The Historians

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Sunday, February 6. 2022--From the Archives-Episode 100, February 28, 2016-Phillip Bowler has tales of Bowler’s Brewery in Amsterdam and his own world travels.

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Cut out for it: Amsterdam barber has dreamed of owning own shop all his young life
Everett Kendall Flint performed his first haircut when he was in middle school. His older brother Ellis was tired of the…https://dailygazette.com/

...by Andrew Waite

Daily Gazette 

Amsterdam 1886

Amsterdam barber was an African American political leader

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

Tomorrow, Monday, February 7, 2022- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on an Amsterdam barber who was an African American political leader.

   The African American community of Montgomery County had events including a parade, music and a reading of the emancipation proclamation in August 1884 to celebrate the anniversary of emancipation.

   There was also a rousing political speech by Amsterdam barber Robert Jackson in support of Republican Presidential candidate James Blaine and his running mate John Logan. 

   The Amsterdam Daily Democrat reported Jackson’s speech was enthusiastic and applauded throughout, “Mr. Jackson clearly and forcibly reviewed the history of his people since the war, showing the marked difference between the attitudes of the two great parties toward them.

   “The Republicans, he said, had given them the treatment they deserved and had done all in their power to dignify their condition, whereas the policy of the Democrats toward them has resulted only in their detriment.”

   Presidential candidate Blaine had been elected to the House and Senate from Maine.  He also served as Secretary of State.

   Blaine and Logan narrowly lost the bitter 1884 Presidential election to New York Governor Grover Cleveland and his running mate Thomas Hendricks.

   Cleveland was the first Democrat elected President since 1856, before the Civil War.  He carried his own state, New York, by a margin of just over a thousand votes.

   Jackson, the barber frim Amsterdam, was chosen as a delegate to political Colored Conventions held at Montgomery County and state levels

   According to research compiled by historian Christopher Philippo, Jackson in prior years was named to the committee on principles and rules of the Colored Men’s Montgomery County Convention in Fonda.  He was chosen as an at-large delegate to the group’s state convention.

Debuting on Historians Podcast this Friday, February 11, 2022-Episode 409-James Kirby Martin is executive producer of the documentary Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed.  The film is based on Martin’s book Benedict Arnold Revolutionary Hero.  The documentary is streaming on several TV platforms-

   These conventions began before the Civil War and continued after the war with delegates, mostly men, who represented the leaders of African American society.

   Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said, “It is very possible that (Jackson) had Underground Railroad connections (before the Civil War) because he was not too far away from Chandler Bartlett’s shoe store that also reputedly sheltered freedom seekers.  Jackson’s barber shop was in an upper floor over 69 East Main Street which would be approximately where the Riverfront Center now sits.  He lived on Charles Street.”

   African American barbers, many of whom served primarily a white clientele, were known to aid freedom seekers and were important members of the community.   After the war, black barbers continued to be an important link between the races. 

   In October 1884 the Amsterdam Daily Democrat did an interview with Jackson who had returned to his shop from a trip to Philadelphia for the national convention of the Colored Masons.  Jackson was originally from Troy and may have joined the Masons there.

   Jackson said the convention was the largest ever because it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation in Boston of the first lodge of black Free Masons in America.

   Jackson said, “(The convention) was marked by a grand parade in which 25 lodges were represented in a membership of 2,000, comprising delegates from Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Ohio.”

   Farquhar said, “According to my records Jackson was married to Hannah Herod and they had at least five children.  One of their daughters, Agnes, died at the age of seven in 1882 due to meningitis.  Agnes, Hannah and Robert are all buried in Green Hill Cemetery, possibly along with a couple of other daughters.”

   The local paper sometimes gave social news coverage to Jackson.  In 1886 the Amsterdam Daily Democrat reported “tonsorial artist Robert Jackson” was spending Sunday with friends in Minaville

   Jackson died in 1893 according to the Troy Daily Times and was about sixty years old.

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, February 6, 2022

Mohawk Valley News, Sunday, February 6, 2022

Daily Gazette

AMSTERDAM
Cut out for it: Amsterdam barber has dreamed of owning own shop all his young life
Everett Kendall Flint performed his first haircut when he was in middle school. His older brother Ellis was tired of the…

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... Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said, “It is very possible that (Jackson) had Underground Railroad connections (before the Civil War) because he was not too far away from Chandler Bartlett’s shoe store that also reputedly sheltered freedom seekers. 

