The Historians

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Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this Weekend

How William Johnson Made His Bones By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

 What made William Johnson important in Colonial America especially with his British overlords?

A Thursday Story-Focus on History from March 2004

Preserving Fort Johnson The Montgomery County Historical Society
Bob Cudmore

More than a century after the pro-British Johnson family fled the Mohawk Valley because of the American Revolution, a local organization took the lead in preserving Old Fort Johnson, a fortified home built by Sir William Johnson in 1749.

The Montgomery County Historical Society formed in 1904. The private, non profit group met regularly at the new Amsterdam Free Library, which charged the historical association five dollars a month. The original goal was to establish a museum in Amsterdam but Old Fort Johnson, a mile west of the city, soon became the focus.

In 1904, carpet maker Stephen Sanford purchased a collection of arrowheads, tools and other Native American artifacts from A.S. Richmond and Samuel Frey of Canajoharie. This collection is still on display at the fort.

At the time, farmer and lawyer Ethan Akin owned the historic building. Ethan's son Theron, a dentist, led the drive to name the surrounding community the Village of Akin. Theron Akin was elected to Congress, moved to Amsterdam and spent four tumultuous years as mayor of the Carpet City. Later, the community around the fort was renamed Fort Johnson.
In 1905, the Society contracted to buy the fort from the Akin family for $5900. Amsterdam merchant W. Max Reid found a benefactor to put up the money, Major General John Watts DePeyster of Tivoli, New York. DePeyster was the grand nephew of Lady Mary Watts Johnson, wife of Sir John Johnson, Sir William's son.

Stephen Sanford came up with a $15,000 endowment in 1906 and a committee of women furnished the fort. A 1770s era carriage house became the home of the first caretakers, Alpha and Helen Child.

In 1915, Mrs. Fred Greene was elected the Society's first woman president, one of the first women in the state to head an historical society.

In 1919, $100 was spent on a pageant depicting the life of Sir William Johnson. The New York State Historical Association described it as the most elaborate historical pageant ever seen in the Mohawk Valley.

In 1937, the Society decided to charge a 25-cent adult admission; children got in for a dime. The fee was discontinued during World War Two and today a two-dollar donation is encouraged.

Charles E. French was a charter trustee of the Society in 1904, serving until his death in 1964 at the age of 93. French, president of Amsterdam Savings Bank, was the son of Samuel French, a Civil War Army surgeon from the Binghamton area who settled in Amsterdam. Samuel French was instrumental in securing $25,000 from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build the city library in 1903.

In 1965, Rebecca Morris Evans became Society president and, in the 1970s, restored the fort to reflect the period when Sir William Johnson lived there. Evans secured National Historic Landmark status for the building in 1974.

Samuel and Lily Canavan became caretakers in 1959. A native of Northern Ireland, Sam Canavan also worked as custodian at the savings bank, where his energy and style impressed bank president and Historical Society board member Charles French. Canavan's daughter, Joan Canavan Los, said her father would sometimes break into poetry when leading tours of the fort. Lily Canavan died in 1980 and Sam Canavan moved back to Ireland in 1983 where he died in 1994.

The Old Fort opens for the season on May 15. Events are planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the Historical Society. On May 16th, Cecilia Brauer will present a program on a sweet sounding 18th century glass instrument that was invented and named by Benjamin Franklin, the armonica.

Information for this story was provided by Alessa Wylie and Scott Haefner of the Montgomery County Historical Society.

Read Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History column Saturdays in Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder.

How William Johnson Made His Bones

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History this Saturday, February 17, 2024

 What made William Johnson important in Colonial America especially with his British overlords?

A Wednesday Story from 2004

Ice skating on the Erie Canal

By Bob Cudmore

  Our ancestors used to skate on the Erie Canal in winter.

   In 1887 John Burns was granted permission to have a skating rink at the Port Jackson basin on the canal. The next year the city of Amsterdam annexed the Erie Canal village. 

   The basin gave boats the ability to maneuver and dock in warm weather months and provided a good expanse for skating in winter.

   In 1893 the Amsterdam newspapers reported that “the annual fight for possession of the canal basin is already on.”  P. Donovan and W.L. Hammond were contending for the skating contract.

   In 1897 the firm of Noonan & Currie flooded the basin for skating and would do so the next twenty years.

   Noonan & Currie was a livery stable, a combination rent-a-car and taxi service of the horse drawn era.  

