Bob Cudmore and The Historians 2014-2024 Thank You

1s

Mar 31, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 37 overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:14AM-Saturday, March 30, 2024-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather-Mostly sunny, with a high near 49. West wind 16 to 18 mph. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Sunday Partly sunny, with a high near 50. West wind 10 to 14 mph. * * *   * Families are friends for four generations By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  Salvatore Morrella, Joseph Sapia and John Russo told police they were fruit merchants on their way back to Amsterdam from New York City with what they said was a load of grapes when they were stopped by authorities in Hudson, New York, according to the Daily Gazette on September 3, 1921. The police, being curious. looked under the grapes and found the men also had 100 gallons of distilled alcohol. The alcohol was covered on all sides by crates of Malaga grapes. Malaga grapes are grown in Spain and can be used to make a sweet fortified wine. After the alcohol was discovered the trio of Amsterdam men admitted their guilt and were charged with felonies. Pasquale DiMezza, a friend of Russo and Sapia and a prominent Amsterdam banker, went to Hudson and furnished cash bail of 500 dollars for each after the men were held for the grand jury on the charge of violating the Volstead Act. Five hundred dollars in 1921 would be worth $8400 today because of inflation. Those charged under the Volstead Act faced expensive bail but usually were able to make bail and then were released. The Volstead Act was an act of Congress that enforced the 18th amendment which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks starting in 1921. Andrew Volstead was a Minnesota Congressman who championed prohibition. Amsterdam Town Supervisor, and retired Amsterdam city detective chief Thomas DiMezza said, "Russo's Grill (on West Main Street) has been in business for 103 years now. The Russo and DiMezza families go back four generations." DiMezza explained, "The four generations comes in being that our grandparents were friends, our parents were good friends, I played golf regularly with Jim Russo. I continue to be friends with the children, and our children are friends. In fact Dan Russo's daughter works with my son Michael (in education). What a small world." Banker Pasquale DiMezza, a native of Melizanno in Benevento province, also published an Italian newspaper and sold real estate and products ranging from steamship tickets to macaroni. In 1916, the DiMezza Bank, originally on the South Side, relocated across the river to 75 West Main Street at the corner of Mohawk Place. When Pasquale DiMezza closed the bank in 1930, state examiners said his adherence to state banking laws had been perfect. He was known for serving customers at any hour of the day or night. DiMezza even wanted to erect a merry-go-round in 1908 on Railroad Street, a project humorously deplored by the Recorder newspaper whose offices were nearby, "It is sincerely hoped that some natural phenomenon destroys the aforesaid music before the first shrill blast of the whistle stuns the fish in the river." As pressure mounted to repeal Prohibition in 1932, local Methodists continued to advocate for continuation of the ban. Meeting in Saratoga Springs, ministers from throughout the area argued that the anti-alcohol law had not been given a fair chance of success. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the bank became a liquor store operated by Pasquale DiMezza's son Alphonse starting in 1945. Hundreds paid their respects when Pasquale DiMezza, at age 75, died in1947. The DiMezza Bank was torn down for urban renewal highway work in 1966. Once Prohibition ended, the government issued beer and wine licenses to some establishments and full liquor license to others. Amsterdam Mayor Arthur Carter was reported to flip flop on enforcing that law. At first, Carter told local police to leave enforcement to federal undercover agents. But after pressure from the state, Carter changed his mind and told local uniformed police to enforce the law.

1s

Mar 30, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 38 overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM-Friday, March 29, 2024-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a northwest wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy, with a west wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. Sunday A chance of snow showers before 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Two smart men from the Mohawk Valley * * * By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History for Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder  Amsterdam's Bill Hojohn was very smart, according to his longtime friends. . Local history fan Emil Suda said William Walter Hojohn was born in Amsterdam in 1906 and died at age 80 in 1987. He was survived by two sons, William, Jr. and Richard. Suda said, "A tall thin lanky man with glasses, Bill had a fantastic career in electronics as he was a genius in the field--working for the General Electric in Schenectady, then the federal government at White Sands Proving Grounds. "He then came closer to home at the Rome Air Force Base (now Griffiss) doing radar work. He ended his career working in Amsterdam at Electro Metrics Corporation. "All these places of employment were ongoing while maintaining a radio repair shop here in Amsterdam on weekends. First out of his home, followed by opening an actual shop at 222 East Main Street in 1941. "By the 1950s television was coming into demand and Bill expanded into the market, not just repairing sets, but even installing antennas on roofs!" Hojohn also had a passion for model trains. Suda continued, "The electric train hobby was very popular and this is where Bill's passion went, not with the tinplate models of Lionel or Gilbert American Flyer but with the scale HO lines. "This is where Bill reached out to service the needs of those who purchased (model) trains. He aligned himself as an authorized repair center for the Lionel and American Flyer brands. "In Amsterdam a few stores sold electric trains at the Christmas time but none compared to what the John E. Larrabee Hardware Store could offer and those repairs kept Bill busy." There was a special shop that Bill Hojohn maintained according to Suda, "Bill's most remembered and iconic location was his move to 9 Grove Street in 1955 directly behind the Niagara Mohawk building on Market Street. "Over the wooden door with a glass window hung a painted yellow metal sign reading The Radio Workshop dressed off with two lightning bolts. Up on the second floor one was greeted by a fairly large "L" shaped model train empire about 20 feet in length, in scale HO that sadly never got completed. "Urban renewal in Amsterdam in the early 70s forced (Bill Hojohn) to move and retire." Suda thanks Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League for providing information for this article from microfilm copies of the Amsterdam Recorder. EMAIL MAN When computer programmer Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, 74, died in 2016 in Lincoln, Massachusetts, news stories around the world noted his roots in Amsterdam, Vail Mills and Broadalbin. At his death from a suspected heart attack Tomlinson was a principal engineer for Raytheon. He is credited with sending the first email messages between separate computers in 1971 and making the decision to use the "at" sign-@-to separate the sender's name from the sender's Internet address. Born in Amsterdam in 1941, Ray was the son of Raymond and Dorothy Tomlinson who lived near the village of Broadalbin in Vail Mills, a hamlet in the town of Mayfield. "We knew he was smart but had no idea how smart," said Samuel "Tom" Tomlinson one of Ray's cousins. "Tom" said that for Ray, "School was a breeze." Ray was valedictorian of the class of 1959 at Broadalbin. The class had forty-five students. Ray's girlfriend in high school was Barbara Andersen. Andersen told the Daily Gazette the young man came up with a "concoction of wires and things" that enabled her to talk with him while not interfering with her family's business phone at the White Holland House restaurant on Route 29.

