Guy Park Manor; Anita Sanchez on the history of glaciers and Jim Kaplan on the life of of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
Lafayette in Fort Hunter
By Bob Cudmore
The Marquis de Lafayette visited Schoharie Crossing by canal boat in 1825 and had a reunion with two Mohawk Valley patriots.
According to Jim Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association, there are plans to commemorate Lafayette’s American tour to mark its 200th anniversary in 2024 and 2025.
The Marquis was a wealthy French aristocrat whose father had been killed by the British in the Battle of Minden in the Seven Years War, when young Lafayette was only two years old.
Lafayette grew up to fight alongside George Washington during the American Revolution. Lafayette played a key role in the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.
During the American Revolution the Frenchman visited Johnstown New York and was entertained by the families of Jacob and Thomas Sammons, who leased the former Johnson Hall for four years after the Loyalist Johnson family fled to Canada.
In 1824 President James Monroe, who had befriended the French nobleman when they both served on General Washington’s staff, invited Lafayette to tour the United States. In 1825 the Marquis was traveling east on the New York Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley.
Thomas Sammons and his son Simeon from the Mohawk Valley were going west by canal boat from Albany. When they arrived in Schenectady, the town was festooned with flags, flowers and evergreens.
The Marquis de Lafayette was expected to arrive that day. However, according to an account printed in “Illustrated History of Montgomery & Fulton Counties, New York, 1772-1838” published by F.W. Beers in 1878, word came that Lafayette would not get to Schenectady until the next day.
Sammons proceeded west on the canal in hopes of meeting up with Lafayette’s packet boat. When the Sammons boat came to Fort Hunter, where the canal crossed the Schoharie Creek east of Fultonville, Lafayette’s vessel approached from the other direction.
Beers’ history book had this account of the meeting, “Mr. Sammons’ boat was at the crossing when the packet conveying the illustrious Frenchman bore down upon it, decked with streamers and evergreens, even the harness of the horses bristling with flags. A jubilant crowd upon the tow-path, horseback and on foot, kept abreast of the coming boat. Sammons was exhorted to hurry across the creek and out of the way, that there might be no unnecessary delay to the progress of nobility. He, seeing his opportunity, hastened to comply, and landing with his son, came back to the towing bridge from which he was able to board the packet as it arrived.”
The Marquis was reclining on a couch but recognized his old friend Sammons. Sammons and Lafayette had a brief reunion, extended when Lafayette ordered the boat be held there for a time, against the wishes of its captain.
The Beers’ book continued, “Mr. Sammons stepped ashore, as may well be supposed, a proud and happy man, and his son a proud and happy boy, no doubt, or he would never have told the story with such readiness and spirit when on the downhill side of life.”
The boy, Simeon Sammons, grew up to be the commander of the 115th New York State Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War. Sammons was wounded in the foot at the Confederate victory at Olustee, Florida in 1864. He recovered but was wounded again when the regiment fought at the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia. Simeon then returned to Fonda and later was elected to the State Legislature.
Lafayette died in Paris in 1834. Thomas Sammons, who served two terms in Congress in the early 1800s, died in Johnstown in 1838. Simeon Sammons died in Fonda in 1881.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, December 12, 2022
SCOTIA – It’s a good thing for David Pietrusza that a century lasts 100 years. Most likely he’ll never run…
During the American Revolution the Frenchman visited Johnstown New York and was entertained by the families of Jacob and Thomas Sammons, who leased the former Johnson Hall for four years after the Loyalist Johnson family fled to Canada.
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Sunday, December 11, 2022. Your help keeps The Historians on The World Wide Web and Radio-Albany Public WMHT89.1FM RISE
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Lafayette in Fort Hunter
By Bob Cudmore
The Marquis de Lafayette visited Schoharie Crossing by canal boat in 1825 and had a reunion with two Mohawk Valley patriots.
According to Jim Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association, there are plans to commemorate Lafayette’s American tour to mark its 200th anniversary in 2024 and 2025.
The Marquis was a wealthy French aristocrat whose father had been killed by the British in the Battle of Minden in the Seven Years War, when young Lafayette was only two years old.
Lafayette grew up to fight alongside George Washington during the American Revolution. Lafayette played a key role in the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.
During the American Revolution the Frenchman visited Johnstown New York and was entertained by the families of Jacob and Thomas Sammons, who leased the former Johnson Hall for four years after the Loyalist Johnson family fled to Canada.
In 1824 President James Monroe, who had befriended the French nobleman when they both served on General Washington’s staff, invited Lafayette to tour the United States. In 1825 the Marquis was traveling east on the New York Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley.
Thomas Sammons and his son Simeon from the Mohawk Valley were going west by canal boat from Albany. When they arrived in Schenectady, the town was festooned with flags, flowers and evergreens.
The Marquis de Lafayette was expected to arrive that day. However, according to an account printed in “Illustrated History of Montgomery & Fulton Counties, New York, 1772-1838” published by F.W. Beers in 1878, word came that Lafayette would not get to Schenectady until the next day.
Sammons proceeded west on the canal in hopes of meeting up with Lafayette’s packet boat. When the Sammons boat came to Fort Hunter, where the canal crossed the Schoharie Creek east of Fultonville, Lafayette’s vessel approached from the other direction.
Beers’ history book had this account of the meeting, “Mr. Sammons’ boat was at the crossing when the packet conveying the illustrious Frenchman bore down upon it, decked with streamers and evergreens, even the harness of the horses bristling with flags. A jubilant crowd upon the tow-path, horseback and on foot, kept abreast of the coming boat. Sammons was exhorted to hurry across the creek and out of the way, that there might be no unnecessary delay to the progress of nobility. He, seeing his opportunity, hastened to comply, and landing with his son, came back to the towing bridge from which he was able to board the packet as it arrived.”
The Marquis was reclining on a couch but recognized his old friend Sammons. Sammons and Lafayette had a brief reunion, extended when Lafayette ordered the boat be held there for a time, against the wishes of its captain.
The Beers’ book continued, “Mr. Sammons stepped ashore, as may well be supposed, a proud and happy man, and his son a proud and happy boy, no doubt, or he would never have told the story with such readiness and spirit when on the downhill side of life.”
The boy, Simeon Sammons, grew up to be the commander of the 115th New York State Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War. Sammons was wounded in the foot at the Confederate victory at Olustee, Florida in 1864. He recovered but was wounded again when the regiment fought at the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia. Simeon then returned to Fonda and later was elected to the State Legislature.
Lafayette died in Paris in 1834. Thomas Sammons, who served two terms in Congress in the early 1800s, died in Johnstown in 1838. Simeon Sammons died in Fonda in 1881.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, December 11, 2022
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM ESTMONDAY...* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 7 inches.* WHERE...Southern Herkimer, Southern Fulton, Montgomery, Western Schenectady and Northern Fulton Counties.* WHEN...Until 7 AM EST Monday.* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions due to snow covered roadways, along with reduced visibilities.* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates between 0.50 and 0.75 of an inch per hour will be possible at times during the afternoon which could result in more hazardous travel conditions.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Slow down and use caution while traveling.ROTTERDAM — The Town Board on Wednesday will hold a pair of public hearings on proposed local laws that would put…
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The Saturday Story on The Historians
Wayne Van Der Wal is the author of the historical fiction novel, "The Gospel of Santa Claus – Inspired by the True Story of Saint Nicholas."
It’s Christmas Eve, and a troubled Joe and Mary and their three children are taking the train to visit family. Suddenly, a bearded stranger with a twinkle in his eye takes a seat and begins spinning a provocative tale that intrigues, delights, and inspires.
Masterfully weaving past and present through story, lessons, and devotions, The Gospel of Santa Claus follows the incredible story of Saint Nicholas, born in third century AD, who overcomes childhood tragedy, feels called by God to take a vow of poverty, endures horrific persecution for his religious faith, and goes on to become one of the most beloved, generous, loving, and famous figures in human history.
Sunday
Bob Cudmore "Focus on History"
December 11, 2022-Lafayette in Fort Hunter
The Marquis was a wealthy French aristocrat whose father had been killed by the British in the Battle of Minden in the Seven Years War, when young Lafayette was only two years old.
