Tuesday, December 26, 2023

$1695.00 needed in the next 6 Days

As of today, Tuesday, December 26, 2023 $5305.00 on the way to $7,000.00

https://gofund.me/777777e9

or a check made out to Bob Cudmore, 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Bean Hill Congressman corresponded with town of Florida soldier
By Bob Cudmore

William T. Byrne, who was elected a State Senator and Congressman representing the Albany area, was born in 1876 on Bean Hill Road near the hamlet of Minaville. Although Byrne lived in Loudonville in later years, he maintained a summer home in the town of Florida, south of Amsterdam.

Debbie Miller wrote, "My dad Ronald Hopkins grew up in the town of Florida and from what I understood, Byrne was a wonderful mentor to my father throughout his childhood. While my Dad was serving in the Air Force (1951), Representative Byrne and my Dad corresponded regularly."

Miller added, "From a letter I found (1946), Mr. Byrne would mail my Dad magazines and books when he was young to encourage reading. They would also correspond with one another so that my Dad could practice composing letters and good penmanship."

She continued, "Mr. Byrne seemed like a kind man who inspired the youngsters in the town of Florida to get a good education and to also lead an honorable life. In his letter, he mentioned that good habits and keeping good company will pay big returns which he knows from experience. I'm sure Byrne influenced many other youngsters and aside from his political career accomplishments, I believe he should be recognized for his outstanding character."

After Air Force service in the military police in the Korean War, Ronald Hopkins, Miller's father, raised a family and built a career as an engineering designer and manager at Beech Nut-Life Savers. He died at 81 in 2014.

Byrne's parents were Richard Henry Byrne, a carpenter, and Margaret Manifold Byrne, a school teacher. Both were Irish immigrants. When William was a youngster, the family moved to Albany where his father operated a tavern on Broadway.

A graduate of Albany High and Albany Law School, Byrne attended the 1896 Democratic national convention in Chicago where William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous Cross of Gold speech opposing the gold standard. Byrne also became proficient as a public speaker.

Back in Albany Byrne developed a lucrative law practice. He ran as a Democrat and was elected to the State Senate in 1922. He was part of the Democratic Party machine headed by Dan O'Connell.

A liberal and associate of Governors Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Byrne was co-sponsor of state legislation that created unemployment insurance.

Byrne and his wife Josephine lived in Loudonville in a house now on the National Historic Register. They had a summer home on Bean Hill in the town of Florida. A devotee of exercise, Byrne sometimes walked to Bean Hill from his Loudonville home.

The Byrnes's summer home was adjacent to the Amsterdam YMCA farm called Camp On-A-Nol. Byrnes struck up a friendship with the family of YMCA physical director Leon "Prof" Huston and his family.

Byrne knew a breeder of spaniel dogs and arranged for a dog to be shipped by train to the Hustons. The family named the dog Senator, "Sen" for short. The Hustons moved for a YMCA assignment in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1942 where Senator the dog was struck and killed by a car.

By then Byrne was serving in Congress, first elected in 1936. When notified of Senator's death, Congressman Byrne shipped another spaniel to the Hustons. They named the new dog Representative, "Rep" for short.

Byrne's wife Josephine Diener Byrne was hostess at many gatherings at their summer home. She died in 1948. They were married for forty years and had no children.

Congressman Byrne died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1952. He was eulogized as the "genial gentleman from Albany" by future U.S. Senator Jacob Javits.

This Friday

December 29, 2023-Episode 505

Chris Carola, a former Albany based Associated Press reporter who lives in Saratoga Springs, will discuss the Civil War’s 77th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Coming in January 2024: Gary Hoyle discusses his search for the identity of a tusk found in the collection of an old, dismantled museum in Maine.

New book to examine 19th century Schenectady — New Tales of Old Dorp:
By Chris Leonard Daily Gazette

Volumn III
I’m writing a book on Schenectady County in the 19th Century, “Schenectady Genesis, Volume III: Schenectady in the Context of the New American Republic, 1800-1869.” I’m following in the footsteps of two wonderful authors, Dr. Susan Staffa and John F. Gearing, who chronicled the settlement of Schenectady through the American Revolution to the its chartering as a city in 1798, in earlier Schenectady Genesis volumes.

https://www.dailygazette.com/life_and_arts/history/leaonard/new-book-to-examine-19th-century-schenectady-new-tales-of-old-dorp/article_ae10ab1c-9b70-11ee-b4c1-4b3125e96098.html

Volumn II

Historians Podcast Episode 349-Author John Gearing and editor Chris Leonard discuss their book “Schenectady Genesis, Volume II: The Creation of an American City from an Anglo-Dutch Town, ca. 1760-1800.”

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 26, 2023

38 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:26AM