The Historians

17 fair in The City of Amsterdam at 6:02AM-Sunday, March 24, 2024-Sunny, with a high near 38. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 15. West wind around 6 mph becoming east in the evening. Monday Sunny, with a high near 43. East wind 5 to 8 mph.

In 1860, Amsterdam woodworker Isaac Shuler had opened a wood shop to make cabinets and furniture. Soon Shuler was making coffins and after the Civil War, began offering undertaking services.

1888 blizzard impacted living and dead

By Bob Cudmore

   The blizzard of March 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States.

   The storm killed more than 400 people, including 200 schoolchildren and 100 sailors.  Sustained high winds and temperatures well below freezing, heightened the storm’s fury.

   The blizzard disrupted the funeral of Mrs. Robert Hartley in West Galway and West Charlton near Amsterdam.

   In 1860, Amsterdam woodworker Isaac Shuler had opened a wood shop to make cabinets and furniture. Soon Shuler was making coffins and after the Civil War, began offering undertaking services.

   After Shuler died, W. Max Reid operated the undertaking business.  Reid wrote a 1901 history book, “The Mohawk Valley.” 

   According to a newspaper accounts Mrs. Hartley’s funeral service was held at the Presbyterian Church in West Galway as the blizzard raged on Monday, March 12, 1888.  H.O. Wilkie was the undertaker for the Shuler funeral home.

   Wilkie had 26 men with him who opened the roads as a procession set out for the West Charlton cemetery.  They traveled two miles reaching the farm of John Cunning but could go no farther.  The corpse was left at the Cunning farm.

   Snow was said to be as high as the backs of the horses as Wilkie and the driver of the team pulling the hearse, Wells Johnson, trekked toward Amsterdam.

   Johnson walked ahead of the team to find the road.  Wilkie was thrown from the seat of the hearse several times when they hit potholes.  The trip took four hours.  Several mourners were stranded for several days at West Galway church.

Tomorrow morning, Monday, March 25, Bob with more on this Gazette story...The Monday Podcast "Story Behind the Story"

   Burtiss Deal, born in 1882 in Amsterdam, was living with his parents in West Galway in 1888.  His father operated a textile mill there.

   The snowstorm and the birth of Deal’s younger brother Howard occurred simultaneously. The doctor was marooned with the Deals for several days.  Deal was elected mayor of Amsterdam in 1947 and served four, two-year terms.

  The 1888 storm dealt a heavy blow to the railroads.  A cattle train was stalled between Amsterdam and Tribes Hill.  Dead cattle had to be removed from the cars.  Passenger and freight trains were stalled in Amsterdam on the north and south sides of the Mohawk River. 

   Conductor Mason of train 52 on the south side of the river had a big crew and, according to a published account, “Attended to the wants and comforts of his passengers in first class style.  The jovial conductor had each foot incased in a canvas bag and presented a comical sight walking around in his improvised snow shoes.”

   One reporter wrote, “Mrs. Cole, the New York Central ticket agent, was besieged with questions from belated travelers, but answered every one with a kind word and a smile.”

   The wind was described as being “almost a cyclone at times.”  As far as the eye could see there was four feet of snow.

   Charles Yund, a saloon keeper on Amsterdam’s South Side, stuck a large flag in a snow pile which completely covered one of his entrances.  A reporter wrote, “It is intended to notify customers that he is not entirely buried.”

   On some city streets where the snow was shoveled, the banks on either side were on a level with the second stories of the houses.  Tunnels through the snow were common sights.  Citizens were urged to dig out fire hydrants.

   There was at least one old timer not impressed with the 1888 storm.  Stephen R. Voorhees told a reporter that in the winter of 1836 a snow storm had visited the region which was more severe. It snowed steadily, he said, for three days and three nights.

Friday, March 29, 2024

Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State.  The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history.

Bruce W. Dearstyne has published several books, including Railroads and Railroad Regulations in New York State, 1900–1913. He is co-author of New York: Yesterday and Today. He served as a program director at the New York State Archives and on the staff of the Office of State History. He has taught New York State history at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Russell Sage College, and the State University of New York at Potsdam. Dr. Dearstyne was also a professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies where he directed the HiLS (History/Information Science) joint degree program. He continues to teach there as an adjunct professor. He resides in Guilderland, New York

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

23 and a few clouds in The City of Amsterdam at 6:13AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 21, 2024-A slight chance of snow showers before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a west wind 23 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. Breezy, with a west wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Friday Increasing clouds, with a high near 36. Scroll down for the Bob Cudmore-Bill Simons conversation about his trip to "the house" were Kirk Douglas spent his childhood...

This Weekend in The Gazette and Recorder

1888 blizzard impacted living and dead

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

 The blizzard of March 1888 disrupted the lives of people in Montgomery County along with the rest of the northeastern United States.

