The Historians

Harnessing Nature-Building the Great Sacandaga Lake. 

Thursday, May 18, 2023-Alex Isabel 

Amsterdam was shocked one Sunday morning in January, 1953 when city recreation superintendent Alex H. Isabel, 53, died suddenly of a heart attack at his Forest Avenue home. 

Friday

https://townofhoosick.org/benningtonbattlefield.php?content=benningtonbattlefield

Phyllis Chapman of Friends of the Bennington Battlefield describes the battle and its impact on the Battle of Saratoga.

May 19, 2023-Episode 475-The Battle of Bennington preceded the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution.  It was fought in the hamlet of Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick New York on August 16 1777—about ten miles from Bennington, Vermont.  

Bob Cudmore "Stories from The Historians Archives"

All podcasts are 29 Minutes

Episode #500 this November 2023

Presidential historian David Pietrusza on his memoir “Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory, A Vanished World” about his Amsterdam, N.Y., roots.

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Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

46 degrees at 6AM

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Amsterdam mourned city official in 1953

Alex Isabel was a champion of area sports

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

Amsterdam was shocked one Sunday morning in January, 1953 when city recreation superintendent Alex H. Isabel, 53, died suddenly of a heart attack at his Forest Avenue home. 

Isabel was also a Brooklyn Dodgers scout and basketball and baseball coach at St. Mary’s Institute at the time of his death.  Three years later, a Little League baseball field was dedicated in his honor, a field that still bears the family name on Upper Locust Avenue.

        “He was never sick a day in his life,” recalled Isabel’s son, Gerard, known as “Pup,” a nickname his father gave him.  The night before his death, Alex Isabel spoke at a dinner of the St. Agnello Club, an Italian-American organization in the West End where he spent much of his life.

        As were many West Enders, Isabel was born in Pisciotta, Italy.  He came to New York City at age six where he lived on Little Italy’s Cherry Street before his family settled in Amsterdam.        

Isabel’s athletic skills became apparent when he played baseball for Amsterdam High before World War I, getting an offer from the New York Giants.  Instead, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and suffered hearing loss while on board the battleship Michigan. 

After the war, Isabel finished high school and played baseball at St. Mary’s Institute.  He married Ann Murphy in 1923 and they had three children. 

Isabel played and coach baseball in the popular semi-professional leagues of the day.  He pitched for the Gloversville-Johnstown Twin Cities and played and managed the Ticonderoga team in the Northern League in 1925 and 1926.  He played baseball for teams including the Mohawk Mills Karnaks, Tonquas Tribe and the West End Athletic Club of Albany.

In 1940, Alex Isabel began coaching baseball at St. Mary’s, adding basketball duties a year later. 

He became acting recreation superintendent for the city in 1944 when superintendent S. Joseph Golden was serving in the Navy.  Golden returned but resigned shortly after the war.  Isabel became superintendent from 1946 until his death.

He spearheaded improvements at city playgrounds and led local baseball teams into national tournaments.  He made college possible for many youngsters and was lauded for his efforts in fighting juvenile delinquency by keeping youth busy with productive pursuits.  He brought in drama teacher Bert DeRose to begin a popular series of summer musicals.

As a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Isabel scoured Upstate New York and parts of New England and Canada.  His best-known find was Johnny Podres of Witherbee, New York, who pitched for the Dodgers in the World Series in 1953.  

Brothers Guy, Hector and Alex were all involved in operation of Isabel’s Restaurant on West Main Street, although Guy and his wife Ida were the principal restaurateurs.  “Pup” Isabel, who was a waiter at Isabel’s, recalled that across from the restaurant on West Main Street in the old days was a public bath, next to a three-chair barbershop, candy store and a poolroom.  “Pup” said his father Alex was good at pool, too.  He was also a high scoring bowler. 

The week that Alex Isabel died, recreation activities halted in Amsterdam.  His funeral mass at St. Mary’s Church attracted a huge crowd of state and local dignitaries, a Brooklyn Dodgers delegation, St. Mary’s students and 115 boys from the Little League and Little-Bigger League. 

