The Historians

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Not looking good with only 4 days to the end of the 2023 Go Fund Me Drive to keep Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley History on The Internet and Public Radio. $1695.00 is needed.

https://gofund.me/777777e9

U.S. Mail

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

Chris Carola and Bob Cudmore talk WW2 History

Episode 348-Chris Carola, a veteran Associated Press reporter, is writing a book about Jack Wilpers, who grew up in Saratoga Springs, and the key role Wilpers played in the capture of former Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo in 1945.

Advertising Beech Nut chewing gum with an aviation pioneer
By Bob Cudmore

Famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart once went on a national tour piloting an unusual aircraft to help Beech Nut sell chewing gum.

Beech Nut was then in Canajoharie. In 2010 the company, best known today for baby food, left Canajoharie and moved to the Town of Florida near Thruway Exit 27.

Earhart had visited the region in 1929 to read letters to Admiral Richard Byrd's Antarctic expedition on WGY shortwave station W2XAF,

Beech Nut sponsored Earhart's 1931 cross-country flights in the Pitcairn Auto Gyro. The craft combined features of an airplane and a helicopter.

Historian Carl Johnson's Website Hoxie reported the autogiro is "an odd hybrid craft that uses an unpowered rotor to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller to develop thrust."

In the 1930s some thought the autogiro, with its ability to fly slowly and land in small places, would be the future of personal aviation. Others feared the autogiro was dangerous.

Bruce H. Charnov of Hofstra University wrote. "The autogiro was invented by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva in an attempt to create an aircraft that could fly safely at low speeds." He flew the first one in 1923 in Madrid.

Earhart was born in 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. In 1931 she had established one record for the autogiro, piloting it to an altitude of 18,500 feet.

Charnov wrote Earhart had ordered her own autogiro when Beech Nut made an offer, "Seeing a publicity bonanza, the Beech Nut Packing Company, offered Earhart the use of its previously ordered (autogiro) if she would fly it coast-to-coast with the company logo painted on its side and accompanying promotion efforts related to its chewing gum. Brokered by her husband (George Palmer Putnam), who was known for his acumen at garnering publicity, she promptly canceled her order in favor of the Beech Nut Autogiro."

"I'm delighted to have the opportunity of making extensive tests with this plane through the helpfulness of Bartlett Arkell, president of Beech Nut," Earhart commented to the Canajoharie Courier. Earhart is pictured in the cockpit of the autogiro which had Beech Nut logos in several places.

There was one mishap which damaged an autogiro during a landing on a field n Canajoharie. Earhart was not the pilot in that incident.

After much preparation and orchestrated publicity, Earhart took off from Newark, New Jersey in May 1931 on her first transcontinental autogiro tour.

The editor of the Fort Plain Standard newspaper, Mohawk Valley historian Nelson Greene, longtime friend of Bartlett Arkell, did advance publicity for Earhart's autogiro tour through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Charnov wrote, "At each stop (Earhart) lifted children to see the cockpit, shook hands with spectators, gave interviews, and often gave out samples of the Beech Nut chewing gum."

However another aviator, John Miller, was also trying to set the autogiro record for the first transcontinental trip. Charnov wrote, "Arriving on June 6, 1931, in Oakland, California, (Earhart) discovered much to her amazement and her husband's mercurial anger that John M. Miller had arrived in San Diego on May 28th."

Deprived of the westbound transcontinental record, Earhart tried to claim a record flying the autogiro back to the East Coast. This didn't happen as she had the first of three autogiro crashes in Abilene, Kansas. She ended up returning by train.

Some police agencies today use autogiros as they are less expensive to buy and maintain than helicopters.

Amelia Earhart was to come to a sudden, mysterious and tragic end in 1937. While on a round-the-world flight she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific Ocean enroute from New Guinea to tiny Howland Island.

Tomorrow

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.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 28, 2023

46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Not looking good with only 4 days to the end of the 2023 Go Fund Me Drive to keep Amsterdam and Mohawk Valley History on The Internet and Public Radio. $1695.00 is needed.

https://gofund.me/777777e9

U.S. Mail

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

Chris Carola and Bob Cudmore talk WW2 History

Episode 348-Chris Carola, a veteran Associated Press reporter, is writing a book about Jack Wilpers, who grew up in Saratoga Springs, and the key role Wilpers played in the capture of former Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo in 1945.

