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
...Bob saw the documentary
Episode 409 "Down the Page"
James Kirby Martin is executive producer of the documentary Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed. The film is based on Martin’s 1997 book Benedict Arnold Revolutionary Hero. The documentary is streaming on several TV platforms, narrated by Martin Sheen and stars Peter O’Meara. Three men from the Mohawk Valley area created the documentary: Niskayuna native Chris Stearns, Saratoga Springs native Tom Mercer and Fort Johnson native Anthony Vertucci. Posted the second week of February
Shawn Duffy’s Amsterdam memories
By Bob Cudmore
Shawn Kevin Duffy contributed stories to this column on many topics including his family’s East End tavern.
Duffy, born in Amsterdam in 1949, died last month at his home in Lake St. Louis, Missouri at age 69. He was a Navy veteran and worked for General Electric and other firms in the turbine generator business. He retired as part owner of Turbine Generator Technical Services. His wife Valerie plus children and grandchildren survive.
Duffy contributed a tale to my 2012 Mohawk Valley stories contest about O’Shaughnessy’s, a tavern once owned by his grandfather Martin J. O’Shaughnessy in the early 1900s.
Located at East Main and Eagle Streets in a building no longer there, O’Shaughnessy’s patrons included actor Kirk Douglas’s father, Harry Demsky, and my grandfather, Harry Cudmore. My grandparents lived at 36 Eagle Street, the Demskys lived at 46 Eagle.
The historic marker honoring Kirk Douglas’s birthplace created for Historic Amsterdam League is to be placed at the parking lot where Shaun’s Saloon, as it was frequently called, used to be.
Prohibition in 1920 closed the tavern, at least officially. The Albany Evening Journal in 1926 reported Martin Shaughnessy of Amsterdam was charged with selling beer.
Duffy wrote, “I guess it is a bit surprising that the bar survived Prohibition as so many did not. My mom, Mary O’Shaughnessy Duffy, told me that she used to help make bathtub gin when she was around ten, actually in the bathtub. Her brother Martin Junior sold the moonshine off the back porch to make ends meet during these hard times
“Martin Junior had polio and was confined to a wheel chair. I always wondered if the coppers kind of turned their heads to not see a paralyzed person selling illegal moonshine off the back porch to help an old Irish tavern survive during the hard Prohibition times.”
Duffy didn’t ever see Martin Senior or Martin Junior but recalled when his uncle Edward was running the bar. At that time the “O” was dropped from the tavern’s name and it was called Shaughnessy’s
Historians Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
The family nickname for Edward was Eb while others called him Midge. Duffy wrote, “Eb was also known as KO because even though he was slight in stature (around 4 foot 5 inches or so), he did have a baseball bat which he used as an ice crusher. From what I understand he used it more than once on people who got too rowdy.
“The story was that if someone got out of line, Eb would grab his ice crusher bat out of the ice bin, jump up on the bar and take a good swing at whoever was out of line, including Harry Demsky.”
When Duffy was young he visited his grandmother, Rose Mullarkey O’Shaughnessy, who lived in an apartment house next to the tavern. He was allowed to play shuffleboard at the bar for free. Rose died in 1961 and Eb in 1973.
Duffy wrote, “The bar also had one of the first color TVs in the area, so it brought in a big crowd on football Sunday. Looking back on it from today, it was pretty small, the color was pretty bad and it probably cost a small fortune.”
ROCKY’S COMMENCEMENT
Duffy said Nelson Rockefeller, who made several trips to Amsterdam when he was governor of New York, was commencement speaker in 1967, the year Duffy graduated from Wilbur H. Lynch High School.
Duffy wrote, “I don't remember too awful much except the crowd was very large and quite a bit of media types, cameras, etc. At the time I thought this was only for us graduates.”
Tomorrow, Friday, March 18, 2022
Episode 414-Annette Libeskind Berkovits discusses her historical novel “The Corset Maker” which tells the story of a courageous Orthodox Jewish teen, Rifka, who was living in Warsaw Poland in the late 1920s and early ‘30s. Rifka is loosely based on Annette’s mother Dora.
March 19, 2022- Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder-Aviator Amelia Earhart helped Beech Nut advertise chewing gum during 1931 flights in an unusual aircraft, the autogiro.
Fort Plain Museum
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1074
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 7:00 PM
Councils of War and the Cabinet: How the Revolutionary War Shaped the Presidency
Presented by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
This is a free Zoom Event and Registration is Required
Mohawk Valley Weather and News Headlines, Thursday, March 17, 2022
Isolated showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 59. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. Light and variable wind.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. West wind 6 to 9 mph.
