HOMETOWN History

Oct. 11, 2019

150 Years Ago

The great storm which occurred here on the second and third of the month extended over several States – south beyond Washington and north and west into the British territory. Property to the amount of millions was destroyed and quite a number of lives lost, while shipping along the coast suffered very much. Hundreds of cattle, sheep and swine were carried into the streams and drowned, In the Hudson and other navigable rivers the boats were obliged to lay by on account of the great quantities of logs, timber, &c., floating down. Last Sunday, the third successive Sunday, it again rained all day. The streams and river here were high Monday morning, but not a flood. We see by the Albany papers that the rise in the river before twelve o’clock Sunday night was five feet, and the merchants began to move their goods to the upper stories.

October 1869

125 Years Ago

Local & Regional: H.G. Bishop, formerly of Oneonta, has bought off the Oneonta Press, and took possession last week.
Stamford now has a local telephone line with 21 subscribers. The subscribers not only have the advantages about the village, but they all connect with the Delhi, Grand Gorge, Harpersfield and Jefferson lines.
Ex-Governor Cornell is out with the
usual anti-election statements about the fearful increase of taxation under Democratic rule. He alleges that the state taxes have been increased nearly 100 percent. This is the annual chronic nonsense of Republican leaders. However, Delaware County is not weighted down with Democratic misrule. In 1882, the tax budget for Delaware County was $17,600. Under Republican rule it steadily increased, until in 1893 it was $63,800, an increase of nearly 400 percent. Meanwhile the increase in population has risen only about 5 percent.

October 1894

80 Years Ago

Speaking to members of Oneonta’s Rotary Club at the Hotel Oneonta yesterday afternoon, Bishop G. Ashton Oldham of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany said “With the determination to stay out of Europe’s conflict, I am in complete agreement – but for a different motive than that advanced by some of our leaders who seek the protection of our skins and our possessions, but rather because I want to see America ready to serve after the war in the leadership toward a lasting peace.” The Bishop commented further on the war and its effect on churches saying “the effect of war on our churches is feared by many who point out that they suffered during the last war because each side claimed that the church was on its side. However, that there is any war simply demonstrates that the church does not have the influence it should have upon governments, for every church and every denomination is most active in the cause of peace. Perhaps the fault lies in large part with the church which is too material and not sacrificial enough.”

October 1939

60 Years Ago

Bradenton, Florida – The home an elderly Negro woman was building in a new white neighborhood has been damaged by fire and authorities say the blaze was set deliberately. The woman, 67-year-old Elizabeth Jenkins has owned a 2.5 acre tract west of Bradenton since 1916. She has lived in one house there for 43 years and was building a new frame house nearby. She planned to move into the new house in a few weeks. Miss Jenkins’ property is surrounded by a fashionable white neighborhood which has been developed during the past two or three years. Sheriff Roy Baden said the woman had asked $20,000 for her land. But, when developers offered to meet her price, she hiked the figure to $40,000 and later to $50,000

October 1959

40 Years Ago

Hartwick College has received a $100,000 federal grant to establish a continuing education program for registered nurses. The grant, provided by the Health, Education and Welfare agency will fund classes, seminars and workshops for three years for nurses in Otsego, Delaware and Chenango counties. Hartwick College nursing department chair Mary Sees said the project is intended to provide additional training to as many as possible of the 1,300 nurses employed in the area. The exact line-up of programs will be determined in a survey of nurses. A coordinator will be hired.

October 1979

20 Years Ago

A wallet stolen during a recent robbery was recovered according to Oneonta police sources. In the past three weeks, three incidents of armed robbery were reported to police, compared to two robberies in all of 1998. “To have this number reported in this short a time is alarming,” said Oneonta Detective Sgt. Joseph Redmond. “People should exercise caution as in everything they do in life.” No one was hurt in the armed robbery incidents, during which wallets, cash, and keys were stolen, police said. At about 3:20 a.m. October 2, three people walking near 218 Chestnut Street told police they were robbed by two ski-masked men with handguns. Minutes later on West Street, another man was accosted by two men, one with a handgun. And, a man near Potter and Maple streets reported being robbed about an hour later, police said. Previously, a man told police someone had held a knife to his throat at about 3:15 a.m., September 23 while he was walking on Myrtle Avenue.

October 1999

10 Years Ago

When Chad Hall, a farmboy from Walton, was studying electrical mechanical design at SUNY Delhi, he figured he get a job as a draftsman, maybe in a some local firm. And he did, at Oneonta’s Custom Electronics. But instead of a job, Hall had found himself a launching pad.
Today, a mere 34, he’s COO of Custom Electronics’ spinoff Ioxus, jetting all over the country, to Korea, to Europe, pressing the cutting edge of ultracapacitors, a technology that, quite simply, could change the energy world as we know it.
The possibility is being recognized Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Otsego County Chamber’s 10th annual Small Business Banquet at The Otesaga, where Hall – and Chief Technical Officer Thor Eilertsen – will be accepting the chamber’s Breakthrough Award on their company’s behalf.

Oct. 9, 2009