The Historians

Go Fund Me Weekend Update

To garner $2370.00 by December 31, 2023

On-line or U.S. Mail

Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4630 so far, the goal $7000. To donate on-line: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

Saturday, October 28, 2023-From the archives- March 10, 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books about Beacon.  The name derives from signal fires built to alert George Washington’s army across the river in Newburgh of British troop movements in the Revolutionary War.

Residents of Beacon, New York, are justifiably proud of a community that is rich in history and promise. In this exquisite collection of images, local historians Robert J. Murphy and Denise Doring VanBuren uncover the fascinating past of Beacon and
the people who have called it home. The community's earliest permanent European settler was Madam Catheryna Rombout Brett, whose c. 1709 home is preserved within the city as the the oldest building in Dutchess County. Within the vicinity of the Madam Brett Homestead, two distinct villages grew: Matteawan, a manufacturing community at the foot of the mountain, and Fishkill Landing, a Hudson River port.

Tomorrow, Sunday, October 29, 2023

Focus on History-Ghosts of the Mohawk Valley

One cemetery resident portrayed in a previous tour was Lewis Putnam Strang, who liked fast cars, according to Jerry Snyder of the League.

Always a story from Bob

Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

By Bob Cudmore

   A woman who lived most of her life while Amsterdam was a village lamented the loss of many trees after the municipality became more industrialized.

   “There was more greenness, more freshness in the village in those old days than there is now,” wrote M. Annie Allen Trapnell in a paper presented to the Century Club.  In 1895 Trapnell had founded the women’s club and remarks from the paper she presented were preserved.

   Recorder newspaper columnist Hugh Donlon quoted Trapnell in an article he wrote 42 years ago.  Donlon said other writers of Trapnell’s generation also lamented the loss of Amsterdam’s trees.

   City officials, Trapnell said, wanted to make the community “look like their idea of a great city.”  The municipality became a city in 1885.

  She wrote, “One alderman in answer to an entreaty to spare the trees said: ‘New York City does not have trees.  There are no trees on Broadway.’  What noble trees were sacrificed by those pitiless vandals!”

   The one tree most often remembered by early twentieth century writers was an old pine that stood near historic St. Mary’s Church on East Main Street,

   Trapnell said the “scraggly, irregular” tree was a “trysting place,” marking the goal of lovers’ walks in old Amsterdam, “And what tales that old tree could have told!  Market Street was handsome then.  Fine trees overshadowed the sidewalks and fronts of the houses.  Many substantial citizens had their residences there.  Enclosed in white picket fences were little green lawns.”

   John Sanford’s home was near the foot of Market Street.  This John Sanford was Stephen Sanford’s father.  Stephen was the one who built up the family carpet mills as time went on.

   Trapnell wrote, “Stephen Sanford’s mother was often seen at work, planting fresh bulbs or gathering fragrant roses.  In the rear behind the flowers a vegetable garden extended far back to the Chuctanunda Creek.”

   Annie Allen Trapnell was the daughter of Beriah Allen.  She was born in 1832 in Blue Corners, a hamlet in West Charlton.  Her family moved to Church Street in Amsterdam when she was a child and Annie was educated at Amsterdam Academy.

   The school was on lower Market Street, a building Trapnell described as a “large, ancient white structure, with its fine broad piazza extending across the entire building.”

   She became a teacher in Watertown, New York.  In 1868 she was among the first to teach at the Normal School in Potsdam, today a college in the State University system.  She returned home and taught at Amsterdam Academy.

   Reverend William Trapnell, rector of St, Ann’s Episcopal Church, took an interest in Annie.  According to a 1945 history of the Century Club, Trapnell waited many “brave and patient years” to wed Annie.  In 1872 Reverend Trapnell left Amsterdam for a parish in Maryland and Annie and he finally married.  She was forty and he was sixty.  He died four months later.

   Returning to Amsterdam after a European tour, Annie Trapnell lived at the Allen family home on Church Street.  When she wasn’t traveling, she spent her days supporting community activities in the growing mill town.

   In 1908 while on a trip to Hampton, Virginia, Trapnell became seriously ill.  Several of her friends traveled there and were with Annie when she died November 9.

   Her body arrived by train in Amsterdam and mourners thronged St. Ann’s Church for the funeral.  The floral bouquets included 250 white roses, a rose for each 1908 member of the Century Club.  She was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

   Trapnell left a $12,000 estate including bequests to St. Ann’s, Amsterdam Free Library and the Children’s Home.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, October 28, 2023

58 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:53AM 

The Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new website that encompasses our three daily newspapers as well as our newly-acquired arts and lifestyle site.

Each of the four publications still has a separate and distinct home on the website, but they all reside under The Daily Gazette umbrella, and we’ve ensured that they’ve retained their individual identity and scope of coverage.