Tomorrow

Friday, March 22, 2024-Episode 430-Kevin Hall, author of a memoir on growing up in Ilion, New York-Ilion, My Childhood, My Memories Growing Up in a Bygone Era.

Kevin is a young boy curious with the life around him and enjoying the many moments with his family and friends in his hometown of Ilion, New York.Follow Kevin from his ages of 6 through 13 and enjoy the many adventures as he explores his hometown. However, as he is to find out, sometimes there are consequences for this active boy’s actions, unexpected consequences not always anticipated by the young boy.

Then as the boy grew into a teenager he would leave Ilion, moving to another state and leaving behind all that was familiar – his home, his friends, his school and his young life. All that he has known, soon to be but a memory.

As an added bonus, learn about the history of the area he lived, worked and played in – Ilion and the Mohawk Valley of New York. This substantiated history is included within his stories and within their own sections of the book, complete with several photos from the time-period.

Later this Month

Friday, March 29, 2024

Episode 418-Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State.  The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history.

Weather prophet George Casabonne
By Bob Cudmore

In a newspaper story about his weather forecasts, Cousin George Henry Casabonne was described as cocky as a blue jay and scrappy as a bantam rooster.

Casabonne, who was five foot two, worked as a stonemason, farmer and factory hand. His 1974 obituary stated he was born in Northville in 1886.

In 1959, though, he told the Gazette he was born in Tribes Hill. He said it was so stormy when his mother was in labor that the doctor had to crawl across the bridge from Fort Hunter on his hands and knees as the bridge swayed in the wind.

Casabonne said the family later moved to Fort Hunter and then Northville. He attributed his vitality in old age to love of living and bacon and eggs that kept him young.

As a stone cutter he worked with his father Germaine. Cousin George cut stone from the Erie Canal in Fort Hunter for the Montgomery County Courthouse in Fonda. He dowsed for water with a divining rod.

He was married to Lydia Kruger and they had four children. Starting in 1917 the family maintained a farm home on West Line Road in the town of Charlton in Saratoga County.

Casabonne started regaling the local media with weather forecasts in the 1930s after the death of a similar homespun weather prognosticator called Uncle George Van Derveer.

Van Derveer was from a farm family in the town of Florida but lived on Wall Street in Amsterdam in his later years. He was a popular comic speaker at local functions.

Amsterdam Recorder managing editor Bill Maroney is credited with being the first to call the new weather prophet Cousin George.

Cousin George used lunar phases, the size and prevalence of woolly bear caterpillars and his own weather records to create his seasonal forecasts. He based his predictions on the sign of the moon like the Indians did.

Historian Hugh Donlon wrote, Like Houdini and other professional escapists, weather prophets always had a way of getting out of tight places.

Cousin George believed that weather conditions had never been quite the same since calendar makers crowded thirteen lunar phases into twelve months. He maintained that satellites and Sputniks zooming through space led to unexpected wind currents and rain here below.

He lived long enough to be featured on television news, also performing on the Pete Williams country and western television show on WRGB. Cousin George was in demand as a fiddler and caller at square dances, although he took some ribbing because of the squeaky sound of his violin.

He appeared as Santa Claus at Christmas parties. He played the harmonica and Jew's harp and could clog dance and tap dance. As a show stopper he could do a high kick.

He worked at General Electric in Schenectady until 1951 driving a battery operated forklift. He was a regular at the former A. Lenczewski's Bar and Grill at the corner of Amsterdam's Reid and Church Streets. He had a dog named Tootie and a dog named Skippy.

Toward the end of his life Cousin George moved to his daughter Georgianna Chirickio's home on Lyon Street in Amsterdam.

On March 16, 1974 he sent his granddaughter to the Recorder with his spring forecast the day before he was admitted to Amsterdam Memorial Hospital.

The newspaper reported, Cousin George's last forecast was among his best, and right on the button." That phrase was one of his favorites. He died March 21, 1974 the first day of spring.

Snow turned to rain as the forecaster had predicted. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Fort Johnson.

The answer to the question: The Historians Podcast returns Saturday, April 6, 2024

The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games.

The Historians Podcast is also a part of WMHT89.1FM Albany Public Radio RISE

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

37 and light snow in The City of Amsterdam at 6:26AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Wednesday, March 20, 2024 A chance of rain and snow showers before 11am, then rain showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. South wind 7 to 13 mph becoming west in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight Rain and snow showers likely before 9pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 9pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. West wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Thursday Partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a west wind 23 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph.

This Friday

Friday, March 22, 2024-From the archives--Episode 430-Kevin Hall, author of a memoir on growing up in Ilion, New York-Ilion, My Childhood, My Memories Growing Up in a Bygone Era.

