Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Daily Update
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Daily Update
Archives #102
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Neil Yetwin, a history teacher, is author of a book on a War of 1812 hero who became the first Jewish New York State Assemblyman, “To My Son: The Life and War Remembrances of Captain Mordecai Myers.” 35 Minutes
War of 1812 memoirs of Mordecai Myers, Captain, 13th U.S. Infantry, United States Army, and the only Jewish-American officer serving on the Niagara Frontier during 1812-1813. Based partly on his letters, Myers describes his wartime experience, during which he was wounded. Myers turned to politics, serving in numerous positions, including New York State legislature and mayor of Schenectady, N.Y., and was a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Debuting on Historians Podcast this Friday, December 24, 2021 Episode 402-Marta McDowell author of Unearthing the Secret Garden, a look at Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s book
On The Historians Podcast-Upstate New York musicians Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle have a new CD and concert featuring history songs about the labor union movement in America. Songs include Sit Down, Solidarity Forever and Joe Hill. Scroll Down, by the way, scroll down is not one of their songs
We need to raise $160 in the next two weeks to reach the $5,000 goal
Now at $4,840.00
Your donation now will help us meet or surpass our goal. You may contribute by mail by making out a check to Bob Cudmore and sending to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Or donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/historians-podcast-2021 You may give anonymously and no donation is too small. Please contribute so The Historians Podcast can keep Mohawk Valley history alive on the internet and radio with a new print and audio story posted seven days a week.
Heroes helped Northville family survive 1940 fire
By Bob Cudmore
Tomorrow, Monday, December 20, 2021- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on heroes who helped a Northville family survive a 1940 fire. Podcast "6 Minutes"
Fire that broke out Wednesday, October 2, 1940, in a first floor apartment on Second Street in Northville almost took the lives of the five children of the Rhodes family who were living there.
The oldest was Shirley, born in 1930. She told her mother smoke was coming from one of the bedrooms as she was getting her brothers and sisters up at eight a.m.
Their mother, Esther Rose, got all but one of the children out of the burning building including Shirley, Earl, John and Mary Ann. Three-year old Jimmy was missing.
Esther suffered smoke inhalation. That morning Esther’s husband Arnold was working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Speculator.
When firemen arrived Chief Loren E. Crannell was told of the missing child. Chief Crannell put on a smoke mask and ran into the burning building where he found Jimmy, who had buried himself in his blanket, rolled out of bed and was up against a wall.
Chief Crannell grabbed another blanket which he pulled over their heads. He crawled out of the building carrying Jimmy. Jimmy suffered smoke inhalation and shock.
Chief Crannell had cuts and bruises and the smoke bothered his throat the rest of his life.
Mary Ann Rhodes Johnson, the youngest member of the family, provided information for this story, “Fire Chief Crannell is truly a hero and the Rhodes family was forever grateful to him.”
Years later Jack Sands, Shirley’s husband, purchased a memorial brick with “Fire Chief Loren Crannell Northville NY” engraved on it. The brick was placed in the Brick Memorial Park at the Firemen’s Museum in Hudson, N.Y.
The story of the fire was told in the Northville Northampton Historical Society News Letter. Gail Cramer, the editor, wrote, “I’m proud to say that Fire Chief Loren Crannell was my father.”
The fire may have started from wiring in a bedroom wall. The alarm was turned in by meat market owner Frank Langr whose store adjoined the Rhodes apartment. After the fire he provided groceries and other support.
Living upstairs were Mr. and Mrs. Leon Horton who made it out of the building safely but lost their belongings.
The headline in the Gloversville newspaper stated, “Mother Saves Four, Fire Chief 5th Child From Burning Northville Home.”
After the fire, Jimmy stayed with his grandmother Alida Canfield. His Aunt Rachel Mills was a nurse and lived next door. The rest of the family stayed with Bertha and Clarence Resseguie, their aunt and uncle.