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4630 so far.  Our most recent generous contributions came from Jackie Murphy, Jim Kaplan, Dave Northrup and Wanda Burch. 

Go Fund Me Weekend Update-$2370.00 in need by December 31, 2023

U.S. Mail Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

on-line: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

The oldest building in Amsterdam, Guy Park Manor

Ghosts in the Mohawk Valley

By Bob Cudmore

   Wishing good weather to Historic Amsterdam League for tonight’s conclusion of their likely sold out Ghosts of the Past tour at Green Hill Cemetery.

   One cemetery resident portrayed in a previous tour was Lewis Putnam Strang, who liked fast cars, according to Jerry Snyder of the League.

   A descendant of Revolutionary War General Israel Putnam, Strang was born in Amsterdam in 1884.  He died in 1911.  Snyder wrote that Strang “became the first Indy driver ever killed, pinned beneath his car when it overturned during a reliability test run in Wisconsin, going four miles per hour.” 

   The year Strang died he had taken part in the first Indianapolis 500.  Strang did well in other races, even beating legendary driver Barney Oldfield. 

   Daisy Crouse Rhinehart was interred at age 79 in 1961 in the Crouse family mausoleum at Green Hill.  She was placed in a bronze casket dressed in her ermine wrap. 

   Her father, David, was one of the original owners of the large carpet mill on Lyon Street, called the upper mill. 

   Daisy divorced twice.  Her first husband, John Smith, was a traveling trading stamp salesman.  She and second husband Roy Rhinehart had homes in Saratoga Springs and Florida. 

   In 1955 an assault complaint was lodged against Daisy by her cook.  After allegedly biting the Saratoga undersheriff Daisy was dubbed Hurricane Daisy in the newspapers.

   The oldest building in Amsterdam, Guy Park Manor, had a ghost, according to city historian Rob von Hasseln.  Guy Park Manor is currently being converted into an education center

   The building’s first residents were British Loyalist Guy Johnson and his wife Polly, who fled to Canada during the American Revolution.  The winning side turned the building into a tavern.

   “Visitors began seeing a mysterious woman in white in an upstairs room,” von Hasseln wrote.  “Some suspected Polly had returned to her home, others thought it was a maidservant dispatched by Guy Johnson to retrieve papers and valuables secreted in the house.  A German hexmeister who travelled the Valley offered to stay overnight in the manor and rid it of its ghost; thereafter, the visitations ceased.”

   The reputed haunting of Widow Susan Road in the town of Amsterdam by Susan DeGraff still gets attention from ghost hunters.  The road runs from Chapman Drive (formerly Route 5) up a hill to Route 67.

   Local lore has it that driving down the road and chanting “Widow Susan” three times conjures the spirit.

   Renee Mallet, in her book “Ghosts of New York’s Capital District,” wrote, “Most of the witnesses report seeing a lady in an old fashioned white dress, walking along Widow Susan Road, sometimes crying but always searching for something.”

   Susan Thomas, born in Perth in 1821, married Harmanus DeGraff in 1838. They lived at the bottom of the road.  Harmanus died around 1848.

   Susan and a daughter moved to Michigan where the widow died in 1892.  She was buried at Green Hill.

   The story was that Susan haunted her old neighborhood looking for her husband’s grave, thought to have been in a family cemetery.

   However, Jerry Snyder found that Alonzo DeGraff, the widow’s son, purchased a plot at Green Hill in 1883 and had his father and other family members exhumed from where they were buried and moved to Green Hill.  When Susan died in 1892 she was buried next to her husband. 

   There have been reports of ghost-like activities in the Old Montgomery County Courthouse in Fonda where the office of county historian Kelly Farquhar is located.  At different times people have seen a woman in a long blue dress walking on the building’s second floor. 

Monday, October 30, 2023-Story behind the story- Ghosts of the Mohawk Valley

Tuesday, October 31, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Johnny Podres and Alex Isabel

Wednesday, November 1, 2023-From the Archives- February 10, 2023-Episode 461-Alan Maddaus is author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice. The book tells the story of a U.S. B 47e jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in in January 1962. 

Thursday, November 2, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Helping Sam Stratton

Friday, November 3, 2023-Episode 497-Several topics from Bob Cudmore’s Focus on History newspaper column: Amsterdam NY’s connection to Piscotta, Italy; carper mill tales; union Leader Leonora Barry.  Plus an interview with Phillip Malcolm Bowler about his ancestors’ brewery in Amsterdam.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, October 29, 2023

47 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:05AM 

The Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new website that encompasses our three daily newspapers as well as our newly-acquired arts and lifestyle site.

Each of the four publications still has a separate and distinct home on the website, but they all reside under The Daily Gazette umbrella, and we’ve ensured that they’ve retained their individual identity and scope of coverage.

