The Historians

The Historians Podcast yearly fund drive now totals $2950.00 thanks to a generous donation from Dave Northrup. $6000 needed for 2022.  Can we raise $150.00 this weekend to push over 50% for the year?  https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or dispatch a check in the U.S. Mail made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Drive less, read more History 

Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder story this Sunday

Focus on History

What don’t you like about Amsterdam?  

Friday, June 17, 2022-Episode 427-Journalist David Levine is author of “The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years.”  His book explains how Hudson New York for a time was part of the whaling industry.  He also includes stories about Alexander Hamilton, the Mohicans and slavery in the time of Dutch colonial rule.

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/David-Levine/e/B001HCY36W?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1655459200&sr=8-4

From the dinosaurs and the glaciers to the first native peoples and the first European settlers, from Dutch and English Colonial rule to the American Revolution, from the slave society to the Civil War, from the robber barons and bootleggers to the war heroes and the happy rise of craft beer pubs, the Hudson Valley has a deep history.

The 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
New Rochelle, New York
June 16, 17, and 18

Call Ahead

https://www.thomaspainecenter.org/#/

New York Almanack 

https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/page/3/

Commemorating the Roots of Democracy in America
New Rochelle, NY—Honoring the legacy of one of America’s most iconic Founding Fathers, the Huguenot &
New Rochelle Historical Association, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, and the Thomas
The Festival will inaugurate the newly named Thomas Paine New Rochelle Center featuring the unique
historical sites adjacent to one another on North Avenue in New Rochelle -- the Thomas Paine Cottage
Museum (est. 1784), the Thomas Paine Monument (est. 1839), and the Thomas Paine Memorial Building (est.
1925).

Tomorrow at Grant Cottage

Grant Cottage, Wilton, New York

Free Family Fun Day

https://www.grantcottage.org/

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Impoverished by a Ponzi-style swindle and dying of throat cancer, Ulysses S. Grant moved to the Cottage on June 16, 1885. With the love and support of his family, his publisher Mark Twain and the nation at large, he completed Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant only days before his death on July 23, 1885. The publication of this two-volume work ensured his family’s financial security and gave the world one of the most critically acclaimed memoirs by a U.S. president or historic military figure.

Interview with Ben Kemp hear on The Historians

Friday, June 24, 2022-Episode 428-Ben Kemp from Grant Cottage in Wilton N.Y., where Ulysses Grant died after completing his memoirs.  This year is the 200th anniversary of Grant’s birth.

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Friday, June 17, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The U.S. Mail or On-Line

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

Historians Go Fund Me 2022

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022    

Wednesday, June 15, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 154, 2017-Lynn Herzig describes growing up in a hamlet on New York’s Tug Hill Plateau over fifty years ago.  Herzig is author of Where’d you go? “Out!” What’d you do?  “Nothing!” Unique memories of growing up in Beaver Falls, N.Y. during the 1950s.

Thursday, June 16, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Gerald Barnell the band man.

In his 39-year career as a music teacher and bandleader, Gerald P. Barnell created traditions that still touch the hearts of Amsterdam natives everywhere.

The youngest of eight children, Gerald Barnell was born in 1909...

Friday, June 17, 2022-Episode 427-Journalist David Levine is author of “The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years.”  His book explains how Hudson New York for a time was part of the whaling industry.  He also includes stories about Alexander Hamilton, the Mohicans and slavery in the time of Dutch colonial rule.

Bob will have more information on this tomorrow

The 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
New Rochelle, New York
June 16, 17, and 18, 2022
Commemorating the Roots of Democracy in America
New Rochelle, NY—Honoring the legacy of one of America’s most iconic Founding Fathers, the Huguenot &
New Rochelle Historical Association, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, and the Thomas
Paine Memorial Association are pleased to announce the 2022 Thomas Paine Festival, to take place June 16-
18, 2022.
The Festival will inaugurate the newly named Thomas Paine New Rochelle Center featuring the unique
historical sites adjacent to one another on North Avenue in New Rochelle -- the Thomas Paine Cottage
Museum (est. 1784), the Thomas Paine Monument (est. 1839), and the Thomas Paine Memorial Building (est.
1925).

https://www.thomaspainecenter.org/#/

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 15, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The U.S. Mail or On-Line

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

Historians Go Fund Me

Maintenance of Local History in Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022    

Marching Drum Corps Fueled Patriotism during World War Two

By Bob Cudmore

   In 2004 Sylvia Zimolka Stock and Frank Yazum remembered the colors their rival Amsterdam drum corps wore during World War Two.