  William J. Currie was born in Little Falls. He came to Amsterdam with his family as a child and lived on High Street.  He was active in Republican politics.

   In 1902 Fred Hoffman, the “boy wonder” of Cohoes, and Rensselaer County champion Peter Connors took part in a two mile race in Amsterdam before a big crowd. The “boy wonder” prevailed.

   Carbonelli’s Band entertained and a carnival was held after the race.

   The newspapers printed rules that year for Currie’s canal basin skating rink. Long skates and shinny sticks, used as hockey sticks, were not allowed.

   During skating sessions, no racing or speeding was permitted.  Also “positively” banned were “boisterous actions and profane language.”  Currie held a skating carnival Christmas afternoon and evening.

  Currie used an old house boat as a warming hut.  It was towed to the skating rink each year from its summer resting place near Fort Hunter.

   “Currie, the skating rink man, has had a hard time of it this winter,” wrote the Recorder in 1907.  Changeable weather kept him from opening the rink until the end of January.

   By 1909 he had installed a phone at the rink and was open Christmas day with music by the Colonial Band.

   A 1944 Recorder article recalled the Erie Canal basin skating rink when prizes were awarded to the “most graceful skaters.”

   The rink was still in use in 1916.  But its days were numbered.

   The old Erie Canal and canal basin in Amsterdam were closed by 1918 as the new Barge Canal was put into the banks of the Mohawk River, not a good recipe for skating.  Currie died in 1923.

    The site of the old skating rink was filled in and is now the Fifth Ward Memorial Park.

  This story was researched by Amsterdam historian and post card collector Jerry Snyder.

DOWNTOWN CONNECTIONS

   Film historian and critic Audrey Kupferberg of Amsterdam remembers business man George Phillips who lived in Cranesville on Route 5.

   A 1960 reconstruction, called the Cranesville Arterial, brought Route 5 next to the Phillips home and the adjacent Temple of Israel Cemetery. 

   Fearing for the safety of motorists, Phillips illuminated his home with 45 lights in the windows and porches. 

   Phillips worked for a knit goods business and was president of a railroad short line.

   Kupferberg said Phillips sported a flower in his lapel every day, “He was a dapper gentleman. He used to walk around downtown. My mother (Rae Kupferberg) enjoyed seeing him at People’s (fabric) Store.  I also remember the lights in the Cranesville house windows… a nice touch so near to the Jewish cemeteries.”

    Audrey said Phillips “simply would stop in or walk by, wave, and say hello.”

   Downtown in the old days was not only a place to shop but also a place to socialize.

Ice skating on the Erie Canal

By Bob Cudmore

  Our ancestors used to skate on the Erie Canal in winter.

   In 1887 John Burns was granted permission to have a skating rink at the Port Jackson basin on the canal. The next year the city of Amsterdam annexed the Erie Canal village. 

   The basin gave boats the ability to maneuver and dock in warm weather months and provided a good expanse for skating in winter.

   In 1893 the Amsterdam newspapers reported that “the annual fight for possession of the canal basin is already on.”  P. Donovan and W.L. Hammond were contending for the skating contract.

   In 1897 the firm of Noonan & Currie flooded the basin for skating and would do so the next twenty years.

   Noonan & Currie was a livery stable, a combination rent-a-car and taxi service of the horse drawn era.  

  William J. Currie was born in Little Falls. He came to Amsterdam with his family as a child and lived on High Street.  He was active in Republican politics.

   In 1902 Fred Hoffman, the “boy wonder” of Cohoes, and Rensselaer County champion Peter Connors took part in a two mile race in Amsterdam before a big crowd. The “boy wonder” prevailed.

   Carbonelli’s Band entertained and a carnival was held after the race.

   The newspapers printed rules that year for Currie’s canal basin skating rink. Long skates and shinny sticks, used as hockey sticks, were not allowed.

   During skating sessions, no racing or speeding was permitted.  Also “positively” banned were “boisterous actions and profane language.”  Currie held a skating carnival Christmas afternoon and evening.

  Currie used an old house boat as a warming hut.  It was towed to the skating rink each year from its summer resting place near Fort Hunter.

   “Currie, the skating rink man, has had a hard time of it this winter,” wrote the Recorder in 1907.  Changeable weather kept him from opening the rink until the end of January.