1s

Mar 29, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 44 overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:06AM-Thursday, March 28, 2024-Mohawk Valley Weather-A chance of showers, mainly between 9am and noon. Patchy fog between 11am and noon. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 47. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind 8 to 10 mph. Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a west wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Bob at WBUR Boston Public Radio Something to read while you wait for "fill in the Blank" A story from the lost year of 2021 Soccer, ice cream and men's clothing among 2021's topics By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History. Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder Soccer players from the British navy competed in a 1941 exhibition game against the Bigelow-Sanford United's, a soccer club sponsored by the Amsterdam carpet manufacturer. The Recorder reported, "With pipers piping and a total of three bands contributing to a musical background, the Bigelow-Sanford team squeezed out a 3-2 victory over picked players from the Royal British Navy Saturday night at Mohawk Mills Park in the greatest soccer show of all time in Amsterdam." Ed McKnight scored twice for the locals and Howie Dynes scored once. It was the first local soccer game under the lights. Rain made the field slippery. Great Britain was at war with Germany when the benefit was played to raise funds for British relief. The Bigelow-Sanford soccer team formed in 1893. Gavin "Guy" Murdoch, who fought in World War I with the Canadian army, was anonymous editor of United's PX, a monthly newsletter published during World War II Guy Murdoch was a quality supervisor at Mohawk Carpet. His grandson Gavin Murdoch, retired Amsterdam high school principal, provided information for this story. Tollner's ice cream occupied a white building on Route 5 in Fort Johnson near the railroad tracks, west of the main gate of St. Mary's Cemetery. Willis Tollner, Sr., started the popular shop with his father, Fred Tollner, in 1935. Willis Tollner, Sr., died in 1955 at 47. Also that year Willis's father Fred and his wife moved to Yonkers, New York, where one of their daughters lived. Willis Senior's sons Willis Junior (Bill) and Ron operated the ice cream shop in its later years according to Fort Johnson native Shirley Kosinski. Bill Tollner, married Fran, who had worked as a carhop. They relocated to western New York and have four children. Ron Tollner died young, leaving his wife Peggy Van Patten Tollner and one son. Tollner's closed and the building was torn down along with many other structures when Route 5 in Fort Johnson and Tribes Hill was rebuilt in the 1960s as a four lane highway. Paul Guttenberg, who headed Mortan's men's store in Amsterdam until it closed in 1990, passed away in August 2021. Paul was born in New York City in 1927, the son of H. Morton and Pearl Rauch Guttenberg. Mortan's was named after Paul's father, who moved his clothing store from Schenectady to Amsterdam in 1933. Despite launching in the Depression, Mortan's prospered at several East Main Street locations. Mortan's last store was in the downtown mall. In his memoir "Too Long Ago" about growing up in Amsterdam, historian David Pietrusza wrote, "Imagine Paul Newman operating a clothing store in Amsterdam, and, you have an approximation of Paul Guttenberg, whose skill in making a sale was prodigious." Guttenberg was a U.S. Marine veteran and graduate of Union College. After Mortan's closed he pursued other interests including skiing and flying airplanes. The Guttenbergs made their home in Broadalbin. In 2007 Paul and his wife Susanne, a health administrator, assumed ownership of Montgomery Meadows, a 120-bed nursing home on Amsterdam's South Side. The facility was renamed River Ridge Living Center. Eleanore Cramer Breier, widow of late Amsterdam mayor and industrialist Marcus Breier, died last May in Miami, Florida at 101. A graduate of Ithaca College, Eleanore was a physical education teacher at the former Theodore Roosevelt Junior High in Amsterdam. Veteran radio broadcaster and Mohawk Valley Daily Gazette reporter Sam Zurlo, 90, died October 25 at his Tribes Hill home. In July a column had chronicled Zurlo's early working years when he was in the U.S. Army, a disc jockey and newsman at Armed Forces Radio Service in Frankfurt, Germany. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 28, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 41 overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 5:56AM-Wednesday, March 27, 2024-Mohawk Valley Weather-Showers, mainly before 3pm. High near 50. Southeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Tonight A chance of showers, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Thursday A chance of showers, mainly between 1pm and 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 50. West wind. Something to read while you wait for your favorite TV Show  "Who Do You Think You Are?" visits Fonda and Johnstown By Bob Cudmore Story from July 2022 A national family history television show recently focused on a celebrity's ancestors in the Mohawk Valley. Actor Nick Offerman and a production crew from NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" recorded interviews at sites in the Albany area and 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. Offerman is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the sitcom "Parks and Recreation." Researchers traced his roots to a Mohawk Valley couple, Bartholomew and Eva Pickard and their grandson, Joseph Mabee. Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said that members of the Mohawk nation complained about Eva Pickard, "Their complaint was that she owned a tavern around the area we know today as Indian Castle which is actually in Herkimer County. They complained that she would get them drunk and have them sign away their land." Farquhar said there are references to this issue in documents in the Sir William Johnson papers, copies of which are at the Johnstown library. Pickard apparently was removed from her land. Years later her grandson Joseph Mabee was able to recover a lot of that land in return for his military service with the rebels in the Revolutionary War. By then Sir William Johnson was deceased. His family and many Mohawks and others loyal to the British crown had left the Mohawk Valley. At the end of the TV show Offerman and relatives are seen standing on the land in question, located in the Herkimer County town of Danube west of Minden in Montgomery County. Neither Farquhar nor Erica Wing of the Johnstown library was interviewed on camera. Farquhar, who has been with the county history department for 26 years, said, "I was OK with that because I was very nervous thinking about whether I would be on camera A lot of people were hoping the local historians would be filmed as well. I think the historians they had on did a fantastic job relating what was going on at that time." Offerman and history professor Tim Shannon of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania discussed Offerman's ancestry on the TV show in an interview filmed in Fonda. Shannon said, "(Offerman) seemed very much interested in learning about the Mohawks and their relations with the colonists there. I was glad to have the occasion to visit the Montgomery County Department of History and Archives and appreciated the staff's willingness to accommodate the film shoot." Originally the TV show was to start production in March 2020 but the work was postponed by the pandemic. Production actually began in September, 2021. Farquhar credits county supervisors with foresight for creating the Department of History and Archives in 1934. There was Depression-era federal funding available to have the staff then document area history. The staff would get copies of church and cemetery records from across the state because at one time Montgomery County and its predecessor Tryon County encompassed territory west of Schenectady to Central New York, north to Canada and south to Pennsylvania. Farquhar said over 30 counties can trace their origins back to Montgomery and Tryon County. "That's why genealogists and local history researchers come here to do research." An event is being planned in Fonda on Saturday, August 27, to mark the 250th anniversary of the creation of Tryon County, the British colonial name for what became Montgomery County. That day there will be historical tours of the area, artisan and militia reenactors and a new promotional video for the Department of History and Archives. Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. Bruce W. Dearstyne has published several books, including Railroads and Railroad Regulations in New York State, 1900–1913. He is co-author of New York: Yesterday and Today. He served as a program director at the New York State Archives and on the staff of the Office of State History. He has taught New York State history at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Russell Sage College, and the State University of New York at Potsdam. Dr. Dearstyne was also a professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies where he directed the HiLS (History/Information Science) joint degree program. He continues to teach there as an adjunct professor. He resides in Guilderland, New York * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 27, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 27 fair in The City of Amsterdam at 5:47AM Tuesday, March 26, 2024-Mohawk Valley Weather-Increasing clouds, with a high near 46. Tonight A chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 36. East wind around 7 mph. Wednesday Showers likely, mainly between 8am and 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Something to read while you wait for your lunch to heat in the microwave... Businesses that made house calls By Bob Cudmore Johnstown baker Harold Bell used to bang a bell to alert the neighborhood when he was on the street with bread for sale. There was a Gloversville door-to-door baker named Peter Knapp. Julia Hull has memories of home deliveries in both Johnstown and Gloversville. She lived on Miller Street in Johnstown and also on Bloomingdale Avenue in Gloversville during her childhood in the 1940s and 1950s. The iceman was closer to home: her stepfather Frank Sparks who operated Sparkles Natural Ice. He would grab a block of ice with a pair of tongs and put it on top of his shoulder, Hull recalled, On his shoulder was kind of a leather cape so he didn't get all wet. Refrigerators replaced iceboxes in the 1930s and 1940s, although people who owned summer camps held onto their iceboxes longer than city people, according to Hull. By 1950, though, Sparks the iceman had concluded that the refrigerator was here to stay, and he got a job at Lee Dye in Johnstown. In Amsterdam the Sweet Ice Company hung on in the frozen water business until the late 1960s. According to Sweet family descendants Debra Baranello and Karin Hetrik, Waterman Sweet, Senior, started Dealers In Ice in Fort Johnson in 1919 and originally may have cut ice from the Mohawk River. By 1936 the business had moved to a garage in the rear of 270 Division Street and the name was changed to the W. Sweet Ice Company. I remember in the 1960s that people would come here to get ice on the way to the lake, Baranello said. And we would have to go out and help. And they'd tell you if they wanted 25 pounds or 50 pounds and you would have to chop it. Their grandfather John Sweet died in 1966 and there was nobody to take over the company. The sisters started an antiques business in 2005 on Division Street called the Sweet Ice Company Antique Shop. Another well-known door-to-door business in Amsterdam was Harry Demsky the rag man, the father of actor Kirk Douglas. In his autobiography The Ragman's Son, Douglas wrote that his father left their Eagle Street home every day with his horse-drawn wagon, traveling the streets of Amsterdam yelling, Rags, any rags! The rags 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. I got to be quite good at stuffing ragbags, I don't think I'd have any trouble doing it today. SNOW PLOW ON THE TROLLEY TRACKS In a section called East End Notes in the December 11, 1915 edition of the Amsterdam Recorder, coverage was given to efforts to clear the trolley tracks on upper Vrooman Avenue with what was called an electric snow plow. The plow, going up the steep hill, ran into a cap covering the water main shut off that had been installed between the rails at the corner of Hibbard Street. The Recorder wrote, The water cap had the advantage of position in the field of conflict being on the uphill side of the advancing plow, but in the brief struggle that ensued the plow came off victorious. The cap came off, too, and about a foot of attached casing with it. Evidently the snowplow is in condition to cope with anything old Boreas hands us this season. Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind. Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. Bruce W. Dearstyne has published several books, including Railroads and Railroad Regulations in New York State, 1900–1913. He is co-author of New York: Yesterday and Today. He served as a program director at the New York State Archives and on the staff of the Office of State History. He has taught New York State history at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Russell Sage College, and the State University of New York at Potsdam. Dr. Dearstyne was also a professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies where he directed the HiLS (History/Information Science) joint degree program. He continues to teach there as an adjunct professor. He resides in Guilderland, New York * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/ Amsterdam, Montgomery County restaurant guide, reviews, features Steven Cook