After the fire, Esther and Arnold had two more children, Carol and Joan.
The family then lived in a house on Mechanic Street owned by Arch Dunham until the house was sold in the 1960s.
Others who helped the family included Oscar Chamberlin and his wife who owned a grocery store. Dan and Emily Weaver provided transportation in their car.
The family moved back to Second Street eventually. Arnold had a big garden and the children helped. After the war Arnold worked at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam. He died in 1965. Esther died in 1978. Mary Ann and Joan are the only Rhodes children alive today.
Jimmy Rhodes served in the U.S. Army then worked at General Electric in Schenectady. He died in 2019 from a heart attack.
His sister Mary Ann Rhodes Johnson said Jimmy had his first heart attack at GE, “He was working on top of a generator when it happened and they had to get a crane to get him down so they could get him to the hospital. (Sounds like he just liked to make things difficult when it came to saving his life.)”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, December 19, 2021
Scattered snow showers, mainly before 7am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 32. Northwest wind 5 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 13. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 34. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Chilly but mainly dry weather is expected through Monday, as
high pressure builds across the region. A clipper system
tracking north of the region may bring some snow showers to the
southern Adirondacks Monday night into Tuesday morning,
otherwise dry conditions should continue into midweek.
high pressure builds across the region. A clipper system
tracking north of the region may bring some snow showers to the
southern Adirondacks Monday night into Tuesday morning,
otherwise dry conditions should continue into midweek.
December 19
1776
Thomas Paine
publishes the first of a series of pamphlets entitled "The American Crisis" in the weekly newspaper The Pennsylvania Journal
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, December 19, 2021
Daily Gazette
Community efforts give new life to Canajoharie park with tragic past
For the past decade or so, Wintergreen Park has been associated with death. In a 433-foot-deep gorge, the Canajoharie Creek…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
Amsterdam school day goes well despite nationwide threats of violence
No incidents were reported in the Greater Amsterdam School District Friday, following recent posts...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
Make Us Part of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreArchives #102
The Historians with Bob Cudmore
Neil Yetwin, a history teacher, is author of a book on a War of 1812 hero who became the first Jewish New York State Assemblyman, “To My Son: The Life and War Remembrances of Captain Mordecai Myers.” 35 Minutes
War of 1812 memoirs of Mordecai Myers, Captain, 13th U.S. Infantry, United States Army, and the only Jewish-American officer serving on the Niagara Frontier during 1812-1813. Based partly on his letters, Myers describes his wartime experience, during which he was wounded. Myers turned to politics, serving in numerous positions, including New York State legislature and mayor of Schenectady, N.Y., and was a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Debuting on Historians Podcast this Friday, December 24, 2021 Episode 402-Marta McDowell author of Unearthing the Secret Garden, a look at Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s book
On The Historians Podcast-Upstate New York musicians Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle have a new CD and concert featuring history songs about the labor union movement in America. Songs include Sit Down, Solidarity Forever and Joe Hill. Scroll Down, by the way, scroll down is not one of their songs
We need to raise $160 in the next two weeks to reach the $5,000 goal
Now at $4,840.00
Your donation now will help us meet or surpass our goal. You may contribute by mail by making out a check to Bob Cudmore and sending to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Or donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/historians-podcast-2021 You may give anonymously and no donation is too small. Please contribute so The Historians Podcast can keep Mohawk Valley history alive on the internet and radio with a new print and audio story posted seven days a week.
Heroes helped Northville family survive 1940 fire
By Bob Cudmore
Tomorrow, Monday, December 20, 2021- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on heroes who helped a Northville family survive a 1940 fire. Podcast "6 Minutes"
Fire that broke out Wednesday, October 2, 1940, in a first floor apartment on Second Street in Northville almost took the lives of the five children of the Rhodes family who were living there.
The oldest was Shirley, born in 1930. She told her mother smoke was coming from one of the bedrooms as she was getting her brothers and sisters up at eight a.m.