Saturday Podcast "37 Minutes"-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20.  Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney.  Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans.

Amsterdam barber was an African American political leader

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   The African American community of Montgomery County had events including a parade, music and a reading of the emancipation proclamation in August 1884 to celebrate the anniversary of emancipation.

   There was also a rousing political speech by Amsterdam barber Robert Jackson in support of Republican Presidential candidate James Blaine and his running mate John Logan. 

   The Amsterdam Daily Democrat reported Jackson’s speech was enthusiastic and applauded throughout, “Mr. Jackson clearly and forcibly reviewed the history of his people since the war, showing the marked difference between the attitudes of the two great parties toward them.

   “The Republicans, he said, had given them the treatment they deserved and had done all in their power to dignify their condition, whereas the policy of the Democrats toward them has resulted only in their detriment.”

   Presidential candidate Blaine had been elected to the House and Senate from Maine.  He also served as Secretary of State.

   Blaine and Logan narrowly lost the bitter 1884 Presidential election to New York Governor Grover Cleveland and his running mate Thomas Hendricks.

   Cleveland was the first Democrat elected President since 1856, before the Civil War.  He carried his own state, New York, by a margin of just over a thousand votes.

   Jackson, the barber frim Amsterdam, was chosen as a delegate to political Colored Conventions held at Montgomery County and state levels

   According to research compiled by historian Christopher Philippo, Jackson in prior years was named to the committee on principles and rules of the Colored Men’s Montgomery County Convention in Fonda.  He was chosen as an at-large delegate to the group’s state convention.

   These conventions began before the Civil War and continued after the war with delegates, mostly men, who represented the leaders of African American society.

   Montgomery County historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar said, “It is very possible that (Jackson) had Underground Railroad connections (before the Civil War) because he was not too far away from Chandler Bartlett’s shoe store that also reputedly sheltered freedom seekers.  Jackson’s barber shop was in an upper floor over 69 East Main Street which would be approximately where the Riverfront Center now sits.  He lived on Charles Street.”

   African American barbers, many of whom served primarily a white clientele, were known to aid freedom seekers and were important members of the community.   After the war, black barbers continued to be an important link between the races. 

   In October 1884 the Amsterdam Daily Democrat did an interview with Jackson who had returned to his shop from a trip to Philadelphia for the national convention of the Colored Masons.  Jackson was originally from Troy and may have joined the Masons there.

   Jackson said the convention was the largest ever because it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation in Boston of the first lodge of black Free Masons in America.

   Jackson said, “(The convention) was marked by a grand parade in which 25 lodges were represented in a membership of 2,000, comprising delegates from Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Ohio.”

   Farquhar said, “According to my records Jackson was married to Hannah Herod and they had at least five children.  One of their daughters, Agnes, died at the age of seven in 1882 due to meningitis.  Agnes, Hannah and Robert are all buried in Green Hill Cemetery, possibly along with a couple of other daughters.”

   The local paper sometimes gave social news coverage to Jackson.  In 1886 the Amsterdam Daily Democrat reported “tonsorial artist Robert Jackson” was spending Sunday with friends in Minaville

   Jackson died in 1893 according to the Troy Daily Times and was about sixty years old.

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Tomorrow, Beer

Sunday, February 6. 2022--From the Archives-Episode 100, February 28, 2016-Phillip Bowler has tales of Bowler’s Brewery in Amsterdam and his own world travels.

Warmer next Week

 Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, February 5, 2022

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Saturday, February 5, 2022

Daily Gazette

1,200-space replacement garage proposed at Ellis Hospital
SCHENECTADY — Ellis Medicine is moving forward with plans to replace its aging Nott Street parking garage with a new,…

https://dailygazette.com/

GASD board never spoke of tabling creating a position, adding more monitor jobs in open session

AMSTERDAM — The Greater Amsterdam School District Board of Education went into an executive...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

County highway superintendent clarifies position on B-P Elementary speed zone

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...they built a bridge, and it fell into the river

...the West Shore RR was on the southside 

...and new this weekend

Saturday, February 5, 2022-Focus on History in the Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder-Amsterdam barber was an African American political leader.

From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam bridges; a big funeral

Paying to cross

By Bob Cudmore

If and when the new pedestrian bridge crosses the Mohawk River in Amsterdam, it will not charge tolls.  That wasn’t the case in the early to mid 19th century. 