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette 1757-1834
New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 10, 2022
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Friday, December 9, 2022
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Friday, December 9-Episode 452-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Saturday, December 10-From the Archives- December 27, 2019-Episode 297-Wayne Van Der Wal is the author of the historical fiction novel, "The Gospel of Santa Claus – Inspired by the True Story of Saint Nicholas."
It’s Christmas Eve, and a troubled Joe and Mary and their three children are taking the train to visit family. Suddenly, a bearded stranger with a twinkle in his eye takes a seat and begins spinning a provocative tale that intrigues, delights, and inspires.
The Sunday Historians Read
December 11, 2022-Lafayette in Fort Hunter
More episodes are coming in December 2022 and 2023. Please send guest suggestions to bobcudmore@yahoo.com
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, December 9, 2022
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Thursday, December 8, 2022
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
A Christmas balloon train in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Amsterdam had a huge Christmas parade on Saturday, November 22 1947 featuring a large balloon train.
Local history contributor Emil Suda researched newspaper clippings about the parade and provided the cover of a Mohawk Carpets employees’ publication, Tomohawk, showing the balloon train in Amsterdam.
The picture shows a large crowd spilling onto East Main Street craning their necks to get a view as the engine of the balloon train passed in front of Lindsay’s Shoes. It looks as if the train barely cleared the Christmas decorations hung across the street.
Suda wondered if the balloon train is the same as one used in a 1948 parade in Schenectady, described in a recent Daily Gazette article by Jeff Wilkin.
According to newspaper accounts, the Amsterdam parade in 1947 featured “inflated balloons and augmented bands.” The parade began at Coessens Park in the East End and traveled down East and West Main Streets.
MOHAWK VALLEY DOODLEBUG
The winter issue of Classic Trains magazine has a story about a 1929 Brill gas-electric car or “doodlebug” used by the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad (F.J. & G.) for mail and express service only. On other rail lines, the “doodlebugs” carried passengers.
According to the magazine article by area rail fan Jim Shaughnessy, the F.J. & G. used the gasoline powered vehicle on its traditional railroad line between Fonda and Gloversville to retain the lucrative U.S. mail contract and carry other express freight when the railroad’s trolley service ended in 1938.
The gas-electric car was built by the J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia in 1929 and sold to the F. J. & G. in 1938 after use by two other railroads.
Numbered 340 by the local railroad, the car had operating controls at either end. The car made three round trips six days a week between Gloversville and Fonda.
Shaughnessy wrote that on March 28, 1946, Number 340 was involved in a fatal crash with a traditional F. J. & G. freight train near Sammonsville because of a misinterpretation of orders.
“The express man on Number 340 was crushed to death when a coffin being transported shifted with the impact and pinned him against the wall,” Shaughnessey wrote.
Number 340 was retired in 1958 as the F. J. & G. shifted mail and express service to trucks. In 1960, the car was sold to a company in Winnipeg, Canada.
Friday, December 9-Episode 452-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 8, 2022
The leaves are gone, the view is the same...
T Martin Bennett, “Wounded Tiger”
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Wednesday, December 7, 2022
On-line https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
U.S. Mail
Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Later this month
Friday, December 23-Episode 454- Stephen Blauweiss is co-author of The Story of Historic Kingston: Featuring 950 Images and Connections to the Catskills and New York City.
Thursday
The Christmas balloon train
Amsterdam had a huge Christmas parade on Saturday, November 22, 1947 ...
Jim Kaplan
Friday, December 9-Episode 452-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Cochran was the inspiration for “Colonel Flip Corkin” and “General Philerie” in Milt Caniff’s cartoon strips “Terry and the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon.”
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on Mohawk Valley and Albany Public Radio (Monday and Wednesday each week, part of The RISE Program)
The Historians Podcast fund drive has reached our $6000 yearly fund drive goal! Thanks to our most recent donors who put us over the top with a current total of $6125: Patricia Chadwick, Jim Kaplan, Dave Northrup, Wanda Burch and Barbara Wolniak. You may still donate online today at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Still time: Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Pearl Harbor changes
By Bob Cudmore
Life magazine published a photo spread in its December 1, 1941 edition covering a simulated enemy air attack the previous August on the small airport in Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley.
An artillery regiment defended the airstrip against six fighter planes and one bomber flying out of the airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
A flight of six P-40 fighters took off from a temporary airstrip concealed in a nearby apple orchard to fight the attacking planes.
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S, Army, said it is likely that one of the participants in the exercise at Fort Plain was Lieutenant Phillip Cochran. Cochran later commanded a fighter group in Burma.
He pioneered many innovative tactics including operating from temporary unimproved airfields, as was done in the exercise in Fort Plain.
Cochran was the inspiration for “Colonel Flip Corkin” and “General Philerie” in Milt Caniff’s cartoon strips “Terry and the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon.”
PEARL HARBOR
An enemy’s real attack came 75 years ago at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. According to Robert Going’s book, “Where Do We Find Such Men,” the first Amsterdam casualty of World War II was William E. Hasenfuss, Jr. from a family of nine children on Northampton Road.
Hasenfuss had flown planes at an air field in Perth before enlisting in the Army in 1939. He died at Hickam Air Field. Japanese airplanes shot up the B-24 bomber Hasenfuss and his ground crew were working on. Every member of the ground crew was hit.
USS AMSTERDAM
Arch D. Anderson, commander of the James T. Bergen American Legion post, contacted the Navy in 1938 to begin the campaign to get a ship named for Amsterdam. The Chamber of Commerce got behind the idea as did Mayor Arthur Carter, who knew President Franklin Roosevelt from Roosevelt’s days as governor in Albany.
Work began on what would become the cruiser U.S.S. Amsterdam in 1943. William Hasenfuss Jr.’s mother, Frieda, Amsterdam’s first Gold Star Mother of the war, christened the U.S.S. Amsterdam on April 25, 1944 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia.
“I was thinking of William when I smashed that bottle.” Mrs. Hasenfuss said as the vessel slid down the ways into the James River in 1944.
On January 8, 1945 she and her husband returned to Newport News when the Amsterdam received its commission under Captain Andrew Lawton of Youngstown, Ohio.
The Amsterdam was part of the fleet in Tokyo Bay for Japanese surrender ceremonies that took place onboard the U.S.S. Missouri in 1945. The Amsterdam sailed back to America, after picking up battle-weary and wounded Seabees in Okinawa.
AT SEA
James V. Hogg from Amsterdam was serving on a Navy ship somewhere in the Pacific when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
As his niece Karen terHaar of North Carolina tells the story, “In the months after Pearl Harbor, many ships in the area were ordered to maintain radio silence. The families of all crew members did not know if their fathers, sons or brothers were dead or alive.”
Hogg’s parents, Frank and Mildred Hogg, were living on Grant Avenue in Amsterdam, as was terHaar’s mother, Shirley Hogg.
TerHaar wrote, “The following April, about four months after Pearl Harbor, Mom was sitting on the front porch when she heard the postman’s voice. She looked up and saw him running down the sidewalk. He was waving a letter and yelling, ‘Jimmy’s alive! Jimmy’s alive!’”
James Hogg became a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and married a woman from Australia. He later lived in California and died several years ago.
Wednesday, December 7, 2022-From the Archive- Episode 139, November 25, 2016-T Martin Bennett, author of “Wounded Tiger”: The true story of the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, whose life was transformed by an American prisoner and by a girl he never met.
Fuming with hatred for America and a strong sense of national pride, Mitsuo Fuchida quickly climbed the ranks of the Japanese Imperial Navy to the position of top pilot, leading the attack at Pearl Harbor.
Thursday
The Christmas balloon train
Amsterdam had a huge Christmas parade on Saturday, November 22, 1947 featuring a large balloon train. Local history contributor Emil Suda researched newspaper clippings about the parade and provided the cover of a Mohawk Carpets employees’ publication, Tomohawk, showing the balloon train in Amsterdam.
