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From the Daily Gazette
Death rode the wings of the wind
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History-First published in Gazette and Recorder
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
WGY radio in Schenectady, on the air for under six years, broadcast an appeal about the missing aircraft sometime after six p.m. that Sunday.
A Mrs. Quackenbush told WGY that she heard a crash and was convinced the plane had fallen.
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served in the motor transport corps on the ground in World War I, learning to fly after the war. He then rejoined the U.S. Army Flying Corps, earning the rank of captain. Pauley married Marion Howarth of Johnstown. They had no children.
Pauley headed Flyers, Incorporated, the first commercial air service based in Albany. His firm carried passengers and freight and flew racing editions of the Albany Evening News to Saratoga Springs for the 1927 horse racing meet.
Albany Mayor John Boyd Thatcher mentioned Pauley’s name as a possible future superintendent of the almost-constructed Albany Airport in Colonie.
On that Sunday in 1928 veteran pilot Raymond Henries flew from Long Island to Albany on his way to Buffalo to deliver a new Fairchild monoplane.
The large single engine plane was to be based in Buffalo for Colonial Western Airways. Henries had a passenger with him, former pilot George Benedict, then in his family’s clothing business in Illinois.
Pauley decided to fly with Henries and Benedict to Buffalo where two planes ordered by Flyers, Inc., were to be delivered. Pauley planned to make arrangements to have his new planes flown to Albany.
Despite thick fog, the Fairchild monoplane left Westerlo Island airfield south of Albany, piloted by Henries, around 2:00 p.m. Several hours later Colonial Western Airways reported the aircraft had not reached Buffalo.
It was still foggy early Monday when Montgomery County Sheriff Seeley Hodge formed a posse of about 30 men who began a ground search.
Searchers found the wreckage in Tuesday morning near a farm being worked by J.E. Bartlett off what is today Route 162.
A plane from Schenectady Airport doing an aerial search for the missing aircraft saw the activity on the ground and landed on a nearby field.
The Albany Evening News reported, “Death rode on the wings of the wind.”
Pilot Henries’ body was about 75 feet from the main wreckage. Passengers Pauley and Benedict were found crushed inside the plane.
The crash investigation was hampered by the arrival of what authorities estimated to be three thousand to eight thousand gawkers and souvenir hunters. Investigators for example could not find part of the instrument board of the plane. It was located in the possession of a Gloversville businessman
The cause of the crash was never pinned down. Fog was likely a factor but there were reports from people on the ground who heard a plane’s engine that seemed to be misfiring before the accident.
Captain Pauley was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown. His story was researched by his great niece, Frances N. Burnham of Scotia.
Burnham had wondered whether her great uncle wanted his story told in a book I was working on in 2011.
She asked her great uncle Edward Pauley’s spirit to make her Christmas cactus bud if he wanted the story told. The cactus had been passed down through several generations of the family.
The cactus produced several flowers. Burnham said, “Doggone it. He did it.” Burnham died in 2013.
Monday, August 14, 2023-Story behind the story- Death rode the wings of the wind
Tuesday, August 15, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sunday School fatality
Wednesday, August 16, 2023-From the Archives- November 6, 2020-Episode 343-Retired Colonel Dave Cummings discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker. St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County.
Thursday, August 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
Friday, August 18, 2023-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
The first soldier I killed was a kid, and he haunted all my dreams after that.
The twenty-first century doesn’t prepare you for 1778.
Without warning, the roar of the traffic and the stink of funeral lilies fade away. Just as Savannah Moore notices that the world around her has changed, a man wraps her in his arms and presses a knife to her throat. Only after she escapes, with the help of Captain Jonathan Wythe, does she realize she has been inexplicably sucked into America’s Revolutionary War. Anything Savannah does could alter the course of history and threaten the family she left behind.
Kiersten Marcil
https://www.youtube.com/@KierstenMarcil
If These Pages Could Talk, Authors: Kiersten Marcil, Sevannah Storm, and Jodi Christensen S1, ep. 1
Authors and editors unite! Kiersten and co-host Sevannah Storm are joined by Kiersten's editor and fellow author, Jodi Christensen. Giggles, insider info on how acquiring editors pick querying authors manuscripts, reasons why the first page matters to editors, love for time travel romance, and book discussion abounds.
Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 13, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
A slight chance of showers before 7am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. Light and variable wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 59. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
Monday
Partly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 7 to 9 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 13, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Waite: Ban on incandescent light bulbs could lead charge toward even brighter idea
Printed on the wall behind Thomas Edison’s desk outside the GE Conference Center in Niskayuna is a famous Edison quote…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Amsterdam celebrates community ancestry, recognizes Pisciotta, Italy as Twin City
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreDeath rode the wings of the wind
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History-First published in Gazette and Recorder
Three aviators, including a Gloversville native, died January 8, 1928 when their plane crashed into a Montgomery County buckwheat field.
Wreckage was found near Rural Grove in the town of Root on the south side of the Mohawk River between Fultonville and Canajoharie.
WGY radio in Schenectady, on the air for under six years, broadcast an appeal about the missing aircraft sometime after six p.m. that Sunday.