At the 1956 dedication of Alex Isabel Memorial Field, committee chairman Nicholas DeCross stated:  “It is hoped that the boys who play on this field will pattern themselves after Alex and attempt to pass on to their boys what he tried to instill in those who played for him.” 

Tomorrow on The Historians

Phyllis Chapman of Friends of the Bennington Battlefield describes the battle and its impact on the Battle of Saratoga.

https://townofhoosick.org/benningtonbattlefield.php?content=benningtonbattlefield

May 19, 2023-Episode 475-The Battle of Bennington preceded the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution.  It was fought in the hamlet of Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick New York on August 16 1777—about ten miles from Bennington, Vermont.  

Bob Cudmore "Stories from The Historians Archives"

Jerry Snyder was one of the founders of Historic Amsterdam League, which focuses on the history of Amsterdam, N.Y.

Episode #500 this November 2023

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Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, May 18, 2023

33 degrees at 6AM in The City of Amsterdam

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 Bustling Amsterdam

Bustling Amsterdam sparkled in 1925 expo

By Bob Cudmore

        America was prospering in 1925 and local businesses staged Amsterdam’s Progress Exposition and Auto Show that year to show off that prosperity. 

“In the twenties, that was the heyday here,” said anthropologist Susan Dauria.  “The population was about 35,000, the biggest it’s ever been.”  Dauria wrote her doctoral dissertation on the rise and decline of manufacturing in Amsterdam.

The Progress Exposition was organized by the Board of Trade, predecessor of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.  The event was held from September 11th through the 19th, 1925 at Ross’ Flats in the East End, next to the railroad tracks.  Admission was 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children.

According to the Schenectady Gazette of that day, a windmill was erected as the entrance to a series of huge tents that contained more than a hundred booths where manufacturers and businessmen showed their wares.  One “mammoth tent” was dedicated to the display of automobiles.  Socony (Standard Oil of New York) displayed a gasoline pump.

A Main Street parade preceded opening night.  The Gazette reported: “All the industrial concerns and stores in this city have been invited to have their old employees in point of service participate in the parade, as the parade will feature those who have had part in the building up of Amsterdam.” 

Schenectady General Electric furnished floodlights.  “The whole city is in gala attire, with the merchants making displays of their flags on the poles along the curbs,” reported the Gazette.

State Senator William T. Byrne of Albany gave a speech.  There was a fashion show, baby contest and a pet show.  A billboard advertised music and entertainment daily.

The Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam has a book of pictures of the Progress Exposition taken by photographer Emil Zillgitt for the Board of Trade.  The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce donated the book to the museum in 1982.  Museum director Ann Thane would like to know more about Zillgitt.  His photography studio was at 13-15 East Main Street and he is listed in city directories through the early 1950s when he died.  He and his wife Eunice lived at 118 Grand Street. 

One picture shows the booth of real estate agent Monroe Gray who is selling suburban lots at Tribes Hill Heights.  “A lot means a home and a home means a lot,” states a poster.  Gray is seated at his booth, which is next to Quist Lumber, smartly dressed in a three-piece suit with well-shined shoes, holding what may be a rolled up blueprint.  Another poster promises: “Invest now and double your money at Tribes Hill Heights.”  Gray has blueprints of the lots and pictures of homes stacked on a table underneath an American flag.  He has a promotional item: a calendar depicting an elegant woman.

The carpet mills—Mohawk and Stephen Sanford & Sons--had booths in the Exposition, as did other manufacturers. 

Main Street merchant Holzheimer & Shaul occupied several booths that look like store window displays.  A cardboard cutout of a young girl is behind a new Hoover vacuum cleaner, offered with “unusually easy terms.”  A female mannequin wearing an apron sits amid a display of Glenwood gas and wood stoves.  One of the firm’s principals, P. Dater Shaul, is pictured at a planning session for the Exposition.  To tout the city’s role in making rugs, Holzheimer’s put a Sanford carpet on the sidewalk in front of its East Main Street store during the Exposition.