A week from Friday

Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State.  The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history.

Bob with all the radio switches that he knew nothing about...

I remember a little about that day in 1965 when I worked at WAFS but recalled that Tom Stewart remembered more.

Summer stories from the Mohawk Valley
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History

Fans of local history attended gatherings late this summer, a few for the first time since the pandemic started.

At a Sixties Forever Amsterdam reunion for several graduating years in the 1960s, one participant had a blunt remark for me about radio. I was invited to the gathering at a new banquet hall on the South Side although my graduating class was older than the classes invited.

The man told me he had gone to the 1965 Dave Clark Five movie at the Mohawk Theatre sponsored by WAFS radio in Amsterdam. Only a handful of people joined him.

I remember a little about that day in 1965 when I worked at WAFS but recalled that Tom Stewart remembered more.

Stewart was a 1965 graduate of Amsterdam High who worked at WAFS that summer. He may be best remembered in Amsterdam for playing King Arthur in Camelot, a production staged by the late drama director Bert DeRose. Stewart lives in New York City and for many years has been the announcer on public television raising funds for the PBS station there.

Stewart wrote, "Yes, the movie was "Catch Us If You Can" and I think it was actually at the Tryon. Don't know how the station got involved but am thinking that that some advance person enlisted our help.

"My strongest memory is traveling to the Dave Clark Five's hotel in Albany and wangling my way in to meet them; used a very primitive tape recorder and they kindly recorded a few promos for our air. We promoted the movie premiere incessantly which led to the big event.

"As whoever you spoke to recalled, it was a major bust! The numbers were few and we were shocked at the lack of turnout; so much for the power of media!"

THE MOHAWK ENCAMPMENT
An event held August 27 at the Old Courthouse in Fonda marked the 250th anniversary of the creation of Tryon County, the British colonial name for what became Montgomery County.

There were historical bus tours, artisan and militia reenactors, tables staffed by Historic Amsterdam League and Nellis Tavern in St. Johnsville. Plus there were cannon shots and a new promotional video for the Department of History and Archives narrated by Montgomery County Historian Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar.

What got one Canajoharie couple talking at my table though was a story I displayed on the Mohawk Encampment.

In June, 1957 a group of Mohawk Indians occupied land near the Schoharie Creek on the south side of the Mohawk River and remained there until evicted by court order in the spring of 1958.

The settlers were led by Chief Standing Arrow, also known as Frank Johnson. The encampment was to repossess part of a tract the Mohawks said was not included in land ceded to the U.S. government by the Iroquois Confederacy in the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1784.
In October 1957, world-renowned man of letters, Edmund Wilson, visited the encampment and Chief Standing Arrow.

Wilson described the encounter in his 1959 book, "Apologies to the Iroquois." Wilson found that Standing Arrow was part of an Iroquois nationalist movement.

Montgomery County Sheriff Alton Dingman served the first eviction notices on the Mohawk settlement along the Schoharie Creek in January 1958.

In March 1958, 25 people were reported still living at the Schoharie Creek site. A court hearing that month resulted in another eviction order. Some of the Mohawk huts were burned.

The Mohawks were offered land in the town of Fulton in Schoharie County as an alternative site in the area but if there was a settlement there, it was short lived.

Markers kept prisoners from straying
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History. First published 09-03-2022 in Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder

Back in 1840, jail limit markers were established in Montgomery County and throughout the state after a ruling from the Court of Common Pleas.

"They were introduced to provide a person who was in jail for a civil action the ability to leave the jail to work, visit family or to carry on other business," said former Montgomery County Sheriff Michael J. Amato.

Individuals locked up for bad debts, for example, could get a job close to the jail, as long they stayed within the limits of the stone markers. The prisoners left the lockup at sunrise and had to return by sunset. It was a 19th century voluntary version of electronic bracelets for non-violent prisoners.

Amato said that county supervisors set the boundaries of the markers, which could not exceed one mile in each direction from the jail. Montgomery County had eight markers. Amato had one of the markers installed near the entrance of the current jail on Route 5S in Fultonville.

"The last time the markers were used was about 1913," Amato said. "I think that we might be one of the only counties with jail limit markers left."

Amato has done research on the history of local jails. In 1772, Tryon County was created during the British colonial era. Johnstown became the county seat of the sprawling jurisdiction that covered much of Upstate New York west of Albany County. A jail was built in Johnstown that year and the building still stands, although no longer used as a jail.

At the end of the Revolution in 1784, Tryon County was renamed for patriot General Richard Montgomery and in 1836, the county seat was moved to Fonda. There was such an outcry from the people of Johnstown that they were granted their own county, Fulton County, split off from northern Montgomery County in 1837.