According to historian Hugh Donlon’s “Annals of a Mill Town,” the towns of Amsterdam and Florida jointly contracted to build a river bridge in 1813.  At that time, the only way to cross the river at Amsterdam was by ferry. 

The community on the south shore of the river was destined to become a port on the Erie Canal, then in the planning stages.  Local business interests realized that a bridge was needed to facilitate the flow of commerce. 

The first attempt to build the bridge fell of its own weight during construction.  The failed bridge had only one supporting pier.  Learning a lesson, builders constructed the new bridge with two piers.  The toll bridge and tollgate house were finally completed in 1821, eight years after the start of the process but still in time for the opening of the Schenectady to Little Falls section of the Erie Canal in 1822.

The area on the South Side was first known as Stillwellville after John Stillwell, who operated two canal stores, according to Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar and Scott Haefner in their book, “Images of America: Amsterdam.”  In 1835, the village became known as Port Jackson, named after Samuel Jackson, a prosperous farmer. Amsterdam annexed Port Jackson in 1888.

Frequent spring floods led to frequent bridge repair, Donlon wrote, including a new covered bridge built in 1842. 

Tolls were collected for over 40 years.  When yet another bridge was built in 1864, toll charges were removed by an act of the State Legislature. 

Another new bridge was constructed in 1876.  That span lasted until March 27, 1913 when part of it collapsed during a flood caused by water poured into the Mohawk River by the raging Schoharie Creek a few miles upstream.  A temporary wooden addition was put in place but it too fell to the raging river exactly one year later.  Donlon said March 27 became known as Bridge Day in Amsterdam. 

A more substantial bridge was built in 1916.  That one lasted over 50 years, until the current Route 30 arterial highway bridge replaced it in 1972.  By Donlon’s estimation, the current bridge is the sixth span to be built across the Mohawk in Amsterdam.  The planned pedestrian bridge would be bridge number seven.  Let’s hope it’s a lucky number. 

MURDER IN AMSTERDAM

According to historians Farquhar and Haefner, there was a large turnout from the Artisans Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Amsterdam for the funeral of member Charles J. Landry in November of 1895.  Landry was a saloonkeeper 

A horse drawn hearse is seen in a vintage photograph with six men—possibly the pallbearers—standing in front of the hearse wearing light-colored sashes.  Carriages are lined up behind the hearse as far as can be seen.  A larger group of men--wearing dark-colored sashes—stand in the foreground, gazing with somber, even threatening expressions at the camera.

Landry’s death made headlines November 6 when it was discovered that his mistress Florence Haun had murdered him.  According to Daily Democrat headlines, Haun surrendered to police the day of the murder.  A coroner’s jury returned a verdict of willful murder two days later.  She was convicted of second-degree murder the following February. 

Given a life sentence by a Justice Stover, Haun died of consumption at Auburn prison in March 1897.  An appeal for clemency was made to Governor Frank Black shortly before Haun’s death, according to the New York Times.

Tomorrow on The Historians

#408 

Bob Cudmore and Mike Patrick

Friday, February 4, 2022-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20.  Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney.  Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans.  The podcasts will be available on wgy.com

Get your winter game on! Take part in the FEBRUARY 15 CHALLENGE. Walk, run, hike, snowshoe, or cross-country ski 15 miles anywhere in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor by 2/28/2022 to earn your badge. Sign up for a 15-Mile Challenge to get started.

https://eriecanalway.org/explore/challenge

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, February 3, 2022

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO
5 PM EST FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy snow and a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain.
Total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over the central
Mohawk Valley, and sleet and snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches
for the Helderbergs and Schoharie Valley and ice accumulations
of a glaze to two tenths of an inch.

* WHERE...Southern Fulton, Montgomery, Schoharie, Western
Schenectady and Western Albany Counties.

* WHEN...From 1 PM this afternoon to 5 PM EST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous
conditions could impact this evening commute and Friday mornings
commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates will increase to an inch an
hour from north to south across the warning area tonight. The
sleet and freezing rain should transition to all snow over
Schoharie County and the Helderbergs before daybreak Friday.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in
your vehicle in case of an emergency.

Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Thursday, February 3, 2022

Daily Gazette

Amsterdam hires new marketing firm for $141K
AMSTERDAM — After parting ways with its previous grant-funded marketing firm, the city has hired a new agency to develop…

https://dailygazette.com/

Parents, administrators call violence in Amsterdam schools ‘disturbing’

AMSTERDAM — Physical violence by students against their classmates inside of schools captured on...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

A store for the sole: Rossbach shoe store turns 100

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...not a groundhog, it was a bear

Historians

February

WGY celebrates its 100th year (02-04)-James Kirby Martin, executive producer of the documentary Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed (02-11)-Peter Betz on Fulton County immigration (02-18)-Jim Coulthart with airplane tales from Central New York (02-25)

Use the Mailbox

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

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

Wednesday, February 2, 2022-From the Archives-Kyle Jenks portrays President James Madison.  Madison and Thomas Jefferson toured New York and New England in 1791.  The episode was recorded at a meeting of Historic Amsterdam League. A long wind today "39 Minutes"

Tomorrow, Thursday, February 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam bridges; a big funeral

The community on the south shore of the river was destined to become a port on the Erie Canal, then in the planning stages.  Local business interests realized that a bridge was needed to facilitate the flow of commerce. 

This Friday, February 4, 2022-Episode 408-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20.  Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney.  Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans.  The podcasts will be available on wgy.com

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, February 2, 2022

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
FRIDAY AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Heavy snow and mixed precipitation possible. Total snow
and sleet accumulations of 7 or more inches possible. Ice
accretions of a light glaze to two tenths of an inch.

* WHERE...The central Mohawk Valley, Schoharie Valley, Eastern
Catskills, and the Helderbergs in eastern New York.

* WHEN...From Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous
conditions could impact the morning or evening commutes.
Snowfall rates could approach an inch an hour Thursday night
into Friday morning.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.

Mohawk Valley News. Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Daily Gazette

Bob McEvoy dies at 85; managed Schenectady County government for 22 years
SCHENECTADY — A man who made a career and a curriculum out of government administration is being remembered as a…

https://dailygazette.com/

Amsterdam reduces deficit to estimated $1.1M

AMSTERDAM — The city has knocked its accumulated budget deficit down from $6.1 million last year...

Amsterdam offering grants for downtown improvement projects...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Johnstown working toward new comprehensive plan

by Andrew Waite

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...the river went crazy

Tuesday Historians Podcast "11 Minutes"

This Friday, February 4, 2022-Episode 408-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20.  Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney.  Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans.  The podcasts will be available on wgy.com

 According to a Lincoln history web site, the Great Emancipator’s funeral train in fact passed through the Mohawk Valley, going by Amsterdam at 5:25 p.m. on April 26, 1865

Memories of winter flood, carver’s visit

Lincoln funeral train model turns up again

By Bob Cudmore

The Mohawk Valley was hard hit by winter floods in February 1938.  Although not by any means comparable to today’s devastation in the Gulf Coast, the flooding did get extensive local newspaper coverage.

John Bianchi’s family in Amsterdam saved newspapers from that date to remember the flooding.

There were 48 hours of incessant rain and the river became “a mass of swirling torrents and battering ice floes,” according to the Knickerbocker News, a former Albany newspaper.

One picture showed water rushing a few feet underneath the old river bridge to Amsterdam’s South Side.

“There goes old mill Number 4 of the Mohawk Carpet Mills of Amsterdam,” wrote the newspaper in a photo caption.  “Piece by piece, brick by brick, the old structure is tumbling into the swollen Mohawk today as the aftermath of a night and day of battering by racing ice floes.” 

Loss of the building was estimated at $100,000 and the lower mill of Mohawk Carpets closed for the duration, as did Chalmers Mill on the South Side.  Amsterdam’s gas supply was cut off because water surrounded the gashouse, near what is now Riverlink Park.  Some streets were covered with three to twelve feet of water. 

In Fort Johnson, residents were heading for higher ground and Main Street in Fonda was flooded.  Route 5 S east and west of Amsterdam was impassable.

But no injuries were reported and the weather turned colder, cutting down the threat of further flooding.

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WOOD CARVER VISITED AMSTERDAM

“Your mention of a traveling medicine show (in a recent column) leads me to tell you about a personal coincidence involving a traveling show in Amsterdam,” wrote local native Richard Ellers from Ohio.