Friday, December 9-Episode 452-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Monday, December 5, 2022
The Historians Podcast fund drive has reached our $6000 yearly fund drive goal! Thanks to our most recent donors who put us over the top with a current total of $6125: Patricia Chadwick, Jim Kaplan, Dave Northrup, Wanda Burch and Barbara Wolniak. You may still donate online today at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Still time: Send a check to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on Mohawk Valley and Albany Public Radio (Monday and Wednesday each week, part of The RISE Program)
Tuesday, December 6, 2022-Amsterdam changed after Pearl Harbor.
The movie “South of Tahiti” playing at the Strand Theatre on East Main Street in Amsterdam was interrupted Sunday afternoon December 7, 1941 when the news broke that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Radio coverage was piped into the theater and dazed patrons left the building.
Wednesday, December 7, 2022-From the Archive- Episode 139, November 25, 2016-T Martin Bennett, author of “Wounded Tiger”: The true story of the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, whose life was transformed by an American prisoner and by a girl he never met.
Friday, December 9-Episode 452-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan looks at the importance of French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution.
Great Depression stories in the Mohawk Valley
By Bob Cudmore
Isadore Demsky, a native of Amsterdam who became the actor Kirk Douglas, received a few pieces of gold as Bar Mitzvah presents in 1929. Added to money saved from his paper route, he had collected $313, what he termed a fortune in those days.
Young Demsky was going to save the nest egg to go to college but over his mother Bryna’s objections, he gave the money to his father Harry Demsky, a local ragman and legendary strong man.
“He wanted to buy up a lot of metal, because the prices were so cheap (24 cents a pound) and then sell it at a killing,” wrote Douglas in his autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son.”
But the bottom fell out of the scrap metal market in 1929 with the stock market crash. His father ended up selling the copper he bought with his son’s money for two cents a pound.
Douglas wrote, “That was what the Depression meant to me, that prices came tumbling down and my father lost my savings. Our scale of living wasn’t much different before, during or after.”
GLOVE CITIES
Historian Barbara McMartin in her book “The Glove Cities” wrote that although Johnstown and Gloversville enjoyed relatively good times in the 1920s, workers and owners in the glove industry had to struggle, even before the Depression.
“The Depression, though more severe, was nothing new,” McMartin wrote. “It was not a bad decade: years at the beginning and end were poor, but 1935-37 were actually quite good years. In Fulton County, no one starved, no one prospered, and most continued to find some work.”
SCOOPING COAL
Arnold Wittemeier was born in 1920 in Fort Hunter where his father, Harold, owned Wittemeier’s, one of Montgomery County’s biggest coal companies.
Coal for the family business came on the West Shore Railroad. In the Depression, coal trains would speed through the valley to try to keep people from taking more coal from hopper cars.
“It got so bad that cars of coal were having two tons of coal scooped off of them,” Wittemeier said.
THE NRA PARADE
An estimated ten thousand people turned out in Amsterdam on a raw November 9, 1933 to parade for economic revival.
Former New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt had become President that year. Roosevelt was launching his New Deal, a part of which was the National Recovery Administration or NRA.
According to the Albany Evening News, the NRA Parade was the biggest in Amsterdam’s history (a debatable point) and featured hundreds of marching mill workers, office employees and school children. There were floats, bands and drum corps.
Republican Mayor Robert Brumagin reviewed the line of march at a reviewing stand on Church Street. But newly chosen Democratic Mayor-elect Arthur Carter was receiving cheers from the crowd, according to the Evening News, as Carter—a supporter of President Roosevelt--walked at the head of the contingent from the James T. Bergen American Legion Post.
Loyal Democrat Michael J. Wytrwal was NRA chairman for Montgomery County. Wytrwal was a businessman in the Polish neighborhood on Reid Hill. His family operated a coal yard, drugstore and furniture store.
The most visible Amsterdam public works project during the Depression was the municipal golf course, named for Mayor Carter and partly bankrolled by FDR’s federal government.
BLUE PLATE
Orsini’s Royal Restaurant at East Main and Liberty streets in Amsterdam offered a blue plate special. The special cost 35 cents and included meat or fish, mashed potatoes and vegetable. Coffee was an additional five cents. Orsini’s also offered a meal ticket for $4.50 in the Depression that was worth $5 in food.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, December 5, 2022
Increasing clouds, with a high near 45. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight
A slight chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. East wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
"But the bottom fell out..."
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Sunday, December 4, 2022
The Historians Podcast fund drive has reached our $6000 yearly fund drive goal! Thanks to our most recent donors who put us over the top with a current total of $6125: Patricia Chadwick, Jim Kaplan, Dave Northrup, Wanda Burch and Barbara Wolniak. You may still donate online today at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. You may give anonymously and no contribution is too big or too small. Thank you for keeping Historians Podcast online and on Mohawk Valley and Albany Public Radio
Today in The E edition (Regional section) of The Gazette
Lafayette
Bob Cudmore Focus on History
(This story posted next Sunday, December 11, 2022 here on The Historians)
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Great Depression stories in the Mohawk Valley
By Bob Cudmore
Isadore Demsky, a native of Amsterdam who became the actor Kirk Douglas, received a few pieces of gold as Bar Mitzvah presents in 1929. Added to money saved from his paper route, he had collected $313, what he termed a fortune in those days.
Young Demsky was going to save the nest egg to go to college but over his mother Bryna’s objections, he gave the money to his father Harry Demsky, a local ragman and legendary strong man.
“He wanted to buy up a lot of metal, because the prices were so cheap (24 cents a pound) and then sell it at a killing,” wrote Douglas in his autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son.”
But the bottom fell out of the scrap metal market in 1929 with the stock market crash. His father ended up selling the copper he bought with his son’s money for two cents a pound.
Douglas wrote, “That was what the Depression meant to me, that prices came tumbling down and my father lost my savings. Our scale of living wasn’t much different before, during or after.”
GLOVE CITIES
Historian Barbara McMartin in her book “The Glove Cities” wrote that although Johnstown and Gloversville enjoyed relatively good times in the 1920s, workers and owners in the glove industry had to struggle, even before the Depression.
“The Depression, though more severe, was nothing new,” McMartin wrote. “It was not a bad decade: years at the beginning and end were poor, but 1935-37 were actually quite good years. In Fulton County, no one starved, no one prospered, and most continued to find some work.”
SCOOPING COAL
Arnold Wittemeier was born in 1920 in Fort Hunter where his father, Harold, owned Wittemeier’s, one of Montgomery County’s biggest coal companies.
Coal for the family business came on the West Shore Railroad. In the Depression, coal trains would speed through the valley to try to keep people from taking more coal from hopper cars.
“It got so bad that cars of coal were having two tons of coal scooped off of them,” Wittemeier said.
THE NRA PARADE
An estimated ten thousand people turned out in Amsterdam on a raw November 9, 1933 to parade for economic revival.
Former New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt had become President that year. Roosevelt was launching his New Deal, a part of which was the National Recovery Administration or NRA.
According to the Albany Evening News, the NRA Parade was the biggest in Amsterdam’s history (a debatable point) and featured hundreds of marching mill workers, office employees and school children. There were floats, bands and drum corps.
Republican Mayor Robert Brumagin reviewed the line of march at a reviewing stand on Church Street. But newly chosen Democratic Mayor-elect Arthur Carter was receiving cheers from the crowd, according to the Evening News, as Carter—a supporter of President Roosevelt--walked at the head of the contingent from the James T. Bergen American Legion Post.
Loyal Democrat Michael J. Wytrwal was NRA chairman for Montgomery County. Wytrwal was a businessman in the Polish neighborhood on Reid Hill. His family operated a coal yard, drugstore and furniture store.
The most visible Amsterdam public works project during the Depression was the municipal golf course, named for Mayor Carter and partly bankrolled by FDR’s federal government.