In Amsterdam since 1882, Fitzgerald’s Bottling Works offered ginger ale for five cents a bottle at its booth.  “The safest drinks--kills disease germs,” states an advertising poster.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023-Excerpts are heard from the documentary: Harnessing Nature-Building the Great Sacandaga Lake. One of the producers, Saratoga County historian Lauren Roberts, discusses how the film came to be.

Thursday, May 18, 2023-Alex Isabel 

Friday

https://townofhoosick.org/benningtonbattlefield.php?content=benningtonbattlefield

Phyllis Chapman of Friends of the Bennington Battlefield describes the battle and its impact on the Battle of Saratoga.

May 19, 2023-Episode 475-The Battle of Bennington preceded the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution.  It was fought in the hamlet of Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick New York on August 16 1777—about ten miles from Bennington, Vermont.  

Bob Cudmore "Stories from The Historians Archives"

All podcasts are 29 Minutes

Episode #500 this November 2023

Linda Wisniewski is author of Where the Stork Flies, a time travel novel about a Pennsylvania librarian whose search for her best life pushes away her family until her 19th century ancestor and the medieval Polish Queen Jadwiga teach her the meaning of unconditional love. There are several scenes in Linda’s home town of Amsterdam, New York, as well as scenes in Poland in 1825.

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Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, May 16, 2023

56 degrees at 6AM

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  A “wye” in railroad terms is a track configuration resembling a triangle with each point leading to a different route.  Rockton Wye was at the intersection of Clizbe Avenue, Lyon Street, Northern Boulevard and Hewitt Street

Story Behind the Story

The Rockton Wye was the gateway to the world

Tuesday, May 16, 2023-Bustling Amsterdam Exposition

America was prospering in 1925 and local businesses staged Amsterdam’s Progress Exposition and Auto Show that year to show off that prosperity.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023-Excerpts are heard from the documentary: Harnessing Nature-Building the Great Sacandaga Lake. One of the producers, Saratoga County historian Lauren Roberts, discusses how the film came to be.

Thursday, May 18, 2023-Alex Isabel (Bob Cudmore story from The Daily Gazette)

Friday

Phyllis Chapman of Friends of the Bennington Battlefield describes the battle and its impact on the Battle of Saratoga.

May 19, 2023-Episode 475-The Battle of Bennington preceded the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution.  It was fought in the hamlet of Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick New York on August 16 1777—about ten miles from Bennington, Vermont.  

Amsterdam’s Rockton Wye

By Bob Cudmore

   The electric trolley car came to the Carpet City with the Amsterdam Street Railway Company in 1890.  By 1901, the line expanded to Rockton and some pictures show trolleys with the name Amsterdam & Rockton Street Railway.  In 1902, the tracks were extended to Hagaman.

   Also in 1902, the Amsterdam trolley company was acquired by the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad, the F.J. & G.  That company operated a steam railroad from Fonda to Johnstown and Gloversville with branches to Broadalbin and Northville.  It ran trolley service in Johnstown, Gloversville and Amsterdam.  An F.J. & G. trolley line went east from Amsterdam and connected with Capital District trolleys in Schenectady. 

   Starting in 1911, the three way Amsterdam intersection known as the Rockton Wye was built to connect trolley lines which went from the Rockton Wye to Hagaman, Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue in the East End and Market Street in the heart of the city.  

   A “wye” in railroad terms is a track configuration resembling a triangle with each point leading to a different route.  Rockton Wye was at the intersection of Clizbe Avenue, Lyon Street, Northern Boulevard and Hewitt Street

   F.J. & G. railroad historian Paul Larner wrote, “The track configuration at that point permitted the trolleys to run direct to and from Hagaman via either the original line up Market Street Hill or via Vrooman Avenue and also, by a connecting track, directly around the city, hence the term "belt" line. 