Ellers wrote: “I grew up from third grade on East Main Street, downtown Amsterdam, near Rapello's City Pharmacy.

“Sometime in the 1940s, after the Kresge 5 & 10 store on East Main Street west of Railroad Street closed, the vacant store became the venue for all sorts of traveling shows.  One that impressed me was a gentleman’s intricate and large woodcarvings.  I still remember his model of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train.

          “Who would have guessed that I would see the train again, and meet the carver, 30 years later, here in Ohio, after and because I became a traveling state reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  One of my earliest assignments was to travel to Dover, Ohio to do a story about a wood carver, Ernest "Mooney" Warther.  What a surprise: I walked into his museum and there was the funeral train model that I remembered.  Mr. Warther told me he'd taken his carvings on the road to earn money during the Depression.”

          Warther was born in Ohio in1885 to a family of Swiss immigrants and lived until 1973.  According to the museum web site, the Lincoln funeral train currently on display was carved when Warther was 80 years old.  Perhaps Ellers saw an earlier version in Amsterdam in the 1940s.

          According to a Lincoln history web site, the Great Emancipator’s funeral train in fact passed through the Mohawk Valley, going by Amsterdam at 5:25 p.m. on April 26, 1865:

          Historian Hugh Donlon wrote in his “Annals of a Mill Town” that soldiers of the 153rd regiment from Amsterdam, Glen and Mohawk were on guard duty during the trial of President Lincoln’s assassins.

          Donlon said that support for the Civil War effort was not unanimous in the Mohawk Valley.  Although Lincoln carried the town of Amsterdam and Montgomery County in 1860, Lincoln trailed General McClellan by 391 votes in the county in the 1864 election, although Lincoln did carry the town of Amsterdam by 131 votes that year.

Tomorrow #150  

Wednesday, February 2, 2022-From the Archives-Kyle Jenks portrays President James Madison.  Madison and Thomas Jefferson toured New York and New England in 1791.  The episode was recorded at a meeting of Historic Amsterdam League.

Thursday, February 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam bridges; a big funeral

According to historian Hugh Donlon’s “Annals of a Mill Town,” the towns of Amsterdam and Florida jointly contracted to build a river bridge in 1813. 

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Mohawk Valley News, Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Daily Gazette

EDITORIAL: State needs to stop raiding dedicated bridge and road repair fund
You probably saw the photos. Giant steel beams and massive slabs of broken concrete folded into the steep ravine.

Cobleskill-Richmondville schools chief to be next Niskayuna superintendent
NISKAYUNA — Veteran Schoharie County school administrator Carl Mummenthey has been selected as the next superintendent of Niskayuna schools.

https://dailygazette.com/

High schools: Hoefs’ all-around game leads Amsterdam to win

Sydney Hoefs’ strong all-around performance led Amsterdam in a 66-34 Foothills Council girls’...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Broadalbin-Perth girls hold off Johnstown, 46-43, to avenge earlier loss

by Paul Wager

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...one of a band of people

Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection. Monday Podcast "12 Minutes"

Sunday out of the House

Bob Cudmore at The Amsterdam Free Library "Amsterdam Reads"

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The Historians with Bob Cudmore 

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SoundCloud and Google

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-A winter flood on the Mohawk

The Mohawk Valley was hard hit by winter floods in February 1938.  Although not by any means comparable to today’s devastation in the Gulf Coast, the flooding did get extensive local newspaper coverage.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022-From the Archives-Episode 150, February 10, 2017-Kyle Jenks portrays President James Madison.  Madison and Thomas Jefferson toured New York and New England in 1791.  The episode was recorded at a meeting of Historic Amsterdam League.

Thursday, February 3, 2022-From the Archives of the Daily Gazette-Amsterdam bridges; a big funeral

If and when the new pedestrian bridge crosses the Mohawk River in Amsterdam, it will not charge tolls.  That wasn’t the case in the early to mid 19th century. 

According to historian Hugh Donlon’s “Annals of a Mill Town,” the towns of Amsterdam and Florida jointly contracted to build a river bridge in 1813. 

Friday, February 4, 2022-Episode 408-Radio station WGY is celebrating its 100th year on February 20.  Bob Cudmore, who hosted a WGY talk show from 1980 to 1993, has audio featuring pioneer WGY air personalities Kolin Hager, Martha Brooks, Howard Tupper, Elle Pankin and Earl Pudney.  Current WGY news anchor Mike Patrick describes podcasts Patrick has done with many WGY veterans.  The podcasts will be available on wgy.com

Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   There is a connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah.”