BLUE PLATE
Orsini’s Royal Restaurant at East Main and Liberty streets in Amsterdam offered a blue plate special. The special cost 35 cents and included meat or fish, mashed potatoes and vegetable. Coffee was an additional five cents. Orsini’s also offered a meal ticket for $4.50 in the Depression that was worth $5 in food.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, December 4, 2022
Partly sunny, with a high near 38. West wind 3 to 8 mph.TonightMostly clear, with a low around 24. Calm wind.MondayIncreasing clouds, with a high near 44. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, December 4, 2022Daily Gazette*When Credibility Matters Most New York counties close bars before 4 a.m., but not in greater Capital Region
CAPITAL REGION — Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim cautiously hopes his namesake county can enact a 2 a.m. last call…*https://dailygazette.com/**RecorderNews**Flu in New York is surging, prompting concerns about hospital capacity**https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald**
*Make Us A Part Of Your Day*
*https://www.leaderherald.com/*
"It's an off-topic Thing"
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Saturday, December 3, 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
$125.00 to Go (2022 in the Bag-Paper or Plastic)
Look for the Bob Email blast, out the electronic door today
Instructor Diana Carter reports on archaeological digs along the Mohawk River and in the Stockade section of Schenectady done by the Community Archaeology Program at Schenectady County Community College. A 29 minute conversation
Environmental educator Anita Sanchez is author of Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers And Learn What You Can Do To Save Them.
The Sunday Read
Sunday, December 4, 2022 Great Depression stories from the Mohawk Valley
Isadore Demsky, a native of Amsterdam who became the actor Kirk Douglas, received a few pieces of gold as Bar Mitzvah presents in 1929. Added to money saved from his paper route, he had collected $313, what he termed a fortune in those days.
Young Demsky was going to save the nest egg to go to college but over his mother Bryna’s objections, he gave the money to his father Harry Demsky, a local ragman and legendary strong man.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 3, 2022
Rain, mainly before 3pm. High near 52. East wind 5 to 14 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.TonightA chance of rain and snow before midnight, then a slight chance of snow between midnight and 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. West wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.SundayMostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 36. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light in the afternoon.Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, December 3, 2022Daily Gazette*When Credibility Matters Flu in New York is surging, prompting concerns about hospital capacity
New York state is experiencing its worst flu season in years at a time when the number of reported COVID-19…*https://dailygazette.com/**RecorderNews**Concerns over homeless shelter planned on Amsterdam’s Guy Park Ave adressed in closed door meeting**AMSTERDAM — Nearby organizations had their concerns about a homeless shelter planned for Guy Park...**https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald**
*Make Us A Part Of Your Day*
*https://www.leaderherald.com/*
It makes Noise
Anita Sanchez’s award-winning books sing the praises of unloved plants and animals: dandelions, poison ivy, bats, tarantulas. She loves to explore the under-appreciated wild places of the world, from glaciers to mud puddles.
Friday, December 2, 2022-Episode 451-Environmental educator Anita Sanchez is author of Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers And Learn What You Can Do To Save Them.
https://anitasanchez.com/
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Friday, December 2, 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Saturday, December 3, 2022
Instructor Diana Carter reports on archaeological digs along the Mohawk River and in the Stockade section of Schenectady done by the Community Archaeology Program at Schenectady County Community College.
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Great Depression stories from the Mohawk Valley including a story from The Kirk Douglas autobiography "The Ragman's Son"
...about his Dad
“He wanted to buy up a lot of metal, because the prices were so cheap (24 cents a pound) and then sell it at a killing,” wrote Douglas
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, December 2, 2022
Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.TonightA slight chance of rain and snow between 3am and 4am, then a chance of rain. Increasing clouds, with a low around 30. Southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.SaturdayRain before 1pm, then showers likely, mainly between 1pm and 5pm. High near 53. Southeast wind 9 to 18 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.SundayPartly sunny, with a high near 38. West wind 6 to 11 mph.Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Friday, December 2, 2022Daily Gazette*When Credibility Matters October report: job gains, labor pains rife in Capital Region economy
CAPITAL REGION — Unemployment is down, but the Capital Region area labor market isn’t out of the woods yet. Some 15,300… https://dailygazette.com/*RecorderNews**Amsterdam’s Mohawk Lifts boosting manufacturing with $300K state grant**AMSTERDAM — Mohawk Lifts, a longtime Amsterdam manufacturer, will improve its operations to grow...**https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald**
*Make Us A Part Of Your Day*
*https://www.leaderherald.com/*
Great Depression stories from the Mohawk Valley posted this Sunday, December 4, 2022 (Bob has more in today's back and forth)
Historians Go Fund Me Link updated Thursday, December 1, 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
RecorderNews Montgomery County to support stabilization of historic Broodmare BarnTOWN OF AMSTERDAM — The future of the historic Broodmare Barn will be secured through an upcoming...https://www.recordernews.com/2007 memories of Christmas
The Globe wrote, “(Cook) has been cook for the boys at Yosts (across the river from Randall) since the war broke out and 14 of ‘her boys’ are in France and seven more are in training camps. She has mothered them all and the boys look to her for smiles and other necessities as well as for their meals.
By Bob Cudmore
Christmas always has been hard for people separated by war, whether it is today’s war on terror or World War I, when my grandmother was alive.
Margaret Cook was a widow living with her three small children in Randall, supporting herself by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the canal against saboteurs.
One of the soldiers was Private William J. Allen of Fonda, a member of Company C, Second Regiment, New York Infantry. Allen wrote to the Saturday Globe of November 22, 1917. Grandmother saved the clipping.
The Globe wrote, “(Cook) has been cook for the boys at Yosts (across the river from Randall) since the war broke out and 14 of ‘her boys’ are in France and seven more are in training camps. She has mothered them all and the boys look to her for smiles and other necessities as well as for their meals.
“The boys in France who have boarded with her she does not forget but sends them cigarettes or money to buy them. She is now sending Christmas gifts. Her constant thought is to keep the boys happy and contented with army life.”
LIGHTED TREE
One of the popular sights in Amsterdam during the heyday of carpet manufacturing was the lighted outline of a Christmas tree installed on the front of the Clock Building, then the headquarters of Bigelow-Sanford. The building is still there.
If snowbanks seemed bigger when we were young, it could be there was more snow. But those approaching the century mark in age have told me another reason is that years ago in Amsterdam the snow was plowed, but not removed.
CROWDED CHURCH
Amsterdam native Donald Isburgh recalled Christmas Eve services at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church on Division Street years ago.
“This was in the years before other local churches had their own Christmas Eve services, and the church was so crowded that the ushers had to set up extra chairs in the center aisle to accommodate everyone,” Isburgh said.
SINGLE PANE GLASS
Frequent contributor Richard G. Ellers who now lives in Warren, Ohio, has memories of Christmas in Amsterdam in the 1940s.
In the cold weather, Ellers said the snow crunched underfoot, “That crunch is linked in my memory to walking to Christmas midnight Mass at St. Michael’s Church from our home, an apartment on East Main Street downtown.”
In the apartment, Ellers could hear the Salvation Army bell ringer on the street below. There was only single pane glass on the windows and Ellers said, “I can still hear the clink-clink-clink of snow chains on cars driving below. Occasionally every third or fourth clink would be counter pointed with a double thunk, which was the sound of the ends of a broken chain slapping the underside of a fender.”
CHILDREN’S HOME
Shirley Spurles Baroody of Greensboro, North Carolina, spent 11 years of her childhood at the Children’s Home at 81 Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam. The home closed in 1957.
In December, the matrons asked each child for a list of three things wanted for Christmas. Baroody remembered getting paper dolls, perhaps, or white socks. The women’s clubs of Amsterdam put on a big Christmas party every year for the home.
Tomorrow, Posted Early on The Historians
Friday, December 2, 2022-Episode 451-Environmental educator Anita Sanchez is author of Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers And Learn What You Can Do To Save Them.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 1, 2022
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EST THISAFTERNOON...* WHAT...West winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.* WHERE...The Berkshires of western Massachusetts, the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Capital Region, and northern and central Taconics of eastern New York.* WHEN...Until 5 PM EST this afternoon.* IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a highprofile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, December 1, 2022Daily Gazette*When Credibility Matters EDITORIAL: Thruway Authority must justify latest toll hike proposal
New Yorkers are among the highest taxed citizens and businesses in the country. So in this time of high inflation,…*https://dailygazette.com/**RecorderNews**Montgomery County to support stabilization of historic Broodmare Barn**TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — The future of the historic Broodmare Barn will be secured through an upcoming...**https://www.recordernews.com/**Leader Herald**
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Not to get in front of ourselves but this Sunday, December 4, 2022
The latest Bob Cudmore print story from The Daily Gazette
Great Depression stories from the Mohawk Valley
(from the Great Depression an era between 1929 and into the 30's, not a story about how you feel when starting a new day, not every day but from time to time)
The story starts..