   By 1909 he had installed a phone at the rink and was open Christmas day with music by the Colonial Band.

   A 1944 Recorder article recalled the Erie Canal basin skating rink when prizes were awarded to the “most graceful skaters.”

   The rink was still in use in 1916.  But its days were numbered.

   The old Erie Canal and canal basin in Amsterdam were closed by 1918 as the new Barge Canal was put into the banks of the Mohawk River, not a good recipe for skating.  Currie died in 1923.

    The site of the old skating rink was filled in and is now the Fifth Ward Memorial Park.

  This story was researched by Amsterdam historian and post card collector Jerry Snyder.

DOWNTOWN CONNECTIONS

   Film historian and critic Audrey Kupferberg of Amsterdam remembers business man George Phillips who lived in Cranesville on Route 5.

   A 1960 reconstruction, called the Cranesville Arterial, brought Route 5 next to the Phillips home and the adjacent Temple of Israel Cemetery. 

   Fearing for the safety of motorists, Phillips illuminated his home with 45 lights in the windows and porches. 

   Phillips worked for a knit goods business and was president of a railroad short line.

   Kupferberg said Phillips sported a flower in his lapel every day, “He was a dapper gentleman. He used to walk around downtown. My mother (Rae Kupferberg) enjoyed seeing him at People’s (fabric) Store.  I also remember the lights in the Cranesville house windows… a nice touch so near to the Jewish cemeteries.”

    Audrey said Phillips “simply would stop in or walk by, wave, and say hello.”

   Downtown in the old days was not only a place to shop but also a place to socialize.

A cold drizzling rain was falling on Amsterdam's Guy Park Avenue shortly after eight a.m. on November 29, 1949. The busy street was slippery as students arrived for class at the former Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School.

A westbound city bus owned by Vollmer Bus Lines and driven by Ian G. Bullock stopped on the north side of the street. Three female students exited through the front door. Bullock, who lived at 485 Guy Park Avenue, later told a coroner's inquest he saw two of the girls run in front of the bus toward the school on the south side of the street. He assumed the third student had walked to the rear to cross the street behind the bus. What happened next was covered extensively by the Amsterdam Recorder.

As Bullock stopped his bus, Frank A. Swan of 311 Guy Park Avenue stopped his car on the opposite side of the street to allow his two children to go into the school. Swan saw three girls leave the front of the bus and start running across the street.

One of the girls stumbled, fell to one knee and her school books scattered. She tried to regain her feet but fell face down about five feet in front of the large vehicle. Swan said, The prostrate child had no time to arise before the bus started as she lay with her hands curled over her head.

Swan saw the wheel of the bus rise as it struck the girl. Swan's windows were rolled up and he didn't hear the scream.

Two of the girls had made it across the street: Mary Jane Natale of 51 James Street and Jean Cincotta of 42 Reid Street. Natale screamed when she saw their friend Nancy Booth slip, regain her balance, then slip and fall again as the bus moved forward.

Bus driver Bullock felt or heard a thud and heard the scream. He stopped the bus and found Nancy lying in the street behind the vehicle. Bullock hurried to a nearby business, called police for an ambulance and called the bus company.

The 14-year old child was taken to Amsterdam City Hospital where she died an hour and a half later.

NANCY BOOTH
Nancy Joan Booth lived with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. George Tetradis at 62 Edward Street. Her mother had died seven years earlier. Her father lived in Miami Beach, Florida. She had a sister, Louise, who was one year older. Her grandmother, also named Nancy Booth, lived in Amsterdam. A grandfather named Leo Nasuto lived in Pennsylvania. She also was survived by aunts, uncles and cousins.

A graduate of Vrooman Avenue grammar school, she was in ninth grade. The Recorder wrote, Her death cast a gloom over the entire (junior high) school.

A large crowd attended services at Perillo Funeral Home and St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church. Burial was at St. Michael s Cemetery.

Coroner F.F. Pipito initially issued a ruling of accidental death. However, District Attorney Charles Tracy insisted on an inquest. After the inquest testimony, Dr. Pipito issued another ruling of accidental death and exonerated bus driver Bullock.

The Recorder editorialized that Bullock's conduct both before and following the accident was faultless, and it is well that he is absolved of any misdirected blame. The editorial also stated there was no reason to believe that the unfortunate victim was any more careless than thousands of other youngsters who travel to and from local schools daily.