Advertising Beech Nut chewing gum with an aviation pioneer
By Bob Cudmore

Famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart once went on a national tour piloting an unusual aircraft to help Beech Nut sell chewing gum.

Beech Nut was then in Canajoharie. In 2010 the company, best known today for baby food, left Canajoharie and moved to the Town of Florida near Thruway Exit 27.

Earhart had visited the region in 1929 to read letters to Admiral Richard Byrd's Antarctic expedition on WGY shortwave station W2XAF,

Beech Nut sponsored Earhart's 1931 cross-country flights in the Pitcairn Auto Gyro. The craft combined features of an airplane and a helicopter.

Historian Carl Johnson's Website Hoxie reported the autogiro is "an odd hybrid craft that uses an unpowered rotor to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller to develop thrust."

In the 1930s some thought the autogiro, with its ability to fly slowly and land in small places, would be the future of personal aviation. Others feared the autogiro was dangerous.

Bruce H. Charnov of Hofstra University wrote. "The autogiro was invented by Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva in an attempt to create an aircraft that could fly safely at low speeds." He flew the first one in 1923 in Madrid.

Earhart was born in 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. In 1931 she had established one record for the autogiro, piloting it to an altitude of 18,500 feet.

Charnov wrote Earhart had ordered her own autogiro when Beech Nut made an offer, "Seeing a publicity bonanza, the Beech Nut Packing Company, offered Earhart the use of its previously ordered (autogiro) if she would fly it coast-to-coast with the company logo painted on its side and accompanying promotion efforts related to its chewing gum. Brokered by her husband (George Palmer Putnam), who was known for his acumen at garnering publicity, she promptly canceled her order in favor of the Beech Nut Autogiro."

"I'm delighted to have the opportunity of making extensive tests with this plane through the helpfulness of Bartlett Arkell, president of Beech Nut," Earhart commented to the Canajoharie Courier. Earhart is pictured in the cockpit of the autogiro which had Beech Nut logos in several places.

There was one mishap which damaged an autogiro during a landing on a field n Canajoharie. Earhart was not the pilot in that incident.

After much preparation and orchestrated publicity, Earhart took off from Newark, New Jersey in May 1931 on her first transcontinental autogiro tour.

The editor of the Fort Plain Standard newspaper, Mohawk Valley historian Nelson Greene, longtime friend of Bartlett Arkell, did advance publicity for Earhart's autogiro tour through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Charnov wrote, "At each stop (Earhart) lifted children to see the cockpit, shook hands with spectators, gave interviews, and often gave out samples of the Beech Nut chewing gum."

However another aviator, John Miller, was also trying to set the autogiro record for the first transcontinental trip. Charnov wrote, "Arriving on June 6, 1931, in Oakland, California, (Earhart) discovered much to her amazement and her husband's mercurial anger that John M. Miller had arrived in San Diego on May 28th."

Deprived of the westbound transcontinental record, Earhart tried to claim a record flying the autogiro back to the East Coast. This didn't happen as she had the first of three autogiro crashes in Abilene, Kansas. She ended up returning by train.

Some police agencies today use autogiros as they are less expensive to buy and maintain than helicopters.

Amelia Earhart was to come to a sudden, mysterious and tragic end in 1937. While on a round-the-world flight she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific Ocean enroute from New Guinea to tiny Howland Island.

Tomorrow

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.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 28, 2023

46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM

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

Mayor Gregg said a Christmas Festival was one of his dreams to make Amsterdam special.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

The 1958 Christmas Festival

By Bob Cudmore

  Santa arrived by helicopter in 1958 to begin Amsterdam’s Christmas Festival, an event promoted by Democratic Mayor Thomas F. Gregg.

  Santa’s copter landed in Lurie’s department store’s downtown parking lot.  He was taken on a National Guard armored personnel carrier to what was then Coessen’s Park in the city’s East End.

  A Christmas village had been built at the park and the right jolly old elf took up residence in Santa’s workshop.

  Mayor Gregg said a Christmas Festival was one of his dreams to make Amsterdam special.

  An organ played by an animated Santa provided holiday music.

  Attractions included a life-sized Nativity scene, a miniature fire truck to give youngsters rides around the village, a cafeteria and, of course, Santa’s reindeer.