   Stock and the other young women of the St. John’s 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. John’s 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.

   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. John’s 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. John’s 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.

Tuesday, June 14, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Drum corps in World War II 

Wednesday, June 15, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 154, 2017-Lynn Herzig describes growing up in a hamlet on New York’s Tug Hill Plateau over fifty years ago.  Herzig is author of Where’d you go? “Out!” What’d you do?  “Nothing!” Unique memories of growing up in Beaver Falls, N.Y. during the 1950s.

Thursday, June 16, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Gerald Barnell the band man.

In his 39-year career as a music teacher and bandleader, Gerald P. Barnell created traditions that still touch the hearts of Amsterdam natives everywhere.

The youngest of eight children, Gerald Barnell was born in 1909...

Friday, June 17, 2022-Episode 427-Journalist David Levine is author of “The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years.”  His book explains how Hudson New York for a time was part of the whaling industry.  He also includes stories about Alexander Hamilton, the Mohicans and slavery in the time of Dutch colonial rule.

Bob will have more information on this Thursday

The 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
New Rochelle, New York
June 16, 17, and 18, 2022
Commemorating the Roots of Democracy in America
New Rochelle, NY—Honoring the legacy of one of America’s most iconic Founding Fathers, the Huguenot &
New Rochelle Historical Association, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, and the Thomas
Paine Memorial Association are pleased to announce the 2022 Thomas Paine Festival, to take place June 16-
18, 2022.
The Festival will inaugurate the newly named Thomas Paine New Rochelle Center featuring the unique
historical sites adjacent to one another on North Avenue in New Rochelle -- the Thomas Paine Cottage
Museum (est. 1784), the Thomas Paine Monument (est. 1839), and the Thomas Paine Memorial Building (est.
1925).

https://www.thomaspainecenter.org/#/

Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, June 14, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

June and Spoon 

The 2022 Historians Podcast fund drive needs your favor!  To donate click, https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or direct a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

Thank You

Later this week on Thursday Bob will give us an update on his working weekend at The American Revolution Conference 

Tuesday, June 14, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Drum corps in World War II 

Wednesday, June 15, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 154, 2017-Lynn Herzig describes growing up in a hamlet on New York’s Tug Hill Plateau over fifty years ago.  Herzig is author of Where’d you go? “Out!” What’d you do?  “Nothing!” Unique memories of growing up in Beaver Falls, N.Y. during the 1950s.

Thursday, June 16, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Gerald Barnell the band man.

Friday, June 17, 2022-Episode 427-Journalist David Levine is author of “The Hudson Valley: The First 250 Million Years.”  His book explains how Hudson New York for a time was part of the whaling industry.  He also includes stories about Alexander Hamilton, the Mohicans and slavery in the time of Dutch colonial rule.

How can you be first on your block to read Bob Cudmore’s weekly Focus on History column? You can buy a Saturday copy of the Daily Gazette or Amsterdam Recorder!  Or get an online subscription.  Here’s another detail: Bob’s column sometimes runs Sunday in the Gazette and Monday in the Recorder.  Here at column HQ we wait a week and send an email blast on Sunday with the week old column. This coming weekend hear on The Historians "What I don't like about Amsterdam"

Remembering Amsterdam with Mike Mancini

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  

   Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini served over 37 years with the Amsterdam Fire Department and added many anecdotes to my local history stories over the years.  We knew each other because both of us worked in local radio at WCSS and WVTL.  A resident of Northville at the end of his life, he died last month at age 80.

   Mancini said there were three fires in the city’s history he couldn’t forget, including one in which he almost lost his life.

   That nasty blaze destroyed the Speedline Warehouse on Front Street in the 1990s.  An overhead door had burned off giving Mancini and other firefighters access to the building.  As they moved forward, a propane tank exploded.

