Wednesday Go Fund Me Update

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4580 so far.  Our most recent generous contribution came from retired Montgomery County Historian Jackie Murphy.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than two months away.  Please donate online now: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

From the Archives- February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a comic novel set  in Schenectady in the 1950s, inspired by episodes from America’s spy war with Russia.  Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

Friday, October 27, 2023

An encore performance of Historians Podcast Episode 416 from April 1, 2022-Neil Lanctot is author of The Approaching Storm: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jane Addams and Their Clash Over America’s Future.  The book recounts the debate over whether America should enter World War I. 

The Mohawk Valley Limited of 1968

By Bob Cudmore

In 1968 a steam locomotive-hauled passenger train had not passed through the Mohawk Valley for seventeen years.

Railfans were ecstatic and the general public became interested Saturday morning, October 12, when a 19-car excursion train was first pulled by an electric locomotive from Grand Central Station in New York City north to the railyards at Croton-Harmon.

Waiting there was a Berkshire-class steam locomotive, number 759, which had hauled freight for the Nickel Plate Road in its prime. Coupled to the excursion’s passenger cars, number 759 soon was chugging north toward Albany’s Union Station, slated for closure in a couple of months.

The Berkshire class of steam engines were named for the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts where they were used on the hilly Boston to Albany run. Berkshire locomotives had two forward wheels, eight driver wheels and four trailing wheels.

Berkshire engines were at first manufactured by American Locomotive (ALCO) in Schenectady. Later models, including 759 built in 1944, were made at the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio.

Ross Rowland, a commodities broker in New York, was at the throttle of 759 when it arrived in Albany in 1968. Rowland had founded the High Iron Company to organize a series of steam-powered passenger train excursions with the goal of maintaining steam on the main lines of the railroads in the eastern United States.

Over a thousand passengers had paid $37.95 each for the round trip from New York City to Niagara Falls on the Mohawk Valley Limited.

The train’s arrival in Albany was covered in the Sunday Times Union of October 13. The father of young Amsterdam railfan Emil Suda saw the story. They had missed the train going west but decided to watch it Sunday on the return trip.

“What a fine autumn day it was, sunny and warm,” wrote Emil Suda. “As the hour came and went, it appeared the train was running late!”

Slowdowns for passing trains and unscheduled stops for water and coal slowed the excursion train.

Suda said there were a few others on hand as dusk was coming in at the old downtown Amsterdam train station, “The Mohawk Valley Limited appeared and rumbled down the track—not even slowing down for the onlookers who gathered!

“Regardless it was a sight, seeing those four main drivers of the engine roll along, and the coaches going by, and of course seeing some cinders fall to the ground from the smokestack.”

Some of the passenger cars were modern and some old style. At the rear was an open platform observation car from the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. There was a dining car, a restored Jersey Central baggage passenger car, and a Pullman lounge from Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broadway Limited.

A private car up front carried Penn Central and Norfolk & Western Railroad executives. The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central had merged earlier in 1968 and faced considerable financial problems.

U.S. Senator Frank Moss, a Democrat from Utah, was one of the private car passengers. Moss was a member of a Senate committee looking into the decline of passenger rail service in America.

In an article on the Mohawk Valley Limited’s visit to Rochester, reporter John McLoughlin in the Democrat and Chronicle wrote that “grown men and women” stuck their heads out of open windows on the train with goggles on so they could smell the smoke. The goggles protected against cinders causing eye injuries.

Locomotive 759 today is a static display at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Suda, a model train enthusiast, has an O gauge model of a Berkshire locomotive like 759.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, October 25, 2023

49 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:54AM 

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Tuesday Go Fund Me Update

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4580 so far.  Our most recent generous contribution came from retired Montgomery County Historian Jackie Murphy.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than two months away.  Please donate online now: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

The Mohawk Valley Limited of 1968

By Bob Cudmore

In 1968 a steam locomotive-hauled passenger train had not passed through the Mohawk Valley for seventeen years.

Railfans were ecstatic and the general public became interested Saturday morning, October 12, when a 19-car excursion train was first pulled by an electric locomotive from Grand Central Station in New York City north to the railyards at Croton-Harmon.

Waiting there was a Berkshire-class steam locomotive, number 759, which had hauled freight for the Nickel Plate Road in its prime. Coupled to the excursion’s passenger cars, number 759 soon was chugging north toward Albany’s Union Station, slated for closure in a couple of months.

The Berkshire class of steam engines were named for the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts where they were used on the hilly Boston to Albany run. Berkshire locomotives had two forward wheels, eight driver wheels and four trailing wheels.

Berkshire engines were at first manufactured by American Locomotive (ALCO) in Schenectady. Later models, including 759 built in 1944, were made at the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio.