A Mrs. Quackenbush told WGY that she heard a crash and was convinced the plane had fallen.
The Gloversville native who perished in the accident was Edward M. Pauley. Born in 1895, Pauley served in the motor transport corps on the ground in World War I, learning to fly after the war. He then rejoined the U.S. Army Flying Corps, earning the rank of captain. Pauley married Marion Howarth of Johnstown. They had no children.
Pauley headed Flyers, Incorporated, the first commercial air service based in Albany. His firm carried passengers and freight and flew racing editions of the Albany Evening News to Saratoga Springs for the 1927 horse racing meet.
Albany Mayor John Boyd Thatcher mentioned Pauley’s name as a possible future superintendent of the almost-constructed Albany Airport in Colonie.
On that Sunday in 1928 veteran pilot Raymond Henries flew from Long Island to Albany on his way to Buffalo to deliver a new Fairchild monoplane.
The large single engine plane was to be based in Buffalo for Colonial Western Airways. Henries had a passenger with him, former pilot George Benedict, then in his family’s clothing business in Illinois.
Pauley decided to fly with Henries and Benedict to Buffalo where two planes ordered by Flyers, Inc., were to be delivered. Pauley planned to make arrangements to have his new planes flown to Albany.
Despite thick fog, the Fairchild monoplane left Westerlo Island airfield south of Albany, piloted by Henries, around 2:00 p.m. Several hours later Colonial Western Airways reported the aircraft had not reached Buffalo.
It was still foggy early Monday when Montgomery County Sheriff Seeley Hodge formed a posse of about 30 men who began a ground search.
Searchers found the wreckage in Tuesday morning near a farm being worked by J.E. Bartlett off what is today Route 162.
A plane from Schenectady Airport doing an aerial search for the missing aircraft saw the activity on the ground and landed on a nearby field.
The Albany Evening News reported, “Death rode on the wings of the wind.”
Pilot Henries’ body was about 75 feet from the main wreckage. Passengers Pauley and Benedict were found crushed inside the plane.
The crash investigation was hampered by the arrival of what authorities estimated to be three thousand to eight thousand gawkers and souvenir hunters. Investigators for example could not find part of the instrument board of the plane. It was located in the possession of a Gloversville businessman
The cause of the crash was never pinned down. Fog was likely a factor but there were reports from people on the ground who heard a plane’s engine that seemed to be misfiring before the accident.
Captain Pauley was buried at Ferndale Cemetery in Johnstown. His story was researched by his great niece, Frances N. Burnham of Scotia.
Burnham had wondered whether her great uncle wanted his story told in a book I was working on in 2011.
She asked her great uncle Edward Pauley’s spirit to make her Christmas cactus bud if he wanted the story told. The cactus had been passed down through several generations of the family.
The cactus produced several flowers. Burnham said, “Doggone it. He did it.” Burnham died in 2013.
Monday, August 14, 2023-Story behind the story- Death rode the wings of the wind
Tuesday, August 15, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Sunday School fatality
Wednesday, August 16, 2023-From the Archives- November 6, 2020-Episode 343-Retired Colonel Dave Cummings discusses efforts to research St. Joseph’s Shrine in the Adirondack hill town of Bleecker. St. Joseph’s Church, torn down in 1919, was the first Roman Catholic Church built in Fulton County.
Thursday, August 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Bombing Fort Plain
Friday, August 18, 2023-Episode 488-Kiersten Marcil, author of the American Revolution historical novel Witness to the Revolution.
The first soldier I killed was a kid, and he haunted all my dreams after that.
The twenty-first century doesn’t prepare you for 1778.
Without warning, the roar of the traffic and the stink of funeral lilies fade away. Just as Savannah Moore notices that the world around her has changed, a man wraps her in his arms and presses a knife to her throat. Only after she escapes, with the help of Captain Jonathan Wythe, does she realize she has been inexplicably sucked into America’s Revolutionary War. Anything Savannah does could alter the course of history and threaten the family she left behind.
Kiersten Marcil
https://www.youtube.com/@KierstenMarcil
If These Pages Could Talk, Authors: Kiersten Marcil, Sevannah Storm, and Jodi Christensen S1, ep. 1
Authors and editors unite! Kiersten and co-host Sevannah Storm are joined by Kiersten's editor and fellow author, Jodi Christensen. Giggles, insider info on how acquiring editors pick querying authors manuscripts, reasons why the first page matters to editors, love for time travel romance, and book discussion abounds.
Episode 487-Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train from 2015. Plus the debut of The History Mystery
Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 13, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:16AM
A slight chance of showers before 7am. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. Light and variable wind becoming west 9 to 14 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight
Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 59. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
Monday
Partly sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 7 to 9 mph.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Sunday, August 13, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Waite: Ban on incandescent light bulbs could lead charge toward even brighter idea
Printed on the wall behind Thomas Edison’s desk outside the GE Conference Center in Niskayuna is a famous Edison quote…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Amsterdam celebrates community ancestry, recognizes Pisciotta, Italy as Twin City
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/