   “Three more steps and I would have got it,” Mancini said.  The blaze was so intense that burning debris ignited nearby buildings.  Mancini said the cause was arson.  The case took four years to prosecute but a conviction was finally secured. 

   Mancini recalled great loss of life in an Amsterdam blaze in 1955 long before he joined the fire service when a tenement with no clear exits burned on Schuyler Street.  Twelve people perished and their bodies were lined up outside the building awaiting removal by funeral directors.  The cause apparently was a kerosene heater.

   The third fire that saddened the community took place on February 21, 1967 at the Guy Park Avenue home of Tony Greco, Amsterdam schools athletic director.  Greco was not home but his wife and children died.  The Greco home was behind Engine #5 on Division Street.  Mancini became a firefighter later that year.

   Mike’s father operated a funeral home on East Main Street.  Across the street was Boggie’s Fourth Ward Hotel.

   Mike’s great uncle founded the establishment and his uncle and aunt, John and Eva Boggie, ran the restaurant and hotel for many years.  Kirk Douglas’s father Harry Demsky lived in the hotel for a time, as did my grandfather, Harry Cudmore, and my uncle Percy Cudmore.  The Boggies were English and Italian and the restaurant featured pizza.

   Mike said his parents enjoyed ground coffee at the Van Dyk restaurant farther west on East Main and young Mike would have tea.  He put cream in his tea from little glass bottles with cardboard tops.  The Van Dyk closed in 1954.

   After tea and coffee, the Mancinis often crossed the street to the Federal Bake Shop where the family would buy a jellyroll.

   Mike attended St. Casimir’s Elementary School through eighth grade.  He was a graduate of Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1959.

   Mike and his father John were among those at the Columbian Community Center, a social hall on East Main Street, when Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and his wife “Happy” enjoyed a musical performance by the Mohawk Valley Chorus during the summer of 1970.

   Rockefeller told the bartender to buy everyone at the bar a drink.  The Governor then told Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson to take care of the tab. 

   According to Mike, Wilson said he frequently paid for Rockefeller’s largesse in that the nation’s richest governor seldom carried cash.  In future years the Mohawk Valley Chorus received substantial grants from Rockefeller’s arts council.

   In addition to hosting a local radio talk show for 20 years with Sam Zurlo, Mike also played 1950s music on the radio.  He liked attending county fairs.  He liked cars and boats and in his later years took part in competitive go kart racing.

. Mike received the Firefighter of the Year award twice, once for the rescue of a child, and the other for his commitment to public safety education.

The 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
New Rochelle, New York
June 16, 17, and 18, 2022
Commemorating the Roots of Democracy in America
New Rochelle, NY—Honoring the legacy of one of America’s most iconic Founding Fathers, the Huguenot &
New Rochelle Historical Association, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, and the Thomas
Paine Memorial Association are pleased to announce the 2022 Thomas Paine Festival, to take place June 16-
18, 2022.
The Festival will inaugurate the newly named Thomas Paine New Rochelle Center featuring the unique
historical sites adjacent to one another on North Avenue in New Rochelle -- the Thomas Paine Cottage
Museum (est. 1784), the Thomas Paine Monument (est. 1839), and the Thomas Paine Memorial Building (est.
1925).

https://www.thomaspainecenter.org/#/

Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, June 13, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

The 2022 Historians Podcast fund drive needs your lift!  To donate click, https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or dispatch a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. 

Much Obliged

Remembering Amsterdam with Mike Mancini

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History  

   Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini served over 37 years with the Amsterdam Fire Department and added many anecdotes to my local history stories over the years.  We knew each other because both of us worked in local radio at WCSS and WVTL.  A resident of Northville at the end of his life, he died last month at age 80.

   Mancini said there were three fires in the city’s history he couldn’t forget, including one in which he almost lost his life.

   That nasty blaze destroyed the Speedline Warehouse on Front Street in the 1990s.  An overhead door had burned off giving Mancini and other firefighters access to the building.  As they moved forward, a propane tank exploded.