Ross Rowland, a commodities broker in New York, was at the throttle of 759 when it arrived in Albany in 1968. Rowland had founded the High Iron Company to organize a series of steam-powered passenger train excursions with the goal of maintaining steam on the main lines of the railroads in the eastern United States.

Over a thousand passengers had paid $37.95 each for the round trip from New York City to Niagara Falls on the Mohawk Valley Limited.

The train’s arrival in Albany was covered in the Sunday Times Union of October 13. The father of young Amsterdam railfan Emil Suda saw the story. They had missed the train going west but decided to watch it Sunday on the return trip.

“What a fine autumn day it was, sunny and warm,” wrote Emil Suda. “As the hour came and went, it appeared the train was running late!”

Slowdowns for passing trains and unscheduled stops for water and coal slowed the excursion train.

Suda said there were a few others on hand as dusk was coming in at the old downtown Amsterdam train station, “The Mohawk Valley Limited appeared and rumbled down the track—not even slowing down for the onlookers who gathered!

“Regardless it was a sight, seeing those four main drivers of the engine roll along, and the coaches going by, and of course seeing some cinders fall to the ground from the smokestack.”

Some of the passenger cars were modern and some old style. At the rear was an open platform observation car from the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. There was a dining car, a restored Jersey Central baggage passenger car, and a Pullman lounge from Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broadway Limited.

A private car up front carried Penn Central and Norfolk & Western Railroad executives. The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central had merged earlier in 1968 and faced considerable financial problems.

U.S. Senator Frank Moss, a Democrat from Utah, was one of the private car passengers. Moss was a member of a Senate committee looking into the decline of passenger rail service in America.

In an article on the Mohawk Valley Limited’s visit to Rochester, reporter John McLoughlin in the Democrat and Chronicle wrote that “grown men and women” stuck their heads out of open windows on the train with goggles on so they could smell the smoke. The goggles protected against cinders causing eye injuries.

Locomotive 759 today is a static display at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Suda, a model train enthusiast, has an O gauge model of a Berkshire locomotive like 759.

Historic Amsterdam League presents Ghosts of the Past haunted history tour of Green Hill Cemetery this past weekend

https://dailygazette.com/
AMSTERDAM — The city’s oldest residents will share their stories from beyond the grave when the Historic Amsterdam League presents…

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

From the Archives- February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a comic novel set  in Schenectady in the 1950s, inspired by episodes from America’s spy war with Russia.  Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

Friday, October 27, 2023

An encore performance of Historians Podcast Episode 416 from April 1, 2022-Neil Lanctot is author of The Approaching Storm: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jane Addams and Their Clash Over America’s Future.  The book recounts the debate over whether America should enter World War I. 

Our New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan will be the guest on Historians Podcast Episode 498 on November 10th with the story of the life of General Horatio Gates who won the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, October 24, 2023

37 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:40AM 

State police: no new release on Johnstown police-involved shooting
JOHNSTOWN — State police have declined to release any more details regarding a fatal encounter between a Bleecker man and…

EDITORIAL: Governor can save lives by raising minimum age for ATV operation
If you look at all the unpleasant tasks that a governor must undertake, you’d wonder why anyone even takes the…

St. Johnsville’s new police chief ready to lead, serv

A sign welcomes travelers to the village of St. Johnsville. (Tyler A. McNeil/The Recorder) ...

Amsterdam awards contract to demolish former strip mall at Five Corners intersection

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Monday Update "All about Go Fund Me" 

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4330 so far.  Our most recent generous contributions came from author Dave Northrup and NYC correspondent Jim Kaplan.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than two months away.  Please donate online now: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

Historic Amsterdam League presents Ghosts of the Past haunted history tour of Green Hill Cemetery

https://dailygazette.com/
AMSTERDAM — The city’s oldest residents will share their stories from beyond the grave when the Historic Amsterdam League presents…

Monday, October 23, 2023

Story behind the story- A prominent physician from rural Montgomery County

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The Mohawk Valley Limited of 1968

In 1968 a steam locomotive-hauled passenger train had not passed through the Mohawk Valley for seventeen years.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

From the Archives- February 3, 2023-Episode 460-“When Mommy Was a Commie” is a comic novel set  in Schenectady in the 1950s, inspired by episodes from America’s spy war with Russia.  Author Jon Sorensen was a newspaper reporter for The Schenectady Gazette, Buffalo News and New York Daily News.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

Friday, October 27, 2023

An encore performance of Historians Podcast Episode 416 from April 1, 2022-Neil Lanctot is author of The Approaching Storm: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jane Addams and Their Clash Over America’s Future.  The book recounts the debate over whether America should enter World War I. 

