The Historians

When Leonora was in her early teens, her mother died.  Her father married a woman five years older than his daughter and the two women did not get along.  Leonora took lessons from the head of the Colton Girls School and earned a teaching certificate at age sixteen.

Amsterdam woman was pioneer union leader

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

   An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.

   Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”

   Leonora was born in 1849 in Cork.  Her parents, John and Honor Kearney, fled the Irish potato famine and settled in Pierrepont in northern New York where her father worked a farm.

   When Leonora was in her early teens, her mother died.  Her father married a woman five years older than his daughter and the two women did not get along.  Leonora took lessons from the head of the Colton Girls School and earned a teaching certificate at age sixteen.

   Leonora taught school for seven years.   In 1871 she married a house painter and musician from Potsdam, William Barry.  William, too, was from Ireland and came to Canada when young.  He served nine years in the British army.

   The Barrys moved from town to town seeking work.  They settled on Amsterdam’s Voorhees Street with their three children.

   William Barry died in April 1881.  The obituary of the 38-year old said he had suffered lung ailments. 

   He was a “well-known musician” and composer who led the Amsterdam Cornet Band and played in the Thirteenth Brigade Band.  The Barrys’ three-year-old daughter also died that year.

   Now a widow with two young sons, Leonora could not return to teaching because only single women were acceptable candidates for teaching positions.

   She went to work in Amsterdam’s booming factories including Pioneer Hosiery, a knitting mill.  It was located on the south side of 31 Main Street, between Market and Church Streets.

   In 1884 Barry joined the women’s branch of the Knights of Labor in Amsterdam.  There was a knitting mill strike and management lockout of the union in 1886.  Mill owners eventually prevailed in ousting the Knights, at least temporarily.

   In 1886 Barry attended a Knights of Labor convention in Richmond, Virginia, and was named to the new department of women’s work.  Leaving her children with relatives, she traveled the country.

   There was criticism of her “high moral tone” from some union leaders and opposition to her idea that women should be full-fledged union members.

   The Biographical Dictionary of Notable American Women described her as tall with a commanding presence, contagious smile, gifted with Irish humor, blue eyes and spontaneity. 

   Barry advocated for equal pay for women and fought against child labor. She spoke against sexual harassment, saying men used the power of their positions to “debauch women and boys.” 

   In 1888, at Susan B. Anthony’s invitation, Barry spoke to the 40th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention for women.

   In 1890 Leonora married Obediah Read Lake, a printer from St. Louis.  Leonora didn’t think married women should work outside the home unless there was economic necessity.  She resigned from the union.

   Known as Mother Lake at the end of her life, she lived until 1923 and was popular on the lecture circuit as an advocate for temperance and women’s rights.

   She took part in a successful women’s suffrage campaign in Colorado in 1893; that year she delivered her popular speech called “The Dignity of Labor” to the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

   After marrying Lake, Leonora lived in St. Louis until 1916 when she moved to Minooka, Illinois, to live with her husband’s sister.  A baseball fan, she visited Chicago to see ball games.  She died of cancer in 1923. 

   Retired Montgomery County historian Jacqueline Daly Murphy was instrumental in getting an historical marker honoring Barry placed at the east end of the mall in downtown Amsterdam in 1998.

Monday, September 4, 2023-Story behind the story-Leonora Barry.

Tuesday, September 5, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Parade sends wedding party outside

Wednesday, September 6 , 2023-From the Archives- Episode 72, August 2, 2015- David Jennings is author of the historical novel After Bondage and War. The novel tells of people impacted by slavery through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Thursday, September 7, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Local soldiers in the Civil War

Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892.  Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.

Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon.  The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person.  For more information email [email protected] or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, September 3, 2023

67 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:38AM (Early for a Sunday. Happening or done before the usual or expected time.)

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Saturday, September 2, 2023

From the archives- Episode 51, March 12, 2015,  Historian Peter Betz with Fulton County stories from the Civil War and the former Sacandaga Park in the Adirondacks

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Focus on History-Leonara Barry was pioneer union leader

   An Irish immigrant woman who lived and worked in Amsterdam became a national union leader in the nineteenth century.

   Leonora Kearney Barry wrote. “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”

Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

The Historians Podcast with Bob Cudmore –September 2023

Here’s the schedule (subject to change):

Friday, September 8- Episode 491-The origin story of American football. Gregg Ficery traces what became the National Football League back to teams which played in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1892.  Ficery is author of Gridiron Legacy.