1s

Mar 26, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 23 fair in The City of Amsterdam at 6:15AM Monday, March 25, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 44. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 25. East wind around 7 mph. Tuesday Increasing clouds, with a high near 49. East wind 6 to 8 mph. 1888 blizzard impacted living and dead By Bob Cudmore    The blizzard of March 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States.    The storm killed more than 400 people, including 200 school children and 100 sailors.  Sustained high winds and temperatures well below freezing, heightened the storm’s fury.    The blizzard disrupted the funeral of Mrs. Robert Hartley in West Galway and West Charlton near Amsterdam.    In 1860, Amsterdam woodworker Isaac Shuler had opened a wood shop to make cabinets and furniture. Soon Shuler was making coffins and after the Civil War, 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 toward Amsterdam.    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 West Galway church.    Burtiss Deal, born in 1882 in Amsterdam, was living with his parents in West Galway in 1888.  His father operated 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.  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 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. Friday, March 29, 2024 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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. Bruce W. Dearstyne has published several books, including Railroads and Railroad Regulations in New York State, 1900–1913. He is co-author of New York: Yesterday and Today. He served as a program director at the New York State Archives and on the staff of the Office of State History. He has taught New York State history at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Russell Sage College, and the State University of New York at Potsdam. Dr. Dearstyne was also a professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies where he directed the HiLS (History/Information Science) joint degree program. He continues to teach there as an adjunct professor. He resides in Guilderland, New York * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 25, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 23 and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:13AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 21, 2024-A slight chance of snow showers before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a west wind 23 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. Breezy, with a west wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Friday Increasing clouds, with a high near 36. Scroll down for the Bob Cudmore-Bill Simons conversation about his trip to "the house" were Kirk Douglas spent his childhood... This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder 1888 blizzard impacted living and dead By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  The blizzard of March 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States. Tomorrow Friday, March 22, 2024-Episode 430-Kevin Hall, author of a memoir on growing up in Ilion, New York-Ilion, My Childhood, My Memories Growing Up in a Bygone Era. Kevin is a young boy curious with the life around him and enjoying the many moments with his family and friends in his hometown of Ilion, New York.Follow Kevin from his ages of 6 through 13 and enjoy the many adventures as he explores his hometown. However, as he is to find out, sometimes there are consequences for this active boy’s actions, unexpected consequences not always anticipated by the young boy. Then as the boy grew into a teenager he would leave Ilion, moving to another state and leaving behind all that was familiar – his home, his friends, his school and his young life. All that he has known, soon to be but a memory. As an added bonus, learn about the history of the area he lived, worked and played in – Ilion and the Mohawk Valley of New York. This substantiated history is included within his stories and within their own sections of the book, complete with several photos from the time-period. Later this Month Friday, March 29, 2024 Episode 418-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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. Weather prophet George Casabonne By Bob Cudmore In a newspaper story about his weather forecasts, Cousin George Henry Casabonne was described as cocky as a blue jay and scrappy as a bantam rooster. Casabonne, who was five foot two, worked as a stonemason, farmer and factory hand. His 1974 obituary stated he was born in Northville in 1886. In 1959, though, he told the Gazette he was born in Tribes Hill. He said it was so stormy when his mother was in labor that the doctor had to crawl across the bridge from Fort Hunter on his hands and knees as the bridge swayed in the wind. Casabonne said the family later moved to Fort Hunter and then Northville. He attributed his vitality in old age to love of living and bacon and eggs that kept him young. As a stone cutter he worked with his father Germaine. Cousin George cut stone from the Erie Canal in Fort Hunter for the Montgomery County Courthouse in Fonda. He dowsed for water with a divining rod. He was married to Lydia Kruger and they had four children. Starting in 1917 the family maintained a farm home on West Line Road in the town of Charlton in Saratoga County. Casabonne started regaling the local media with weather forecasts in the 1930s after the death of a similar homespun weather prognosticator called Uncle George Van Derveer. Van Derveer was from a farm family in the town of Florida but lived on Wall Street in Amsterdam in his later years. He was a popular comic speaker at local functions. Amsterdam Recorder managing editor Bill Maroney is credited with being the first to call the new weather prophet Cousin George. Cousin George used lunar phases, the size and prevalence of woolly bear caterpillars and his own weather records to create his seasonal forecasts. He based his predictions on the sign of the moon like the Indians did. Historian Hugh Donlon wrote, Like Houdini and other professional escapists, weather prophets always had a way of getting out of tight places. Cousin George believed that weather conditions had never been quite the same since calendar makers crowded thirteen lunar phases into twelve months. He maintained that satellites and Sputniks zooming through space led to unexpected wind currents and rain here below. He lived long enough to be featured on television news, also performing on the Pete Williams country and western television show on WRGB. Cousin George was in demand as a fiddler and caller at square dances, although he took some ribbing because of the squeaky sound of his violin. He appeared as Santa Claus at Christmas parties. He played the harmonica and Jew's harp and could clog dance and tap dance. As a show stopper he could do a high kick. He worked at General Electric in Schenectady until 1951 driving a battery operated forklift. He was a regular at the former A. Lenczewski's Bar and Grill at the corner of Amsterdam's Reid and Church Streets. He had a dog named Tootie and a dog named Skippy. Toward the end of his life Cousin George moved to his daughter Georgianna Chirickio's home on Lyon Street in Amsterdam. On March 16, 1974 he sent his granddaughter to the Recorder with his spring forecast the day before he was admitted to Amsterdam Memorial Hospital. The newspaper reported, Cousin George's last forecast was among his best, and right on the button." That phrase was one of his favorites. He died March 21, 1974 the first day of spring. Snow turned to rain as the forecaster had predicted. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Fort Johnson. The answer to the question: The Historians Podcast returns Saturday, April 6, 2024 The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games. The Historians Podcast is also a part of WMHT89.1FM Albany Public Radio RISE * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 21, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 37 and light snow in The City of Amsterdam at 6:26AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 20, 2024 A chance of rain and snow showers before 11am, then rain showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. South wind 7 to 13 mph becoming west in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight Rain and snow showers likely before 9pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 9pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. West wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a west wind 23 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. This Friday Friday, March 22, 2024-From the archives--Episode 430-Kevin Hall, author of a memoir on growing up in Ilion, New York-Ilion, My Childhood, My Memories Growing Up in a Bygone Era. A week from Friday Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. Bob with all the radio switches that he knew nothing about... I remember a little about that day in 1965 when I worked at WAFS but recalled that Tom Stewart remembered more. Summer stories from the Mohawk Valley By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History Fans of local history attended gatherings late this summer, a few for the first time since the pandemic started. At a Sixties Forever Amsterdam reunion for several graduating years in the 1960s, one participant had a blunt remark for me about radio. I was invited to the gathering at a new banquet hall on the South Side although my graduating class was older than the classes invited. The man told me he had gone to the 1965 Dave Clark Five movie at the Mohawk Theatre sponsored by WAFS radio in Amsterdam. Only a handful of people joined him. I remember a little about that day in 1965 when I worked at WAFS but recalled that Tom Stewart remembered more. Stewart was a 1965 graduate of Amsterdam High who worked at WAFS that summer. He may be best remembered in Amsterdam for playing King Arthur in Camelot, a production staged by the late drama director Bert DeRose. Stewart lives in New York City and for many years has been the announcer on public television raising funds for the PBS station there. Stewart wrote, "Yes, the movie was "Catch Us If You Can" and I think it was actually at the Tryon. Don't know how the station got involved but am thinking that that some advance person enlisted our help. "My strongest memory is traveling to the Dave Clark Five's hotel in Albany and wangling my way in to meet them; used a very primitive tape recorder and they kindly recorded a few promos for our air. We promoted the movie premiere incessantly which led to the big event. "As whoever you spoke to recalled, it was a major bust! The numbers were few and we were shocked at the lack of turnout; so much for the power of media!" THE MOHAWK ENCAMPMENT An event held August 27 at the Old Courthouse in Fonda marked the 250th anniversary of the creation of Tryon County, the British colonial name for what became Montgomery County. There were historical bus tours, artisan and militia reenactors, tables staffed by Historic Amsterdam League and Nellis Tavern in St. Johnsville. Plus there were cannon shots and a new promotional video for the Department of History and Archives narrated by Montgomery County Historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar. What got one Canajoharie couple talking at my table though was a story I displayed on the Mohawk Encampment. In June, 1957 a group of Mohawk Indians occupied land near the Schoharie Creek on the south side of the Mohawk River and remained there until evicted by court order in the spring of 1958. The settlers were led by Chief Standing Arrow, also known as Frank Johnson. The encampment was to repossess part of a 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. In October 1957, world-renowned man of letters, Edmund Wilson, visited the encampment and Chief Standing Arrow. Wilson described the encounter in his 1959 book, "Apologies to the Iroquois." Wilson found that Standing Arrow was part of an Iroquois nationalist movement. Montgomery County Sheriff Alton Dingman served the first eviction notices on the Mohawk settlement along the Schoharie Creek in January 1958. In March 1958, 25 people were reported still living at the Schoharie Creek site. A court hearing that month resulted in another eviction order. Some of the Mohawk huts were burned. The Mohawks were offered land in the town of Fulton in Schoharie County as an alternative site in the area but if there was a settlement there, it was short lived. Markers kept prisoners from straying By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History. First published 09-03-2022 in Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder Back in 1840, jail limit markers were established in Montgomery County and throughout the state after a ruling from the Court of Common Pleas. "They were introduced to provide a person who was in jail for a civil action the ability to leave the jail to work, visit family or to carry on other business," said former Montgomery County Sheriff Michael J. Amato. Individuals locked up for bad debts, for example, could get a job close to the jail, as long they stayed within the limits of the stone markers. The prisoners left the lockup at sunrise and had to return by sunset. It was a 19th century voluntary version of electronic bracelets for non-violent prisoners. Amato said that county supervisors set the boundaries of the markers, which could not exceed one mile in each direction from the jail. Montgomery County had eight markers. Amato had one of the markers installed near the entrance of the current jail on Route 5S in Fultonville. "The last time the markers were used was about 1913," Amato said. "I think that we might be one of the only counties with jail limit markers left." Amato has done research on the history of local jails. In 1772, Tryon County was created during the British colonial era. Johnstown became the county seat of the sprawling jurisdiction that covered much of Upstate New York west of Albany County. A jail was built in Johnstown that year and the building still stands, although no longer used as a jail. At the end of the Revolution in 1784, Tryon County was renamed for patriot General Richard Montgomery and in 1836, the county seat was moved to Fonda. There was such an outcry from the people of Johnstown that they were granted their own county, Fulton County, split off from northern Montgomery County in 1837. By 1838, a jail and courthouse had been built in Fonda at a cost of $30,500. The jail was located where the Department of Public Works facility is today, behind the Old Courthouse. In 1881, that jail was destroyed by fire. According to a newspaper account, the fire was started at 3 a.m. by inmate Patrick Claffey, described as a "desperate character," jailed for breaking into a store in St. Johnsville. Sheriff William Scharff was awakened and found it impossible to put out the blaze. The 22 prisoners were removed safely to the courthouse where they were "strongly guarded" until they could be taken to the jail in Johnstown. A new jail was built in Fonda and occupied in late 1882 at a cost of $40,000. "Although secure, the jail is free from dampness and has plenty of light," stated an article in the Mohawk Valley Democrat. The state closed that jail because of poor conditions in 1911 and again inmates were sent to Fulton County. In 1913, a jail was built adjacent to the Old Courthouse at a cost of $55,000. This building still stands and was used as a jail until 1997 when it was shut down because of state requirements. Amato recalled a flood in 1996 in Fonda helped convince county officials of the wisdom of relocating the county jail from its location near the river in Fonda to the present facility on higher ground on Route 5S in Fultonville. The current jail was built at a cost of $14 million. Among artifacts Amato displayed during a talk years ago was an old set of jail keys and a sharp wooden letter opener carved by an inmate in the 1920s, a recreational pastime for prisoners that would be frowned upon today. Historians "tune in again" Saturday, April 6, 2024 The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games. The Historians Podcast is also a part of WMHT89.1FM Albany Public Radio RISE * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/ Amsterdam selected as Empire State Trail Town Ashley Onyon New owners announce Cappie's Drive-In will reopen on Friday, April 5, 2024 Ashley Onyon

1s

Mar 20, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 33 degrees and light snow, are you kidding, in The City of Amsterdam at 6:12AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 19, 2024-A chance of snow showers before noon, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. West wind 13 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight A chance of snow showers, mainly after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Wednesday A chance of rain and snow showers before noon, then rain showers likely between noon and 4pm, then rain and snow showers likely after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. West wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. End of the month on The Historians Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-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 the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history. A Tuesday Story Bean Hill Congressman corresponded with town of Florida soldier By Bob Cudmore William T. Byrne, who was elected a State Senator and Congressman representing the Albany area, was born in 1876 on Bean Hill Road near the hamlet of Minaville. Although Byrne lived in Loudonville in later years, he maintained a summer home in the town of Florida, south of Amsterdam. Debbie Miller wrote, "My dad Ronald Hopkins grew up in the town of Florida and from what I understood, Byrne was a wonderful mentor to my father throughout his childhood. While my Dad was serving in the Air Force (1951), Representative Byrne and my Dad corresponded regularly." Miller added, "From a letter I found (1946), Mr. Byrne would mail my Dad magazines and books when he was young to encourage reading. They would also correspond with one another so that my Dad could practice composing letters and good penmanship." She continued, "Mr. Byrne seemed like a kind man who inspired the youngsters in the town of Florida to get a good education and to also lead an honorable life. In his letter, he mentioned that good habits and keeping good company will pay big returns which he knows from experience. I'm sure Byrne influenced many other youngsters and aside from his political career accomplishments, I believe he should be recognized for his outstanding character." After Air Force service in the military police in the Korean War, Ronald Hopkins, Miller's father, raised a family and built a career as an engineering designer and manager at Beech Nut-Life Savers. He died at 81 in 2014. Byrne's parents were Richard Henry Byrne, a carpenter, and Margaret Manifold Byrne, a school teacher. Both were Irish immigrants. When William was a youngster, the family moved to Albany where his father operated a tavern on Broadway. A graduate of Albany High and Albany Law School, Byrne attended the 1896 Democratic national convention in Chicago where William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous Cross of Gold speech opposing the gold standard. Byrne also became proficient as a public speaker. Back in Albany Byrne developed a lucrative law practice. He ran as a Democrat and was elected to the State Senate in 1922. He was part of the Democratic Party machine headed by Dan O'Connell. A liberal and associate of Governors Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Byrne was co-sponsor of state legislation that created unemployment insurance. Byrne and his wife Josephine lived in Loudonville in a house now on the National Historic Register. They had a summer home on Bean Hill in the town of Florida. A devotee of exercise, Byrne sometimes walked to Bean Hill from his Loudonville home. The Byrnes's summer home was adjacent to the Amsterdam YMCA farm called Camp On-A-Nol. Byrnes struck up a friendship with the family of YMCA physical director Leon "Prof" Huston and his family. Byrne knew a breeder of spaniel dogs and arranged for a dog to be shipped by train to the Hustons. The family named the dog Senator, "Sen" for short. The Hustons moved for a YMCA assignment in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1942 where Senator the dog was struck and killed by a car. By then Byrne was serving in Congress, first elected in 1936. When notified of Senator's death, Congressman Byrne shipped another spaniel to the Hustons. They named the new dog Representative, "Rep" for short. Byrne's wife Josephine Diener Byrne was hostess at many gatherings at their summer home. She died in 1948. They were married for forty years and had no children. Congressman Byrne died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1952. He was eulogized as the "genial gentleman from Albany" by future U.S. Senator Jacob Javits. Historians "back on the Radio" Saturday, April 6, 2024 The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/ New owners announce Cappie's Drive-In will reopen on Friday, April 5, 2024 Ashley Onyon  