A prominent physician from Root

By Bob Cudmore

   A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.  

   According to research done by archivist Jessica Watson at Albany Medical Center, Albert Vander Veer was born in Root in 1841.  

   Watson wrote, “He was educated in the Canajoharie public schools and worked in a pharmacy as a boy.” 

   Albert’s parents were Abraham and Sarah Martin Vander Veer of Root.  Albert attended the Canajoharie public schools, Union Free School of Palatine and Canajoharie Academy. 

   He began studying medicine with Dr. Simeon Snow in Currytown, a hamlet in the town of Root.  He later married Dr. Snow’s daughter, Margaret, in 1867.

   Vander Veer was studying medicine at Albany Medical College in 1861 when he volunteered to join other students and physicians at a military hospital treating the wounded from Civil War battles near Richmond, Virginia. 

   He enlisted in the Union Army the next year and held the rank of major.  He was a surgeon with the 66th regiment of the New York Volunteers, taking part in most of their major engagements.

   Watson wrote that at war’s end in 1865, Vander Veer was present at Appomattox, Virginia for Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.  

   Vander Veer attended lectures at Albany Medical College but received his medical degree from Columbian College in the District of Columbia, now George Washington University.

   Watson wrote, “In 1869 he became professor of anatomy at Albany Medical College, professor of surgery in 1876 and dean of the college in 1896.”

   He served as college dean from 1896 to 1904.  His obituary called him the dean of Albany’s physicians and an early pioneer of surgery.

  Additionally, he was surgeon in chief and senior consulting surgeon at the Albany Hospital. 

   Vander Veer was president of the American Surgical Association in 1895 and president of the American Medical Association in 1916.

   His obituary stated he may have been the first surgeon to successfully remove a thyroid gland.  He wrote professional articles primarily on the topic of abdominal surgery.  He also was the first physician to use a plaster of Paris jacket to treat curvature of the spine.

   His wife Margaret died in 1914 at their winter home in the state of Florida.  Their Albany residence was on State Street.  The Vander Veers had six children.  Three of their sons and at least one grandson became physicians.

   Vander Veer served the state for 31 years as a member of the education department’s Board of Regents.  He was Regents’ vice chancellor starting in 1915, the year he resigned his post as a surgery professor at Albany Medical College. 

   He was named Regents’ chancellor in 1921 but resigned the next year because of poor hearing.  When he retired altogether from the Regents in 1927, he was praised for advocating high standards in college education, especially medicine.

   Vander Veer died at age 88 in December, 1929 and was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery. 

ROOT’S HAMLETS

   In her book “Montgomery County,” county historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar wrote that Root is named for Erastus Root, a political leader in Delaware County. 

   Currytown is the oldest hamlet in Root. The hamlet was named for William Corry, one of several people who were granted a patent of 25,000 acres of land in 1737.

   The Currytown Massacre took place in 1781 during the Revolutionary War when residents were killed and properties destroyed.

   Yatesville, today called Randall, and Sprakers were stops on the Erie Canal in Root.  Other hamlets include Flat Creek, Lyker’s Corners, Brown’s Hollow and Rural Grove, previously Leatherville.

Our New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan will be the guest on Historians Podcast Episode 498 on November 10th with the story of the life of General Horatio Gates who won the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, October 23, 2023

46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:23AM 

Historic Amsterdam League presents Ghosts of the Past haunted history tour of Green Hill Cemetery
AMSTERDAM — The city’s oldest residents will share their stories from beyond the grave when the Historic Amsterdam League presents…

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4130 so far.  Our most recent generous contribution came from author and historian Dave Northrup.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than two months away.  Please donate online now: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

A prominent physician from Root

By Bob Cudmore

   A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.  

   According to research done by archivist Jessica Watson at Albany Medical Center, Albert Vander Veer was born in Root in 1841.  

   Watson wrote, “He was educated in the Canajoharie public schools and worked in a pharmacy as a boy.” 

   Albert’s parents were Abraham and Sarah Martin Vander Veer of Root.  Albert attended the Canajoharie public schools, Union Free School of Palatine and Canajoharie Academy. 

   He began studying medicine with Dr. Simeon Snow in Currytown, a hamlet in the town of Root.  He later married Dr. Snow’s daughter, Margaret, in 1867.

   Vander Veer was studying medicine at Albany Medical College in 1861 when he volunteered to join other students and physicians at a military hospital treating the wounded from Civil War battles near Richmond, Virginia. 

   He enlisted in the Union Army the next year and held the rank of major.  He was a surgeon with the 66th regiment of the New York Volunteers, taking part in most of their major engagements.

   Watson wrote that at war’s end in 1865, Vander Veer was present at Appomattox, Virginia for Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.  