By 1838, a jail and courthouse had been built in Fonda at a cost of $30,500. The jail was located where the Department of Public Works facility is today, behind the Old Courthouse.

In 1881, that jail was destroyed by fire. According to a newspaper account, the fire was started at 3 a.m. by inmate Patrick Claffey, described as a "desperate character," jailed for breaking into a store in St. Johnsville. Sheriff William Scharff was awakened and found it impossible to put out the blaze. The 22 prisoners were removed safely to the courthouse where they were "strongly guarded" until they could be taken to the jail in Johnstown.

A new jail was built in Fonda and occupied in late 1882 at a cost of $40,000. "Although secure, the jail is free from dampness and has plenty of light," stated an article in the Mohawk Valley Democrat. The state closed that jail because of poor conditions in 1911 and again inmates were sent to Fulton County. In 1913, a jail was built adjacent to the Old Courthouse at a cost of $55,000.

This building still stands and was used as a jail until 1997 when it was shut down because of state requirements. Amato recalled a flood in 1996 in Fonda helped convince county officials of the wisdom of relocating the county jail from its location near the river in Fonda to the present facility on higher ground on Route 5S in Fultonville. The current jail was built at a cost of $14 million.

Among artifacts Amato displayed during a talk years ago was an old set of jail keys and a sharp wooden letter opener carved by an inmate in the 1920s, a recreational pastime for prisoners that would be frowned upon today.

Historians "tune in again" Saturday, April 6, 2024

The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games.

The Historians Podcast is also a part of WMHT89.1FM Albany Public Radio RISE

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

Amsterdam selected as Empire State Trail Town
Ashley Onyon

New owners announce Cappie's Drive-In will reopen on Friday, April 5, 2024
Ashley Onyon

33 degrees and light snow, are you kidding, in The City of Amsterdam at 6:12AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Tuesday, March 19, 2024-A chance of snow showers before noon, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. West wind 13 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight A chance of snow showers, mainly after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Wednesday A chance of rain and snow showers before noon, then rain showers likely between noon and 4pm, then rain and snow showers likely after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. West wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

End of the month on The Historians

Friday, March 29, 2024-Episode 418-Bruce Dearstyne is encouraging New Yorkers to celebrate April 20 as the birthday of the Empire State.  The first New York State constitution was adopted April 20, 1777 during the Revolutionary War.  Bruce Dearstyne was formerly on the staff of the Office of State History and the State Archives.  He has written extrnsively on New York State history.

A Tuesday Story

Bean Hill Congressman corresponded with town of Florida soldier
By Bob Cudmore

William T. Byrne, who was elected a State Senator and Congressman representing the Albany area, was born in 1876 on Bean Hill Road near the hamlet of Minaville. Although Byrne lived in Loudonville in later years, he maintained a summer home in the town of Florida, south of Amsterdam.

Debbie Miller wrote, "My dad Ronald Hopkins grew up in the town of Florida and from what I understood, Byrne was a wonderful mentor to my father throughout his childhood. While my Dad was serving in the Air Force (1951), Representative Byrne and my Dad corresponded regularly."

Miller added, "From a letter I found (1946), Mr. Byrne would mail my Dad magazines and books when he was young to encourage reading. They would also correspond with one another so that my Dad could practice composing letters and good penmanship."

She continued, "Mr. Byrne seemed like a kind man who inspired the youngsters in the town of Florida to get a good education and to also lead an honorable life. In his letter, he mentioned that good habits and keeping good company will pay big returns which he knows from experience. I'm sure Byrne influenced many other youngsters and aside from his political career accomplishments, I believe he should be recognized for his outstanding character."

After Air Force service in the military police in the Korean War, Ronald Hopkins, Miller's father, raised a family and built a career as an engineering designer and manager at Beech Nut-Life Savers. He died at 81 in 2014.

Byrne's parents were Richard Henry Byrne, a carpenter, and Margaret Manifold Byrne, a school teacher. Both were Irish immigrants. When William was a youngster, the family moved to Albany where his father operated a tavern on Broadway.

A graduate of Albany High and Albany Law School, Byrne attended the 1896 Democratic national convention in Chicago where William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous Cross of Gold speech opposing the gold standard. Byrne also became proficient as a public speaker.

Back in Albany Byrne developed a lucrative law practice. He ran as a Democrat and was elected to the State Senate in 1922. He was part of the Democratic Party machine headed by Dan O'Connell.

A liberal and associate of Governors Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Byrne was co-sponsor of state legislation that created unemployment insurance.

Byrne and his wife Josephine lived in Loudonville in a house now on the National Historic Register. They had a summer home on Bean Hill in the town of Florida. A devotee of exercise, Byrne sometimes walked to Bean Hill from his Loudonville home.