Daily Gazette
Tedisco: ‘Real’ bail reform needed to end ‘catch and release’
FULTONVILLE — The “catch and release” cycle created by state bail reform laws must be stopped, according to local law…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
State passes anti-harassment laws sparked by Cuomo probe
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
https://www.leaderherald.com/
Utica OD
Turning Stone kicks off World Series of Poker tournament. Here's when to sign up
by Edward Harris
https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/2022/03/17/world-series-poker-tournament-set-turning-stone-resort-casino/7064646001/
View all episodes
By Bob Cudmore...Bob saw the documentary
Episode 409 "Down the Page"
James Kirby Martin is executive producer of the documentary Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed. The film is based on Martin’s 1997 book Benedict Arnold Revolutionary Hero. The documentary is streaming on several TV platforms, narrated by Martin Sheen and stars Peter O’Meara. Three men from the Mohawk Valley area created the documentary: Niskayuna native Chris Stearns, Saratoga Springs native Tom Mercer and Fort Johnson native Anthony Vertucci. Posted the second week of February
Shawn Duffy’s Amsterdam memories
By Bob Cudmore
Shawn Kevin Duffy contributed stories to this column on many topics including his family’s East End tavern.
Duffy, born in Amsterdam in 1949, died last month at his home in Lake St. Louis, Missouri at age 69. He was a Navy veteran and worked for General Electric and other firms in the turbine generator business. He retired as part owner of Turbine Generator Technical Services. His wife Valerie plus children and grandchildren survive.
Duffy contributed a tale to my 2012 Mohawk Valley stories contest about O’Shaughnessy’s, a tavern once owned by his grandfather Martin J. O’Shaughnessy in the early 1900s.
Located at East Main and Eagle Streets in a building no longer there, O’Shaughnessy’s patrons included actor Kirk Douglas’s father, Harry Demsky, and my grandfather, Harry Cudmore. My grandparents lived at 36 Eagle Street, the Demskys lived at 46 Eagle.
The historic marker honoring Kirk Douglas’s birthplace created for Historic Amsterdam League is to be placed at the parking lot where Shaun’s Saloon, as it was frequently called, used to be.
Prohibition in 1920 closed the tavern, at least officially. The Albany Evening Journal in 1926 reported Martin Shaughnessy of Amsterdam was charged with selling beer.
Duffy wrote, “I guess it is a bit surprising that the bar survived Prohibition as so many did not. My mom, Mary O’Shaughnessy Duffy, told me that she used to help make bathtub gin when she was around ten, actually in the bathtub. Her brother Martin Junior sold the moonshine off the back porch to make ends meet during these hard times
“Martin Junior had polio and was confined to a wheel chair. I always wondered if the coppers kind of turned their heads to not see a paralyzed person selling illegal moonshine off the back porch to help an old Irish tavern survive during the hard Prohibition times.”
Duffy didn’t ever see Martin Senior or Martin Junior but recalled when his uncle Edward was running the bar. At that time the “O” was dropped from the tavern’s name and it was called Shaughnessy’s
Historians Go Fund Me https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022
The family nickname for Edward was Eb while others called him Midge. Duffy wrote, “Eb was also known as KO because even though he was slight in stature (around 4 foot 5 inches or so), he did have a baseball bat which he used as an ice crusher. From what I understand he used it more than once on people who got too rowdy.
“The story was that if someone got out of line, Eb would grab his ice crusher bat out of the ice bin, jump up on the bar and take a good swing at whoever was out of line, including Harry Demsky.”
When Duffy was young he visited his grandmother, Rose Mullarkey O’Shaughnessy, who lived in an apartment house next to the tavern. He was allowed to play shuffleboard at the bar for free. Rose died in 1961 and Eb in 1973.
Duffy wrote, “The bar also had one of the first color TVs in the area, so it brought in a big crowd on football Sunday. Looking back on it from today, it was pretty small, the color was pretty bad and it probably cost a small fortune.”
ROCKY’S COMMENCEMENT
Duffy said Nelson Rockefeller, who made several trips to Amsterdam when he was governor of New York, was commencement speaker in 1967, the year Duffy graduated from Wilbur H. Lynch High School.
Duffy wrote, “I don't remember too awful much except the crowd was very large and quite a bit of media types, cameras, etc. At the time I thought this was only for us graduates.”
Tomorrow, Friday, March 18, 2022
Episode 414-Annette Libeskind Berkovits discusses her historical novel “The Corset Maker” which tells the story of a courageous Orthodox Jewish teen, Rifka, who was living in Warsaw Poland in the late 1920s and early ‘30s. Rifka is loosely based on Annette’s mother Dora.
March 19, 2022- Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder-Aviator Amelia Earhart helped Beech Nut advertise chewing gum during 1931 flights in an unusual aircraft, the autogiro.
Fort Plain Museum
https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1074
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 7:00 PM
Councils of War and the Cabinet: How the Revolutionary War Shaped the Presidency
Presented by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
This is a free Zoom Event and Registration is Required
Mohawk Valley Weather and News Headlines, Thursday, March 17, 2022
Isolated showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 59. East wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. Light and variable wind.
Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. West wind 6 to 9 mph.
Daily Gazette
Tedisco: ‘Real’ bail reform needed to end ‘catch and release’
FULTONVILLE — The “catch and release” cycle created by state bail reform laws must be stopped, according to local law…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
State passes anti-harassment laws sparked by Cuomo probe
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
https://www.leaderherald.com/
Utica OD
Turning Stone kicks off World Series of Poker tournament. Here's when to sign up
by Edward Harris
https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/2022/03/17/world-series-poker-tournament-set-turning-stone-resort-casino/7064646001/