Bound Volumes
December 4, 2025
210 YEARS AGO
Casualties at a Camp Meeting—Two young ladies, Rachel DuBois and Mary Hopkins, of Ulster County, attending a camp meeting near Newburg, in attempting to pass in a boat from the shore opposite the camp to a sloop that lay in the river, the boat proved leaky and was upset, when both were drowned. Two young men were in the boat when it upset, but were saved by swimming to shore. A man was killed at the same camp by a stone which struck him on the head as he was sitting beneath the bank—supposed accidental. And, another gentleman had his horse stolen.
December 7, 1815
160 YEARS AGO
Otsego County Board of Supervisors—The sum of $1,650 was voted to be expended in repairing the county poor house. On motion of Mr. Ely, Resolved: That the Superintendent of Poor be and is hereby instructed to visit the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica and inquire into the condition of the inmates from this county, and that he shall have power to remove or take charge of all those he may deem best to remove.
December 1, 1865
110 YEARS AGO
The union evangelistic campaign under the leadership of Charles F. Barrett of Delaware, Ohio started on Sunday night at the Methodist Episcopal Church. An audience of 600 people filled the auditorium and Bible School annex to the limit with extra chairs brought in to accommodate the vast throng. A platform had been constructed for the chorus choir of 50 voices. The singing by this chorus, many of whom were men, was most inspiring. Mr. Barrett proved a preacher of great power and held the attention of the audience for three-quarters of an hour in length, on the questions “What Think Ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?” The subject of his second sermon on Monday evening was “Backbone, Have you one?” The speaker characterized the cardinal sin of Cooperstown as “supreme religious indifference.” He said that a stranger could feel this indifference in the very atmosphere of the village. Poor attendance at the regular church services by church members received a strong rebuke. Vital religion locally he felt to be at low ebb.
December 1, 1915
60 YEARS AGO
Additions to the photographic collection, one of the National Baseball Museum’s most important treasures, include rare panoramic views of Pittsburgh and Washington ballparks and thirty photographs of historic baseball from the collection of J.W. Fitzgerald of St. Petersburg, Florida. At Tom Meany’s home library in Brooklyn, the widow of the baseball writer turned over 30 photographs to museum director Ken Smith, along with a number of books.
December 1, 1965
35 YEARS AGO
Ken Burns, who was responsible for the highly acclaimed 11-hour Civil War documentary recently aired on PBS Television, will present a lecture on his filming of that epic series at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, December 11, in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Grandstand Theatre. Burns will be in Cooperstown next week to continue research on his next endeavor, a television series about the history of baseball.
December 5, 1990
20 YEARS AGO
Cooperstown’s famous Men in Black—Jim Renckens, Don Raddatz and Hank Phillips—will once again narrate the annual Food Bank Fashion Show on Saturday, December 3, at Noon at the Otesaga Resort Hotel. The Food Bank supplies are low and with the high cost of gas and heating oil, we see a great need for the winter of 2006,” Jim Renckens said. “Our goal is $1,500.”
December 2, 2005