   “Stockholders of the railroad had interests in electric power, real estate and industry besides providing local transportation.  Trolleys ran both directions around the "belt" offering the new residents of that area a convenient means of getting to Main Street, their employment, local recreation areas and the world via the New York Central Railroad.  As an aside, those new homes in Rockton would use electricity generated by a company in which the president of the F.J. & G. had a principal interest.”

   There was a problem though for trolleys which had to climb the severe grade on Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue.

   “One was never quite sure when the car wouldn't be able to make the turn at East Main Street descending, or, equally as dangerous, when the car wouldn't be able to get up the hill, sliding back to East Main,” Larner said.  “Men were employed by the railroad to place sand on the rails when (weather) conditions required additional traction.  As an additional safety measure, the cars were equipped with magnetic brakes. 

   “By relocating the (electric rail) junction with East Main Street west to Lark Street and using Forbes Street to avoid part of Vrooman hill, much of the danger was eliminated.”

ROCKTON

   Rockton, originally called Rock City, was an independent village settled in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League said, “The name came from the rock quarries and lime kilns being operated there.” 

   The name of the village was changed to Rockton in the late 1880s and the village was annexed by the growing city of Amsterdam in 1901.

   Trolley cars had vanished from the Mohawk Valley by the end of the 1930s.  The buried trolley tracks would re-appear from time to time during spring pot hole season. 

   When I was a child in the 1950s we still called the intersection Rockton Wye.  Sunday after church we’d stop at a market located there to pick up the hefty Sunday newspaper.

   Rockton had its own taverns, restaurants, markets, auto repair shops and candy stores.  Ann Firth Torgusen said her father, William David Firth, owned Firth’s Finer Foods at 379 Locust Avenue until the 1970’s. 

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

Episode 413 with Bob Cudmore
The first highlights episode of 2022 with excerpts from seven Historians Podcasts including Evacuation Day in New York City, 100 years of WGY radio in Schenectady, a chat with New York State historian Devin Lander, the case for Benedict Arnold and more.

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Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, May 15, 2023

(6AM-39 degrees in The City of Amsterdam))

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Amsterdam’s Rockton Wye

By Bob Cudmore

   The electric trolley car came to the Carpet City with the Amsterdam Street Railway Company in 1890.  By 1901, the line expanded to Rockton and some pictures show trolleys with the name Amsterdam & Rockton Street Railway.  In 1902, the tracks were extended to Hagaman.

   Also in 1902, the Amsterdam trolley company was acquired by the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad, the F.J. & G.  That company operated a steam railroad from Fonda to Johnstown and Gloversville with branches to Broadalbin and Northville.  It ran trolley service in Johnstown, Gloversville and Amsterdam.  An F.J. & G. trolley line went east from Amsterdam and connected with Capital District trolleys in Schenectady. 

   Starting in 1911, the three way Amsterdam intersection known as the Rockton Wye was built to connect trolley lines which went from the Rockton Wye to Hagaman, Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue in the East End and Market Street in the heart of the city.  

   A “wye” in railroad terms is a track configuration resembling a triangle with each point leading to a different route.  Rockton Wye was at the intersection of Clizbe Avenue, Lyon Street, Northern Boulevard and Hewitt Street

   F.J. & G. railroad historian Paul Larner wrote, “The track configuration at that point permitted the trolleys to run direct to and from Hagaman via either the original line up Market Street Hill or via Vrooman Avenue and also, by a connecting track, directly around the city, hence the term "belt" line. 

   “Stockholders of the railroad had interests in electric power, real estate and industry besides providing local transportation.  Trolleys ran both directions around the "belt" offering the new residents of that area a convenient means of getting to Main Street, their employment, local recreation areas and the world via the New York Central Railroad.  As an aside, those new homes in Rockton would use electricity generated by a company in which the president of the F.J. & G. had a principal interest.”