   “Three more steps and I would have got it,” Mancini said.  The blaze was so intense that burning debris ignited nearby buildings.  Mancini said the cause was arson.  The case took four years to prosecute but a conviction was finally secured. 

   Mancini recalled great loss of life in an Amsterdam blaze in 1955 long before he joined the fire service when a tenement with no clear exits burned on Schuyler Street.  Twelve people perished and their bodies were lined up outside the building awaiting removal by funeral directors.  The cause apparently was a kerosene heater.

   The third fire that saddened the community took place on February 21, 1967 at the Guy Park Avenue home of Tony Greco, Amsterdam schools athletic director.  Greco was not home but his wife and children died.  The Greco home was behind Engine #5 on Division Street.  Mancini became a firefighter later that year.

   Mike’s father operated a funeral home on East Main Street.  Across the street was Boggie’s Fourth Ward Hotel.

Tomorrow, Monday, June 13, 2022-The story behind the story recounting-Mike Mancini’s Amsterdam memories "7 Minutes"

   Mike’s great uncle founded the establishment and his uncle and aunt, John and Eva Boggie, ran the restaurant and hotel for many years.  Kirk Douglas’s father Harry Demsky lived in the hotel for a time, as did my grandfather, Harry Cudmore, and my uncle Percy Cudmore.  The Boggies were English and Italian and the restaurant featured pizza.

   Mike said his parents enjoyed ground coffee at the Van Dyk restaurant farther west on East Main and young Mike would have tea.  He put cream in his tea from little glass bottles with cardboard tops.  The Van Dyk closed in 1954.

   After tea and coffee, the Mancinis often crossed the street to the Federal Bake Shop where the family would buy a jellyroll.

   Mike attended St. Casimir’s Elementary School through eighth grade.  He was a graduate of Wilbur H. Lynch High School in 1959.

   Mike and his father John were among those at the Columbian Community Center, a social hall on East Main Street, when Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and his wife “Happy” enjoyed a musical performance by the Mohawk Valley Chorus during the summer of 1970.

   Rockefeller told the bartender to buy everyone at the bar a drink.  The Governor then told Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson to take care of the tab. 

   According to Mike, Wilson said he frequently paid for Rockefeller’s largesse in that the nation’s richest governor seldom carried cash.  In future years the Mohawk Valley Chorus received substantial grants from Rockefeller’s arts council.

   In addition to hosting a local radio talk show for 20 years with Sam Zurlo, Mike also played 1950s music on the radio.  He liked attending county fairs.  He liked cars and boats and in his later years took part in competitive go kart racing.

. Mike received the Firefighter of the Year award twice, once for the rescue of a child, and the other for his commitment to public safety education.

Day Two Sunday, June 12, 2022

American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley 

https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062

The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.

Sunday morning the conference resumes at 8:30 am with Christian McBurney discussing Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade.

Up next is David Head - George Washington and a Very Mysterious Business: Tracking Down the Newburgh Conspiracy

The final speaker is Robert Selig - The Road to Yorktown: Moving the Army from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia

Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, June 12, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley 

https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062

The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.

Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, 2022

Today and tomorrow Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers at the American Revolution conference taking place at the Theater Visual Arts & Communications Building at Fulton-Montgomery CC in Johnstown.  The event is sponsored by the Fort Plain Museum.

Saturday’s lineup starts at 8:30 am with William Fowler, Jr. discussing Samuel Adams and John Hancock: Two Different Boston Rebels Seeking the Same Outcome.

Next up is Saratoga battlefield ranger Eric Schnitzer.  His topic: Brave and Gallant: Black and African American Military Men at Saratoga.

Following Eric will be Mark Edward Lender – Tactical Prowess, Strategic Success, and John Brown’s Ticonderoga Raid and the Nature of Warfare on the Northern Front

After a lunch break, and an opportunity to have books signed by the authors, the next speaker is Ricardo Herrera - Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778

The last speaker on Saturday is Craig Bruce Smith - The Interests of Our Dearest Country: Honor and the Continental Army (ends 4 pm)

Sunday morning the conference resumes at 8:30 am with Christian McBurney discussing Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade.