The Byrnes's summer home was adjacent to the Amsterdam YMCA farm called Camp On-A-Nol. Byrnes struck up a friendship with the family of YMCA physical director Leon "Prof" Huston and his family.

Byrne knew a breeder of spaniel dogs and arranged for a dog to be shipped by train to the Hustons. The family named the dog Senator, "Sen" for short. The Hustons moved for a YMCA assignment in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1942 where Senator the dog was struck and killed by a car.

By then Byrne was serving in Congress, first elected in 1936. When notified of Senator's death, Congressman Byrne shipped another spaniel to the Hustons. They named the new dog Representative, "Rep" for short.

Byrne's wife Josephine Diener Byrne was hostess at many gatherings at their summer home. She died in 1948. They were married for forty years and had no children.

Congressman Byrne died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1952. He was eulogized as the "genial gentleman from Albany" by future U.S. Senator Jacob Javits.

Historians "back on the Radio" Saturday, April 6, 2024

The Historians Podcast is heard at Noon Saturday on WCSS, 1490 AM, 106.9 FM in Amsterdam and WKAJ, 1120 AM, 97.9 FM in St. Johnsville.  Note: WCSS preempts Historians Podcast when the station broadcasts college basketball games.

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

New owners announce Cappie's Drive-In will reopen on Friday, April 5, 2024
Ashley Onyon

33 degrees a few clouds over The City of Amsterdam at 6:46AM-Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, March 18, 2024-A slight chance of snow showers before 7am, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 42. West wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Tonight A chance of snow showers, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Tuesday A slight chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Friday, Episode 430-Kevin is a young boy curious with the life around him and enjoying the many moments with his family and friends in his hometown of Ilion, New York.Follow Kevin from his ages of 6 through 13 and enjoy the many adventures as he explores his hometown. However, as he is to find out, sometimes there are consequences for this active boy’s actions, unexpected consequences not always anticipated by the young boy.

Amsterdam’s Music Man

By Bob Cudmore

   Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra.  There were drum corps during and after World War II, a band based at Mohawk Carpet Mills directed by members of the Musolff family.

   The 13th Brigade Band played at Amsterdam social occasions. In 1902, that band along with the Maney and McNaughton Orchestra, played at the inaugural run of the trolley line to Hagaman. John A. Maney was in the orchestra. Also a photographer, Maney’s photos have become an essential record of life in early 20th century Amsterdam.

   On the country music side were Steve Lopuch’s Pals of the Saddle and Dusty Miller with his Colorado Wranglers. 

   Gerald Barnell was the youngest of eight children who were raised on Amsterdam’s South Side where their father operated a grocery store and was one of the founders of Mount Carmel Church.

   The family was from Italy.  The family name had been Anglicized from Baranello to Barnell.

   In 1915, brothers Angelo, Charles and Anthony organized Barnell's Concert Orchestra. The group played for Amsterdam’s well-to-do, performed at Saratoga casinos and the New York governor's mansion.

   The orchestra disbanded in 1922 when brother Anthony contracted a bone disease. 

   Soon the youngest Barnell organized Jerry Barnell and His Society Orchestra, playing local spots such as Jollyland amusement park.

   Gerald Barnell graduated from Amsterdam High in 1929 then earned a bachelor's degree at Ithaca College.  A talented violinist, he later did graduate work at the University at Albany, Syracuse University, Indiana University, Columbia University and Julliard.

   He taught for a year at Cazenovia Seminary and joined the Amsterdam schools in 1934. He served the local school system until 1973 as instrumental director, leading high school, junior high and elementary bands and orchestras.

   Barnell also performed with the Barnell Concert Orchestra and directed his own Union Orchestra. He was a member of Local 133 of the Professional Musicians Union.

   He married Antoinette Morini in 1940. When WCSS radio went on the air in 1947, Barnell produced a talent show, "Youth on Parade", and hosted the Sunday Italian show with Salvatore Morini.

   Barnell entertained children by making his violin sound like a bumblebee or train whistle. He had many private students, including popular guitarist and vocalist Rachelle Cotugno.

  In the 1950s, it was Barnell's inspiration to meld the co-ed high school band with female cheerleaders and baton-twirling majorettes whose signature number became "Lullaby of Birdland," with majorettes forming a kick line during halftime at football games reminiscent of the Radio City Rockettes.

   Today's majorette uniforms are still handmade from white corduroy for each individual, similar to the uniforms of Barnell’s day.  The majorettes still perform “Lullaby of Birdland.”

   After Barnell retired in 1973, he taught music education at the College of Saint Rose in Albany.  He died in 1998; his wife Antoinette died in 2001.