1s

Mar 19, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 33 degrees a few clouds over The City of Amsterdam at 6:46AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 18, 2024-A slight chance of snow showers before 7am, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 42. West wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Tonight A chance of snow showers, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Tuesday A slight chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Friday, Episode 430-Kevin is a young boy curious with the life around him and enjoying the many moments with his family and friends in his hometown of Ilion, New York.Follow Kevin from his ages of 6 through 13 and enjoy the many adventures as he explores his hometown. However, as he is to find out, sometimes there are consequences for this active boy’s actions, unexpected consequences not always anticipated by the young boy. Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore    Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra.  There were drum corps during and after World War II, a band based at Mohawk Carpet Mills directed by members of the Musolff family.    The 13th Brigade Band played at Amsterdam social occasions. In 1902, that band along with the Maney and McNaughton Orchestra, played at the inaugural run of the trolley line to Hagaman. John A. Maney was in the orchestra. Also a photographer, Maney’s photos have become an essential record of life in early 20th century Amsterdam.    On the country music side were Steve Lopuch’s Pals of the Saddle and Dusty Miller with his Colorado Wranglers.     Gerald Barnell was the youngest of eight children who were raised on Amsterdam’s South Side where their father operated a grocery store and was one of the founders of Mount Carmel Church.    The family was from Italy.  The family name had been Anglicized from Baranello to Barnell.    In 1915, brothers Angelo, Charles and Anthony organized Barnell's Concert Orchestra. The group played for Amsterdam’s well-to-do, performed at Saratoga casinos and the New York governor's mansion.    The orchestra disbanded in 1922 when brother Anthony contracted a bone disease.     Soon the youngest Barnell organized Jerry Barnell and His Society Orchestra, playing local spots such as Jollyland amusement park.    Gerald Barnell graduated from Amsterdam High in 1929 then earned a bachelor's degree at Ithaca College.  A talented violinist, he later did graduate work at the University at Albany, Syracuse University, Indiana University, Columbia University and Julliard.    He taught for a year at Cazenovia Seminary and joined the Amsterdam schools in 1934. He served the local school system until 1973 as instrumental director, leading high school, junior high and elementary bands and orchestras.    Barnell also performed with the Barnell Concert Orchestra and directed his own Union Orchestra. He was a member of Local 133 of the Professional Musicians Union.    He married Antoinette Morini in 1940. When WCSS radio went on the air in 1947, Barnell produced a talent show, "Youth on Parade", and hosted the Sunday Italian show with Salvatore Morini.    Barnell entertained children by making his violin sound like a bumblebee or train whistle. He had many private students, including popular guitarist and vocalist Rachelle Cotugno.   In the 1950s, it was Barnell's inspiration to meld the co-ed high school band with female cheerleaders and baton-twirling majorettes whose signature number became "Lullaby of Birdland," with majorettes forming a kick line during halftime at football games reminiscent of the Radio City Rockettes.    Today's majorette uniforms are still handmade from white corduroy for each individual, similar to the uniforms of Barnell’s day.  The majorettes still perform “Lullaby of Birdland.”    After Barnell retired in 1973, he taught music education at the College of Saint Rose in Albany.  He died in 1998; his wife Antoinette died in 2001.    They lived on Phillips Street. Barnell's son Jerry was a business educator at Schalmont High School in Rotterdam; the younger Barnell played bass drum in high school and college. Young Barnell's wife, Terri Mikolaitis, was an Amsterdam High majorette in the late 1950s.    Patricia Mercadante Valiente, Barnell’s great niece, served as choral director at Amsterdam High. Valiente noted that one of her great uncle’s accomplishments was organizing the first All County Music Festival in Montgomery County in 1956.    Since Barnell's day, the high school band has been led by numerous individuals and performs in many notable locations.  Today, the musical group is known as the Amsterdam Marching Rams and includes majorettes and a flag team. The band was part of a segment seen on Oprah Winfrey’s national television show. Monday, March 18, 2024 * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/om/ https://www.dailygazette.com/c https://www.dailygazette.com/ Dissolution of Fort Johnson causes wrinkle for would-be food trailer operators Ashley Onyon The Recorder