Friday, September 15- Episode 492-Scott Shane, author of Flee North: A forgotten hero and the fight for freedom in slavery’s borderland.  The book chronicles the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad.

Friday, September 22-Episode 493-Charles Yaple, professor emeritus at SUNY Cortland, has written Jacob’s Land, a history of an immigrant family and of the native tribes of New York State. Yaple has also written The Tree of Us following the lives of three men from Richford, New York, including John D. Rockefeller, once the world’s richest man, and Gurdon Wallace Wattle, a friend to five U.S. presidents.

Friday, September 29-Episode 494-Highlights edition #5 with excerpts including-Christopher Gorham, author of a book on FDR aide Anna Rosenberg; Gregg Ficery tracing the origin of the National Football League; Scott Shane chronicling the life of Thomas Smallwood, an African American who named the Underground Railroad and interviews from the 2015 Fort Plan Museum conference on the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley.

Coming later this year: Podcast #500 on November 10; World Holiday songs with folk singers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle.

The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon.  The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person.  For more information email [email protected] or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, September 2, 2023

56 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:19AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon.  The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person.  For more information email [email protected] or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374

Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.

No magic is more powerful or dangerous than the spell of love. It is 1940, and Germany has just invaded France. Across the ocean, in Sweetwater, Tennessee, Penelope, a beautiful alchemist, receives a letter from her childhood friend, Naomie, urging her to France. Bereft from the loss of her widowed father, Penelope leaves her life and travels to German-occupied Paris. 

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher

One of old downtown Amsterdam’s most unique stores was Matthews on the north side of East Main Street, advertised as the city’s most exclusive men’s store.

On the September Historians schedule, the Underground RR and an interview with Charles H. Yaple, from Marathon, N.Y. Professor Emeritus, SUNY Cortland (schedule could change, we will be the first to let you know)

...and some football history

Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, August 30, 2023

71 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:30AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Northrup wrote, “Matt Orante considered himself not only a haberdasher, but also an artist. In addition to men’s clothing, that small place was crowded with his paintings and wood carvings.”

Matthew was more than a haberdasher

By Bob Cudmore

One of old downtown Amsterdam’s most unique stores was Matthews on the north side of East Main Street, advertised as the city’s most exclusive men’s store.

In 1952, Matt Orante, who also was a pattern maker for the state Thruway and map coordinator at Scotia Naval Depot, opened a shop at 30 Market Street.  In 1964 he relocated to 40 East Main Street and his sister’s son, Dave Northrup, went to work for him.

Northrup wrote, “Matt Orante considered himself not only a haberdasher, but also an artist. In addition to men’s clothing, that small place was crowded with his paintings and wood carvings.”

The rear section of the second floor was devoted to a small art gallery and Orante’s wife Isabelle’s interior decorating business, Eljoor.

Northrup recalled, “The paintings that adorned the walls, the choice of clothing styles for resale, even the individually hand-lettered tags on each garment, every detail in Matthews bore the mark of the proprietor’s personality.”

Northrup said the Orantes lived most of their lives at 40 Division Street, “Matt decorated the front with paintings of the Orante coat of arms, and placed sculptures on the veranda in front of the top floor apartment that was theirs.”

Northrup lives in Rochester and his essay on his uncle’s store was one of the top winners in my recent Stories from the Mohawk Valley contest.  He wrote, “Before price points, bar codes, and scanners, in stores like Matthews one pursued a way of life rather than just made a living."

Matt Orante died in 2008.  His wife Isabelle Rajkowske Orante died last year.  Northrup said, “The son of Lithuanian immigrants, my uncle had an abiding faith, shared by many of his generation, that he could attain prosperity on his own, without the necessity of having to sell his labor to a large company.” 

Remington and Gloversville

Union College professor Frank Wicks traveled to St Lawrence County for a 150th birthday gala for artist Frederic Remington, whose pictures and sculptures chronicle the end of the American western wilderness.

Wicks wrote that the artist was a distant cousin of Eliphalet Remington, who built the huge firearms factory in Ilion.  Eliphalet Remington died in 1861, the year Frederic Remington was born in Canton, New York.

Remington’s wife was Eva Caten, who lived at 85 South Main Street in Gloversville before her marriage.  Remington met her while she was attending St Lawrence University in Canton.  Eva was the daughter of Lawton Caten, superintendent of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Road, who opposed the marriage.  According to one account, Remington went on his first western trip because he could not wed his sweetheart.  They finally married in 1884 in Gloversville.