   They lived on Phillips Street. Barnell's son Jerry was a business educator at Schalmont High School in Rotterdam; the younger Barnell played bass drum in high school and college. Young Barnell's wife, Terri Mikolaitis, was an Amsterdam High majorette in the late 1950s.

   Patricia Mercadante Valiente, Barnell’s

great niece, served as choral director at Amsterdam High. Valiente noted that one of her great uncle’s accomplishments was organizing the first All County Music Festival in Montgomery County in 1956.

   Since Barnell's day, the high school band has been led by numerous individuals and performs in many notable locations.  Today, the musical group is known as the Amsterdam Marching Rams and includes majorettes and a flag team. The band was part of a segment seen on Oprah Winfrey’s national television show.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

Dissolution of Fort Johnson causes wrinkle for would-be food trailer operators
Ashley Onyon The Recorder

48 degrees overcast in The City of Amsterdam at 5:49AM-Mohawk Valley Weekend Weather, Sunday, March 17, 2024-Showers likely, mainly before 8am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 48. West wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. Monday A slight chance of rain and snow showers between 2pm and 3pm, then a slight chance of rain showers after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 42. West wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. 

Amsterdam’s Music Man

By Bob Cudmore

More on this story, tomorrow, Monday when Bob reads between the lines...

   Amsterdam is well-known for music, even, back in the day, a Little Symphony Orchestra.  There were drum corps during and after World War II, a band based at Mohawk Carpet Mills directed by members of the Musolff family.

   The 13th Brigade Band played at Amsterdam social occasions. In 1902, that band along with the Maney and McNaughton Orchestra, played at the inaugural run of the trolley line to Hagaman. John A. Maney was in the orchestra. Also a photographer, Maney’s photos have become an essential record of life in early 20th century Amsterdam.

   On the country music side were Steve Lopuch’s Pals of the Saddle and Dusty Miller with his Colorado Wranglers. 

   Gerald Barnell was the youngest of eight children who were raised on Amsterdam’s South Side where their father operated a grocery store and was one of the founders of Mount Carmel Church.

   The family was from Italy.  The family name had been Anglicized from Baranello to Barnell.

   In 1915, brothers Angelo, Charles and Anthony organized Barnell's Concert Orchestra. The group played for Amsterdam’s well-to-do, performed at Saratoga casinos and the New York governor's mansion.

   The orchestra disbanded in 1922 when brother Anthony contracted a bone disease. 

   Soon the youngest Barnell organized Jerry Barnell and His Society Orchestra, playing local spots such as Jollyland amusement park.

   Gerald Barnell graduated from Amsterdam High in 1929 then earned a bachelor's degree at Ithaca College.  A talented violinist, he later did graduate work at the University at Albany, Syracuse University, Indiana University, Columbia University and Julliard.

   He taught for a year at Cazenovia Seminary and joined the Amsterdam schools in 1934. He served the local school system until 1973 as instrumental director, leading high school, junior high and elementary bands and orchestras.

   Barnell also performed with the Barnell Concert Orchestra and directed his own Union Orchestra. He was a member of Local 133 of the Professional Musicians Union.

   He married Antoinette Morini in 1940. When WCSS radio went on the air in 1947, Barnell produced a talent show, "Youth on Parade", and hosted the Sunday Italian show with Salvatore Morini.

   Barnell entertained children by making his violin sound like a bumblebee or train whistle. He had many private students, including popular guitarist and vocalist Rachelle Cotugno.

  In the 1950s, it was Barnell's inspiration to meld the co-ed high school band with female cheerleaders and baton-twirling majorettes whose signature number became "Lullaby of Birdland," with majorettes forming a kick line during halftime at football games reminiscent of the Radio City Rockettes.

   Today's majorette uniforms are still handmade from white corduroy for each individual, similar to the uniforms of Barnell’s day.  The majorettes still perform “Lullaby of Birdland.”

   After Barnell retired in 1973, he taught music education at the College of Saint Rose in Albany.  He died in 1998; his wife Antoinette died in 2001.

   They lived on Phillips Street. Barnell's son Jerry was a business educator at Schalmont High School in Rotterdam; the younger Barnell played bass drum in high school and college. Young Barnell's wife, Terri Mikolaitis, was an Amsterdam High majorette in the late 1950s.

   Patricia Mercadante Valiente, Barnell’s

great niece, served as choral director at Amsterdam High. Valiente noted that one of her great uncle’s accomplishments was organizing the first All County Music Festival in Montgomery County in 1956.

   Since Barnell's day, the high school band has been led by numerous individuals and performs in many notable locations.  Today, the musical group is known as the Amsterdam Marching Rams and includes majorettes and a flag team. The band was part of a segment seen on Oprah Winfrey’s national television show.

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.om/c

By Bob Cudmore

Outdoorsman, historian and educator Donald R. Williams of Gloversville owes a lot to his grandfather, John Whitman.