Norma Jean Qualls from the high school class of 1954 suggested this column, saying, One never reads about the heartache the accident caused.

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. 

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. Hope to have this conversation on-line in early March.

The end of this Week (a quick listen to 11 stories, all at once or in a row, let's say)

Friday, February 9, 2024-Episode 509-Highlights Edition from 2023 and 2024 with excerpts from podcasts on Civil War volunteers from Saratoga,  the story of Benedict Arnold, an ancient elephant tusk found in Maine and much more.

Selling Amsterdam carpets
By Bob Cudmore

Amsterdam rugs made it at least twice to the White House. The Liberty Rug was one of 20 Axminster carpets woven in Amsterdam by the Shuttleworth mills to mark the initial floodlighting ceremony at the Statue of Liberty in New York in 1916. The rug was then presented to President Woodrow Wilson for his bedroom at the White House.

In 1947 a Chenille rug from Mohawk Carpet showing the Presidential seal was produced for President Harry Truman's Oval Office.

Following the recent column on Mohawk s Wheel of Life carpet, woven for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, retired Amsterdam educator Gavin Murdoch has provided Mohawk Carpet publications from his family's collection.

A 1930 in house publication called the Mohawk Courier contained praise from a New York City theater for a Mohawk rug and described how the Amsterdam firm s sales force was expanding around the country to fight the Great Depression.

A Chenille carpet from Amsterdam had been installed in 1927 at the Roxy Theatre in New York. Manager C.W. Griswold was lavish in his praise, The writer is positively amazed at the life and durability of this rug, subjected to daily traffic for over three years. It is really remarkable when you consider that we have entertained 25 million persons during this period.

On a more somber note, Mohawk s sales director Z.L. Potter wrote that the local mills were suffering from hard times, But I pledge you personally and for all members of the sales organization that we will leave no stone unturned that will bring in business, start all Mohawk looms up again and give you the security of employment you desire.

The opposite page described a going away dinner at Saltsman's Hotel in Ephratah for regional sales managers who were being dispatched to San Francisco, Philadelphia and St. Louis to promote the company's line.

Colonel G.H. Durston was assigned to San Francisco, and J. Ralph Blocher drew the Philadelphia assignment. Invited but not present at the dinner because he was already enroute for his new home in St. Louis was John Smeallie, wrote the Courier.

A picture showed Smeallie, his wife and daughters standing in front of an automobile pulling an impressive trailer. Smeallie reported the car and trailer made the 1100 trip without a mar or trouble.

Smeallie said, I snaked the trailer along at 45 and 50 miles per hour on straight concrete stretches and had absolutely no trouble in traffic, even in Cleveland, Indianapolis or St. Louis. We stopped for some meals and prepared others in transit, Mrs. Smeallie walking about the car and kitchen just as if she were at home. She claimed it rode much more comfortably than any sedan she was ever in and read a book enroute as well as drinking in the scenery.

COMPUTER PREDECESSOR

Amsterdam's former carpet mills produced several kinds of floor coverings Axminster, Chenille and Wilton. Wilton carpet has interested me the most, partly because that was what my father, Clarence Cudmore, wove for Mohawk and partly because of its connection to modern days.

Wilton is a wool carpet that can have as many as five colors per pattern. The name derives from Wilton, England.

Wilton was woven on Jacquard looms, invented by Joseph Jacquard in France in 1801 The pattern was determined by hundreds if not thousands of paper punch cards that controlled what color yarn the consumer saw on top of the carpet.

The Jacquard looms punch card system is frequently described as an industrial prototype of early computer hardware. Since the punch cards could be used multiple times, Jacquard looms even predicted the concept of computer programming.

February on The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Friday, February 9, 2024-Episode 509-Highlights Edition from 2023 and 2024` with excerpts from podcasts on Civil War volunteers from Saratoga,  the story of Benedict Arnold, an ancient elephant tusk found in Maine and much more.

Friday, February 16, 2024-Episode 510-Former Albany Politico bureau chief Terry Golway is author of I Never Did like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America's Mayor, and Why He Still Matters.  Golway tells the story of LaGuardia’s life through colorful episodes that relate to people today.

Friday, February 23, 2024-Episode 511-Photojournalist Richard Frishman and essayist and professor Dr. B. Brian Foster are authors of Ghosts of Segregation, a photojournalism collection depicting a visual history of segregation through buildings and landscapes where racism has left its mark.