Weekend Update Go Fund Me Update

Need to congregate $2370.00

U.S. Mail

Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4630 so far.  Our most recent generous contribution came from Wanda Burch.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than 60 days away.  To donate on-line: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

Today

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. Winner of the 2022 award for biography from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. The fascinating story of how the three most influential American progressives of the early twentieth century split over America’s response to World War I. In the early years of the twentieth century, the most famous Americans on the national stage were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jane Addams: two presidents and a social worker. Each took a different path to prominence, yet the three progressives believed the United States must assume a more dynamic role in confronting the growing domestic and international problems of an exciting new age.

Saturday, October 28, 2023-From the archives- March 10, 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books about Beacon.  The name derives from signal fires built to alert George Washington’s army across the river in Newburgh of British troop movements in the Revolutionary War.

Sunday, October 29, 2023-Focus on History-Ghosts of the Mohawk Valley

Amsterdam Stories from Bob Cudmore

Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

By Bob Cudmore

   A woman who lived most of her life while Amsterdam was a village lamented the loss of many trees after the municipality became more industrialized.

   “There was more greenness, more freshness in the village in those old days than there is now,” wrote M. Annie Allen Trapnell in a paper presented to the Century Club.  In 1895 Trapnell had founded the women’s club and remarks from the paper she presented were preserved.

   Recorder newspaper columnist Hugh Donlon quoted Trapnell in an article he wrote 42 years ago.  Donlon said other writers of Trapnell’s generation also lamented the loss of Amsterdam’s trees.

   City officials, Trapnell said, wanted to make the community “look like their idea of a great city.”  The municipality became a city in 1885.

  She wrote, “One alderman in answer to an entreaty to spare the trees said: ‘New York City does not have trees.  There are no trees on Broadway.’  What noble trees were sacrificed by those pitiless vandals!”

   The one tree most often remembered by early twentieth century writers was an old pine that stood near historic St. Mary’s Church on East Main Street,

   Trapnell said the “scraggly, irregular” tree was a “trysting place,” marking the goal of lovers’ walks in old Amsterdam, “And what tales that old tree could have told!  Market Street was handsome then.  Fine trees overshadowed the sidewalks and fronts of the houses.  Many substantial citizens had their residences there.  Enclosed in white picket fences were little green lawns.”

   John Sanford’s home was near the foot of Market Street.  This John Sanford was Stephen Sanford’s father.  Stephen was the one who built up the family carpet mills as time went on.

   Trapnell wrote, “Stephen Sanford’s mother was often seen at work, planting fresh bulbs or gathering fragrant roses.  In the rear behind the flowers a vegetable garden extended far back to the Chuctanunda Creek.”

   Annie Allen Trapnell was the daughter of Beriah Allen.  She was born in 1832 in Blue Corners, a hamlet in West Charlton.  Her family moved to Church Street in Amsterdam when she was a child and Annie was educated at Amsterdam Academy.

   The school was on lower Market Street, a building Trapnell described as a “large, ancient white structure, with its fine broad piazza extending across the entire building.”

   She became a teacher in Watertown, New York.  In 1868 she was among the first to teach at the Normal School in Potsdam, today a college in the State University system.  She returned home and taught at Amsterdam Academy.

   Reverend William Trapnell, rector of St, Ann’s Episcopal Church, took an interest in Annie.  According to a 1945 history of the Century Club, Trapnell waited many “brave and patient years” to wed Annie.  In 1872 Reverend Trapnell left Amsterdam for a parish in Maryland and Annie and he finally married.  She was forty and he was sixty.  He died four months later.

   Returning to Amsterdam after a European tour, Annie Trapnell lived at the Allen family home on Church Street.  When she wasn’t traveling, she spent her days supporting community activities in the growing mill town.

   In 1908 while on a trip to Hampton, Virginia, Trapnell became seriously ill.  Several of her friends traveled there and were with Annie when she died November 9.

   Her body arrived by train in Amsterdam and mourners thronged St. Ann’s Church for the funeral.  The floral bouquets included 250 white roses, a rose for each 1908 member of the Century Club.  She was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

   Trapnell left a $12,000 estate including bequests to St. Ann’s, Amsterdam Free Library and the Children’s Home.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, October 27, 2023

63 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:14AM 

The Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new website that encompasses our three daily newspapers as well as our newly-acquired arts and lifestyle site.

Each of the four publications still has a separate and distinct home on the website, but they all reside under The Daily Gazette umbrella, and we’ve ensured that they’ve retained their individual identity and scope of coverage.

Thursday, October 26, 2023 Go Fund Me Update

Need to gather $2370.00

U.S. Mail

Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $4630 so far.  Our most recent generous contribution came from Wanda Burch.  We still have a long way to go to reach our $7000 goal by year’s end, a little more than 60 days away.  To donate on-line: The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore 

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. 