  The reindeer actually were eight English fallow deer rented from Catskill Game Farm.  The Game Farm also provided eight sheep, six llamas and several donkeys.  Closed in 2006 Catskill Game Farm once was one of the largest private zoos in America.

  Many city businesses and organizations made financial contributions to the Christmas Festival.  Mohawk Carpets employee association cancelled its annual kiddies party that year and made a large donation.

  An estimated 35 to 40 thousand people attended the festival.  The Recorder reported that some thought the festival was the best thing to happen in Amsterdam in several years.

   Mayor Gregg said he hoped the event would be even bigger in 1959.

  The festivities ended 1958 with a $2200 deficit, about $29,000 today.

  The Recorder wrote as the end of 1959 approached that “time is running out on the festival.”

  The Amsterdam Junior Chamber of Commerce put up some holiday decorations at Coessen’s Park in 1959 but there was no festival.

  Mayor Gregg failed to win reelection in 1959.  Gregg lived on Evelyn Avenue and operated a downtown butcher shop on Railroad Street.  He also was a car salesman for Hosner Motor.  He was survived by his wife Helen Gregg and brother James Gregg.

   Gregg was an Amsterdam native who served four years as Ward 6 Alderman and two years as Mayor.

   During Gregg’s administration Route 30 on the South Side was rebuilt, one of the first steps in urban renewal.

   Current Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti, a local historian, provided this information on Gregg, “I learned a bit about the guy when I wrote a blog post about the late Joe Jacobs a few years back.

   “Jacobs ran for Mayor of Amsterdam three times unsuccessfully. The second time was in 1955 when he lost a Democratic Primary to Gregg who went on to unseat Republican incumbent (mayor) Frank Martuscello the following November. Then, after Gregg's Common Council approved an extension of the Mayor's term of office to four years, Jacobs surprised everyone by challenging and defeating the incumbent in the 1959 Democratic primary.

   “When Gregg than tried to run as a candidate of the Progressive Party, Jacobs challenged the validity of his petitions in court and got them thrown out. But the acrimony split the party, and Martuscello recaptured City Hall when Gregg's supporters went his way instead of Jacobs, who lost by more than 3,000 votes.”

  One major remnant of the 1958 Christmas Festival still remains.  A large lighted sign proclaiming Seasons Greetings was part of the event and the sign was later displayed in front of City Hall.

  A few years back the sign was found in the City Hall carriage house.

  After extensive work by retired engineer Jerry Snyder and other volunteers from Historic Amsterdam League, the sign is usable again.

  Snyder says the sign is now in front of City Hall on Church Street for the 2023 holiday season.

8 days to reach the 2023 Go Fund Me goal of $7,000.00

As of today, Sunday, December 24, 2023 $5305.00

Use the Go Fund Me link

https://gofund.me/777777e9

or by Mail

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

This week on The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Friday, December 29-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.

Friday, January 5-Episode 506-Gary Hoyle discusses his search for the identity of a tusk found in the collection of an old, dismantled museum in Maine.

Mohawk Valley Holiday Weather, Sunday, December 24, 2023

33 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:01AM

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Today in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder https://www.dailygazette.com/

The 1958 Christmas Festival By Bob Cudmore

  Santa arrived by helicopter in 1958 to begin Amsterdam’s Christmas Festival, an event promoted by Democratic Mayor Thomas F. Gregg. Santa’s copter landed in Lurie’s department store’s downtown parking lot.(Posted tomorrow, Sunday, December 24, 2023 hear on The Historians)  

9 days to reach the 2023 Go Fund Me goal of $7,000.00

As of today, Saturday, December 23, 2023 $5305.00

Use the Go Fund Me link

https://gofund.me/777777e9

or by Mail

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

On the Historians production schedule:

Friday, December 29-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.

Friday, January 5-Episode 506-Gary Hoyle discusses his search for the identity of a tusk found in the collection of an old, dismantled museum in Maine.

Bobsledding on Amsterdam city streets
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

Coasting carnivals for bobsled teams were popular winter sporting events in the late 1800s in Amsterdam and other area cities with steep hills.