   Cohen, who died in 2016, recorded “Hallelujah” himself in 1984.  The song took a long time to gain popularity. 

   After hearing a cover version by John Cale, Jeff Buckley recorded his own “Hallelujah” cover at Bearsville Recording Studio in Ulster County, releasing the song in “Grace,” a 1994 album.

   Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.

   Tim Buckley III died in 1975 of a heroin and morphine overdose at age 28 in Santa Monica, California.  His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

   Music critic David Browne wrote, “Jeff Buckley, who grew up barely knowing his father and being resentful of it, himself died in 1997 from drowning in Memphis, in the Mississippi River. A sad story, almost a Greek tragedy.”  Jeff Buckley’s death was ruled accidental.

   Browne is author of the book "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley.”

   Jeff Buckley’s recording of “Hallelujah” did not become popular until after his death.  His recording was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2014.  Buckley’s “Hsllelujah” has been featured in film and television dramas. 

AMSTERDAM BUCKLEYS

   The first member of the Buckley family to settle in Amsterdam was Tim Buckley, Tim III’s grandfather and Jeff’s great-grandfather,

   Tim Buckley had come from Ireland in the early 1900s.  He and Frank Graff briefly operated an auto repair shop on Mechanic Street called Buckley and Graff.  Buckley and his wife Charlotte lived on Mechanic Street and Buckley, a World War I veteran, was house steward at an American Legion post.

   Son Tim II, whose nickname was Buck, was born in 1916.  Buck worked at the Strand movie theater and later at Bigelow Sanford Carpet.

   Browne wrote, “In 1942, Tim II was drafted and served in the Screaming Eagles (a paratroopers division) in Europe, receiving a Purple Heart but also a head injury that resulted in a head plate, and many psychological problems, like thinking he was still in the war decades later.

   “Tim Buckley III--the singer, also known as Timothy Charles Buckley III--was born (on Valentine’s Day 1947) in the District of Columbia, where his father stayed after World War II.”

   Tim II, his wife Elaine Scalia Buckley and their son moved back to Amsterdam and lived on Garden Street. Tim II worked for General Electric. Tim III’s mother was a Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra fan who introduced her son to jazz recordings.

   Browne wrote, “In 1955, the family moved to Fort Johnson. When Tim III was in second grade, the family moved again--this time to Southern California, where Tim Buckley's music career began to take root, resulting in a string of albums and tours between 1966 and his death in 1975.”

   Buckley did not find commercial success, but is admired for musical innovation and vocal ability.  Buckley’s first album in 1966 was mainly folk music.  Later he incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul and a sound in which his voice was used as an instrument.

   Tim Buckley fan Charles Frank of Niskayuna said, “He seems to have had a five octave range to his voice and liked to show it.”

   Jeff Buckley’s relationship with his father figures in a movie called “Greetings from Tim Buckley” produced in 2012.  Penn Badgley played Jeff Buckley and Ben Rosenfeld portrayed his father Tim. “Variety” reported that the film included a train trip to Amsterdam where Jeff’s father once lived.

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, January 31, 2022

Mohawk Valley News, Monday, January 31, 2022

Daily Gazette

https://dailygazette.com/

Capital Region Customs relocating to Forest Avenue in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM — An existing customization and fabrication shop in the area will expand its footprint...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Mayfield school district refutes Stefanik remarks about suspended teacher

by Chad Arnold

https://www.leaderherald.com/

Bob has the what's what for the day and the Historians lineup for a new week-Podcast "39 Minutes". Sunday, January 30, 2022-From the Archives- June 19, 2020-Episode 323-Historian Wanda Burch tells stories from her book “The Home Voices Speak Louder than the Drums: Dreams and the Imagination in Civil War Letters and Memoirs.”

 if you like airplanes

Historians Podcast #411

Friday, February 25, 2022-Jim Coulthart is an amateur military aviation historian. He has a collection of WWII aircraft anecdotes, incidents, and accidents with ties to Central New York.  

Rome Historical Society (RHS)

The Griffiss Experience.

Throughout 2022 RHS will release four videos on YouTube, featuring members of the community and their memories of Griffiss Air Force Base. Griffiss Air Force Base operated for more than 50 years, saw some of the first African Americans and women in the armed forces, and brought diverse groups of people to the Rome, NY area.