Isadore Demsky, a native of Amsterdam who became the actor Kirk Douglas, received a few pieces of gold as Bar Mitzvah presents in 1929...
The Historians with Bob Cudmore from Radio to The World Wide Web starting in 2014 "450 Podcasts on-line" (and still on Local and Public Radio)
Historians Go Fund Me
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U.S. Mail
Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Month #12
Thursday, December 1, 2022, From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—-Christmas memories 2007
Christmas always has been hard for people separated by war, whether it is today’s war on terror or World War I, when my grandmother was alive.
Margaret Cook was a widow living with her three small children in Randall, supporting herself by feeding soldiers who guarded Lock 13 on the canal against saboteurs.
Friday, December 2, 2022-Episode 451-Environmental educator Anita Sanchez is author of Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers And Learn What You Can Do To Save Them.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, November 30, 2022
``` ...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM EST THURSDAY...
-
WHAT...South to southeast winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected today, shifting to the west at 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph tonight into Thursday.
-
WHERE...The Berkshires of western Massachusetts, the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys, Capital Region, and northern and central Taconics of eastern New York.
-
WHEN...From 9 AM this morning to 5 PM EST Thursday.
-
IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
-
ADDITIONAL DETAILS...South winds will shift to the west as a cold front moves through early this evening, with wind gusts up to 50 mph possible.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects. ```
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Daily Gazette*When Credibility Matters‘I killed my mother’ – Accused Princetown killer fired 44 rounds in less than 30 seconds, police testify
PRINCETOWN — The 19-year-old accused of killing his mother and her longtime partner at their Reynolds Road home last week fired…*https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Decision pending on wind turbine proposed in town of Florida TOWN OF FLORIDA — The decision officials will make on a controversial wind turbine proposed in the... Tribes Hill Heritage Center opens in new home
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The Historians with Bob Cudmore from Radio to The WWW starting in 2014 "450 Podcasts on-line"
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Link updated Monday, November 28, 2022
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U.S. Mail
Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.
Monday, November 28, 2022
Myron Swidersky
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Christmas memories
Alberta Zierak Fondacaro’s aunts lived next door to Kiddo’s, then the family tavern, on Reid Street in Amsterdam. The tavern was named for Fondacaro’s father, Albert Zierak whose nickname was Kiddo.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022, From the Archives, Friday, May 28, 2021-Episode 372-Julia Sweig is author of “Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight” that draws on diaries kept by Lady Bird when her husband Lyndon was President from 1963 through 1968.
Thursday, December 1, 2022, From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—-Christmas memories 2007
Friday, December 2, 2022-Episode 451-Environmental educator Anita Sanchez is author of Meltdown: Discover Earth’s Irreplaceable Glaciers And Learn What You Can Do To Save Them.
A loyal son of Ukraine
By Bob Cudmore
Myron Swidersky’s voice of support for his native Ukraine has passed from the scene as we near the nine month anniversary of the Russian invasion.
His voice was often heard on Amsterdam radio in support of Ukraine and of fund raising projects at local Ukrainian churches.
Born in 1925 near Zolochiv, Ukraine, Swidersky grew up knowing his wife-to-be, Domna, from childhood. They were married for 67 years, prior to her passing in 2016.
In the mid 1940s, Myron and Domna escaped Russian and German fronts that were converging near their home village. They lived in a displaced persons’ camp in Germany. Myron learned English in preparation for their new life in the United States.
In 1951, they settled in New York’s Capital District area and quickly became involved in the local Ukrainian-American communities of Amsterdam, Watervliet, Cohoes, and Troy.
Myron was a draftsman for American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady and a mechanical engineer at Mechanical Technology Incorporated Turbonetics in Latham. He retired as a chief engineer from Atlas Copco Comptec in Voorheesville.
Myron devoted his life to his homeland. The center of his work was in Amsterdam at the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church and Ukrainian–American Citizens’ Club. During Ukrainian Saturday school, he taught the Ukrainian language, history, and traditions.
As president of the Amsterdam Branch of the Organization for the Defense of the Four Freedoms for Ukraine, he chaired the greatly anticipated annual Ukrainian Easter Bazaar for more than 30 years. He was also president of the local branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) and active within the Ukrainian–American Youth Association.
Myron is survived by his daughters, Martha Swidersky and Iryna (Wolodymyr) Kohut; granddaughter Adriana Kohut (Gabriel) Galvao; great-granddaughter Sofia; nephews Bohdan and Ivan Kwasowsky; and nieces and their families as well as extended family in Ukraine. He is predeceased by his younger sister and brother, Irena Kwasowsky and Orest Swidersky.
Interment will be in St. Nicholas Cemetery, Widow Susan Road, Amsterdam.
The history of Ukrainians in America goes back more than 200 years; possibly even farther. Individuals arrived perhaps as early as 1607, at the time of the founding of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. Ukrainian names have appeared on the roster of enlisted men in both the American Revolutionary War and Civil War.
Mass immigration of Ukrainians did not begin until 1875, and followed a pattern of four major waves: 1) 1875–1914; 2) 1920–1939; 3) 1947–1955; and 4) post-1991, after Ukraine declared its independence on August 24 of that year. Although each group faced unique problems in the United States, the first group set the basic groundwork for future generations.
The first Ukrainians to migrate to Amsterdam did so about 1903. These early settlers included Simon Kolodeychuk and Elias Yurkwych.
St. Nicholas Brotherhood formed in 1907 with 26 members from Amsterdam and other communities. Construction of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Amsterdam began that year on Pulaski Street. The church was completed and dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1910.
There were about 70 Ukrainian families in Amsterdam before World War I. In 1914 the Sisterhood of the Immaculate Conception of Mary started.
At St. Nicholas in Amsterdam in the twenties and thirties, the church sponsored an orchestra, dance troupe and dramatic group.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, November 28, 2022
A cold front tracking through the Northeast early
this morning will result in breezy winds along with a few leftover
early morning showers. Clouds give way to only partial sunshine
today with seasonable temperatures. High pressure builds
overhead tonight into Tuesday giving us cooler temperatures and
another dry day. The next disturbance arrives Wednesday and will
result in widespread rainfall along with strong winds that last
into Wednesday night and even Thursday.
Partly sunny, with a high near 45. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 23. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, November 28, 2022
Daily Gazette*When Credibility MattersLooking ahead: Seasonal craft beverage showcase in Gloversville, Saratoga Arts pop-up shop
LOOKING AHEAD – With a new week underway, here are five of the events and news items our team of…*https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Florida Town Board mulling land use moratoriums TOWN OF FLORIDA — Officials are awaiting advice from legal counsel before deciding whether or not...
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The Old House down by The Mohawk River
Friday, November 25, 2022
Episode 450-Bob Cudmore and Dave Greene take a look at Guy Park Manor, arguably Amsterdam’s oldest house. We also look at the leather business.
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, November 25, 2022
A chance of rain and snow showers before 7am, then rain showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Light and variable wind becoming west 11 to 16 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Tonight A chance of rain and snow showers before 10pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 10pm and 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. West wind 14 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 48. West wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Sunday Showers, mainly after 1pm. High near 48. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Daily GazetteVigil for slain Princetown couple Friday
PRINCETOWN – A candlelight prayer vigil will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Princetown Town Hall for 60-year-old Alesia…https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Montgomery County holiday events kickoff Friday
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According to his obituary, Newnham’s designs for transducers, devices that convert energy from one form to another, helped make ultrasound imaging possible.
Amsterdam N.Y.