Remington was living in Kansas City at the time.  Eva Remington left her husband and returned to Gloversville shortly after their marriage, discouraged that her husband was half owner of a saloon.  They reconciled within a year.  The artist died of a ruptured appendix at age 48,

Wicks said Remington’s 1895 sculpture Bronco Buster has been called the most famous piece of American art.  An original cast of the statue can be seen during Presidential speeches delivered from the Oval Office at the White House.

An 18-inch high copy of Bronco Buster was given to the Gloversville Public Library by relatives of Eva Caten Remington.  In 1932 the statue was stolen by someone who had hidden inside the library at closing time.  The thief sold the statue for $100 to an antiques dealer in Woodstock.   The statue was located by authorities and returned to the library on East Fulton Street, where it is still on display.

The Greater Amsterdam School District Hall of Fame induction is coming soon.  The dinner and ceremony will take place at 6 pm Friday, September 15, 2023 at the Perthshire on Route 30 north of Amsterdam. The cost is $50 per person.  For more information email [email protected] or call or text Rich Allen at 518-878-6374

Friday, September 1, 2023

Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

From the archives- Episode 51, March 12, 2015,  Historian Peter Betz with Fulton County stories from the Civil War and the former Sacandaga Park in the Adirondacks

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Focus on History-Leonara Barry was pioneer union leader

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 31, 2023

61 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:34AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Mohawk Valley History. We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal.  Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast.  Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

Labor issues part of local history

By Bob Cudmore

The Knights of Labor apparently was the first union to organize Amsterdam mill hands. According to historian Hugh Donlon, a wage cut suffered by Sanford carpet workers in 1884 led to a strike that brought union organizers to town.

There was a major knitting mill strike and management lockout involving the Knights of Labor in 1886, marked by frequent physical clashes.  The mill owners eventually prevailed in ousting the Knights of Labor from the city, at least temporarily.

As mentioned in last week’s column, one of the Knights of Labor leaders was a woman, Leonora Carney Barry.  Barry worked in the Pioneer Street Knitting Mill to support her three children after her husband died.

Barry wrote, “Day after day, I sat sewing men’s trousers for five cents a dozen.”

An eloquent speaker, Barry became a leader of the 1500-member Amsterdam local of the Knights of Labor, which included many women. Eventually she left Amsterdam, leaving her children with relatives, and went on to head the women’s department in the national union.  She resigned in 1889 amid opposition to her idea that women should be full-fledged union members.  She lived until 1930 and was popular on the lecture circuit as an advocate for temperance, suffrage and women’s rights.

1914 GLOVERS STRIKE

According to historian Barbara McMartin, some 1,500 glove cutters went on strike at almost all the glove firms in Fulton County in 1914. The strike began in Gloversville and spread within hours to Johnstown. As the strike went on, 15,000 glove industry workers were idled.

McMartin said the glove cutters--primarily Russian Jews, Italians, English and native-born Americans--argued they had not received any significant pay increase since 1897. The manufacturers were united in their stand that current trade conditions prevented a pay raise.

The New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration issued findings on the strike after holding hearings in Fulton County that year, in general ruling against the union. The glovers eventually returned to work, without their long sought pay raise. There were some raises after World War I. McMartin said the glove manufacturers won a hollow victory in that the industry now had begun its ultimate decline in Fulton County.

McMartin said the union promoted socialist ideas.  One cutter, Herman Abbott, pointed to starving little children and miserable working conditions and said the quicker the state owns the glove industry, the better.

THE BIG STRIKE

What carpet workers called the big strike took place in 1952 when members of the Textile Workers Union of America were on the picket lines for twelve weeks at factories in northern states including Mohawk Carpets and Bigelow-Sanford in Amsterdam.  That year Herbert Shuttleworth II had become president of Mohawk Carpets.

“We got eleven cents (an hour raise),” said the late Amsterdam union leader Tony Murdico. “There were no ifs, ands or buts. We had to go back to work with 11 cents.”

When Bigelow-Sanford moved its Amsterdam operations to its plant in Thompsonville, Connecticut in 1955 some attributed the move to labor unrest.  However, Amsterdam textile union leader Fred Krokenberger said his members had accepted concessions. Krokenberger noted that while Amsterdam only had four union grievances in four years, workers in Thompsonville had participated in 17 work stoppages in two years.  In any event, by 1971 Bigelow Sanford had closed its Thompsonville mills and moved all manufacturing to southern states.