"He was a carpenter, Adirondack guide and farmer up in the Adirondacks," Williams said. "And I inherited all my love of the Adirondacks and my love of tools and all those things from my grandfather."

Williams' latest book is a hefty volume with plenty of pictures called "Grandfather's Tool Chest."

Williams continued, "He was my inspiration for writing the book and getting all that information down that includes the stories in the ways the tools were used, over 400 tools. It's a book that weighs almost four pounds and includes 400 color photographs and all the stories that go with the tools."

A "spud" was used to pull bark off hemlock trees. Hemlock bark was used to produce tannic acid for tanning leather, a process that provided employment in the north woods especially in the 1800s.

"Bung starters" were used to help install bungs or wooden plugs in barrels.

Another tool looks like a tennis racquet holding a u-shaped piece of cedar. It was used to fluff up feather beds.

Williams said he thinks burlap bags can be categorized as tools, "They make work easier, an extension of our hands, making it possible (for people) to get out of the caves."

Burlap can be made from flax which grows in the field. Burlap bags are used to carry potatoes and other objects, even an order of groceries. Burlap has been used for wallpaper, rag rugs and sack races.

The uses of some of the tools in Williams' book are not known. He tried to find the purpose of an object that looks like a polished rolling pin. The Adirondack Museum made inquiries and searched the Internet to no avail. "Right now we have no idea what it is," Williams said.

The cover of the book is like the cover of a tool chest. Williams said he started collecting tools 50 years ago. "As I collected the tools I collected the stories.

The indexed book showcases tools of various trades, household tools and specialized tools. The book costs $55 and is available at Mysteries on Main Street in Johnstown and by mail from Williams at 435 North Main Street, Gloversville, N.Y. 12078. It's not on Amazon. Williams said he was afraid of being lost in the shuffle in the huge online operation.

Williams, now 88, worked 35 years in education, 20 years as principal of Kinsgborough Elementary School in Gloversville. When he applied for his teacher's pension some years ago he told the clerk that his great aunt, Emma Timmerman, had set a record for the longest pension by living to 111. "I'm going to break that record," Williams declared. He and his wife Beverly have five children.

His first history book placed frontiersman Nick Stoner as a fictional character in 33 local history stories. Since then Williams has been a prolific author. He has written eleven books on local and Adirondack history.

For 20 years Williams wrote a weekly column for the Recorder, Leader Herald and two other newspapers. His articles on history and the outdoors have appeared regularly in several magazines.

Like his grandfather, Williams is an Adirondack guide, founding president of an association of guides, "The more we educate people about the outdoors more will care for the outdoors."

Williams said it's good and bad that more people are discovering the Adirondacks, "What are you going to do with these huge crowds of people? It's good they're getting to the outdoors but it's also got to be controlled and watched over."

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

Five Townsend brothers served in World War II
By Bob Cudmore

Five sons of Louis G. Townsend, Sr. and his wife Sarah Beyer Townsend of Tribes Hill served in the U.S. Army in World War II.

There were eleven Townsend children in all, six boys and five girls. Their father worked as an inspector at Bigelow Sanford Carpet Company. The family home in Tribes Hill was on what was called Railroad Avenue and then was renamed Thompson Avenue.

They lived near the railroad tracks on the way to the Mohawk River bridge that leads to Fort Hunter. Their house was destroyed by fire after the Townsends had moved away.

All five brothers survived the war. The last of the five to pass away was Louis Townsend, Junior, who had lived in Fort Johnson and who died in 2015 at the age of 93. He was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Tribes Hill.

His wife, June Gage Townsend, died in 1988 and their daughter, Sally Townsend O'Neill, died in 1972.

Louis Junior earned the rank of Technician Third Grade or Staff Sergeant in the war, serving in the jungles of New Guinea, fighting the Japanese in a hot and rainy climate. He also took part in the invasion of the Philippines. He worked on military vehicles and spent three years overseas. He was the last of the brothers to come home in 1946.

The first Townsend to enter military service was William, inducted in January 1941 before America entered World War II. He was sent home that November. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December and William was recalled to active duty in January. He served in Africa and Europe as part of the Military Police, traveling a great deal as a guard for German prisoners. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

The oldest Townsend brother, Halsey, was 40 and married, living in Fort Hunter when inducted in 1942. Halsey was working for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in Delanson. In the Army as a corporal he was a signalman and trainmaster in Tehran on the Trans Iranian Railroad, which helped supply Russia during the war.

Albert attained the rank of corporal with an armored division fighting in France, Germany and Central Europe. He was badly burned in combat, requiring extensive hospital treatment.