Ultrasound pioneer an Amsterdam native
By Bob Cudmore
An Amsterdam native who died in 2009 in Pennsylvania was a prominent scientist whose research helped make ultrasound machines and cell phones possible.
Robert Newnham was born in 1929 in Amsterdam and died April 16 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center at age 80, according to the Centre Daily Times of State College, Pennsylvania.
His parents were William Newnham and Dorothy Hamm Newnham, a janitor and a telephone operator. Newnham was the first in his family to go to college, earning his bachelor’s degree at Hartwick College in Oneonta.
Newnham earned advanced degrees at Colorado State, Penn State and Cambridge University in England. Before joining Penn State’s faculty to teach materials science in 1966, he taught at Cambridge University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
According to his obituary, Newnham’s designs for transducers, devices that convert energy from one form to another, helped make ultrasound imaging possible.
The Penn State Web site reported, “His basic discoveries in ferroelectric materials have helped propel the growth of electronic devices such as cell phones, while his work for the U.S. Navy on sonar arrays helped the Navy keep a watchful eye on Soviet submarines during the Cold War. One of his 20 patents, pertaining to off-shore oil explorations, has generated more than a million dollars in licensing fees for the University.”
Described by a colleague as a giant in science, Newnham and his wife Patricia were said to be unabashed supporters of liberal causes and the local peace movement. Newnham’s daughter Rosemary Newnham said her parents would invite as many as 30 graduate students for Thanksgiving dinner. She said her father would explain the American Thanksgiving custom to his foreign guests and display their gifts of curry and sushi on the Thanksgiving table.
She also said her father had a “goofy sense of humor” and would paint mustaches on the tiny pilots in his extensive model airplane collection to match his own mustache.
Bernadine Olbrych of Amsterdam suggested this story.
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$125.00 this Week -$400 by the end of November.
**7 Days Please donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022 U.S.Mail Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. $5075 so far toward our $6000 Historians Podcast fund drive goal. COLONIAL HORSE RACING
Wanda Burch, site manager of Johnson Hall State Historic Site in Johnstown, has been researching horse racing in Colonial days.
“The sport of horse racing was an integral part of American culture long before the American Revolution,” Burch said.
In 1748, prominent colonist Sir William Johnson was complaining, according to Burch, “that most of the good New York horses were snatched up by New England and Philadelphia jockeys at ‘Extravigant prices.’”
Racing horses at a specialized racetrack was developed at Newmarket in England by 1622. America’s first racetrack was called Newmarket in honor of the old country and established on Long Island in 1665.
Burch said, “Johnson purchased prints of the racehorses at Newmarket in England and hung them in the best rooms at Johnson Hall, his 1763 home. He made references to bets on races and was particularly taken with a horse born in 1764 named Goldfinder, whose image had a prominent place on the wall of his best parlor. Goldfinder raced at Newmarket in England and was undefeated in three years of racing.”
Burch said horse thievery was a big issue in the colonies, “Hundreds of letters dealt with complaints of stolen horses and even Johnson's brother lamented in his journal that ‘there are no highwaymen in America, but great Horse stealers.’"
According to Burch, Johnson took great care in ordering bridles, harnesses and saddles, “Brass work on harnesses was important, and a particularly expensive saddle ordered for Sir William's son John had ‘blue housings, elegant stirrups, English made’ and was described as a ‘handsome’ parade saddle with a secret compartment in the pommel for pistols.”
The Old House down by The Mohawk River
Friday, November 25, 2022
Episode 450-Bob Cudmore and Dave Greene take a look at Guy Park Manor, arguably Amsterdam’s oldest house. We also look at the leather business.****Mohawk Valley Thanksgiving Weather and News Headlines, Thursday, November 24, 2022
Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Light east wind.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Light southeast wind.
Friday Rain and snow showers likely, becoming all rain after 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Light and variable wind becoming west 11 to 16 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 46. West wind 9 to 14 mph.
Sunday Rain after 1pm. High near 47. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Daily Gazette**19-year-old charged in Princetown slayings; killed his mother, along with father of two troopers, police say
PRINCETOWN — A 19-year-old Schenectady man was charged Wednesday with murdering his mother and her longtime partner at their home…
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Community effort feeds local families at Thanksgiving AMSTERDAM — Madison Mead knows families who worried about putting food on the table at...
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This Sunday, October 9, Focus on History from Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder. Filmmakers linked to Ken Burns scouting the Mohawk Valley...
A three-person Florentine Films video crew spent time in the Mohawk Valley in early September scouting locations and shooting video for possible use in a historical documentary film series on the American Revolution.
Florentine, based in New Hampshire, is the production company affiliated with Ken Burns that has created PBS documentary series including the Civil War.
..from The Bob Cudmore laptop that is so old, the letter "E" does not work, but it completes the assignment
The crew from the Amsterdam crash was lucky to survive. Laura Hillenbrand in her book “Unbroken” wrote of World War II, “Some 15,000 airmen died in accidental crashes stateside.”
Wartime plane crash in Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
It was 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 13 1943 when a twin-engine American Army plane crashed in a rural section of Amsterdam’s South Side as the plane’s four-man crew parachuted to safety in the city’s Fifth Ward. Remarkably, there were no injuries. The plane was on a flight between Rome and Schenectady when its engines went out.
Fireman Frank Mazur, standing outside the Central Fire Station at West Main and Pearl Streets, heard an airplane engine sputtering and saw the tail light descending rapidly toward the South Side. Firefighters, cops and ambulances scrambled to the scene. The plane went down either in the vicinity of today’s Route 5-S or New York State Thruway. The Army and State Police guarded the accident scene during the night, keeping crowds of spectators away.
Captain John F. Pope, the last to exit the plane at about 500 feet, was found wandering on DeWitt Street. He apparently had landed on the roof of popular Fifth Ward Alderman Angelo Sardonia’s house or on the nearby porch of Charles Frohlich. Accounts differ. The other three crew members landed safely in the vicinity of the Fifth Ward School on Perkins Street. The plane’s exit door from which they escaped was found on Eagle Street in the city's East End.
Captain Pope of Montgomery, Alabama and Lieutenant Charles Thompson of Schenectady, another member of the crew, were decorated combat veterans from the North Africa campaign. Thompson had been in a plane shot down 45 miles behind the German lines, but Thompson and his men found their way back to allied territory. The two other soldiers in the Amsterdam crash were Sergeant Joseph Bragdon of York Village, Maine and Sergeant Albert Finarelli of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The Recorder reported of Captain Pope, "He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal, with several oak leaf clusters, but it remained for Amsterdam to hold the distinction of being the first place over which he bailed out of a plane."
Captain Pope lost his beat-up old hat in the parachute jump into Amsterdam, a hat that had been with him in England, Ireland, Scotland, Gibraltar and all over North Africa in his 108 combat missions. Fortunately, Fifth Ward School second grader Peter Marcucio, celebrating his seventh birthday, and his friend Robert Selbert found the hat and were rewarded with junior sets of pilot's wings later that month.
In a letter to Marcucio, Captain Pope wrote, “As you know, the hat wasn't very good, but it carries a lot of memories with it that make it priceless to me.”
The flight had originated at the relatively new Rome Air Depot, created in November 1942. The facility became Griffiss Air Force Base after the war in 1948.
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln said the plane likely was on a check flight testing repairs to the aircraft or engines before returning it to an operational command.
Von Hasseln said the type of plane that crashed is not certain, but probably it was a B-25 Mitchell, although it could have also been an A-20, B-26 or another type. The Mitchell was named in honor of aviation pioneer Billy Mitchell.
The crew from the Amsterdam crash was lucky to survive. Laura Hillenbrand in her book “Unbroken” wrote of World War II, “Some 15,000 airmen died in accidental crashes stateside.”
Thanks to Al Mancini of Amsterdam for suggesting this story. Much of the information came from attorney Bob Going. The story of the plane crash will be part of Going’s book on Amsterdam in World War II called “Where Do We Find Such Men?” The book will be published later this year.
Tomorrow, Friday, October 7, 2022
1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.
Episode 443
How to write historical fiction with Alyson Richman, co-author with Shaunna Edwards of “The Thread Collectors,” a Civil War novel.