   There was a problem though for trolleys which had to climb the severe grade on Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue.

   “One was never quite sure when the car wouldn't be able to make the turn at East Main Street descending, or, equally as dangerous, when the car wouldn't be able to get up the hill, sliding back to East Main,” Larner said.  “Men were employed by the railroad to place sand on the rails when (weather) conditions required additional traction.  As an additional safety measure, the cars were equipped with magnetic brakes. 

   “By relocating the (electric rail) junction with East Main Street west to Lark Street and using Forbes Street to avoid part of Vrooman hill, much of the danger was eliminated.”

ROCKTON

   Rockton, originally called Rock City, was an independent village settled in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League said, “The name came from the rock quarries and lime kilns being operated there.” 

   The name of the village was changed to Rockton in the late 1880s and the village was annexed by the growing city of Amsterdam in 1901.

   Trolley cars had vanished from the Mohawk Valley by the end of the 1930s.  The buried trolley tracks would re-appear from time to time during spring pot hole season. 

   When I was a child in the 1950s we still called the intersection Rockton Wye.  Sunday after church we’d stop at a market located there to pick up the hefty Sunday newspaper.

   Rockton had its own taverns, restaurants, markets, auto repair shops and candy stores.  Ann Firth Torgusen said her father, William David Firth, owned Firth’s Finer Foods at 379 Locust Avenue until the 1970’s. 

Monday, May 15, 2023-Story behind the story-The Rockton Wye was the gateway to the world

Tuesday, May 16, 2023-Bustling Amsterdam Exposition

America was prospering in 1925 and local businesses staged Amsterdam’s Progress Exposition and Auto Show that year to show off that prosperity.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023-Excerpts are heard from the documentary: Harnessing Nature-Building the Great Sacandaga Lake. One of the producers, Saratoga County historian Lauren Roberts, discusses how the film came to be.

Thursday, May 18, 2023-Alex Isabel (Bob Cudmore story from The Daily Gazette)

Friday

Phyllis Chapman of Friends of the Bennington Battlefield describes the battle and its impact on the Battle of Saratoga.

May 19, 2023-Episode 475-The Battle of Bennington preceded the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution.  It was fought in the hamlet of Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick New York on August 16 1777—about ten miles from Bennington, Vermont.  

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

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Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, May 14, 2023

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 Rockton Wye was gateway to rest of world

By Bob Cudmore

          A recent column about the Rockton Wye section of Amsterdam prompted this query from Amtrak engineer and rail fan Paul Larner,  “Are you aware of the origin of the name Rockton Wye?”

          A native of Gloversville, Larner is working on a history book about the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad (F.J. & G.).

The Rockton Wye is the intersection of Clizbe Avenue, Lyon Street, Hewitt Street and Northern Boulevard.  A “wye” in railroad terms is a track configuration resembling a triangle with each point leading to a different route. 

          The F.J. & G. was a traditional railroad linking the cities in its name along with branch lines to Broadalbin and Northville.  In the 1890s, the railroad also established electric trolley lines in Johnstown and Gloversville.   

The electric trolley car came to the Carpet City with the Amsterdam Street Railway Company in 1890.  By 1901, the line expanded to Rockton and some pictures show trolleys with the name Amsterdam & Rockton Street Railway.  In 1902, the line was extended to Hagaman.  Also in 1902, the Amsterdam trolley company was acquired by the F.J. & G.  

Starting in 1911, the three way intersection known as the Rockton Wye was built to connect the F.J. & G. trolley lines that went from the Rockton Wye to Hagaman, Amsterdam’s Vrooman Avenue and Market Street in the city.

Larner wrote, “The track configuration at that point permitted the trolleys to run direct to and from Hagaman via either the original line up Market Street Hill or via Vrooman Avenue and also, by a connecting track, directly around the city, hence the term "belt" line. 