Up next is David Head - George Washington and a Very Mysterious Business: Tracking Down the Newburgh Conspiracy

The final speaker is Robert Selig - The Road to Yorktown: Moving the Army from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia

Saturday, June 11, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 118, July 1, 2016-Bob Cudmore continues coverage of the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference.  Lois Huey tells the story of Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian woman who was an important figure in the history of the Mohawk Valley and Canada. Huey is co-author of “Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own.” Phil Weaver has the history of the “Jersey Grays” who served in the Mohawk Valley region in 1776. President James Madison weighs in on the founding of America as portrayed by actor Kyle Jenks.

Tomorrow

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Focus on History Mike Mancini’s Amsterdam memories

Mancini said there were three fires in the city’s history he couldn’t forget, including one in which he almost lost his life.

The 2022 Historians Podcast fund drive needs your help!  To donate click, https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  Or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.  

Historians Episode #426

Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.”  The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools.  Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.

The 2022 National Census of History Organizations is a first-of-its-kind effort to research the size and scope of the history community in the United States. Funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the “History Census” represents the first national effort to produce a high-quality, up-to-date, comprehensive list of the country’s thousands of history museums, historical societies, and related organizations. https://aaslh.org/census/

Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, June 11, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Anthrax or wool sorters disease

By Bob Cudmore

Anthrax—thrust into the news after the 2001 attacks as a bioterrorism threat--was feared during the heyday of Mohawk Valley carpet and leather mills.  Anthrax was called “wool sorters disease.”  The disease can infect sheep and anthrax spores can remain in wool.

Carpets woven in Amsterdam until production ceased in 1968 generally were made from wool.  A recent column noted that wool often was shipped to Amsterdam from foreign lands. 

“Any time you got a scratch in the mill, or a cut, or any kind of a wound at all you had to report it immediately,” said the late Mohawk Carpet union leader Tony Murdico of Amsterdam in an interview in 2000. “Because anthrax travels around the mill where there’s wool, see.  And it can kill you in two days.”

As Murdico pointed out, one way for the disease to enter the human body is through a cut or open sore.  Anthrax also can enter the body through the lungs.

There are vaccines to ward off anthrax.  Some forms of the disease can be treated with antibiotics but anthrax can be fatal.  

An online search of local newspaper clippings turned up two anthrax fatalities at Mohawk Carpet Mills in the 1920s, before the discovery of antibiotics, and a 1916 fatality at a Gloversville leather mill. 

William Blakely died from an anthrax infection in 1923 while working at the McCleary, Wallin and Crouse division of Mohawk Carpet, what was called the Upper Mill.  The Recorder account indicated his first symptom was a pimple near his eye.  On November 16 1923 a compensation commission concluded after many hearings that Blakely had died at St. Mary’s Hospital from anthrax.

On June 15 1921 Dominic Cirella of 181 East Main Street in Amsterdam died at City Hospital of an anthrax infection.  He had developed an ulcer on his neck which swelled his neck beyond recognition, according to the newspaper account.  Cirella’s wife was still living in Italy.  

On February 4 1916 Niles Reynolds of Berkshire in Fulton County died from anthrax contracted at G. Levor and Company leather mill in Gloversville.  The newspaper headline called anthrax the “dread disease of skin workers.”  The newspaper reported that Reynolds succumbed a few days after noticing the infection.  Physicians unsuccessfully operated on him and said the 53-year old might have survived if his overall health had been better.  Reynolds left three children and five grandchildren. 

Thanks go to online subscriber Richard MacKinnon, a Schenectady native now living in Sherborn, Massachusetts, who asked about anthrax in the local carpet mills. 

CUTTING CARROTS

Amsterdam native Louis Hildebrandt cut carrots on his way to becoming a jockey for the Sanford Stud Farm, located on what is now Route 30 in the town of Amsterdam.

In his book “Riders Up” Hildebrandt wrote of his experiences in the late 1930s, “From the bottom up my training included familiarizing myself with the high-strung thoroughbreds, mucking out stalls and preparing their foods, cutting carrots which were included in the oats, bran and other nutritional foods prepared for them.”