The bobsleds had front and rear steering, clanging bells and brake systems, according to "Annals of a Milltown" by Hugh Donlon, "Much depended on the steersmen and brakeman of the teams that ranged from 10 to 20 men, all colorfully uniformed. The Joker Club, for instance, wore red St. Nicholas caps, red coats, blue cuffs and collars, blue knee breeches, red stockings and low shoes."

The Amsterdam Daily Democrat gave an account of a coasting carnival on Valentine's night 1887 on Northampton Road.

The weather was not ideal. Amsterdam had thaw and slush, not the clear, bracing weather that was desired. Nonetheless the evening was "fairly successful" according to the newspaper.

A dozen coasting clubs arrived from Albany on the 6:16 p.m. train, which included a special car for their handsome bobsleds or bobs. The Thirteenth Brigade Band of the National Guard played to greet them. The "hungry bobbers" did "ample justice" to food provided at the Y.M.C.A. and the Hotel Warner.

There was a parade before the coasting began. Red flares and Japanese lanterns lighted the course.

Albany's clubs included several named Yum. Other names were Beverwyck, Monitor and a team named for Tammany Hall, the New York City Democratic Party political machine.

The Beverwycks were in dark blue and white, Yum Yums in orange, Monitors in gray, and Tammany Hall men wore plaid suits.

Clubs from Fort Plain and other points west arrived on the 8:43 p.m. train.

During the pre-coasting parade crowds of people lined the sidewalks and covered the snowbanks. The handsome bobs of the Albany clubs attracted much attention.

At the foot of the hill a string of Japanese lanterns was suspended across the street. There was a fireworks display. The Thirteenth Brigade band escorted the bobsled procession to the top of the hill.

Coasting began at 9 p.m. There were no actual races as it was too dark.

The Democrat wrote, "The bob Beverwyck made the first trip down the slide. As it was turning the corner at the foot of the hill it went over the bank. The bobs Niagara, Bob Moore and Nonpareil, which were close behind, ran into the Beverwyck. The crews of the bobs were thrown into a confused mass. Several persons received injuries."

Teams of horses hauled the bobsleds up Northampton Road for the next event. Yum '88 tipped over. Yum '87 collided with Yum '86.

The wounded were taken to the home of Dr. Timmerman. Amsterdam's first hospital, Amsterdam City Hospital, would not open for another year. One injured man spent the night at the Hotel Warner.

Despite the accidents, the Amsterdam Coasting Association entertained at a party at the Y.M.C.A. after the event. The out of town teams left on midnight trains. Some Albanians stayed overnight and enjoyed a barouche ride the next day. A barouche is a stylish horse drawn carriage.

The 1888 Coasting Carnival moved the bobsled run from Northampton Road to Market Street.

Harley Plantz, 18, was the "youngest member of the Reindeer sled team," according to Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League.

Snyder wrote, "With the racing concluded and the winners announced, (Plantz's) team decided to make one last run just to see if they could beat the night's winning time."

Their bobsled hit a lamp post. Harley Plantz died from his injuries during the night and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

With increasing automobile traffic, bobsled racing on city streets was finally banned in Amsterdam in the 1920s

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, December 23, 2023

21 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:12AM

..fair weather for Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley for  Christmas, they say

Thursday, December 21, 2023

We only have 11 days and then

We have produced over 500 episodes since the podcast started in 2014.  Please help us continue The Historians Podcast by making a donation.  Please contribute at https://gofund.me/777777e9  or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore, 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  Time is running out.  Help us reach our $7000 yearly goal!

Fort Plain native keeps Dutch heritage alive
By Bob Cudmore

In 1994 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred a Dutch knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau on Fort Plain native Charles Gehring.

Part German and part Italian, Gehring was born in his grandmother's house in Fort Plain. His family moved to Nelliston after World War II. His doctoral dissertation at Indiana University was a linguistic investigation of the survival of the Dutch language in colonial New York.

His career has been spent translating Old Dutch documents from the New Netherland Colony which included cities now called Albany and New York City. Old Dutch is hard to understand even for people fluent in modern Dutch. Many surviving hand written documents are barely legible.

Gehring works in Albany as director of the New Netherland Research Center housed at the New York State Library.

He said, "I've been translating Dutch records for 40 some years. These are the original records of the Dutch colony here in the 17th century. I'm also busy promoting people's knowledge of Dutch heritage in the area. So it's not just a translation project but a dissemination project as well, and an education project. We try to make people aware of the unique area that they live in in the Hudson Valley and Mohawk Valley."