Winner of the 2022 award for biography from the American Society of Journalists and Authors

The fascinating story of how the three most influential American progressives of the early twentieth century split over America’s response to World War I.

In the early years of the twentieth century, the most famous Americans on the national stage were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jane Addams: two presidents and a social worker. Each took a different path to prominence, yet the three progressives believed the United States must assume a more dynamic role in confronting the growing domestic and international problems of an exciting new age.

Saturday, October 28, 2023-From the archives- March 10, 2023-Episode 465-Denise Doring VanBuren is president of the Beacon New York Historical Society and author of two books about Beacon.  The name derives from signal fires built to alert George Washington’s army across the river in Newburgh of British troop movements in the Revolutionary War.

Sunday, October 29, 2023-Focus on History-Ghosts of the Mohawk Valley

Amsterdam leader lamented the loss of trees

By Bob Cudmore

   A woman who lived most of her life while Amsterdam was a village lamented the loss of many trees after the municipality became more industrialized.

   “There was more greenness, more freshness in the village in those old days than there is now,” wrote M. Annie Allen Trapnell in a paper presented to the Century Club.  In 1895 Trapnell had founded the women’s club and remarks from the paper she presented were preserved.

   Recorder newspaper columnist Hugh Donlon quoted Trapnell in an article he wrote 42 years ago.  Donlon said other writers of Trapnell’s generation also lamented the loss of Amsterdam’s trees.

   City officials, Trapnell said, wanted to make the community “look like their idea of a great city.”  The municipality became a city in 1885.

  She wrote, “One alderman in answer to an entreaty to spare the trees said: ‘New York City does not have trees.  There are no trees on Broadway.’  What noble trees were sacrificed by those pitiless vandals!”

   The one tree most often remembered by early twentieth century writers was an old pine that stood near historic St. Mary’s Church on East Main Street,

   Trapnell said the “scraggly, irregular” tree was a “trysting place,” marking the goal of lovers’ walks in old Amsterdam, “And what tales that old tree could have told!  Market Street was handsome then.  Fine trees overshadowed the sidewalks and fronts of the houses.  Many substantial citizens had their residences there.  Enclosed in white picket fences were little green lawns.”

   John Sanford’s home was near the foot of Market Street.  This John Sanford was Stephen Sanford’s father.  Stephen was the one who built up the family carpet mills as time went on.

   Trapnell wrote, “Stephen Sanford’s mother was often seen at work, planting fresh bulbs or gathering fragrant roses.  In the rear behind the flowers a vegetable garden extended far back to the Chuctanunda Creek.”

   Annie Allen Trapnell was the daughter of Beriah Allen.  She was born in 1832 in Blue Corners, a hamlet in West Charlton.  Her family moved to Church Street in Amsterdam when she was a child and Annie was educated at Amsterdam Academy.

   The school was on lower Market Street, a building Trapnell described as a “large, ancient white structure, with its fine broad piazza extending across the entire building.”

   She became a teacher in Watertown, New York.  In 1868 she was among the first to teach at the Normal School in Potsdam, today a college in the State University system.  She returned home and taught at Amsterdam Academy.

   Reverend William Trapnell, rector of St, Ann’s Episcopal Church, took an interest in Annie.  According to a 1945 history of the Century Club, Trapnell waited many “brave and patient years” to wed Annie.  In 1872 Reverend Trapnell left Amsterdam for a parish in Maryland and Annie and he finally married.  She was forty and he was sixty.  He died four months later.

   Returning to Amsterdam after a European tour, Annie Trapnell lived at the Allen family home on Church Street.  When she wasn’t traveling, she spent her days supporting community activities in the growing mill town.

   In 1908 while on a trip to Hampton, Virginia, Trapnell became seriously ill.  Several of her friends traveled there and were with Annie when she died November 9.

   Her body arrived by train in Amsterdam and mourners thronged St. Ann’s Church for the funeral.  The floral bouquets included 250 white roses, a rose for each 1908 member of the Century Club.  She was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

   Trapnell left a $12,000 estate including bequests to St. Ann’s, Amsterdam Free Library and the Children’s Home.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, October 26, 2023

61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:48AM 

The Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers is excited to announce the launch of a brand-new website that encompasses our three daily newspapers as well as our newly-acquired arts and lifestyle site.

Starting this week, readers can access all of our publications’ content in one place online. It will mean one-stop shopping for all of our award-winning content from The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown.

Each of the four publications still has a separate and distinct home on the website, but they all reside under The Daily Gazette umbrella, and we’ve ensured that they’ve retained their individual identity and scope of coverage.

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

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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…

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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…

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