The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This Sunday more on Amsterdam’s Wilson family. Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore  or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  Bob Cudmore and The Historians on Radio this weekend in The Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier, New York State 

Presumed dead, Amsterdam man survived the war

By Bob Cudmore

An Amsterdam man presumed dead during World War II survived the war and lived until 2003.

Attorney Robert N. Going in his book “Honor Roll: The World War II Dead of Amsterdam, N.Y.” listed the death of Private First Class Anthony “Doc” Kosiba of 39 McCleary Avenue.

Inducted in 1943, Kosiba arrived in England in the summer of 1944.  He fought in France, Belgium and Germany.

Kosiba’s wife Olga received a telegram from the War Department that her husband was killed in action on German soil on October 6, 1944.  His age was 35.  The Recorder printed Kosiba’s obituary and a funeral Mass was held.

Going now has learned from family members that some time after the funeral, Olga Kosiba received a letter from her husband.

“It took a good deal of tear-wiping before she finally noticed the date on the letter,” Going said.  “It was after the date of the telegram announcing his death.”

Going said that Kosiba had been wounded so badly that initially he was thought to be dead, “Doubtless his dog tags were gathered up and it was only later when they came back for the body that someone realized he was alive.

“After spending some time in Army hospitals, he came home to Olga and Amsterdam and lived a long and fruitful life.”

Kosiba earned the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and European Campaign medals.  After the war, he returned to his job at the Fitzgerald Bottling Company in Amsterdam.  He was a production manager for the Fitzgerald and PepsiCola companies until his retirement.

Olga Kosiba, who had worked for Mohasco, died in 1998.  Anthony Kosiba died on March 6, 2003 at age 94 at the Wilkinson nursing home on Route 30.  The couple had no children.  They were members of St. Stanislaus Church.

DARK DAYS

Stephen Sanford, arguably Amsterdam’s most famous horseman, ended his life unable to attend races at Saratoga.

Sanford, who founded Amsterdam’s first major carpet mill, created Hurricana Farm in the 1870s on what is now Route 30.

According to Alex M. Robb’s book “The Sanfords of Amsterdam,” Sanford’s doctor recommended the industrialist take up thoroughbred breeding as a hobby to help with stomach ulcers.  Sanford horses, especially jumpers, were a mainstay every summer at the Saratoga racing meet, founded in 1863.

From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Sanford Matinee Races at Hurricana on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July.  Thousands attended each year.

In 1908, Stephen Sanford went blind.

 And in the last two years of his life the races he loved at Saratoga were cancelled.

Today the future of racing at Saratoga is threatened by economics and state government dysfunction.  A hundred years ago the issue was morality.

The reform movement was a reaction to the devil may care attitude of the Gay Nineties.  New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed a law that banned bookmaking at horse tracks in the state.  The tracks, including Saratoga, were closed in 1911 and 1912.  Hughes later served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Sanfords sold most of their horses to out-of-staters and Canadians when the track closed, according to Robb.

Stephen Sanford died on February 13, 1913.  Six months later, the state allowed racing to resume at Saratoga along with the first running of a race named to honor Amsterdam’s premiere racing family, the Sanford Memorial.

The Amsterdam horse farm—later called Sanford Stud Farm—continued under the management of Stephen Sanford’s descendants until 1977.  Today the Friends of Sanford Stud Farm are making an effort to restore the remaining farm buildings.

Friday, March 17, 2023-Episode 466-Kate Fagan is author of HOOP MUSES-An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game an Adventure through Basketball History. Fagan is a native of Schenectady. She writes for Sports Illustrated.

Saturday March 18, 2023-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan explains the role played by Democratic Party district leader Jimmy McManus in reviving the Broadway theater industry and the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan.

Sunday, March 19, 2023- More on Amsterdam’s Wilson family

Benjamin Wilson responded with more information after reading the recent column describing his Amsterdam ancestors. 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 16, 2023

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