WILLIAM DUCHESSI

William Duchessi of Amsterdam was a local then national officer of the Textile Workers Union of America in the 1960s and 1970s.  He died in 1979.  William Duchessi’s nephew, John Duchessi, Jr., was mayor of Amsterdam from 1996 to 2003.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Labor issues

Wednesday, August 30, 2023-From the Archives- , March 12, 2021-Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.

Thursday, August 31, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher

On the September Historians schedule, the Underground RR and an interview with Charles H. Yaple, from Marathon, N.Y. Professor Emeritus, SUNY Cortland (schedule could change, we will be the first to let you know)

...and some football history

Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, August 29, 2023

68 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:26AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

This week on The Historians, Brave Chaplain Sidoti, Labor issues, Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” Matthew was more than a haberdasher and Episode 490 Christopher Gorham

Things are still "short" hope you can help with the history

We have raised $3435 (short) toward this year’s $7000 (total) fund raising goal. 

Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast.  Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast 

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

A courageous non-combatant in World War II

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, first published in Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder 

   Anthony R. Sidoti brought home a small dog, hidden in his uniform, when he returned from World War II in Europe.  The dog, according to Sidoti’s second cousin, was named GI.

   One of Amsterdam’s most decorated veterans of the war, Reverend Sidoti was a non-combatant U.S. Army chaplain.  He was awarded two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

   He was assistant pastor at Mt. Carmel in Gloversville in 1942 when he enlisted as one of the U.S. Army’s youngest chaplains.

   Arriving in France eleven days after the Normandy invasion, Sidoti served in a hospital unit.  In September he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division as Battalion Chaplain.

   His first Silver Star citation stated Chaplain Sidoti established an aid station in an abandoned cement factory near the Moselle River in France during an assault in November 1944.

   “Working for 36 consecutive hours, he directed and personally assisted in the evacuation of casualties from the front lines to the far side of the river,” stated the citation, noting Sidoti, under constant enemy fire, was tireless, courageous and encouraging to the troops.

   He was wounded in the knee in late November in Tettingen, Germany, while evacuating injured soldiers.  Taken to England to recover, he rejoined his unit in early 1945.

   Sidoti earned his second Silver Star in March 1945 in Ehr, Germany during an intense mortar, machine gun and small arms attack.

   The citation stated, “Learning of a seriously wounded man lying in an exposed position, Chaplain Sidoti unhesitatingly advanced through the fire, reached the casualty and carried him to a litter squad.  He then carried the dead body of another casualty to a place of cover. 

   “The men of the company, inspired by his courageous and selfless actions, reorganized themselves and completed the battalion mission successfully and without further casualties.”

   In an interview with the Evangelist newspaper of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, Sidoti said, “I think I’m a better priest because of my military service.  You actually felt closer to God in a sense.

   “I’ve been asked many times if I was frightened.  Yes, sure, but I also had confidence in God.  I tried to do what I could for the well-being of others and myself, but I could only do so much, so I left the rest up to Him.”

  After the war, Sidoti continued military service as a chaplain with the National Guard.  He rose to the rank of colonel and was Chief of Chaplains for the State of New York.  On his military retirement he was promoted to brigadier general.

   Born in Brooklyn in 1914, Sidoti and his parents, Angelo and Anna Saltalamacchia Sidoti, moved to Amsterdam when Anthony, their only child, was seven. 

   They lived on Forbes Street and later on Union Street.  Anthony graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1930.  He attended Notre Dame and finished his degree at Niagara University.  He played football and basketball.  He studied for the priesthood in Rome and at Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany.  His ordination was in 1940.

   He resumed his duties as a priest in the Diocese of Albany in 1945.  Sidoti served two years at a parish in Frankfort.  In 1948 he was appointed assistant pastor then administrator of St. Anthony’s in Albany.  He became pastor in 1966. 

   In 1970 he was named pastor of St. James in Albany.  He retired in 1990.

   Chaplain Sidoti died in May 2004 and is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Amsterdam.

   Information for this article was gathered by John and William Pepe from the Amsterdam area.

Monday, August 28, 2023-Story behind the story-Brave Chaplain Sidoti

Tuesday, August 29, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Labor issues

Wednesday, August 30, 2023-From the Archives- , March 12, 2021-Episode 361-Sarah Patten, author of “The Measure of Gold,” a historical novel set in Europe in World War II with a focus on French Resistance women spies.