“Stockholders of the railroad had interests in electric power, real estate and industry besides providing local transportation.  Trolleys ran both directions around the "belt" offering the new residents of that area a convenient means of getting to Main Street, their employment, local recreation areas and the world via the New York Central Railroad.  As an aside, those new homes in Rockton would use electricity generated by a company in which the president of the F.J. & G. had a principal interest.”

Larner said there were problems with trolleys that had to climb the severe grade on Vrooman Avenue. 

“One was never quite sure when the car wouldn't be able to make the turn at East Main Street descending, or, equally as dangerous, when the car wouldn't be able to get up the hill, sliding back to East Main,” Larner said.  “Men were employed by the railroad to place sand on the rails when conditions required additional traction.  As an additional safety measure, the cars were equipped with magnetic brakes. 

“By relocating the junction with East Main Street west to Lark Street and using Forbes Street to avoid part of the hill, much of the danger was eliminated.

Some of your most experienced readers may be able to share firsthand accounts of riding that line.” 

The Vrooman Avenue line was abandoned in 1928.  All F.J. & G. electric trolley service ended in 1938, supplanted by bus transportation.  And whether bus service will continue in Amsterdam continues to be a story in the local news today.

“I suppose otherwise the Rockton Wye was unremarkable,” Larner concluded.  “Created as a function of providing trolley transportation for the growing city, it is interesting that the term is being carried on.  The rails embedded in the ground at the location of the wye, the bridge abutments across the creek and the curve from Vrooman into Forbes are reminders of the early days in Amsterdam when you could hop on a trolley and travel to find your future.”

Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s.  Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.

Saturday May 13, 2023-From the Archives-December 17, 2021-Episode 401-Musicians Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle perform songs about the labor union movement in America.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

More about The Rockton Wye

Focus on History-The Rockton Wye was the gateway to the world.

The electric trolley car came to the Carpet City with the Amsterdam Street Railway Company in 1890.  By 1901, the line expanded to Rockton and some pictures show trolleys with the name Amsterdam & Rockton Street Railway.  In 1902, the tracks were extended to Hagaman.

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

Email [email protected]

Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League recounts the story of the League’s popular “ghost tours” of Amsterdam’s Green Hill Cemetery. He also discusses the history of the Amsterdam Fire Department.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, May 11, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Thursday, May 11, 2023-From the Daily Gazette

The Rockon Wye

The Rockton Wye is the intersection of Clizbe Avenue, Lyon Street, Hewitt Street and Northern Boulevard.  A “wye” in railroad terms is a track configuration resembling a triangle with each point leading to a different route. 

Jim Kaplan

Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s.  Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

Email [email protected]

Historian Episode #500 this November

An update on the design of the New York State Thruway and other stories from Tim Tielman of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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Oh! as the lady said, this is an Amsterdam site, this is true.

The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $1535 toward our $7000 goal for 2023.  Once again donations are at a standstill.  PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast  or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution, large or small, is appreciated.

Marching Drum Corps Fueled Patriotism during World War Two

By Bob Cudmore

After all these years, Sylvia Zimolka Stock and Frank Yazum remember the colors their rival Amsterdam drum corps wore during World War Two.

Stock and the other young women of the St. Johns Fife and Drum Corps looked sharp in blue and gold uniforms while the co-educational Polish National Alliance (P.N.A.) Drum and Bugle Corps took the field wearing maroon and white. Yazum was glad his P.N.A. corps contained boys and girls. We had it made, he said.

The separate musical organizations came from adjacent Polish neighborhoods. Park Hill was home to the St. Johns corps and the church of the same name. Originally, the group was known as the Seventh Ward Fife and Drum Corps. The P.N.A. Hall is located at Reid and Church Streets and most members of its drum corps were drawn from Reid Hill, the parish of St. Stanislaus Church. One of the P.N.A. buglers, Frank Ratka, went on to a career as business manager for symphony orchestras in Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City and Atlanta.

Another martial music group of the 1940s was the all-female Fort Johnson Fife and Drum Corps, who wore bright red uniforms. 