   Vander Veer attended lectures at Albany Medical College but received his medical degree from Columbian College in the District of Columbia, now George Washington University.

   Watson wrote, “In 1869 he became professor of anatomy at Albany Medical College, professor of surgery in 1876 and dean of the college in 1896.”

   He served as college dean from 1896 to 1904.  His obituary called him the dean of Albany’s physicians and an early pioneer of surgery.

  Additionally, he was surgeon in chief and senior consulting surgeon at the Albany Hospital. 

   Vander Veer was president of the American Surgical Association in 1895 and president of the American Medical Association in 1916.

   His obituary stated he may have been the first surgeon to successfully remove a thyroid gland.  He wrote professional articles primarily on the topic of abdominal surgery.  He also was the first physician to use a plaster of Paris jacket to treat curvature of the spine.

   His wife Margaret died in 1914 at their winter home in the state of Florida.  Their Albany residence was on State Street.  The Vander Veers had six children.  Three of their sons and at least one grandson became physicians.

   Vander Veer served the state for 31 years as a member of the education department’s Board of Regents.  He was Regents’ vice chancellor starting in 1915, the year he resigned his post as a surgery professor at Albany Medical College. 

   He was named Regents’ chancellor in 1921 but resigned the next year because of poor hearing.  When he retired altogether from the Regents in 1927, he was praised for advocating high standards in college education, especially medicine.

   Vander Veer died at age 88 in December, 1929 and was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery. 

ROOT’S HAMLETS

   In her book “Montgomery County,” county historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar wrote that Root is named for Erastus Root, a political leader in Delaware County. 

   Currytown is the oldest hamlet in Root. The hamlet was named for William Corry, one of several people who were granted a patent of 25,000 acres of land in 1737.

   The Currytown Massacre took place in 1781 during the Revolutionary War when residents were killed and properties destroyed.

   Yatesville, today called Randall, and Sprakers were stops on the Erie Canal in Root.  Other hamlets include Flat Creek, Lyker’s Corners, Brown’s Hollow and Rural Grove, previously Leatherville.

Our New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan will be the guest on Historians Podcast Episode 498 on November 10th with the story of the life of General Horatio Gates who won the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

David Pietrusza the Full 29 Minute Interview with Bob Cudmore

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, October 22, 2023

49 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:22AM 

Hochul signs legislation to allow beer sales on Sunday and expand liquor and wine store hours
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a package of bills to expand New York’s alcohol laws to help modernize…

Duanesburg schools seeking public input on new superintendent
The Duanesburg Central School District is seeking public input as it begins its search for a new superintendent. The district…

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Saturday, October 21, 2023-From the archives-January 27, 2023-Episode 459-Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y. 

Sunday, October 22, 2023-Focus on History-A prominent physician from rural Montgomery County

A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.

News from Lower Manhattan Historical Association.

This year’s Saratoga-Yorktown Celebration at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan is planned for today, Saturday, October 21, 2023 and will be preceded by a 90-minute walking tour starting at 1 pm from the Fraunces Tavern Museum and covering the route to Trinity Churchyard. Email [email protected]  for more information. 

Among American patriots buried at Trinity Churchyard are Horatio Gates, Alexander Hamilton and Marinus Willett. 

Our New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan will be the guest on Historians Podcast Episode 498 on November 10th with the story of the life of General Horatio Gates who won the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

Bootleggers even may have used a long gone private airfield on Route 67 in the town of Amsterdam.  Residents reported nights when lighted barrels would appear along the runway during Prohibition and a plane would land, presumably carrying alcoholic beverages.

The war on alcohol in Amsterdam

By Bob Cudmore

“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.  “Would you be able to dig up more information and details on this seldom talked about occupation?”

In “Annals of a Mill Town,” historian Hugh Donlon wrote, “Amsterdam rum runners regularly hit the approved back roads toward Hamilton County and through the Adirondacks to provide supposedly discerning customers with supposedly genuine Canadian products.”

Bootleggers even may have used a long gone private airfield on Route 67 in the town of Amsterdam.  Residents reported nights when lighted barrels would appear along the runway during Prohibition and a plane would land, presumably carrying alcoholic beverages.

At home, people made wine, beer and even hard liquor.  Actor Kirk Douglas wrote in his autobiography “The Ragman’s Son” that his father, Amsterdam ragman Harry Demsky, always managed to find alcohol during Prohibition. Once the elder Demsky got into trouble for drinking ceremonial wine stored at his synagogue.

Bowler’s Brewery on West Main Street was converted into the Chuctanunda Dyeing & Dressing Company.  But Donlon wrote that the establishment continued to make products that smelled alcoholic and federal agents raided with “crippling frequency.”