RHS staff intends to continue recording and collecting interviews for many years to come. If you are interested in sharing your story or learning more, call Miranda at (315) 336-5870.

Historians Go Fund Me Drive 2022, keep history on the internet and public radio WMHT 89.1FM Albany RISE

With a stamp

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

Go Fund Me 2022 Link https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-historians-podcast-2022  

Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   There is a connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah.”

   Cohen, who died in 2016, recorded “Hallelujah” himself in 1984.  The song took a long time to gain popularity. 

   After hearing a cover version by John Cale, Jeff Buckley recorded his own “Hallelujah” cover at Bearsville Recording Studio in Ulster County, releasing the song in “Grace,” a 1994 album.

   Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.

   Tim Buckley III died in 1975 of a heroin and morphine overdose at age 28 in Santa Monica, California.  His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

   Music critic David Browne wrote, “Jeff Buckley, who grew up barely knowing his father and being resentful of it, himself died in 1997 from drowning in Memphis, in the Mississippi River. A sad story, almost a Greek tragedy.”  Jeff Buckley’s death was ruled accidental.

   Browne is author of the book "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley.”

   Jeff Buckley’s recording of “Hallelujah” did not become popular until after his death.  His recording was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2014.  Buckley’s “Hsllelujah” has been featured in film and television dramas. 

Tomorrow, Monday, January 31, 2022- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection.

AMSTERDAM BUCKLEYS

   The first member of the Buckley family to settle in Amsterdam was Tim Buckley, Tim III’s grandfather and Jeff’s great-grandfather,

   Tim Buckley had come from Ireland in the early 1900s.  He and Frank Graff briefly operated an auto repair shop on Mechanic Street called Buckley and Graff.  Buckley and his wife Charlotte lived on Mechanic Street and Buckley, a World War I veteran, was house steward at an American Legion post.

   Son Tim II, whose nickname was Buck, was born in 1916.  Buck worked at the Strand movie theater and later at Bigelow Sanford Carpet.

   Browne wrote, “In 1942, Tim II was drafted and served in the Screaming Eagles (a paratroopers division) in Europe, receiving a Purple Heart but also a head injury that resulted in a head plate, and many psychological problems, like thinking he was still in the war decades later.

   “Tim Buckley III--the singer, also known as Timothy Charles Buckley III--was born (on Valentine’s Day 1947) in the District of Columbia, where his father stayed after World War II.”

   Tim II, his wife Elaine Scalia Buckley and their son moved back to Amsterdam and lived on Garden Street. Tim II worked for General Electric. Tim III’s mother was a Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra fan who introduced her son to jazz recordings.

   Browne wrote, “In 1955, the family moved to Fort Johnson. When Tim III was in second grade, the family moved again--this time to Southern California, where Tim Buckley's music career began to take root, resulting in a string of albums and tours between 1966 and his death in 1975.”

   Buckley did not find commercial success, but is admired for musical innovation and vocal ability.  Buckley’s first album in 1966 was mainly folk music.  Later he incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul and a sound in which his voice was used as an instrument.

   Tim Buckley fan Charles Frank of Niskayuna said, “He seems to have had a five octave range to his voice and liked to show it.”

   Jeff Buckley’s relationship with his father figures in a movie called “Greetings from Tim Buckley” produced in 2012.  Penn Badgley played Jeff Buckley and Ben Rosenfeld portrayed his father Tim. “Variety” reported that the film included a train trip to Amsterdam where Jeff’s father once lived.

 Mohawk Valley Weather, Sunday, January 30, 2022

Mohawk Valley News, Sunday, January 30, 2022

Daily Gazette

My 9-month-old son went to the ER, turning a 2-year recurring nightmare into a reality and emphasizing the outsized burdens facing parents
Our 4-year-old daughter came into our bedroom at 5:27 in the morning sounding like Darth Vader. “I don’t feel well,”…

https://dailygazette.com/

Hochul says state mask-or-vaccine mandate extended to Feb. 10

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state’s mask mandate that requires face coverings in all indoor...