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Marching drum corps in World War II

The three organizations were led by local musicians and were taught marching by military veterans. The groups competed against each other and corps from out of town in appearance and performance. Inspections and competitions were held at Sanford Field, now Veterans Field on Locust Avenue.

Competitions also took place out-of-town with groups such as the Tioga Cadets from Johnstown.

 Mike Wancewicz, who belonged to the P.N.A corps, said the Johnstown unit wore dressy black uniforms and were tough competitors. Troy had a corps that dressed in green, the Mighty Callahan, and the local groups competed against other Upstate New York and Massachusetts drum corps

Marge Vertucci Habla was filling in as a flag bearer with the Fort Johnson Fife and Drum Corps during one Memorial Day parade in the 1940s. Habla and majorette Grace Bender had received conflicting marching orders. Habla took a turn and starting marching toward the Old Fort, with soldiers saluting along the way. However, the music was getting fainter and the crowd was beginning to laugh.  

Behind Habla, Bender had not taken the turn and was leading the instruments in a different direction.

It was during the war and something that was very patriotic at the time, Stock said in explaining why she joined the St. Johns corps at age 11. Stock began as a flag bearer then played drums. Yazum joined the P.N.A. corps in 1937 and played a bugle.

Stock and Yazum said their groups played traditional marches plus some current popular music set to a march tempo.

We would go down to New York City for the Thaddeus Kosciusko day parade, Stock said. Kosciusko was an American Revolution war hero from Poland.

Stock added: We would go to Fort Smith near Peekskill where Company G of the National Guard from Amsterdam was stationed. We would go different cities to parade. Yazum said the P.N.A. corps also traveled to New York City and to Massachusetts.

When V-E Day occurred on May 8, 1945, the Allied victory in Europe, Stock said of the St. Johns group: We marched through the streets of Amsterdam because everybody was out celebrating. It was a great day.

Yazum did not recall if the P.N.A. corps marched that day, but said: We just went around kissing all the girls.

After the end of the war, the local drum corps disbanded within two or three years, Stock and Yazum recalled.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Folksingers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle perform songs from the early days of the Erie Canal.  The building of the canal began two hundred years ago.  Cosby and Tom have also appeared on Historians Podcast with songs about being a lumberjack, poetry of Poe and Kipling put to music, and labor union songs.

Reverbnation "The Songs of Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle"

https://www.reverbnation.com/cosbygibsonandtomstaudle

Thursday, May 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The Rockon Wye

A recent column about the Rockton Wye section of Amsterdam prompted this query from Amtrak engineer and rail fan Paul Larner,  “Are you aware of the origin of the name Rockton Wye?”

New, you know, old this Friday

Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s.  Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

Email [email protected]

Historian Episode #500 this fall

Evacuation Day was November 25, 1783, the day the British left New York City finally ending the American Revolution. Attorney and historian Jim Kaplan discusses the significance of Evacuation Day and how the day has been commemorated through the years.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

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The Historians Podcast fund drive has raised $1535 toward our $7000 goal for 2023.  Once again donations are at a standstill.  PLEASE DONATE online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast  or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you-every contribution, large or small, is appreciated.

Monday, May 8, 2023

Amsterdam Mayor Burt Deal

Tuesday, May 9, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Marching drum corps in World War II

After all these years, Sylvia Zimolka Stock and Frank Yazum remember the colors their rival Amsterdam drum corps wore during World War Two

Wednesday, May 10, 2023-From the Archives- Episode 158, April 7, 2017-Folksingers Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle perform songs from the early days of the Erie Canal.  The building of the canal began two hundred years ago.  Cosby and Tom have also appeared on Historians Podcast with songs about being a lumberjack, poetry of Poe and Kipling put to music, and labor union songs.

Thursday, May 11, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-The Rockon Wye

A recent column about the Rockton Wye section of Amsterdam prompted this query from Amtrak engineer and rail fan Paul Larner,  “Are you aware of the origin of the name Rockton Wye?”