Some saloons went underground during Prohibition—from 1920 to 1933.  Descendants of the O’Shaughnessy family recalled that their East Main Street bar in Amsterdam closed for the duration but reopened after repeal.  During what was called the Great Hypocrisy, the family sold moonshine off their back porch.

Federal agents based in Albany and state police appeared to handle most of the war on alcohol cases.  Donlon said troopers arrested 14 people at Ashley’s Tavern in Amsterdam in July 1921 and seized $10,000 worth of liquor.  Two years later the liquor was returned under court order. 

According to a Google search of Daily Gazette records, in December 1922 one of the largest raids so far in the Northern District of New York took place on Reid Street in Amsterdam.  Federal agents seized 50 cases of beer, four gallons of whisky, five quarts of gin and 15 quarts of what was described as alcohol.  Agents destroyed 20 gallons of whisky.  One man was charged.

Five days later for the first time in the Northern District, federal agents seized a horse and sleigh in Amsterdam allegedly being used to transport 50 gallons of wine in casks.  As is the case with drug raids today, testing was to be done to ensure the liquid seized really was wine.  Two grocery store proprietors loading the sleigh were charged with “illegally possessing and transporting intoxicants.”

Seven federal agents raided suspected saloons on Locust Avenue, Schuyler and East Main Streets in Amsterdam in September 1924, arresting four men described as saloonkeepers.

A story from October 1928 indicated that proof of operating a speakeasy came when an undercover officer was able to buy an alcoholic drink.  Federal agents bought such a beverage at 29 Schuyler Street in Amsterdam and then arrested two men.  Arrests came after a brief struggle in which one suspect sustained a badly discolored eye.

A report focusing on a raid at the Kit Kat Club in Saratoga Springs in August 1930 also noted that federal agents confiscated a half barrel of beer and several bottles of what they thought was beer at Amsterdam’s Hotel Griffin on West Main Street.  One man was arrested but was released on $2000 bail.

Bail for violators of the anti-alcohol law seems high--$1000 or $2000 per person—given that a dollar was worth much more back then.  However, those charged usually were able to make bail and were released.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, October 21, 2023

56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:08AM 

Amsterdam mayoral candidates to square off in debate on Monday
Incumbent Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti and challenger Michael Arbige will square off in a debate on Monday night, just over…

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Pietrusza/author/B001HCYTWU?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

In Gangsterland, historian David Pietrusza tours the Big Apple’s rotten core.

The latest Bob Cudmore story in The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend  

A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.

The war on alcohol in Amsterdam

By Bob Cudmore

“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.  “Would you be able to dig up more information and details on this seldom talked about occupation?”

In “Annals of a Mill Town,” historian Hugh Donlon wrote, “Amsterdam rum runners regularly hit the approved back roads toward Hamilton County and through the Adirondacks to provide supposedly discerning customers with supposedly genuine Canadian products.”

Bootleggers even may have used a long gone private airfield on Route 67 in the town of Amsterdam.  Residents reported nights when lighted barrels would appear along the runway during Prohibition and a plane would land, presumably carrying alcoholic beverages.

At home, people made wine, beer and even hard liquor.  Actor Kirk Douglas wrote in his autobiography “The Ragman’s Son” that his father, Amsterdam ragman Harry Demsky, always managed to find alcohol during Prohibition. Once the elder Demsky got into trouble for drinking ceremonial wine stored at his synagogue.

Bowler’s Brewery on West Main Street was converted into the Chuctanunda Dyeing & Dressing Company.  But Donlon wrote that the establishment continued to make products that smelled alcoholic and federal agents raided with “crippling frequency.”

Some saloons went underground during Prohibition—from 1920 to 1933.  Descendants of the O’Shaughnessy family recalled that their East Main Street bar in Amsterdam closed for the duration but reopened after repeal.  During what was called the Great Hypocrisy, the family sold moonshine off their back porch.

Federal agents based in Albany and state police appeared to handle most of the war on alcohol cases.  Donlon said troopers arrested 14 people at Ashley’s Tavern in Amsterdam in July 1921 and seized $10,000 worth of liquor.  Two years later the liquor was returned under court order. 

According to a Google search of Daily Gazette records, in December 1922 one of the largest raids so far in the Northern District of New York took place on Reid Street in Amsterdam.  Federal agents seized 50 cases of beer, four gallons of whisky, five quarts of gin and 15 quarts of what was described as alcohol.  Agents destroyed 20 gallons of whisky.  One man was charged.

Five days later for the first time in the Northern District, federal agents seized a horse and sleigh in Amsterdam allegedly being used to transport 50 gallons of wine in casks.  As is the case with drug raids today, testing was to be done to ensure the liquid seized really was wine.  Two grocery store proprietors loading the sleigh were charged with “illegally possessing and transporting intoxicants.”