1s

Mar 17, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tomorrow in The Gazette and Recorder Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  *    "Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra".  There were drum corps during and after World War II, a band based at Mohawk Carpet Mills directed by members of the Musolff family. *   * * William Simons * The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End. *   * 45 degrees overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 15, 2024-A chance of showers, mainly before 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 52. Northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph becoming west after midnight. Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 53. West wind around 8 mph. Sunday * * Showers likely, mainly before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Breezy, with a west wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. *   * Amsterdam artist Mary Van der Veer By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History Born on a farm in Fort Hunter in 1865 to an old Dutch family, artist Mary Van der Veer produced numerous oils, pastels and water colors in her remarkable life. She primarily painted flowers, portraits and landscapes. Many of her artworks are in private collections. Some are offered for sale online. Several of her paintings are at Amsterdam’s Walter Elwood Museum. The daughter of John and Jennie Van Evera Van der Veer, Mary was stricken with polio at age three. Her legs were paralyzed and her hands and back were affected. The family moved to Crane’s Hollow Road in the town of Amsterdam where an accident threatened Mary’s eye sight when she was eight. Historian Katherine Strobeck said Mary accidentally tipped a whitewash solution onto her head. Her father was using the whitewash to paint a wall. A family member threw milk into Mary’s eyes, saving her sight. Mary’s talent was valued by her family. She attended the National Academy of Design in New York City and her pictures were displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and Paris Exhibition. Mary went to Europe and studied with James McNeill Whistler. Her self-portrait was the only painting in her class chosen for a show Whistler held in Paris in 1900. Mary got the news that her picture was chosen after going to Rome. In Europe, Mary was known for traveling on crutches and in wheel chairs, smoking cigarettes and bobbing her blonde hair. She also spent time back in Amsterdam and elsewhere in America, for example holding a one-woman show where her paintings were displayed in Philadelphia. Mary’s father was a contractor who built houses on Amsterdam’s Market Hill. The family lived on Lincoln Avenue. He converted a barn on Arnold Avenue into a house and studio for Mary, using the services of architect P.P. Cassidy. The dwelling was the subject of a House Beautiful article in 1915 entitled How “barneo” became ‘little house.” Adjacent to her back door, Mary had a small garden plot of cultivated and wild flowers. Helen Ireland Hays of Johnstown, in a monograph, said that young people found Mary “sympathetic and helpful.” After World War I, Mary lived for a time in Veere, Holland where her ancestors had resided. After coming back to Amsterdam, Mary painted flowers and portraits and also Sacandaga Reservoir scenes. One of her paintings attained notoriety because of its disappearance. Van der Veer did a portrait of the founder of Amsterdam’s Century Club, M. Annie Allen Trapnell. The portrait was stolen from the Guy Park Avenue women’s club many years ago. During a trip to Philadelphia to do a portrait, Mary fell and hurt her back. She could not walk after the accident. A later injury hurt her hands and she stopped painting. In 1932 her Dutch interiors, portraits and flower paintings were displayed at the home of Elliott Boice on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam, a benefit for the Y.M.C.A. That building became the Boice Funeral Home. Mary Van der Veer died in 1945 at age 79. A memorial program was held at her home, organized by art teacher Marion Rulison. Mary’s niece, Marie L. Gilbert, wrote, “In a competitive masculine field, not noted in the past for its financial remunerations, Miss V. was able to support herself and to travel.” Gilbert, who posed for a Van der Veer portrait as a child, said her aunt’s blue eyes twinkled, and she had “a tongue sometimes peppery and a merry laugh.” Dennis Drenzek, a graphic artist, curated an exhibit of her paintings from private collections at Old Fort Johnson in 2007. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 15, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 38 degrees and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:14AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 14, 2024-Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. West wind 5 to 7 mph.Tonight * * Showers, mainly after 11pm. Low around 44. East wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Friday Showers, mainly before 2pm. High near 54. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. *   * This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  *    "Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra".  There were drum corps during and after World War II, a band based at Mohawk Carpet Mills directed by members of the Musolff family. *   * * William Simons * The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End. * This Friday, March 15, 2024 Bob Cudmores conversation with Bill Simons * Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. *   * Williams said he thinks burlap bags can be categorized as tools, "They make work easier, an extension of our hands, making it possible (for people) to get out of the caves." *   * An outdoorsman and a historian * By Bob Cudmore 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 plenty of pictures called "Grandfather's Tool Chest." Williams continued, "He was my inspiration for writing the book and getting all that information down that includes the stories in the ways the tools were used, over 400 tools. It's a book that weighs almost four pounds and includes 400 color photographs and all the stories that go with the tools." A "spud" was used to pull bark off hemlock trees. Hemlock bark was used to produce tannic acid for tanning leather, a process that provided employment in the north woods especially in the 1800s. "Bung starters" were used to help install bungs or wooden plugs in barrels. Another tool looks like a tennis racquet holding a u-shaped piece of cedar. It was used to fluff up feather beds. Williams said he thinks burlap bags can be categorized as tools, "They make work easier, an extension of our hands, making it possible (for people) to get out of the caves." Burlap can be made from flax which grows in the field. Burlap bags are used to carry potatoes and other objects, even an order of groceries. Burlap has been used for wallpaper, rag rugs and sack races. The uses of some of the tools in Williams' book are not known. He tried to find the purpose of an object that looks like a polished rolling pin. The Adirondack Museum made inquiries and searched the Internet to no avail. "Right now we have no idea what it is," Williams said. The cover of the book is like the cover of a tool chest. Williams said he started collecting tools 50 years ago. "As I collected the tools I collected the stories. The indexed book showcases tools of various trades, household tools and specialized tools. The book costs $55 and is available at Mysteries on Main Street in Johnstown and by mail from Williams at 435 North Main Street, Gloversville, N.Y. 12078. It's not on Amazon. Williams said he was afraid of being lost in the shuffle in the huge online operation. Williams, now 88, worked 35 years in education, 20 years as principal of Kinsgborough Elementary School in Gloversville. When he applied for his teacher's pension some years ago he told the clerk that his great aunt, Emma Timmerman, had set a record for the longest pension by living to 111. "I'm going to break that record," Williams declared. He and his wife Beverly have five children. His first history book placed frontiersman Nick Stoner as a fictional character in 33 local history stories. Since then Williams has been a prolific author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history. For 20 years Williams wrote a weekly column for the Recorder, Leader Herald and two other newspapers. His articles on history and the outdoors have appeared regularly in several magazines. Like his grandfather, Williams is an Adirondack guide, founding president of an association of guides, "The more we educate people about the outdoors more will care for the outdoors." Williams said it's good and bad that more people are discovering the Adirondacks, "What are you going to do with these huge crowds of people? It's good they're getting to the outdoors but it's also got to be controlled and watched over." * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 14, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 32 degrees and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 5:33AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 13, 2024-Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. Light and variable wind becoming west around 5 mph in the evening. Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 63. West wind around 6 mph.This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  *    "Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra".   *   * * William Simons * The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End. * This Friday, March 15, 2024 Bob Cudmores conversation with Bill Simons * Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. *   * A Bob story for Wednesday  * Five Townsend brothers served in World War II By Bob Cudmore Five sons of Louis G. Townsend, Sr. and his wife Sarah Beyer Townsend of Tribes Hill served in the U.S. Army in World War II. There were eleven Townsend children in all, six boys and five girls. Their father worked as an inspector at Bigelow Sanford Carpet Company. The family home in Tribes Hill was on what was called Railroad Avenue and then was renamed Thompson Avenue. They lived near the railroad tracks on the way to the Mohawk River bridge that leads to Fort Hunter. Their house was destroyed by fire after the Townsends had moved away. All five brothers survived the war. The last of the five to pass away was Louis Townsend, Junior, who had lived in Fort Johnson and who died in 2015 at the age of 93. He was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Tribes Hill. His wife, June Gage Townsend, died in 1988 and their daughter, Sally Townsend O'Neill, died in 1972. Louis Junior earned the rank of Technician Third Grade or Staff Sergeant in the war, serving in the jungles of New Guinea, fighting the Japanese in a hot and rainy climate. He also took part in the invasion of the Philippines. He worked on military vehicles and spent three years overseas. He was the last of the brothers to come home in 1946. The first Townsend to enter military service was William, inducted in January 1941 before America entered World War II. He was sent home that November. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December and William was recalled to active duty in January. He served in Africa and Europe as part of the Military Police, traveling a great deal as a guard for German prisoners. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. The oldest Townsend brother, Halsey, was 40 and married, living in Fort Hunter when inducted in 1942. Halsey was working for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in Delanson. In the Army as a corporal he was a signalman and trainmaster in Tehran on the Trans Iranian Railroad, which helped supply Russia during the war. Albert attained the rank of corporal with an armored division fighting in France, Germany and Central Europe. He was badly burned in combat, requiring extensive hospital treatment. Hubert also earned the rank of corporal. He spent the war years in France and Germany as a company clerk. Albert and Hubert met up when they were overseas. One Townsend brother-in-law also served in the Army. William Kosboth was a medical corps man in Europe. Kosboth had married one of the Townsend daughters, Marian Ethel. He was part of the Normandy invasion and soldiered on in France and Germany. Back home Kosboth operated Fendly's Gas Station in Fort Johnson, started by his stepfather. In civilian life, Louis Townsend Junior worked at that gas station, then at Mohawk Carpet Mills and for many years in the custodial department at St. Mary's Hospital, retiring in 1987. Another Townsend daughter, Edith, was the wife of popular West End Amsterdam police officer Andy Nelson. She rode behind Nelson on his personal motorcycle. When all the Townsend brothers and Kosboth had come back from the war in February 1946, a reunion was held at the home of their sister Jeanette, who had married Fred Newbold of Tribes Hill. The newspaper account stated, "It is pointed out that six members from one family survived several important phases of World War II in all parts of the world, three of the sons making a complete trip around the world." The Townsend daughters not mentioned so far were Orthanette Bates and Florence Townsend. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Mar 13, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 32 degrees fair in The City of Amsterdam at 6:46AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 12, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 56. West wind 8 to 15 mph. Tonight Increasing clouds, with a low around 33. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 64. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. *   * * William Simons * The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End. * This Friday, March 15, 2024 Bob Cudmores conversation with Bill Simons * Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. *   * This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder * Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History     "Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra".   * Oneonta man researching life of Kirk Douglas By Bob Cudmore   SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.    Both of us are fascinated by Kirk Douglas, the movie actor and producer who was born in Amsterdam, my home town.  Douglas, 103, died in California four years ago.    The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End.  I have thought of knocking on the door but never have had the courage to do so.    Simons wrote in his latest article that he too wanted to visit the home, “Although I wanted to go inside the house at 46 Eagle St., where so many of (Douglas’s) formative experiences took place, that long eluded me.     “It is a private residence, unmarked, not open to the public.  I felt entry into the house would heighten my understanding of (the actor’s) genesis years.”    Simons said, “John Naple, a former Peace Corps volunteer, retired science teacher and angel to the (Amsterdam) library, emerged as my benefactor.  Back in the day, the Naple family resided on Eagle Street.”    Meeting the home’s current owner, Eddie Gegzno, and visiting the building was worthwhile according to Simons, even though Eddie never met the actor’s family and the house was extensively remodeled through the years.   