For 35 years Gehring had help with the translations from Janny Venema, a Dutch school teacher who moved to the Capital District and began working with Gehring in Albany in the mid 1980s.

In a 2020 interview Venema said she and Gehring for example translated New Netherland council minutes, "The council would be Peter Stuyvesant and a few other men. They were the government of the entire colony of New Netherland."

Venema retired in 2020 and moved back to Holland. Gehring said he will continue translating, "Well I'll take it as long as I can. As long as my eyes hold out."

Many scholars and popular authors have used Gehring's translations. The Albany translations, for example, made possible Russell Shorto's acclaimed 2004 bestseller, "The Island at the Center of the World." Shorto's book is a history of Manhattan's founding by the Dutch which Shorto argues led to New York and America's immigrant culture.

In the 1990s Gehring and William Starna, a longtime friend originally from St. Johnsville, translated their own book, Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert's journal, "A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635."

Van den Bogaert was a Dutch barber-surgeon who lived in what we call Albany and what was then called Fort Orange. He was the first European to document a journey through the Mohawk Valley.

His journal also makes the first printed reference to the Iroquois confederacy of nations.

Van den Bogaert and two other men set out in December 1634 to learn why the Fort Orange fur trade had dropped off with Iroquois tribes to the west. The travelers returned to Fort Orange with gifts.

Van den Bogaert became commander of Fort Orange. In 1648 he became embroiled in a sexual controversy, accused of having a sexual relationship with a male slave named Tobias. Van den Bogaert was charged with sodomy, a capital offense.

He fled to Indian country. A bounty hunter caught up with him at an Oneida longhouse and in an exchange of gunfire, the longhouse was set ablaze and destroyed. Van den Bogaert was taken back to Fort Orange.

He escaped again when a sheet of floating ice badly damaged the fort. However, he then drowned in the Hudson River. Ironically, the penalty for sodomy was drowning.

The Bob conversation with Bruce Dearstyne

Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State. The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during a momentous year for the state during the Revolutionary War. Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.

Over the next couple(two or a few things that are similar or the same) of weeks

Friday, December 29-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.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, December 21, 2023

32 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:44AM

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

The good old days?
By Bob Cudmore

The Chamber of Commerce published a booklet of essays submitted by local people for a city improvement contest in 1946 called "What I Don't Like About Amsterdam."

Few of us today actually remember 1946, but many who grew up in Amsterdam after World War II would probably regard that postwar year of 1946 as part of the good old days.

The carpet mills, other Amsterdam factories and businesses were still thriving. Downtown was busy. People enjoyed bowling, softball and other amateur sports. The war had ended.

Nonetheless Charles H. Schenck, Chamber Executive Secretary, said the essays submitted in the contest cited multiple complaints.

Lack of recreational facilities was mentioned in 230 essays. The poor condition of streets was cited in 177 entries. There were 139 ash and garbage collection complaints. Seventy nine people wrote Amsterdam had too many bars and deplored the sale of alcohol to minors. Some essays called for more hotel accommodations, transportation and theatrical facilities.

A numbering system enabled the Chamber judges to anonymously award cash prizes to individuals whose essays were deemed the best among the 850 entries. The judges were also anonymous.

"We are quick to criticize those who make an honest effort to do something," wrote the first prize winner, who was awarded $40.

Forty dollars in 1946 would translate into over $500 today because of inflation, making it a rather substantial prize.

The winning writer continued, "Misguided leadership has done a lot to put nationalism above civic responsibility and has tended to build up group interest with selfish motives. We are all Americans and we should work together."

The second place essay was awarded $20 and called for Sunday evening services in the churches and an end to competition among local veterans groups. The writer suggested city employees only get 10 days in sick leave each year, that the city buy sidewalk snow plows and that the proposed athletic field near the Lynch School be designated a World War II memorial.

The Recorder announced the conclusion of the contest on March 26, "The project to secure a self-portrait of Amsterdam by her own residents was started about one month ago when blanks were distributed through the public schools and mercantile establishments of the city.

"In expression of approximately 100 words, men, women and children were invited to say what they think about the city and its weak points."

The third place finisher, who was awarded $10, suggested a waste disposal system so that sewage would no longer be dumped into the Mohawk River. The writer also called for beautification of the riverfront.

