Robert Hartley: A serious collector
By Bob Cudmore

When he died in 1940, Robert M. Hartley, a prominent town of Florida farmer of ancient English ancestry, left a treasure trove of powder horn sketches, Native American artifacts and military buttons.

The collections of the widely known historian were donated to the museum of the Margaret Reaney Library in St. Johnsville by Hartley s widow, Fanny.

Dawn Lamphear, library director, said Hartley was a friend of St. Johnsville textile mill owner Joseph Reaney, who provided the funds to build the Kingsbury Avenue library, named in honor of Reaney s mother, in 1909.

The library's basement museum was renovated three years ago. When asked if people are still interested in Hartley s collections, Lamphear responded, Gosh yes. People are interested in archeology and military buttons and a group came by who catalogued Hartley s powder horn drawings.

The group is called the Honorable Company of Horners. The powder horn enthusiasts seek to promote the art of making powder horns and preserve the history of the craft.

Inspired by an earlier artist, Rufus Grider of Canajoharie, Hartley made more than fifty drawings of powder horns, which were used by fighters in colonial wars and the American Revolution to keep gunpowder dry.

The horns were generally made from cow, ox or buffalo horns. They were often decorated with images and text, a practice similar to how airmen drew pictures on fighter planes in World War II.

INDIAN ARTIFACTS AND MILITARY BUTTONS

Hartley collected projectile points and other artifacts from the Mohawk Nation at their camp and village sites along the Mohawk River. He purchased some artifacts and exchanged items with other collectors. He made a trip for Indian artifacts in 1911 going through Tennessee and Georgia. In 1925 he toured New Jersey Indian sites.

Hartley's collections also include minerals, fossils, Civil War items and other historic or scientific relics.

One of his unique quests was to find military buttons from the American Revolution and the War of 1812. He found these buttons on numerous trips to old camp sites and battlefields.

The original catalog for his collection says Hartley found buttons for nearly every British and Provincial regiment serving in America during the two wars.

Hartley belonged to the Button Club of the United States and exhibited his collection at historical meetings throughout New York.

In 1911, Hartley composed a poem called Old Buttons which concludes, Oh! But could these old buttons tell more than we know of them now; could they tell us who wore them? And could we see them who saw them in the days of Cornwallis and Howe. Charles Cornwallis was a British general and Richard Howe was a British naval commander during the American Revolution.

HARTLEY S LIFE

Born on the family farm on Hartley Road in the town of Florida in 1862, Robert Hartley s parents were Reuben and Jane Van Derveer Hartley. The young man attended Amsterdam Academy for three years. He took over the farm and under his ownership it was described as a beautiful garden spot. He married Fanny Pierce from the town of Mohawk in 1897. They never had children.

A Republican, Hartley was Florida town supervisor from 1892 through 1898 and justice of the peace from 1923 to 1930.

In 1889 he joined his mentor Rufus Grider and others in founding the Canajoharie Historical Society. Hartley was a charter member of the Montgomery County Historical Society. He and Percy Van Epps founded the Van Epps-Hartley chapter of the New York State Archeological Association of Schenectady.

Hartley died at his home in the town of Florida in 1940. He was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Tribes Hill.

A story about Sir William Johnson, Indian agent for the British Empire in what we call Upstate New York.  The story is told by historian Mark Silo. In 1755 the French and their native allies were fighting the British and their native allies.