Saturday, October 8, 2022-Pulitzer Prize finalist Nick Bunker discusses his book, “Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth of Ingenuity.”
In this new account of Franklin's early life, Pulitzer finalist Nick Bunker portrays him as a complex, driven young man who elbows his way to success.
From his early career as a printer and journalist to his scientific work and his role as a founder of a new republic, Benjamin Franklin has always seemed the inevitable embodiment of American ingenuity. But in his youth, he had to make his way through a harsh colonial world, where he fought many battles with his rivals, but also with his wayward emotions
Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, October 6, 2022
Morning fog and low clouds will give way to plenty of
sunshine for today, along with a mild afternoon. An approaching
frontal boundary will bring a few showers to the area for late
tonight into Friday. Cooler temperatures and dry conditions are
expected for the weekend.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight A chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Friday A chance of showers, mainly after 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. Light southwest wind becoming west 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, October 6, 2022
Daily Gazette
Fulton County Board of Supervisors to vote on creating tourism division
The Fulton County Board of Supervisors is poised to vote at next Tuesday’s meeting on a resolution to end its…
https://dailygazette.com/ RecorderNews Amsterdam’s annual Oktoberfest returns Saturday Oktoberfest takes place 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., live music, a beer stein hoisting competition, a yodeling contest and over 80 vendors, food trucks, arts and crafts, farm goods, a distillery, pretzel necklaces, and area restaurants will be offering food and beer specials.
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The courthouse booklet is for sale online at Amazon and at Mysteries on Main Street Bookstore in Johnstown.
https://www.facebook.com/MysteriesOnMainStreet/
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-West-Albany-1772-Courthouse/dp/057836431X
Tuesday, September 6, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—A baseball oracle
According to his son, James J. Sheridan III of Amsterdam, James J. Sheridan II was operating a candy store called the Smoke Shop in Rome when he began sending uncannily accurate telegrams to the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Charles “Gabby” Street.
The Fulton County Courthouse
By Bob Cudmore
Robert P. Best’s booklet “Everything West of Albany in 1772” on the history of the Fulton County Courthouse in Johnstown has been published.
Built in 1772 when New York State was still a British colony, the structure at 223 West Main Street is the oldest existing courthouse in the state and one of the oldest buildings in the nation still in use as a courthouse.
Best, who retired in 2006, worked in the historic building as a State Supreme Court Justice for 15 years, a Fulton County Judge for 10 years and District Attorney. A Pennsylvania native and U.S. Navy veteran, Best previously was mayor of Gloversville and before that law clerk to his uncle Willard Best, also a Fulton County judge.
Best said, “So holding court in it was just a habit with me. It was there before I was elected and I hoped that it would stay after I was elected. It was like a movie scene from an old movie of what a courthouse looks like and it still does.
“In 1980 something, an architectural firm went through, gave (the building) good marks as continuing as a courthouse. It needed air conditioning and a few other things but otherwise it passed muster.”
Best’s daughter, art teacher Meredith Best, designed artwork for the booklet including pictures of the courthouse, Sir William Johnson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others. Sandy Maceyka contributed a foreword to the booklet.
Sir William Johnson who had founded Johnstown suggested to colonial Governor William Tryon that a county be created west of Albany “for doing legal business.” The Governor liked the idea that the new jurisdiction was to be named Tryon County. The first judges were relatives or friends of Johnson, Britain’s Indian agent.
Johnson contributed 500 pounds toward constructing the courthouse in the summer of 1772. Best said Johnson “also provided 25 gallons of rum to refresh the brick masons, the mill wrights and the other sundry help who built the courthouse during the hot months.” It was the only courthouse west of Albany when it first opened.
Two years after the courthouse was completed Johnson died and soon the Revolutionary War began. After the war the name of the county was changed from Tryon to Montgomery to honor patriot General Richard Montgomery who died while leading an attack on Quebec City in the Revolutionary War. The Johnstown building became the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Development along the Mohawk River including the Erie Canal and railroad became the “big thing” economically, according to Best. The Montgomery County seat moved to Fonda, located on the river, in 1836. The courthouse, jail and clerk’s office in Johnstown were sold at public auction for $2,040 the next year.
The people in and around Johnstown were dissatisfied that the county seat had moved and convinced the State Legislature to create a new county from part of northern Montgomery County, naming the new jurisdiction after Robert Fulton who had improved on the invention of the steam engine.
The Johnstown courthouse, jail and clerk’s office were repurchased. Best said that lawyer and later judge Daniel Cady is called the Father of Fulton County for presiding over this transaction.
Cady’s daughter was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer suffragist. She spent time when she was young considering how laws discriminated against the rights of women.
The last execution ordered in a criminal case at the Fulton County Courthouse was the 1846 hanging of Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh of West Perth, convicted of poisoning two abusive husbands.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette—A baseball oracle
According to his son, James J. Sheridan III of Amsterdam, James J. Sheridan II was operating a candy store called the Smoke Shop in Rome when he began sending uncannily accurate telegrams to the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Charles “Gabby” Street.
Wednesday, September 7, 2022-From the Archives of The Historians Podcast- May 1, 2020-Episode 316-Richard Hamm on what really happened during Prohibition. He is co-editor of “Prohibition’s Greatest Myths: The Distilled Truth About America’s Anti-Alcohol Crusade.”
Thursday, September 8, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette— The Chalmers building
Friday, September 9, 2022-Episode 439-2022 Highlights Episode Four with excerpts from a history of the Mohawk River with Mary Zawacki of Schenectady County Historical Society; Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar, Montgomery County New York historian, on a national family history TV show visit to Fonda; Susanne Dunlap discusses The Portraitist, a novel based on the life of an 18th century French artist; Stephen Williams, author of Off the Northway on the history of the GlobalFoundries semiconductor facility in Malta; Bob Cudmore on Ukrainians in Amsterdam and Rick Herrera, author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.
Mohawk Valley Labor Day Weather, Monday, September 5, 2022
A frontal system will remain just south of the region through
Tuesday, as waves of low pressure track along it. This will
bring periods of rain today and tonight, with some locally heavy
rain possible. Rain will gradually taper to showers from north
to south during Tuesday. Clouds and a few showers may linger
Wednesday, followed by dry and warmer weather for later this
week.
Rain, mainly after 7am. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 67. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tonight Rain, mainly before 3am. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 59. Northeast wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Tuesday A chance of rain before 1pm, then a chance of showers after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 65. Northeast wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, September 5, 2022
Daily Gazette
Regional businesses employing creative strategies to attract workers Whether it’s offering prospective employees subsidized housing, college tuition reimbursement or simply a workplace that no longer has staid oil… Next generation reopening Schenectady’s La Gioia Italian Deli this fall SCHENECTADY — La Gioia Italian Deli, a beloved city fixture that closed its doors after 33 years in June, is now…
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Convoy for a Cause goes extra distance to help kids again FONDA — Santa’s sleigh can carry a lighter load once again this Christmas season, thanks to...
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The Fulton County Courthouse
By Bob Cudmore
Robert P. Best’s booklet “Everything West of Albany in 1772” on the history of the Fulton County Courthouse in Johnstown has been published.
Built in 1772 when New York State was still a British colony, the structure at 223 West Main Street is the oldest existing courthouse in the state and one of the oldest buildings in the nation still in use as a courthouse.
Best, who retired in 2006, worked in the historic building as a State Supreme Court Justice for 15 years, a Fulton County Judge for 10 years and District Attorney. A Pennsylvania native and U.S. Navy veteran, Best previously was mayor of Gloversville and before that law clerk to his uncle Willard Best, also a Fulton County judge.
Best said, “So holding court in it was just a habit with me. It was there before I was elected and I hoped that it would stay after I was elected. It was like a movie scene from an old movie of what a courthouse looks like and it still does.
“In 1980 something, an architectural firm went through, gave (the building) good marks as continuing as a courthouse. It needed air conditioning and a few other things but otherwise it passed muster.”
Best’s daughter, art teacher Meredith Best, designed artwork for the booklet including pictures of the courthouse, Sir William Johnson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others. Sandy Maceyka contributed a foreword to the booklet.