Here are more critiques from 1946:

"I don't like the taste of city water. It has too much chlorine in it. They admit the water looks bad and tastes bad but say it's harmless. It should be "the way it's been drugged."

"Amsterdam should have a curfew law for children up to 16 years, and it should be enforced, even if it means bringing parents into court."

"The streets are a hodge-podge of houses, dinky little stores (often empty), gas stations, vacant lots (used as dumping grounds) and unoccupied buildings with broken windows."

"The characters that clutter up the streets in front of some of the downtown cigar stores are no ad for the police department."

"Amsterdam needs a sort of night club just for us kids, with special attractions by kids who can sing, dance, play an instrument or perform."

And a final complaint from over 75 years ago, "Have another contest entitled 'What I do like about Amsterdam' and limit the answers to one word. Mine would be 'Nothing!'"

The end of December and early January on The Historians with Bob Cudmore

Friday, December 29-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.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, December 20, 2023

25 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:25AM

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Amsterdam grocery stores
By Bob Cudmore

Years ago local cities had scores of markets and grocery stores. Here's a little information about some of the ones in Amsterdam.

O'Neil's Grocery was on East Main Street in the late 19th century, opposite what was then an Opera House where traveling shows performed.

Opera House patrons sometimes loaded up on discarded vegetables at O'Neil's before show time, according to historian Hugh Donlon, and showed disapproval by hurling rotten tomatoes at the stage.

From 1857 to 1957, 2 to 4 East Main Street at the corner with Market Street was home to McClumpha's. Historian Donlon said John H. McClumpha took over the grocery store in 1857 after serving as a clerk. In 1883 John McClumpha Junior managed the store.

Donlon said there was a certain social distinction to trading at McClumpha's. The clerks were genial and helpful, one was particularly impressive when he carried on conversations in several languages.

That man was Charles F. McClumpha who had left Amsterdam to head the English department at the University of Minnesota. When he retired from academia, McClumpha came home to manage the family business.

After World War II, Peter Duchessi founded Duchessi's Importing Company at 128 East Main Street.

His store was among the first in the area to stock imported olive oil, pasta, cheeses, vegetables and fruits from Italy and elsewhere.

Duchessi's moved when much of downtown was torn down to make way for the shopping mall built starting in the 1970s. Duchessi bought Dean's Market on Lincoln Avenue on Market Hill and moved his importing company there until he closed that store in 1981.
Joe Martuscello started Joe's Market at 127 Market at the top of Market Street hill in 1941. Joe's Market was famous for homemade Italian sausage and sandwich steaks, cut thin. Joe Dignazio worked there after school as a stock boy, joining the staff full time after graduating high school in 1960. He became manager in 1984 and lived over the store over 40 years. Joe's Market is still operating today.
William David Firth owned Firth's Finer Foods at 379 Locust Avenue in Rockton until the 1970s.
His daughter, Ann Firth Torgusen, wrote, "One of his biggest customers was the executive dining room at Mohawk Carpet Mills. He also provided meats to (Mohawk president) Herb and Jean Shuttleworth who lived in the beautiful house on Brookside Avenue. I remember getting permission to be able to walk through the property to Market Street. What a wonderful piece of property."
The Castler family operated a meat market on East Main Street in Amsterdam from the 1930s through the 1950s. The best-remembered proprietor was Charles Castler.

John Palombi and Mike Sagarese bought the market from the Castlers in 1960. In 1974, the store was forced to move because of urban renewal and relocated to 56 Reid Street, the same building as Brownie's, a popular hot dog restaurant. Fire that year destroyed the building housing both businesses.

Castler's Market then moved to 56 Bridge Street on the South Side. It closed for good in 1999.

Quandt's Market on Guy Park Avenue was a popular spot for students at the nearby Theodore Roosevelt Junior High to get French fries or bakery treats.

Quandt's became a food distributor and moved to the East End, selling the business to a larger firm some years ago.

The 1932 City Directory listed over 100 groceries in Amsterdam. Some were chains such as A & P at various locations and the Mohican on East Main. Other local markets included Shelly's at 283 East Main, Alexander Zielinski at 13 Hibbard and Albino Barnell at 50 Florida Avenue.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

36 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:15AM