Gegzno is retired from General Electric after nearly four decades. Through John’s intercession, Eddie allowed Simons to spend some time inside 46 Eagle St. on a Saturday afternoon, May 20, 2023.    Another issue in studying Kirk Douglas is what to call him.  His birth name was Issur Danielovitch. When Issur was in grade school, his parents changed their surname to Demsky and Issur’s name to Isadore or Izzy. Like many actors of his day Isadore Demsky Anglicized his name.  Izzy became Kirk Douglas.     Simons, who grew up in the greater Boston area, was a big fan of Kirk Douglas in the movie Spartacus.  As a Jewish man, Simons was intrigued that as Spartacus, Kirk Douglas did not appear to be Jewish.    Simons wrote, “On the screen, Issur/Izzy/Kirk morphed into Spartacus, Odysseus, Doc Holliday, George Patton, Vincent van Gogh, Midge Kelly Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Mickey Marcus, Hans Muller, Colonel Dax, Jiggs Casey, Matthew Harrison Brady and countless others.”    Simons wrote, “Although young Izzy endured beatings by anti-Semitic gangs, he also had good friends in the neighborhood.  But the house on Eagle Street offered little refuge to the boy.  Only later did he come to appreciate his mother Bryna and sisters. Izzy yearned for the larger world outside the house, his father’s domain. And he wanted his father’s attention and approval, both of which proved elusive.”    When Simons emerged from his visit to the former Demsky home, he and John Naple walked the length of Eagle Street.    Simons wrote, “When we reached 29 Eagle St., John’s friend Emil Suda came out to join us. At the end of Eagle Street, the three of us turned left on East Main Street to see the former site of Harry’s favorite bar and the lodging house where he lived, courtesy of Kirk’s rent money, after Bryna left him.    “Then, our discussion switched to Kirk’s films. I never met anyone who knew more about the plots, characters and dialogues of Kirk Douglas films or spoke more enthusiastically of them than Emil.”    “Perhaps Izzy and Kirk never truly escaped Eagle Street, but they came to terms with it.” Simons said. “And Izzy and Kirk left quite a legacy not just for Jews, but for all aspirants of the American Dream.”    Simons’ latest article on Kirk Douglas is published in The Reporter, the newspaper of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 12, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 31 degrees overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:10AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 11, 2024...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT...* WHAT...Northwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph.* WHERE...Northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and portions of eastern New York except for northern Herkimer and northern Washington Counties.* WHEN...Until midnight EDT tonight. * 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 high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects. *   * * William Simons-The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End. * This Friday, March 15, 2024-Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. *   *   Simons wrote in his latest article that he too wanted to visit the home, “Although I wanted to go inside the house at 46 Eagle St., where so many of (Douglas’s) formative experiences took place, that long eluded me. * Oneonta man researching life of Kirk Douglas By Bob Cudmore   SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.    Both of us are fascinated by Kirk Douglas, the movie actor and producer who was born in Amsterdam, my home town.  Douglas, 103, died in California four years ago.    The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End.  I have thought of knocking on the door but never have had the courage to do so.    Simons wrote in his latest article that he too wanted to visit the home, “Although I wanted to go inside the house at 46 Eagle St., where so many of (Douglas’s) formative experiences took place, that long eluded me.     “It is a private residence, unmarked, not open to the public.  I felt entry into the house would heighten my understanding of (the actor’s) genesis years.”    Simons said, “John Naple, a former Peace Corps volunteer, retired science teacher and angel to the (Amsterdam) library, emerged as my benefactor.  Back in the day, the Naple family resided on Eagle Street.”    Meeting the home’s current owner, Eddie Gegzno, and visiting the building was worthwhile according to Simons, even though Eddie never met the actor’s family and the house was extensively remodeled through the years.   Gegzno is retired from General Electric after nearly four decades. Through John’s intercession, Eddie allowed Simons to spend some time inside 46 Eagle St. on a Saturday afternoon, May 20, 2023.    Another issue in studying Kirk Douglas is what to call him.  His birth name was Issur Danielovitch. When Issur was in grade school, his parents changed their surname to Demsky and Issur’s name to Isadore or Izzy. Like many actors of his day Isadore Demsky Anglicized his name.  Izzy became Kirk Douglas.     Simons, who grew up in the greater Boston area, was a big fan of Kirk Douglas in the movie Spartacus.  As a Jewish man, Simons was intrigued that as Spartacus, Kirk Douglas did not appear to be Jewish.    Simons wrote, “On the screen, Issur/Izzy/Kirk morphed into Spartacus, Odysseus, Doc Holliday, George Patton, Vincent van Gogh, Midge Kelly Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Mickey Marcus, Hans Muller, Colonel Dax, Jiggs Casey, Matthew Harrison Brady and countless others.”    Simons wrote, “Although young Izzy endured beatings by anti-Semitic gangs, he also had good friends in the neighborhood.  But the house on Eagle Street offered little refuge to the boy.  Only later did he come to appreciate his mother Bryna and sisters. Izzy yearned for the larger world outside the house, his father’s domain. And he wanted his father’s attention and approval, both of which proved elusive.”    When Simons emerged from his visit to the former Demsky home, he and John Naple walked the length of Eagle Street.    Simons wrote, “When we reached 29 Eagle St., John’s friend Emil Suda came out to join us. At the end of Eagle Street, the three of us turned left on East Main Street to see the former site of Harry’s favorite bar and the lodging house where he lived, courtesy of Kirk’s rent money, after Bryna left him.    “Then, our discussion switched to Kirk’s films. I never met anyone who knew more about the plots, characters and dialogues of Kirk Douglas films or spoke more enthusiastically of them than Emil.”    “Perhaps Izzy and Kirk never truly escaped Eagle Street, but they came to terms with it.” Simons said. “And Izzy and Kirk left quite a legacy not just for Jews, but for all aspirants of the American Dream.”    Simons’ latest article on Kirk Douglas is published in The Reporter, the newspaper of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 11, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 32 degrees and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:03AM-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 8, 2024-Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 52. Tonight Increasing clouds, with a low around 32. Saturday Rain likely, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Southeast wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Sunday Rain likely before 4pm, then snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Breezy, with an east wind 7 to 12 mph becoming west 16 to 21 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%.  *   * * William Simons * The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End.  * This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder, Sunday on The Historians. * SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.... *   * and * Friday, March 15, 2024-Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. * A Friday story from Bob *   * The third place finisher, who was awarded $10, suggested a waste disposal system so that sewage would no longer be dumped into the Mohawk River. The writer also called for beautification of the riverfront. *   * The good old days? By Bob Cudmore The Chamber of Commerce published a booklet of essays submitted by local people for a city improvement contest in 1946 called "What I Don't Like About Amsterdam." Few of us today actually remember 1946, but many who grew up in Amsterdam after World War II would probably regard that postwar year of 1946 as part of the good old days. The carpet mills, other Amsterdam factories and businesses were still thriving. Downtown was busy. People enjoyed bowling, softball and other amateur sports. The war had ended. Nonetheless Charles H. Schenck, Chamber Executive Secretary, said the essays submitted in the contest cited multiple complaints. Lack of recreational facilities was mentioned in 230 essays. The poor condition of streets was cited in 177 entries. There were 139 ash and garbage collection complaints. Seventy nine people wrote Amsterdam had too many bars and deplored the sale of alcohol to minors. Some essays called for more hotel accommodations, transportation and theatrical facilities. A numbering system enabled the Chamber judges to anonymously award cash prizes to individuals whose essays were deemed the best among the 850 entries. The judges were also anonymous. "We are quick to criticize those who make an honest effort to do something," wrote the first prize winner, who was awarded $40. Forty dollars in 1946 would translate into over $500 today because of inflation, making it a rather substantial prize. The winning writer continued, "Misguided leadership has done a lot to put nationalism above civic responsibility and has tended to build up group interest with selfish motives. We are all Americans and we should work together." The second place essay was awarded $20 and called for Sunday evening services in the churches and an end to competition among local veterans groups. The writer suggested city employees only get 10 days in sick leave each year, that the city buy sidewalk snow plows and that the proposed athletic field near the Lynch School be designated a World War II memorial. The Recorder announced the conclusion of the contest on March 26, "The project to secure a self-portrait of Amsterdam by her own residents was started about one month ago when blanks were distributed through the public schools and mercantile establishments of the city. "In expression of approximately 100 words, men, women and children were invited to say what they think about the city and its weak points." The third place finisher, who was awarded $10, suggested a waste disposal system so that sewage would no longer be dumped into the Mohawk River. The writer also called for beautification of the riverfront. Here are more critiques from 1946: "I don't like the taste of city water. It has too much chlorine in it. They admit the water looks bad and tastes bad but say it's harmless. It should be "the way it's been drugged." "Amsterdam should have a curfew law for children up to 16 years, and it should be enforced, even if it means bringing parents into court." "The streets are a hodge-podge of houses, dinky little stores (often empty), gas stations, vacant lots (used as dumping grounds) and unoccupied buildings with broken windows." "The characters that clutter up the streets in front of some of the downtown cigar stores are no ad for the police department." "Amsterdam needs a sort of night club just for us kids, with special attractions by kids who can sing, dance, play an instrument or perform." And a final complaint from over 75 years ago, "Have another contest entitled 'What I do like about Amsterdam' and limit the answers to one word. Mine would be 'Nothing!'" * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 08, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 42 degrees light rain in The City of Amsterdam at 5:52AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 7, 2024-A chance of rain, mainly before 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. North wind 6 to 11 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 30. Friday Sunny, with a high near 51. East wind 3 to 6 mph. New Tomorrow, March 8, 2024 San Francisco State University history professor Charles Postel is author of Equality: An American Dilemma 1866-1896.  In this edit of Episode 286, Postel compares three important social movements: Knights of Labor, Women’s Christian Temperance Union and farmers’ Grange. This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder, Sunday on The Historians. SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.... *   * * * I don't remember too much about snow plows in those days and I don't recall any snow blowers. Winter and summer in the 1960s By Bob Cudmore Amsterdam native Liz Andryszczyk Biondi has come across diaries from her youth describing a snowstorm that blanketed the Mohawk Valley in the winter of 1965-66. What a time of freedom that was, Biondi wrote. I still remember it, do you? Snow piled so high that cars couldn't fit in the streets. I don't know where we put them, since very few people had garages on Jay Street. We were happy enough to have a car. That is, one car per household, not one car per person. I don't remember too much about snow plows in those days and I don't recall any snow blowers. Certainly nobody on my street owned one. All the families, parents and kids, were out shoveling, although we kids were mostly playing, jumping from high porch banisters and landing safely in soft, pillowy snow. It was like a big winter festival--and no school! According to newspaper accounts, there was one a Mohawk Valley storm that began Sunday, January 30 in 1966, depositing nine inches of snow with winds of 50 to 60 miles per hour. Roads could not be kept open because of drifting snow until Tuesday of that week. Route 30 was closed for 28 hours between Amsterdam and Perth. Snow drifts as high as 15 feet were reported. Snowmobiles owned by Steve Mormile and Glen Gay were used to bring a doctor and at least two patients to Amsterdam Memorial Hospital, which had opened just over two years earlier on Route 30. One man who had taken sick was transported by snowmobile from Galway Lake to Amsterdam. The same mode of transportation took engineers to the WAFS radio transmitter on Route 30 in the town of Florida to get the station, now known as WVTL, back on the air. About 60 people spent Sunday night at the Thruway rest stop near Amsterdam and local motels were full of stranded travelers. On Monday night eight visitors and 65 staff members spent the night at Memorial Hospital. SUMMER FUN Biondi also recalled fun in the summertime in the 1960s, Sundays were spent with families at Caroga Lake riding the Ferris wheel, spending a day at the beach on the Great Sacandaga or at my aunt's house playing Monopoly. When ice cream from May's News at the corner of James and Hibbard Streets was on the bill, Biondi liked and licked coffee, pistachio or peppermint. Her sister preferred chocolate. On hot summer nights (no air conditioning, of course) we played hide and seek until almost midnight with a gang of kids that ranged from about age 7 to about 17, Biondi said. We were never at a loss for someone to play with and despite the lack of computer games, we were never bored. Our parents hardly knew where we were during the day. Where could we be but somewhere in the neighborhood on our bicycles or roller skates, only a "whistle" away? We played in the street and very few cars chose to interrupt our kickball games. We didn't wear helmets and I don't remember anybody being abducted either. Parents spent their summer evenings outside on the porch visiting with each other with only one eye on the kids. Two eyes weren't necessary, not on Jay Street in Amsterdam, New York. I also don't remember seeing my parents looking stressed. Time ticked slowly in those days. We took our lunch to school in brown paper bags. We saved our money for a rainy day. Biondi also saved love letters and other mementos from those days, If you want to call passing notes in between class periods in high school, love letters. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 07, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 45 degrees fog and mist in The City of Amsterdam at 5:37AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 6, 2024-Rain, mainly after 10am. Patchy fog before 10am. High near 52. East wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Tonight Rain, mainly before 5am. Low around 40. Northeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Thursday A chance of rain before 7am, then a chance of showers after 7am. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Tomorrow on The Historians, the story of "Mill Girl"  * Oneonta man researching life of Kirk Douglas By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History this Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder, Sunday on The Historians. SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.... * *   * New This Friday, March 9, 2024 * San Francisco State University history professor Charles Postel is author of Equality: An American Dilemma 1866-1896.  In this edit of Episode 286, Postel compares three important social movements: Knights of Labor, Women’s Christian Temperance Union and farmers’ Grange. *   * Ed Sullivan's mother was Elizabeth F. Smith, whose family resided on Garden Street. His father, Peter A.Sullivan, was living in New York City when he married Elizabeth. *   * Ed Sullivan and his Amsterdam roots By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History Television star and newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan's parents were married in Amsterdam on September 22 1896, five years before he was born. Ed Sullivan's mother was Elizabeth F. Smith, whose family resided on Garden Street. His father, Peter A.Sullivan, was living in New York City when he married Elizabeth. The wedding took place at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church with the Reverend John McIncrow celebrating the Mass. Reverend McIncrow, a formidable pastor, died two months later. After a reception at the bride's home, the newly married couple left on the 5:23 p.m. train for New York where Peter worked as a customs inspector. Elizabeth was an amateur painter. THE SULLIVANS Peter's father was Florence Sullivan who came to Saratoga Springs from Glengarriff, Ireland, near Cork, in 1851. In the 1870 census Peter was 10 years old and the family was living in Saratoga Springs. Florence was a shoemaker, a coachman and later worked on the Erie Canal, as did many Irish immigrants. When Florence died in 1883, his widow Margaret Sullivan moved to Cornell Street in Amsterdam with her six children. That section then was an Irish-American enclave nicknamed Cork Hill. Peter was listed as a broom maker in the 1890 and 1891 city directories. Although he did not finish high school, he was third ward supervisor serving on the county board in 1892 and 1893. In the news story on Peter's marriage he is described as an Amsterdam boy. His younger brother, named Florence after their father, was assistant district attorney in 1896. In 1900 Florence became Amsterdam city attorney. In 1904 Florence moved to New York City and was a successful trial attorney there until his death in 1941. He was buried in the Sullivan family plot at St. Mary's Cemetery. INFANT DEATHS Peter and Elizabeth named their first son Florence in 1899. He died in infancy in New York and his body was sent to Amsterdam for burial at St. Mary's Cemetery. Ed Sullivan and his twin brother Dan were born in an Irish and Jewish section of Harlem in New York City on September 28, 1901. Daniel died in July 1902 and his body also was taken to Amsterdam for burial. According to an unconfirmed story told by a member of one of the longtime Irish families in Amsterdam, after Ed was born, he and his family lived in Amsterdam on and off for several years in an upper floor apartment opposite St. Mary's Church on East Main Street. When Ed was five his family moved to Port Chester, N.Y. He turned down a chance to go to college, according to an online biography, although an uncle, perhaps Florence Sullivan, offered to pay the bill. Edward Vincent Sullivan grew up to become a newspaper columnist then a radio and television star. He began dating Sylvia Weinstein, although both families were said to be opposed to a Catholic-Jewish wedding. They married in a civil ceremony in 1930 and their daughter Elizabeth or Betty was born that year. She was named for Sullivan's mother. Sullivan's long-running television variety program, at first called The Toast of the Town, debuted in 1948. It became The Ed Sullivan Show in 1955 and was a CBS Sunday night staple. Sullivan's show often introduced mainstream American audiences to groundbreaking performers, perhaps most famously four appearances by the Beatles in the 1960s. In 1968 the theater where he broadcast the show was named the Ed Sullivan Theater. CBS canceled the show in 1971. His wife Sylvia died in 1973 and Ed Sullivan died in 1974. Former Montgomery County historian Jacqueline Murphy provided research for this story. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 06, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 47 degrees and overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 5:38AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 5, 2024-Rain, mainly after 9am. High near 48. East wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Tonight A chance of rain before 10pm, then a slight chance of showers after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Wednesday Rain, mainly after 1pm. High near 54. East wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. * * New This Friday, March 9, 2024- San Francisco State University history professor Charles Postel is author of Equality: An American Dilemma 1866-1896.  In this edit of Episode 286, Postel compares three important social movements: Knights of Labor, Women’s Christian Temperance Union and farmers’ Grange. *   * Age 103 * Coming on Friday, March 15, 2024-Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. Three members of Amsterdam's carpet-making Sanford family served in Congress. Two were named John and one was named Stephen. Congressmen from Amsterdam By Bob Cudmore Paul Tonko is the eighth member of Congress to call the city of Amsterdam home. He is now in his seventh Congressional term. Amsterdam is being moved out of Tonko's 20th Congressional district and will become part of the 21st district. Tonko is expected to seek reelection in the 20th district, even though that district no longer includes his home town, Benedict Arnold was the first Amsterdamian elected to Congress in 1828. Arnold was a House member during the administration of President Andrew Jackson, although he opposed Jackson politically. The Benedict Arnold elected to Congress was not the infamous traitor but a merchant and brewer. Arnold served in the State Assembly and was a general in the War of 1812. Arnold Avenue was named for his family. He died in 1849. Three members of Amsterdam's carpet-making Sanford family served in Congress. Two were named John and one was named Stephen. The first John Sanford was born in Roxbury, Connecticut and migrated to Amsterdam. He served in Congress as a Democrat from 1841 to 1843. That was when President William Henry Harrison caught cold at his inaugural and died shortly thereafter, propelling John Tyler into the Presidency. After John Sanford came home he went into the carpet manufacturing business, bringing his son Stephen into the firm. John Sanford died in 1857. Stephen Sanford, born in Amsterdam in 1826, made the family carpet business prosper but did not ignore public service. He attended West Point and was a friend of Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant. A Republican, Stephen Sanford served one term in Congress during Grant's first term. According to historian Hugh Donlon, Sanford did not enjoy Congress, saying, "It is a thankless job to work for the public and I have had enough of it." Stephen Sanford died in 1913. Stephen's son John Sanford served two terms in Congress as a Republican from 1889 to 1893 while Benjamin Harrison was President. After returning from Congress, John Sanford headed the family carpet business and oversaw the Sanford horse racing operation until his death in 1939. John Knox Stewart was born in Perth in 1853 and moved to Amsterdam in 1860. He was an industrialist, making paper and textiles. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1889. Stewart served two terms as a Republican in Congress from 1899 through 1903. Republican William McKinley was President when Stewart was elected. McKinley was assassinated in 1901 and Theodore Roosevelt became President. Stewart lost his bid for reelection in 1902 and went back into the textile business. He died in 1919. While a resident of what was then called the village of Akin outside the city of Amsterdam, Theron Akin was elected a Progressive Republican member of Congress during the Presidency of William Howard Taft from 1911 to 1913. Akin later became the village of Fort Johnson. In the early 1920s Theron Akin lived in Amsterdam and served two controversy-filled terms as mayor. He died in 1933. Samuel Wallin, a Republican from Amsterdam, served one term in the House during the Presidency of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Wallin was a native of Pennsylvania, born 1856. He was a principal in the carpet firm of McCleary, Wallin and Crouse which owned the factory complex known as the Upper Mill. Wallin was an Amsterdam mayor. He died in 1917. Samuel Stratton, a Democrat who served in Congress from 1959 to 1989 lived for a time in Amsterdam. Schenectady"where Stratton had been mayor--was taken from his district in a redistricting in the 1960s, and the Congressman moved to a rented apartment on Amsterdam's Guy Park Avenue. * * * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 05, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 35 degrees with fog in The City of Amsterdam at 5:43AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 4, 2024-Where is Winter? Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. East wind 6 to 14 mph Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. Southeast wind 8 to 11 mph. Tuesday Rain, mainly before 4pm. High near 48. East wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. This Friday, March 9, 2024- San Francisco State University history professor Charles Postel is author of Equality: An American Dilemma 1866-1896.  In this edit of Episode 286, Postel compares three important social movements: Knights of Labor, Women’s Christian Temperance Union and farmers’ Grange. * Coming on Friday, March 15, 2024-Episode 513-Actor Kirk Douglas died four years ago at age 103.  Emeritus history professor Bill Simons from SUNY Oneonta has done extensive research on the life of Amsterdam native Kirk Douglas and tells the story of visiting the actor’s childhood home. Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ 91 years later, Slezak's gas station in Amsterdam still runs in the family By Charles Erickson Life of a salesman * * * By Bob Cudmore    Ted Krown of Amsterdam was 16 when he went to work at Larrabee’s, a Market Street hardware store.    Krown was a salesman at Larrabee’s for more than fifty years.  During the 1969 company Christmas party at the former Tower Inn in Cranesville, Krown recalled what Market Street was like a half century earlier.  He received a wristwatch and tie clasp at the party from fellow workers.    John E. Larrabee began his hardware career working for merchant E. T. Leavenworth.  In 1889 Larrabee married Louise Leavenworth. They had two daughters.    When the Sanford Homestead Building was constructed in 1891 by carpet magnate Stephen Sanford on the east side of Market Street, Larrabee opened his own hardware store in the building.     The Recorder reported that Krown was born on Amsterdam’s Union Street and attended Eighth Ward Elementary School, “The veteran salesman began (at Larrabee’s) under the tutelage of E. Warner Leavenworth and after an apprenticeship of ‘lugging in freight and unpacking’ he was entrusted with clerking responsibilities.”    The Recorder wrote that for salesman Krown, “Household wares were the early emphasis and gradually he graduated to appliances as labor savers were introduced to lighten housework.    Krown married Laura Martin in 1930.  They lived at 344 Division Street.  Laura worked at Blood Knitting Mill.  They had no children.           Krown said, “I started the other day to jot down names of people with whom I've worked in this store and I stopped when I reached 200. About 85 of them are dead."  The workers Krown mentioned were Irving DeGraff, Harley DeGraff and Frank Dean.    Krown was one of the pall bearers when E. Warner Leavenworth died in 1940.     Larrabee’s sold retail and wholesale hardware and provided supplies for industries.  Located at 5 Market Street the store expanded to 3 Market Street, previously home to the Odd Figure Bazaar.  Larrabee’s also expanded in the other direction and took over 9 Market Street.     Larrabee’s offered Ike Walton fishing boots for $6.95 in March of 1937 as over a thousand hunters and fishermen attended the annual Sportsmen’s Show in Amsterdam.    E. Warner Leavenworth’s son Tom, who had joined the firm in 1931, became company president in 1940.     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.     Larrabee’s was sold in 1960 and Tom Leavenworth pursued other business ventures, including his work as treasurer of 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 in 1961, putting emphasis on selling items to new industries that were starting as Amsterdam’s carpet mills exited.  Beardsley and Rossiter expanded appliance sales along with Larrabee’s previous emphasis on hardware, housewares, gifts and toys.    Beardsley, a World War II infantry veteran, had operated an industrial supply firm in New Jersey.  He was married to Carol Rossiter.  She was originally from Albany and related to Mary Louise Rossiter, who lived in Slingerlands and headed an Albany real estate firm.    Samuel H. Anderson, who was active in local politics, continued for a time as Larrabee’s manager.  Within a few years though Anderson started his own sporting goods store.  In 1967 he left for a department store position in Los Angeles.    In late 1971 Larrabee’s moved to the former Sears store at 86 East Main Street to make way for a new bank building on Market Street.    In 1972 Beardsley’s son, also named Ailing, was made retail manager and was up for an award from the Junior Chamber of Commerce.    Larrabee’s filed for bankruptcy in 1973. Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ 91 years later, Slezak's gas station in Amsterdam still runs in the family By Charles Erickson *  