Thursday, August 31, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Matthew was more than a haberdasher

September on The Historians

Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterwards. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.

Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023

Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, August 27, 2023

65 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:23AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Working into September on The Historians with Bob Cudmore, Episode #500 in November-More down the Page

We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. 

Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast.  Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast 

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

Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.

from The Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Focus on History-Chaplain Sidoti a war hero

Coming in September on The Historians

Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Though Anna Rosenberg emerged from modest immigrant beginnings, equipped with only a high school education, she was the real power behind national policies critical to America winning the war and prospering afterwards. Astonishingly, her story remains largely forgotten.

Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, August 26, 2023

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

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Coming in September on The Historians with Bob Cudmore(Scroll Down)

We have raised $3435 toward this year’s $7000 fund raising goal. 

Please donate to help support the Historians Podcast.  Give online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast 

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

Decorated Amsterdam veteran was a non-combatant

By Bob Cudmore

One of Amsterdam’s most decorated veterans of World War II was a non-combatant Roman Catholic U.S. Army chaplain, the Reverend Anthony R. Sidoti.  He was awarded two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in the war.

Sidoti was born in Brooklyn in 1914.  His parents---Angelo and Anna Saltalamacchia Sidoti—moved to Amsterdam when Anthony, their only child, was seven.  They lived at first on Forbes Street and later on Union Street.  Anthony graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1930.  He attended Notre Dame then transferred to Niagara University where he graduated.  He played football and basketball at both colleges. He studied for the priesthood first in Rome and then at Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Albany.  His ordination was in 1940.

He was assistant pastor at Mt. Carmel Church in Gloversville in 1942 when he enlisted in the war effort as one of the U.S. Army’s youngest chaplains.

Arriving in France eleven days after the Normandy invasion in June 1944, Chaplain Sidoti at first served in a hospital unit.  In September he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division as Battalion Chaplain.

His first Silver Star citation stated Chaplain Sidoti established an aid station in an abandoned cement factory near the Moselle River in France during an assault in November 1944.

“Working for 36 consecutive hours, he directed and personally assisted in the evacuation of casualties from the front lines to the far side of the river,” stated the citation, noting Sidoti, under constant enemy fire, was tireless, courageous and encouraging to the troops.

He was wounded in the knee in late November in Tettingen, Germany, while evacuating injured soldiers.  Taken to England to recover, he rejoined his unit in early 1945.

Sidoti’s other Silver Star was earned in combat in March 1945 in Ehr, Germany during an intense mortar, machine gun and small arms attack.

The citation stated, “Learning of a seriously wounded man lying in an exposed position, Chaplain Sidoti unhesitatingly advanced through the fire, reached the casualty and carried him to a litter squad.  He then carried the dead body of another casualty to a place of cover.  The men of the company, inspired by his courageous and selfless actions, reorganized themselves and completed the battalion mission successfully and without further casualties.”

According to his second cousin, Nancy Mattas of Amsterdam, Sidoti brought home a small dog, hidden in his uniform, when he returned from Europe.  The dog was named G.I.

Sidoti continued his military service as a chaplain with the New York State National Guard.  He rose to the rank of colonel and was Chief of Chaplains for the State of New York.  On his military retirement in 1974 he was promoted to brigadier general.

PARISH LIFE

As a parish priest in the Diocese of Albany, Sidoti served two years in Frankfort after the war.  In 1948 he was appointed to St. Anthony’s Church in Albany where he was assistant pastor, then administrator until 1966, when he was named pastor.  He was director of the Bishop’s fund from 1955 through 1966.  In 1970 he was appointed pastor of St. James Church in Albany.  He retired in 1990.

In an interview with the Evangelist newspaper of the Albany Diocese in 1994, Sidoti said, “I think I’m a better priest because of my military service.  You actually felt closer to God in a sense.”  Sidoti died in May 2004 and is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Amsterdam.

Information in this article was gathered by John Pepe and his son William from the Amsterdam area, who document the war records of local soldiers.

Friday, August 25, 2023-Episode 489-Highlights edition #4 with excerpts from podcasts including the year that defined the American West; pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State; female war correspondent Dickey Chapelle and more.

Coming in September on The Historians

Friday, September 1, 2023-Episode 490-Christopher Gorham is author of Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America.

Football history-Greg Ficery-Debut September 8, 2023

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, August 24, 2023

59 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 5:43AM

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

https://www.leaderherald.com/