Hubert also earned the rank of corporal. He spent the war years in France and Germany as a company clerk. Albert and Hubert met up when they were overseas.

One Townsend brother-in-law also served in the Army. William Kosboth was a medical corps man in Europe. Kosboth had married one of the Townsend daughters, Marian Ethel. He was part of the Normandy invasion and soldiered on in France and Germany.

Back home Kosboth operated Fendly's Gas Station in Fort Johnson, started by his stepfather.

In civilian life, Louis Townsend Junior worked at that gas station, then at Mohawk Carpet Mills and for many years in the custodial department at St. Mary's Hospital, retiring in 1987.

Another Townsend daughter, Edith, was the wife of popular West End Amsterdam police officer Andy Nelson. She rode behind Nelson on his personal motorcycle.

When all the Townsend brothers and Kosboth had come back from the war in February 1946, a reunion was held at the home of their sister Jeanette, who had married Fred Newbold of Tribes Hill.

The newspaper account stated, "It is pointed out that six members from one family survived several important phases of World War II in all parts of the world, three of the sons making a complete trip around the world."

The Townsend daughters not mentioned so far were Orthanette Bates and Florence Townsend.

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/

Amsterdam’s Music Man By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

Oneonta man researching life of Kirk Douglas

By Bob Cudmore

  SUNY Oneonta history professor emeritus William Simons is a braver man then I.

   Both of us are fascinated by Kirk Douglas, the movie actor and producer who was born in Amsterdam, my home town.  Douglas, 103, died in California four years ago.

   The house where Kirk Douglas lived as a child stands on Eagle Street in Amsterdam’s East End.  I have thought of knocking on the door but never have had the courage to do so.

   Simons wrote in his latest article that he too wanted to visit the home, “Although I wanted to go inside the house at 46 Eagle St., where so many of (Douglas’s) formative experiences took place, that long eluded me. 

   “It is a private residence, unmarked, not open to the public.  I felt entry into the house would heighten my understanding of (the actor’s) genesis years.”

   Simons said, “John Naple, a former Peace Corps volunteer, retired science teacher and angel to the (Amsterdam) library, emerged as my benefactor.  Back in the day, the Naple family resided on Eagle Street.”

   Meeting the home’s current owner, Eddie Gegzno, and visiting the building was worthwhile according to Simons, even though Eddie never met the actor’s family and the house was extensively remodeled through the years.

  Gegzno is retired from General Electric after nearly four decades. Through John’s intercession, Eddie allowed Simons to spend some time inside 46 Eagle St. on a Saturday afternoon, May 20, 2023.

   Another issue in studying Kirk Douglas is what to call him.  His birth name was Issur Danielovitch. When Issur was in grade school, his parents changed their surname to Demsky and Issur’s name to Isadore or Izzy. Like many actors of his day Isadore Demsky Anglicized his name.  Izzy became Kirk Douglas.

    Simons, who grew up in the greater Boston area, was a big fan of Kirk Douglas in the movie Spartacus.  As a Jewish man, Simons was intrigued that as Spartacus, Kirk Douglas did not appear to be Jewish.

   Simons wrote, “On the screen, Issur/Izzy/Kirk morphed into Spartacus, Odysseus, Doc Holliday, George Patton, Vincent van Gogh, Midge Kelly Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Mickey Marcus, Hans Muller, Colonel Dax, Jiggs Casey, Matthew Harrison Brady and countless others.”

   Simons wrote, “Although young Izzy endured beatings by anti-Semitic gangs, he also had good

friends in the neighborhood.  But the house

on Eagle Street offered little refuge to the

boy.  Only later did he come to appreciate his mother Bryna and sisters. Izzy yearned for the larger world outside the house, his father’s domain. And he wanted his father’s attention and approval, both of

which proved elusive.”

   When Simons emerged from his visit to the former Demsky home, he and John Naple walked the length

of Eagle Street.

   Simons wrote, “When we reached 29 Eagle St., John’s friend Emil Suda came out to join us. At the end of Eagle Street, the three of us turned left on East Main Street to see the former site of Harry’s

favorite bar and the lodging house where he lived, courtesy of Kirk’s rent money, after Bryna left him.

   “Then, our discussion switched to Kirk’s films. I never met anyone who knew more about the plots,

characters and dialogues of Kirk Douglas films or spoke more enthusiastically of them than Emil.”

   “Perhaps Izzy and Kirk never truly escaped Eagle Street, but they came to terms with it.” Simons said. “And Izzy and Kirk left quite a legacy not just for Jews, but for all aspirants of the American Dream.”

   Simons’ latest article on Kirk Douglas is published in The Reporter, the newspaper of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton.

Mohawk Valley News The Daily Gazette, The Recorder News, The Leader-Herald and Nippertown. https://www.dailygazette.com/