Sir William Johnson who had founded Johnstown suggested to colonial Governor William Tryon that a county be created west of Albany “for doing legal business.” The Governor liked the idea that the new jurisdiction was to be named Tryon County. The first judges were relatives or friends of Johnson, Britain’s Indian agent.
Johnson contributed 500 pounds toward constructing the courthouse in the summer of 1772. Best said Johnson “also provided 25 gallons of rum to refresh the brick masons, the mill wrights and the other sundry help who built the courthouse during the hot months.” It was the only courthouse west of Albany when it first opened.
Two years after the courthouse was completed Johnson died and soon the Revolutionary War began. After the war the name of the county was changed from Tryon to Montgomery to honor patriot General Richard Montgomery who died while leading an attack on Quebec City in the Revolutionary War. The Johnstown building became the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Tomorrow, Monday, September 5, 2022- The story behind the story podcast-The Fulton County Courthouse. A short audio piece about eight minutes with more what's what...
Development along the Mohawk River including the Erie Canal and railroad became the “big thing” economically, according to Best. The Montgomery County seat moved to Fonda, located on the river, in 1836. The courthouse, jail and clerk’s office in Johnstown were sold at public auction for $2,040 the next year.
The people in and around Johnstown were dissatisfied that the county seat had moved and convinced the State Legislature to create a new county from part of northern Montgomery County, naming the new jurisdiction after Robert Fulton who had improved on the invention of the steam engine.
The Johnstown courthouse, jail and clerk’s office were repurchased. Best said that lawyer and later judge Daniel Cady is called the Father of Fulton County for presiding over this transaction.
Cady’s daughter was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer suffragist. She spent time when she was young considering how laws discriminated against the rights of women.
The last execution ordered in a criminal case at the Fulton County Courthouse was the 1846 hanging of Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh of West Perth, convicted of poisoning two abusive husbands.
The courthouse booklet is for sale online at Amazon and at Mysteries on Main Street Bookstore in Johnstown.
https://www.facebook.com/MysteriesOnMainStreet/
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-West-Albany-1772-Courthouse/dp/057836431X
Tuesday, September 6, 2022—A baseball oracle
Mohawk Valley Holiday Weather, Sunday, September 4, 2022
The weather turns unsettled this afternoon through Monday as a
cold front slowly moves southward across the area and waves of
low pressure track along it. Scattered showers and isolated
thunderstorms develop this afternoon, followed by a widespread
rainfall Monday into Monday night, with the heaviest rain
occurring mainly south of Interstate 90. Showers may linger into
Tuesday before the region dries out for mid to late week.
Isolated showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 60. East wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Labor Day Showers likely, mainly after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, September 4, 2022
Daily Gazette
Local schools bolster safety ahead of new academic year
With the start of school just days away, ensuring students are safe in the classroom has been a top priority…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
Kirk Douglas and Mario Cuomo Kirk Douglas Day, June 1, 1985 Picture:Daily Gazette
Kirk Douglas and his Amsterdam
By Bob Cudmore
Michael Chiara, chairman of the Amsterdam Industrial Development Agency, sees economic potential in celebrating the link between Amsterdam and native son Kirk Douglas, one of the most popular actors of the 20th century. Chiara proposes a Kirk Douglas Museum for Amsterdam, much as Jamestown, New York, celebrates Lucille Ball.
Some in Amsterdam are not enthusiastic about Douglas, faulting his 1988 autobiography, “The Ragman’s Son,” for his account of a sexual liaison with a local teacher and the actor’s views on anti-Semitism in the Rug City.
But Chiara is not deterred. A movie fan, Chiara unsuccessfully tried to convince city officials years ago to name the downtown mall after the famous actor.
Kirk Douglas is 90 and has returned to his Jewish roots, celebrating a second Bar Mitzvah. He almost died in a helicopter crash in 1991. He had a stroke in 1996 that impaired his ability to speak. While his son Michael has succeeded in motion pictures, son Eric died of an overdose of drugs in 2004.
Born in 1916 as Issur Danielovitch, Douglas spent his early years at the last house on the left on Amsterdam’s Eagle Street—the building is still occupied. He was known locally as Isadore or Izzy Demsky. His father, Herschel or Harry Demsky, was a local ragman. His mother, Bryna, eventually separated from her strong-willed husband after bearing seven children, Kirk and six sisters.
My grandfather Harry Cudmore, also an Eagle Street resident, was quoted in family stories as saying people sometimes had to leave the popular Shaughnessy’s Tavern at East Main at Eagle because, “Somebody said something about the Jews and Harry Demsky is cleaning out the place.”
Kirk Douglas told a recent interviewer that there was pressure on him to become a rabbi. He was a standout in speech at Amsterdam High School and was mentored by English teacher Louise Livingston. Another lifelong friend was Sonya Seigal and Douglas installed a plaque in her memory at the Amsterdam Free Library. A high school cheerleader, Douglas worked in men’s clothes at Lurie’s Department Store after high school.
An Italian-American friend, Peter Riccio, convinced Douglas to try college and both went off to St. Lawrence University where Douglas starred on the wrestling team. He also started acting and worked summers as a counselor at YMCA Camp Agaming in the Adirondacks while performing in plays at the nearby Tamarack Playhouse. It was at Tamarack that he changed his name, keeping the “D” sound of Danielovitch and Demsky for his stage name.
Douglas went to New York to study acting, served in the U.S. Navy and found work in Hollywood.
His 1949 breakthrough movie was “Champion,” where he played a conflicted boxer. The movie was the opening attraction of Amsterdam’s new Tryon Theatre that year.
Numerous roles followed and in 1959 Douglas produced and starred in “Spartacus,” breaking the blacklist of left-leaning Hollywood figures by hiring Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay. Douglas named his production company Bryna Productions to honor his mother.
In 1985, Douglas returned to Amsterdam for a hero’s welcome on Kirk Douglas Day and a park in his honor was dedicated on Guy Park Avenue Extension by then Governor Mario Cuomo.
Douglas had a reunion with Wilfred “Wolfie” Churchitt, an Amsterdam man who had saved Douglas from drowning when both were children.
In Amsterdam in 1985, Douglas spoke of Eagle Street and his immigrant roots, saying the street was like a United Nations with its Crocettis, Naples, Allens, Cudmores and Demskis.
He said, “My mother, God rest her soul, used to sit on that porch sometimes and say to me, ‘Ah, America, such a wonderful land.’”
Wednesday
"The Erie Canal rubbed Aladdin's lamp. America awoke, catching for the first time the wondrous vision of its own dimensions and power." - Francis Kimball, American architect
Episode 121, July 22, 2016- Jack Kelly discusses topics as diverse as the origin of the Mormon religion and how Americans learned how to make cement in his book “Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal”
Thursday
Amsterdam and its railroads
In 1898, a more substantial passenger train depot was built on the south side of the railroad tracks for $60,000. Vehicle access was provided by a ramp...
The Latest
August 26, 2022-Episode 437-Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History columns from Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder in 2022 provide information for this chit chat podcast with Dave Greene. Hear stories about Amsterdam’s connections with Ukraine, World War II, Amsterdam’s link with Jeff Buckley’s version of the “secret chord” and the Polish cowboy.
Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Some scattered showers developing across the region, but quite
scattered and light. Breaks in the clouds outside of the
showers. Daytime mixing after sunrise will dry up some the
showers this morning but isolated to scattered showers are
possible. Coverage of showers increase late this morning and
into this afternoon with some daytime warming and instability
along with the wind shift at the boundary layer and upper
impulse tracking through the region.
A chance of showers before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 1pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 8 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Daily Gazette
Officials still trying to identify, locate remains in Johnstown funeral home case
JOHNSTOWN — Six sets of remains are still missing and three remain unidentified in the case involving a funeral home…
Ayers shelter employee attacked by two dogs, airlifted to Albany Med, Montgomery County Sheriff says
ROOT – An Ayers Memorial Animal Shelter employee was seriously injured after being attacked by two dogs at the shelter Monday morning…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/