Friday, May 12, 2023-Episode 474-New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan reports on how Harlem was economically developed in the early 1900s.  Jewish financiers joined with Black realtor Phillip Payton and other black businessmen to improve race relations in New York City.

By Bob Cudmore

   Longtime Amsterdam mayor Burtiss Deal was five foot five and weighed 150 pounds when he played varsity football for Amherst College in Massachusetts.

   Into his seventies Deal was able to make an impact on a conversation by jumping onto a table from a standing position,

   Born January 29 1882 at a home on Amsterdam’s Division Street, he was the son of entrepreneur Charles Deal and Eugenia Deal. 

   Charles Deal moved his family to West Galway after Burt was born and the elder Deal operated a shoddy mill.  The mill used scraps from woolen underwear to make new but inferior woolen yarn.

   When Burt was six years old the Blizzard of 1888 and his younger brother Howard arrived simultaneously.  The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days until the roads were cleared.

   The Deals after a time moved back to Amsterdam and Burt graduated from Amsterdam High School, then on Academy Street. 

   He helped principal Wilbur H. Lynch pack his books for a trip to Mexico for an administrative teaching job. 

   In 1900 Deal pitched for the Creelers baseball team, named for the textile workers who tended Amsterdam’s carpet weaving looms.

   Deal went to college in 1903, joined a fraternity and played football.  He had to leave without a degree and come back to Amsterdam because his family had financial reverses.

   Deal went to work.  He was with the production department of General Electric in Schenectady and then in sales for 17 years at International GE.  He was employed at Mohawk Carpet Mills in Amsterdam for five years.

   Amsterdam Mayor James Cline appointed Deal to his first political job on the Civil Service Commission.  A Republican, Deal was elected as Sixth Ward Alderman from 1932 to 1938.

   Deal opposed Democratic Mayor Arthur Carter and Carter’s New Deal programs.  Deal said despite his last name he had no connection to President Roosevelt’s New Deal or President Truman’s Fair Deal.  As a tribute to his people skills, however, he was elected vice president of the Democratic Party controlled common council in 1937.

   Deal’s former high school principal Wilbur H, Lynch succeeded Carter as mayor.  Lynch appointed Deal the city clerk in 1944 and 1945.

   Democrat Joseph Hand was elected mayor in 1945 but lost to Deal in the 1947 election.  Deal was reelected three times.

   Deal enjoyed establishing a friendship with Jan D’Ailly, the mayor or burgomaster of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  He once took the burgomaster on a fall tour of upstate New York.

   Deal was not an activist mayor and was friendly to industry.  Unfortunately many problems caused decline of industry in the area including Amsterdam’s carpet mills.

   Deal was the mayor in 1954 when Amsterdam’s sesquicentennial was celebrated with a huge parade and other festivities.

   In 1955, as Deal’s fourth term was coming to an end, Bigelow Sanford carpet announced it was leaving Amsterdam.  Deal and city Republican chair Walter Going decided it was time for a change. 

   Frank Martuscello ran that year on the GOP ticket and was elected, the city’s first Italian-American mayor.

   Deal was 73 when he left politics.  His eightieth birthday was the occasion for stories about his career by two giants of local journalism, Sam Zurlo in the Gazette and Hugh Donlon in the Recorder.  Deal’s life is also chronicled in one of Michael Cinquanti’s books on Amsterdam birthdays. 

   Deal never married and lived in a house on Division Street which he called Gracie Mansion, a reference to the mayoral residence in New York City.

   Deal died in 1967 at the Lamp Nursing Home.  He was 84 and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery.

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

Email [email protected]

Historian Episode #500 this fall

Bryan Jackson is author of Why the Titanic Was Doomed.
Titanic – the most magnificent ocean liner of her time – was doomed and destined for disaster before she ever left the docks at Southampton. Doomed by her owner, doomed by her designers, doomed by the men who sailed her -- doomed even by her sister ship.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, May 8, 2023

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