Seven federal agents raided suspected saloons on Locust Avenue, Schuyler and East Main Streets in Amsterdam in September 1924, arresting four men described as saloonkeepers.

A story from October 1928 indicated that proof of operating a speakeasy came when an undercover officer was able to buy an alcoholic drink.  Federal agents bought such a beverage at 29 Schuyler Street in Amsterdam and then arrested two men.  Arrests came after a brief struggle in which one suspect sustained a badly discolored eye.

A report focusing on a raid at the Kit Kat Club in Saratoga Springs in August 1930 also noted that federal agents confiscated a half barrel of beer and several bottles of what they thought was beer at Amsterdam’s Hotel Griffin on West Main Street.  One man was arrested but was released on $2000 bail.

Bail for violators of the anti-alcohol law seems high--$1000 or $2000 per person—given that a dollar was worth much more back then.  However, those charged usually were able to make bail and were released.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, October 20, 2023

57 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:42AM 

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s father dies suddenly during first 24 hours of Israel trip
ALBANY – During her trip to Israel, Gov. Kathy Hochul gave an update Thursday afternoon about her experience so far…

Amsterdam Alderman Stephen Gomula scheduled to take plea next month
FONDA — Amsterdam 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Gomula is expected to take a plea offer in Montgomery County Court next…

Two Buttons Deep lost six figures after controversial Johnstown video
Two Buttons Deep is suspending all advertising for this year in the fallout of a since-deleted short featuring transphobic comments…

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Debuting this Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza with a guided tour of organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.

Amsterdam underwear played Times Square

by Bob Cudmore

   Visitors to New York’s Times Square a century ago saw the virtues of Amsterdam-made knit underwear up in lights.

   According to handwriting on the back of a picture that hung at an Amsterdam factory, the Times Square sign was in place from 1912 to 1922. The note stated the company paid $3000 a month for the sign, although the sign company wanted $6000 a month. 

   Spelled out in electric lights on the sign was the following—Chalmers underwear, makers of Porosknit, Inrox and Kruco for summer and winter.  A clock was below the sign.

   According to historian Hugh Donlon, Amsterdam visitors never wearied of gawking at the sign. Certainly the sign’s prominent placement was a talking point for company salesmen, who could point out that the Amsterdam company was serious about national advertising. 

   David W. Chalmers and his partners were the last industrialists to start a major knitting mill in the city in 1901. In the next decade, Chalmers built his factory complex, along the south shore of the Mohawk River.

   Long Island developer Uri Kaufman in recent years was unable to convince Amsterdam’s Common Council to give him the opportunity to turn the long vacant factory into apartments.  The structure was slated for demolition in 2010.

   Chalmers sold his mill in 1945 to Lester Martin and Company, which owned manufacturing plants in several cities.  In 1946, Martin company controller Joel Kaplan began making trips to Amsterdam to inventory the Chalmers operation.  In 1955, Kaplan moved to Amsterdam from New York City to oversee the Chalmers plant, which at one time during Martin’s ownership employed 650 people.  Martin died in 1959 and the Chalmers mill closed that same year.

   Kaplan stayed in Amsterdam and became widely known for his service to more than 20 local charities. Kaplan has donated artifacts from Chalmers Knitting to the Walter Elwood Museum. Among them are advertisements for union suits, long cotton underwear for men that was Chalmers’ main product in the old days.  Kaplan said long underwear was popular before central heating and indoor plumbing. 

   Chalmers even made long underwear for summertime, according to a sales brochure: “Here’s a ‘keep cool’ tip for hot weather days.  Chalmers Porosknit underwear is knit to let the air circulate freely through the fabric.  All perspiration is blotted up—no uncomfortable ‘clinginess.’  Porosknit ‘lets the body breathe.’”

   In the days when Lester Martin and Company owned Chalmers, the mill was mainly making ladies and children’s underwear and even handkerchiefs under the Fruit of the Loom label.

CHALM ERS BUTTONS

   Donlon also noted that another family named Chalmers, Harvey and his son Arthur, started a button manufacturing plant on the north side of the river in Amsterdam in 1898.  The Chalmers button plant spanned the Chuctanunda Creek and produced thousands of buttons, originally using clamshells from the Mississippi River area.

   Donlon said, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.”  Buttons were so plentiful in Amsterdam that walkways at the Jollyland amusement park—now Shuttleworth Park--were paved with discarded buttons. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2023-From the Archives Episode 175, August 4, 2017, Baltimore sports writer John Eisenberg discusses his book “The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball’s Most Historic Record.”  Eisenberg tells the story of baseball’s legendary Iron Men, Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, who each achieved the record of most consecutive games played.