1s

Mar 04, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 20 degrees and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:24AM-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, March 1, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 46. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph.Tonight Increasing clouds, with a low around 27. East wind around 7 mph. Saturday * * Rain or freezing rain likely before 9am, then rain. High near 43. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Sunday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Light and variable wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. *   * This weekend in The Gazette and Recorder Life of a salesman By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History Ted Krown of Amsterdam was 16 when he went to work at Larrabee’s, a Market Street hardware store. *   * *   * A Friday story while you wait for something... *   * The idea of naming a naval warship after Amsterdam had been under consideration since 1938. * 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 News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *  

1s

Mar 01, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 54 degrees and light rain in The City of Amsterdam at 6:04AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 28, 2024-A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 61. East wind 8 to 18 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Tonight Rain and snow showers before midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5am. Some thunder is also possible. Low around 19. Windy, with a southwest wind 21 to 26 mph becoming west 29 to 34 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Thursday A slight chance of snow showers before 10am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 27. Windy, with a west wind 23 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. *   * A story for a Windy Wednesday *   * A free will offering of $150 was collected in 1917 for the troops. Adjusted for inflation that would be over $3,000 today. *   * Amsterdam doctor had passion for music By Bob Cudmore In late November 1917 the World War I Battle of Cambrai was underway in Europe with both Germany and Britain sustaining heavy casualties according to a front page Amsterdam newspaper account. The United States had entered the war in April. One of that year's Thanksgiving Day observances in Amsterdam was a concert to raise money to make life easier for local soldiers who had been drafted. Some Mohawk Valley soldiers were training at Fort Devens in Massachusetts with the 303rd New York Infantry before shipping overseas. The local Liberty Bond Vocal Club sang as did a soldier quartet and soloists from Fort Devens. They performed songs including "Over There" and "Pack Up Your Old Kit Bag." The singers and their conductor received "tumultuous applause." The Second Presbyterian Church across from the city library on Church Street was packed for the concert. Eighty-three years later that church building would be destroyed in a fire. A free will offering of $150 was collected in 1917 for the troops. Adjusted for inflation that would be over $3,000 today. The conductor of the Liberty Bond Vocal Club, James T. Riggs of Market Street, came from a musical family. His father, Dr. John V. Riggs had died the day before at age 78 in his apartment in Amsterdam's Sanford Block. The funeral would took place the next day at James Riggs' home. Dr. John Riggs was originally from Schenectady. His father Stephen was a printer and publisher of a newspaper, the Schenectady Cabinet. Riggs though studied medicine at Albany Medical College and graduated from the Buffalo College of Physicians and Surgeons as a homeopathic doctor. He loved music and joined a minstrel show after college. While on tour in the south he left the troupe to study yellow fever, which was widespread there. He came back to the Mohawk Valley and opened a doctor's office at 29 Market Street in Amsterdam. He married Annie Wilds of Schenectady in 1861, at the start of the Civil War. He founded and directed the Arion Society, an Amsterdam singing group. He was known for performances at the Sanford Hall on West Main Street and the Union Hall on East Main Street. In 1889 Riggs sold his medical practice and went to New York City to become a professional singer. Riggs came back within two years, opened a drug store on Market Street and made his living treating patients and manufacturing medicines, including Dr. Riggs' Stomach Globules for Dyspepsia and Indigestion. Dyspepsia is pain in the stomach which was believed to be caused by difficulty digesting food. A 1911 newspaper ad stated, "Prepared from Dr. J.V. Riggs' original formula by the Riggs' Medicine Co., in the Blood Building. At all leading drugstores. Price 50c. Only genuine when bearing Dr. Riggs' signature." While marketing his potions (also including Dr. Riggs' Wine of Cod Liver Oil), Riggs continued to sing and conduct. He was a member and one time director of the St. Ann's Episcopal Church choir. Choir member Emily Devendorf wrote rhymes describing her fellow choristers. Devendorf wrote of Riggs that "his voice is deep and tremendous strong, and without him, we do not so well get along." Annie Wilds Riggs died in 1909. Husband and wife were buried at Fairview Cemetery. Much of the information for this story came from Anne DeGroff of Amsterdam, the great-granddaughter of Dr. John Riggs. Five years ago with the help of Historic Amsterdam League co-founder Jerry Snyder, DeGroff was able to buy a bottle of Dr. Riggs' Stomach Globules on eBay. She said she had been trying to find them for forty years. *   * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/ *   * Shorty’s Southside Tavern in Amsterdam to reopen under new ownership by Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge

1s

Feb 28, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 28 degrees and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:08AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 27, 2024-...HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...* WHAT...West to northwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph possible. * WHERE...The Mohawk Valley, Schoharie Valley, Helderbergs, Capital Region, central Taconics and Berkshires. * WHEN...From Wednesday evening through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds will be in the wake of the cold frontal passage Wednesday night when gusts up to 60 mph are possible. Winds of 40 to 50 mph are expected during Thursday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this situation. Fasten loose objects or shelter objects in a safe location prior to the onset of winds. *   *   * Historian Bob Cudmore and Historian Mark Silo this Friday, March 2, 2024-Episode 512- British colonist William Johnson “made his bones” by defeating a French army who attacked his army at Lake George in 1755.  King George II made Johnson a baronet, “Sir” William Johnson.  Parliament awarded Johnson 5,000 pounds. Historian Mark Silo tells the story with commentary from Old Fort Johnson site manager Scott Haefner.  *   * A long-running local store By Bob Cudmore The Castler family operated a meat market on East Main Street in Amsterdam from the 1930s through the 1950s. The name Castler is Dutch and others with a similar name often spell it without at. One story in the Amsterdam Castler family is that an ancestor put the his name to confuse the authorities when he enlisted underage in the Civil War. To qualify for veteran's benefits, the family kept the extra letter. Family members recalled an ancestor named William Castler founded the market but the best remembered proprietor was Charles Castler. It's not known how William and Charles were related, For many years, the proprietors were Charles J. Castler and Francis Burns. In 1932, the Castler and Burns market was at 113 East Main Street, between Walnut and Washington, on the same block as the popular chain grocery, the Mohican Market. In 1932 Charles Castler lived at 16 Bunn Street with his wife Ethel, and Francis Burns lived at 363 Division Street. The 1932 City Directory listed over 100 groceries and meat markets in Amsterdam. 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 and Albino Barnell at 50 Florida Avenue. One grocery on the list in 1932 that remains in business is Salamack's at 263 Division Street. FAMILY BUSINESS In the 1950s, Charles Castler went into partnership with Langdon Cross. The name of the store was shortened to Castler's Market. Charles Castler's cousin Floyd Castler, who once lived over the store but later resided at 38 High Street, was employed at the market throughout his life. Other family members worked full and part time at the family store. Floyd's son Frederick had a job at Bigelow Sanford carpet mill but also had Saturday duties at the market. Frederick's son Ray worked at Castler's after school and on weekends in 1949 and 1950. Ray Castler said, I would mix the hamburger in big wooden tubs and the sausage using both hands. Charlie Castler would reject a side of beef if he didn't like it. Castler's was known for selling good meat. We also carried fruits and vegetables and groceries. Henry S. Miller, Jr., an Amsterdam native who moved Massachusetts, worked at Castler's starting in 1948, delivering groceries the weekends 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. 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. The late John Palombi, and his partner, Mike Sagarese (who had operated a store on Chestnut St.), bought the market from the Castler family in 1960, according to Palombi's daughter Sharon Smrtic of Amsterdam. In 1974, the store was forced to move because of downtown urban renewal and relocated to 56 Reid Street in the same building as Brownie's, the popular hot dog restaurant. A fire that year destroyed the building housing both businesses. Castler's Market then moved to 56 Bridge Street on the South Side. Smrtic said that Castler's closed for good in 1999. To this day, Ray Castler remarked, when people hear his name, the question frequently asked is: Did you have anything to do with Castler's Market? * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Feb 27, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 35 degrees and overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 6:00AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, February 26, 2024-Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 48. Light and variable wind becoming west 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. Light and variable wind. Tuesday A chance of showers, mainly after 5pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southeast wind 6 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Schenectady Snow Train ushered in golden age of Adirondack skiing By Bill Buell Daily Gazette https://www.dailygazette.com/ *   * Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 27, 2024, more from Historian Bill Buell * The Rose Hill Folly Company  By Bob Cudmore    Two Amsterdam clergymen had concerns and wanted Mayor John Dwyer to do something about it.     The Rose Hill Folly Company was scheduled to perform Wednesday, November 6, 1889 at the Potter Opera House on Market Street, across the thoroughfare from the future location of the Rialto Theatre.     Historian Hugh Donlon wrote that the Potter Opera House flourished in the 1880s, “For roller skating, fairs, carnivals, plays and concerts, for about everything but opera.”    Donlon said police sometimes shut down what community leaders thought were immoral presentations at the Market Street venue.    Reverend John McIncrow of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and Reverend Donald Sprague of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church told the mayor the Rose Hill Company had an “immoral tendency.”       In addition to stopping the show, the clergymen asked Dwyer not to allow the “posting of indecent pictorial advertisements of shows” in the city.    The company was welcomed in other Upstate cities.  In Ithaca the Cornell Daily Sun reported Rose Hill’s latest show promised “the most excellent order of burlesque and specialties.”     A Philadelphia newspaper said the skits “cleverly displayed all the beauties of the company” while giving the comedians “a chance to create laughter.”    Rose Hill Folly Company even had a recent presence on the Internet, selling vintage posters.     Mayor John Dwyer was born in Ireland, and became a plumber after moving to Amsterdam.  He served in the Civil War with Nicholas Young, an Amsterdam man who went on to become head of baseball’s National League.     During a lull in the fighting, Dwyer was the catcher and Young the pitcher on a pioneer baseball team called the New Yorks.  The New Yorks played an exhibition game against non-New Yorkers who called themselves the United States as a reported fifteen thousand people watched.    When the war ended Dwyer went back to his plumbing business.  After serving as Amsterdam mayor he was elected to the State Assembly.  His son, Matthew Dwyer, was the first graduate of St. Mary’s Institute and became a prominent local attorney.    According to The Saratogian, Mayor Dwyer found a relatively painless way out of his dilemma.     The Potter Opera House’s city license had expired.  Dwyer refused to renew it.  The common council could overrule the mayor but the council didn’t meet until the night of the show.    The Saratogian wrote, “The chances that the bald-headed gentlemen of Amsterdam will view the Parisian revels of the company are exceedingly slim.”  The Rose Hill troupe failed to appear that night in old Amsterdam. REVEREND McINCROW    Reverend John McIncrow, the priest who objected to having the Rose Hill Folly Company perform in Amsterdam, was Pastor of St. Mary’s on East Main Street for 20 years.     According to his Recorder obituary, “He was a public spirited citizen and did much for the cause of morality.”  He was a native of Utica.    McIncrow sermonized that men who used foul language in front of working women should lose their jobs.  He was an outspoken opponent of abortion.  He deplored drunkenness and formed a temperance society.    McIncrow caused controversy when he chided a wealthy Catholic parishioner for making a contribution to a Protestant church in Fonda, even though St. Mary’s had accepted donations from Protestant mill owners.   McIncrow founded the parish school, St. Mary’s Institute, and invited the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet to teach there.    In September 1896, he officiated at the marriage of Peter Sullivan and Elizabeth P. Smith, who became the parents of one of America’s first television stars, Ed Sullivan.    McIncrow, 49, died suddenly of a heart attack five years after the controversy over the Rose Hill Folly Company. * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Feb 26, 2024

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 35 degrees with light rain in The City of Amsterdam at 6:30AM-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, February 23, 2024-A chance of rain and snow before 9am, then a slight chance of rain between 9am and 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. West wind 5 to 9 mph. Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph. Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 39. West wind 5 to 8 mph. *   * The Bob conversation with Photojournalist Richard Frishman and essayist and professor Dr. B. Brian Foster are authors of Ghosts of Segregation, a photojournalism collection depicting a visual history of segregation through buildings and landscapes where racism has left its mark. *   *  From award-winning photojournalist Richard Frishman comes a collection of photographs documenting America’s history of segregation, slavery, and institutional racism hidden in plain sight, accompanied by hard-hitting personal essays from University of Virginia professor of sociology and Black culture B. Brian Foster and with a foreword by National Book Award winner Imani Perry *  Read The Daily Gazette this weekend for the Bob Cudmore story about "The Rose Hill Folly Company" , by the way, it is The Sunday Story here on The Historians * Two Amsterdam clergymen had concerns and wanted Mayor John Dwyer to do something about it... * Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

1s

Feb 23, 2024