Hildebrandt said his carrot cutting partner was another exercise rider named Jim Seymour.  Carrots were stored in the farm’s carrot barn.  Each of the 30 horses consumed about a bushel of small carrot pieces at each feeding.

Hildebrandt said Sanford Stud Farm at the time was its own little village as so many exercise boys, grooms and other workers came from out of town.  The 25 to 30 employees got room and board as part of their wages.  Food prepared by two cooks—Mrs. Merry and Mrs. Hamilton—was delicious, according to Hildebrandt.

“Riders Up” is the 2011 selection for Amsterdam Reads.

American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley starts tomorrow

The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.

Bob Cudmore MC

Newspaper columnist and podcast host Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers this Saturday and Sunday June 11th and 12th. Speakers will include Edward Lengel, William Fowler, James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender and many other experts on the Revolutionary War.  For more information check the Web site of the Fort Plain Museum.

https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062

The Conference is Expanded and Starts 2:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, June 10th, Continues all day Saturday, June 11th and Ends about 12:30 pm on Sunday June 12th

Historians this Weekend

Tomorrow, Friday, June 10, 2022

Episode 426-Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.”  The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools.  Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.

Saturday, June 11, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 118, July 1, 2016-Bob Cudmore continues coverage of the 2016 American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley Conference.  Lois Huey tells the story of Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian woman who was an important figure in the history of the Mohawk Valley and Canada. Huey is co-author of “Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own.” Phil Weaver has the history of the “Jersey Grays” who served in the Mohawk Valley region in 1776. President James Madison weighs in on the founding of America as portrayed by actor Kyle Jenks.

Sunday, June 12, 2022-Focus on History Mike Mancini’s Amsterdam memories

Battalion Chief John Michael Mancini served over 37 years with the Amsterdam Fire Department and added many anecdotes to my local history stories over the years. 

On-Line or Send a Check

Historians Go Fund Me 2022 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-hisJtorians-podcast-2022

In the Mail  Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica will present the landmark exhibition Norman Rockwell, June 11 through September 18, 2022, featuring iconic images of American scenes painted by the most beloved artist and illustrator of the 20th century. https://www.mwpai.org/exhibition/main

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, June 9, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

The Best Day Ever

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Wednesday, June 8, 2022-From the Archives-January 14, 2022-Episode 405-Jerry Snyder of Historic Amsterdam League has stories from a booklet on Amsterdam’s arts, focusing on visual artists, actors, singers and more with ties to Amsterdam, New York.

Jerry Snyder

American Revolution Conference in the Mohawk Valley

Newspaper columnist and podcast host Bob Cudmore will introduce the speakers this Saturday and Sunday June 11th and 12th. The conference will take place at the Fulton-Montgomery Community College Theater, 2805 NY-67, Johnstown.  Speakers will include Edward Lengel, William Fowler, James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender and many other experts on the Revolutionary War.  For more information check the Web site of the Fort Plain Museum.

https://fortplainmuseum.org/viewevent.aspx?ID=1062

The Conference is Expanded and Starts 2:00 pm on Friday, June 10th, Continues all day Saturday, June 11th and Ends about 12:30 pm on Sunday June 12th

Tomorrow

Thursday, June 9, 2022- From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Anthrax in Mohawk Valley mills

“Any time you got a scratch in the mill, or a cut, or any kind of a wound at all you had to report it immediately,” said the late Mohawk Carpet union leader Tony Murdico of Amsterdam in an interview in 2000.

This Friday, June 10, 2022

Episode 426-Donald Williams is author of “Grandfather’s Tool Chest.”  The book has stories about 400 vintage and antique tools.  Don Williams, 88, is a well-known educator, lecturer, columnist, and author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.

Utica

https://www.mwpai.org/exhibition/main

Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute will present the landmark exhibition Norman Rockwell, June 11 through September 18, 2022, featuring iconic images of American scenes painted by the most beloved artist and illustrator of the 20th century.

Historians Go Fund Me 2022

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-hisJtorians-podcast-2022

In the Mail 

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

June 8, 1949 – George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.

Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

FULTON COUNTY, JOHNSTOWN, LOCAL NEWS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, THE GLOVERSVILLE LEADER HERALD

https://www.leaderherald.com/