Thursday, October 19, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s war on alcohol

“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.

Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

Mohawk Valley Weather. Tuesday, October 17, 2023

46 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:18AM 

Duanesburg double-homicide trial: Defense to argue COVID-linked ‘psychosis’
SCHENECTADY — A Schenectady County jury will decide in the coming weeks if the Duanesburg man accused of killing his…

Longtime WENT journalist launches write-in campaign against Johnstown politician accused of making transphobic remarks
Retired 1340 WENT journalist Thomas Roehl anticipates an uphill battle. The 63-year-old has launched an eleventh-hour, write-in campaign for Johnstown’s…

Amsterdam police investigating break-ins at South Side businesses early Monday morning

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Fonda-Fultonville Winter Gear Night Wednesday offers free cold weather clothes for students

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The latest Bob Cudmore story from The Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder this weekend  

A man born in the Montgomery County town of Root went on to become a doctor and then the dean of Albany Medical College.

State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…https://dailygazette.com/

Thursday, October 19, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s war on alcohol

“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.

Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

Amsterdam underwear played Times Square

by Bob Cudmore

   Visitors to New York’s Times Square a century ago saw the virtues of Amsterdam-made knit underwear up in lights.

   According to handwriting on the back of a picture that hung at an Amsterdam factory, the Times Square sign was in place from 1912 to 1922. The note stated the company paid $3000 a month for the sign, although the sign company wanted $6000 a month. 

   Spelled out in electric lights on the sign was the following—Chalmers underwear, makers of Porosknit, Inrox and Kruco for summer and winter.  A clock was below the sign.

   According to historian Hugh Donlon, Amsterdam visitors never wearied of gawking at the sign. Certainly the sign’s prominent placement was a talking point for company salesmen, who could point out that the Amsterdam company was serious about national advertising. 

   David W. Chalmers and his partners were the last industrialists to start a major knitting mill in the city in 1901. In the next decade, Chalmers built his factory complex, along the south shore of the Mohawk River.

   Long Island developer Uri Kaufman in recent years was unable to convince Amsterdam’s Common Council to give him the opportunity to turn the long vacant factory into apartments.  The structure was slated for demolition in 2010.

   Chalmers sold his mill in 1945 to Lester Martin and Company, which owned manufacturing plants in several cities.  In 1946, Martin company controller Joel Kaplan began making trips to Amsterdam to inventory the Chalmers operation.  In 1955, Kaplan moved to Amsterdam from New York City to oversee the Chalmers plant, which at one time during Martin’s ownership employed 650 people.  Martin died in 1959 and the Chalmers mill closed that same year.

   Kaplan stayed in Amsterdam and became widely known for his service to more than 20 local charities. Kaplan has donated artifacts from Chalmers Knitting to the Walter Elwood Museum. Among them are advertisements for union suits, long cotton underwear for men that was Chalmers’ main product in the old days.  Kaplan said long underwear was popular before central heating and indoor plumbing. 

   Chalmers even made long underwear for summertime, according to a sales brochure: “Here’s a ‘keep cool’ tip for hot weather days.  Chalmers Porosknit underwear is knit to let the air circulate freely through the fabric.  All perspiration is blotted up—no uncomfortable ‘clinginess.’  Porosknit ‘lets the body breathe.’”

   In the days when Lester Martin and Company owned Chalmers, the mill was mainly making ladies and children’s underwear and even handkerchiefs under the Fruit of the Loom label.

CHALM ERS BUTTONS

   Donlon also noted that another family named Chalmers, Harvey and his son Arthur, started a button manufacturing plant on the north side of the river in Amsterdam in 1898.  The Chalmers button plant spanned the Chuctanunda Creek and produced thousands of buttons, originally using clamshells from the Mississippi River area.

   Donlon said, “Employment at peak output was about 1,000, including Amsterdam housewives who added to family income by sewing buttons on cards at home.”  Buttons were so plentiful in Amsterdam that walkways at the Jollyland amusement park—now Shuttleworth Park--were paved with discarded buttons. 

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, October 18, 2023

52 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:33AM 

Around Town: A snapshot of the week Oct. 10-17, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Johnstown, Niskayuna and Broadalbin — Images (10 photos)
AROUND TOWN — Each week, our staff photographers travel the roads of our region capturing a variety of moments from…

State Canal Corp. donates nearly century-old boat to Amsterdam for display at Riverlink Park
AMSTERDAM — Riverlink Park has a new attraction with the donation of a nearly 100-year-old work boat by the state…

Inclusive art show set for Wednesday in Amsterda

Liberty ARC staff set up for the agency’s 5th Annual Creative Expressions Art Show at the Century...