Their mother, Esther Rose, got all but one of the children out of the burning building including Shirley, Earl, John and Mary Ann. Three-year old Jimmy was missing.
Esther suffered smoke inhalation. That morning Esther’s husband Arnold was working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Speculator.
When firemen arrived Chief Loren E. Crannell was told of the missing child. Chief Crannell put on a smoke mask and ran into the burning building where he found Jimmy, who had buried himself in his blanket, rolled out of bed and was up against a wall.
Chief Crannell grabbed another blanket which he pulled over their heads. He crawled out of the building carrying Jimmy. Jimmy suffered smoke inhalation and shock.
Chief Crannell had cuts and bruises and the smoke bothered his throat the rest of his life.
Mary Ann Rhodes Johnson, the youngest member of the family, provided information for this story, “Fire Chief Crannell is truly a hero and the Rhodes family was forever grateful to him.”
Years later Jack Sands, Shirley’s husband, purchased a memorial brick with “Fire Chief Loren Crannell Northville NY” engraved on it. The brick was placed in the Brick Memorial Park at the Firemen’s Museum in Hudson, N.Y.
The story of the fire was told in the Northville Northampton Historical Society News Letter. Gail Cramer, the editor, wrote, “I’m proud to say that Fire Chief Loren Crannell was my father.”
The fire may have started from wiring in a bedroom wall. The alarm was turned in by meat market owner Frank Langr whose store adjoined the Rhodes apartment. After the fire he provided groceries and other support.
Living upstairs were Mr. and Mrs. Leon Horton who made it out of the building safely but lost their belongings.
The headline in the Gloversville newspaper stated, “Mother Saves Four, Fire Chief 5th Child From Burning Northville Home.”
After the fire, Jimmy stayed with his grandmother Alida Canfield. His Aunt Rachel Mills was a nurse and lived next door. The rest of the family stayed with Bertha and Clarence Resseguie, their aunt and uncle.
After the fire, Esther and Arnold had two more children, Carol and Joan.
The family then lived in a house on Mechanic Street owned by Arch Dunham until the house was sold in the 1960s.
Others who helped the family included Oscar Chamberlin and his wife who owned a grocery store. Dan and Emily Weaver provided transportation in their car.
The family moved back to Second Street eventually. Arnold had a big garden and the children helped. After the war Arnold worked at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam. He died in 1965. Esther died in 1978. Mary Ann and Joan are the only Rhodes children alive today.
Jimmy Rhodes served in the U.S. Army then worked at General Electric in Schenectady. He died in 2019 from a heart attack.
His sister Mary Ann Rhodes Johnson said Jimmy had his first heart attack at GE, “He was working on top of a generator when it happened and they had to get a crane to get him down so they could get him to the hospital. (Sounds like he just liked to make things difficult when it came to saving his life.)”
Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, December 19, 2021
Scattered snow showers, mainly before 7am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 32. Northwest wind 5 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 13. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 34. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Chilly but mainly dry weather is expected through Monday, as
high pressure builds across the region. A clipper system
tracking north of the region may bring some snow showers to the
southern Adirondacks Monday night into Tuesday morning,
otherwise dry conditions should continue into midweek.
high pressure builds across the region. A clipper system
tracking north of the region may bring some snow showers to the
southern Adirondacks Monday night into Tuesday morning,
otherwise dry conditions should continue into midweek.
December 19
1776
Thomas Paine
publishes the first of a series of pamphlets entitled "The American Crisis" in the weekly newspaper The Pennsylvania Journal
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, December 19, 2021
Daily Gazette
Community efforts give new life to Canajoharie park with tragic past
For the past decade or so, Wintergreen Park has been associated with death. In a 433-foot-deep gorge, the Canajoharie Creek…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
Amsterdam school day goes well despite nationwide threats of violence
No incidents were reported in the Greater Amsterdam School District Friday, following recent posts...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
Make Us Part of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/