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Gloversville City Council endorses FJ&G ThoroughFair event

https://www.leaderherald.com/

...Bob is on the road

The Nature of Fragile Things

Saturday infusion of travel plans and podcast "38 Minutes" with Devin Lander, New York State Historian

...tomorrow on The Historians, if you like airplanes

Two goals of The Go Fund Me Drive, keep the history on the internet "Historians" and on public radio WMHT 89.1FM Albany RISE

Via the U.S. Mail A check made out to Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302

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

Amsterdam’s “Hallelujah” Connection

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

   There is a connection between Amsterdam and singer Jeff Buckley, who recorded the most popular version of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen’s anthem “Hallelujah.”

   Cohen, who died in 2016, recorded “Hallelujah” himself in 1984.  The song took a long time to gain popularity. 

   After hearing a cover version by John Cale, Jeff Buckley recorded his own “Hallelujah” cover at Bearsville Recording Studio in Ulster County, releasing the song in “Grace,” a 1994 album.

   Jeff Buckley’s father was musician Tim Buckley III who spent his early years in Amsterdam and Fort Johnson.

   Tim Buckley III died in 1975 of a heroin and morphine overdose at age 28 in Santa Monica, California.  His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

   Music critic David Browne wrote, “Jeff Buckley, who grew up barely knowing his father and being resentful of it, himself died in 1997 from drowning in Memphis, in the Mississippi River. A sad story, almost a Greek tragedy.”  Jeff Buckley’s death was ruled accidental.

   Browne is author of the book "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley.”

   Jeff Buckley’s recording of “Hallelujah” did not become popular until after his death.  His recording was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2014.  Buckley’s “Hsllelujah” has been featured in film and television dramas. 

AMSTERDAM BUCKLEYS

   The first member of the Buckley family to settle in Amsterdam was Tim Buckley, Tim III’s grandfather and Jeff’s great-grandfather,

   Tim Buckley had come from Ireland in the early 1900s.  He and Frank Graff briefly operated an auto repair shop on Mechanic Street called Buckley and Graff.  Buckley and his wife Charlotte lived on Mechanic Street and Buckley, a World War I veteran, was house steward at an American Legion post.

   Son Tim II, whose nickname was Buck, was born in 1916.  Buck worked at the Strand movie theater and later at Bigelow Sanford Carpet.

   Browne wrote, “In 1942, Tim II was drafted and served in the Screaming Eagles (a paratroopers division) in Europe, receiving a Purple Heart but also a head injury that resulted in a head plate, and many psychological problems, like thinking he was still in the war decades later.

   “Tim Buckley III--the singer, also known as Timothy Charles Buckley III--was born (on Valentine’s Day 1947) in the District of Columbia, where his father stayed after World War II.”

   Tim II, his wife Elaine Scalia Buckley and their son moved back to Amsterdam and lived on Garden Street. Tim II worked for General Electric. Tim III’s mother was a Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra fan who introduced her son to jazz recordings.

   Browne wrote, “In 1955, the family moved to Fort Johnson. When Tim III was in second grade, the family moved again--this time to Southern California, where Tim Buckley's music career began to take root, resulting in a string of albums and tours between 1966 and his death in 1975.”

   Buckley did not find commercial success, but is admired for musical innovation and vocal ability.  Buckley’s first album in 1966 was mainly folk music.  Later he incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul and a sound in which his voice was used as an instrument.

   Tim Buckley fan Charles Frank of Niskayuna said, “He seems to have had a five octave range to his voice and liked to show it.”

   Jeff Buckley’s relationship with his father figures in a movie called “Greetings from Tim Buckley” produced in 2012.  Penn Badgley played Jeff Buckley and Ben Rosenfeld portrayed his father Tim. “Variety” reported that the film included a train trip to Amsterdam where Jeff’s father once lived.

Tomorrow, Sunday, January 30-From the Archives- June 19, 2020-Episode 323-Historian Wanda Burch tells stories from her book “The Home Voices Speak Louder than the Drums: Dreams and the Imagination in Civil War Letters and Memoirs.”

 Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Saturday, January 29, 2022

Mohawk Valley Weekend News

Update at 5:32AM

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Daily Gazette

MacAdam: Bennett falls on his sword by resigning as Union men’s hockey coach
SCHENECTADY — I keep going back to “his coaching style and practices.” These are the words Union College chose to…

https://dailygazette.com/

https://www.recordernews.com/

Leader Herald

Schools: Glionna leads Gloversville to boys’ basketball win

https://www.leaderherald.com/