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Debuting this Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza with a guided tour of organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.

Monday, October 16, 2023-Story behind the story-No ice cream for the Seabees on USS Amsterdam.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam underwear advertised in Times Square

Visitors to New York’s Times Square a century ago saw the virtues of Amsterdam-made knit underwear up in lights.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023-From the Archives Episode 175, August 4, 2017, Baltimore sports writer John Eisenberg discusses his book “The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball’s Most Historic Record.”  Eisenberg tells the story of baseball’s legendary Iron Men, Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, who each achieved the record of most consecutive games played.

Thursday, October 19, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam’s war on alcohol

“I can remember my Dad telling stories of him and buddies running illegal liquor from Johnstown into Amsterdam during Prohibition,” wrote a reader who only identified himself as Ralph.

Friday, October 20, 2023-Episode 496-David Pietrusza on organized crime in the 1920s in New York City, Gangsterland.

No ice cream for the Seabees on USS Amsterdam

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

   The USS Amsterdam sailed back to America from Japan when World War II ended, picking up Seabees in Guam. 

   The passengers brought a different perspective on war to the Amsterdam’s sailors. 

   “We had a laundry, hot food, a ship’s newspaper and ice cream almost every day,” said former Seaman Steve Fitz. “As we were traveling back to America one of the crew in line for dinner shouted out there was no ice cream today.  One of the Seabees said, ‘Isn’t that a shame.  We haven’t seen ice cream in two years!’”

   Fitz, a native of Schenectady, was given a choice of three ships when leaving boot camp and chose USS Amsterdam because it reminded him of home. 

   When his Navy service ended, Fitz became a talk radio host.  His last radio work was commentary on Amsterdam's WVTL in 2012.

   The USS Amsterdam was named after the city by President Franklin Roosevelt, following a campaign organized by James T. Bergen American Legion post.

   Work began on the light cruiser, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman, in 1943.

   Mrs. Frieda Hasenfuss christened the ship April 25, 1944 at Newport News, Virginia.

   Mrs. Hasenfuss, who lived on Northampton Road, was Amsterdam’s first World War II Gold Star Mother.  One of her nine children, Army PFC William Hasenfuss, Jr., was killed at Hickam Field in Hawaii in the 1941 Japanese Pearl Harbor attack.

   “I was thinking of William when I smashed that bottle.” Mrs. Hasenfuss said as the vessel slid into the James River. 

   Andrew Lawton of Youngstown, Ohio, was captain.  The ship had a crew of 1,400.

   “About 55% of the crew was right out of boot camp,” Fitz said. “There was a decent amount of old salts who knew their way around ships.

   “The Amsterdam never crossed the equator, usually an occasion for something like a fraternity hazing for greenhorn sailors.  The ship did cross the International Date Line and veteran crew members convinced the captain to have some hours of frivolity at the expense of the new recruits.”

   The Amsterdam protected aircraft carriers sending planes to bomb Japan in July 1945. 

   Fitz said, “All of us were happy when they dropped the nuclear bombs.  We knew we would be part of an invasion of Japan and there would be a great loss of life.”

   The USS Amsterdam was among the American ships anchored in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered.

   Through his range finder, radar operator Fitz could see General Douglas Macarthur and Japanese officials who were on the battleship Missouri for the surrender.

   The Amsterdam was decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1972.

   Fitz said some local politicians were reluctant to let USS Amsterdam veterans stage a reunion in the city, fearing things might get out of hand.

   The reunion took place in Amsterdam without incident.

   Fitz found the reunion very emotional, “It taught us that you’ve got do what you’re told and when you’re told.  It made men out of a lot of boys.”

   A model of USS Amsterdam was handmade by the late Albert M. Swager of Pennsylvania, a former crewman, who donated the model to Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam in 1995.  The eight foot replica was loaned for a crew reunion in central New York in 1998.  The model ended up at Sampson Memorial Museum in Romulus. 

   It was located through the efforts of Amsterdam history fan Stanley Krolikowski and returned to the Elwood museum September 30.

   Anyone who wishes to contribute time or money to the USS Amsterdam exhibit may contact Mike Parillo at the museum.  With artifacts, documents, and photos contact City Historian Robert von Hasseln.

Mohawk Valley Weather. Monday, October 16, 2023

50 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:54AM 

Schoharie limo crash, 5 years later: New wave of reform bills stalled in Albany
Following the five-year mark of the Schoharie limo crash that killed 20 people, many bills aimed at limousine industry reforms…

Xtreme Pickle indoor pickleball facility opens in Amsterdam

Xtreme Pickle brings indoor pickleball courts to the Riverfront Center in Amsterdam.

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