BOUND VOLUMES, December 19, 2013
200 YEARS AGO
Advertisement: Information Wanted – On Monday, the 13th inst. Luther Gains left his home near the Union Cotton Factory, in Hartwick, to transact some little business in Cooperstown, and has not since been heard of; the anxiety of his family at his absence is therefore very great. He is about 46 years of age, of a light complexion, and has a large mole on his left cheek; he wore away a black suit of clothes, and a dark brown great coat. Having lately worked at the coloring business, his hands are much colored with blue dye. Whoever will give information where the said Gains may be found, or the cause of his absence, will confer a lasting obligation on his distressed family. Benoni Gains. Printers in this state will please to give the above one insertion in their papers.
December 18, 1813
150 YEARS AGO
In his message of 1862, President Lincoln presented for the consideration of Congress a grand colonization scheme, which proposed to send laborers out of a country where they are so much needed. In his present message, the President recommends the adoption of some measure to encourage the influx of white laborers. Congress voted money, and Mr. Lincoln invited the free Negroes of the country to leave. But it appears they do not wish to go. Who can blame them? They have a good home and considerable influence with the Administration. So they are determined to stay in the country. The Secretary of the Interior informs the President in his recent report: “I am unable to report any greater disposition, generally, among the colored persons, for whose colonization provision was made by certain recent acts of Congress, to emigrate, than had been exhibited at the time of your last annual message.” Thus, it appears that Mr. Lincoln’s grand Negro colonization scheme, which cost the Treasury a round sum of money, is a failure.
December 18, 1863
125 YEARS AGO
Personal: Miss Mary B.W. Steere has resigned the position of organist of the Presbyterian Church of this village. Miss Steere is an excellent musician and as an organist has few equals. The society accepts the resignation with regret. Miss Emma Russell has been appointed organist in her stead; she has had some practice in Christ Church and bids fair to excel in the position.
December 21, 1888
100 YEARS AGO
The physicians in attendance upon Mrs. Margaret Cunningham, the aged lady who was so severely burned December 1st by falling upon the kitchen stove, have decided to resort to a skin-grafting operation should Mrs. Cunningham recover sufficiently from the effects of the accident to warrant that measure being taken. The back is so badly burned in two places that skin-grafting is believed by Dr. M.I. Bassett to be the only means by which the wounds can be induced to heal. When she arose in the morning of December 1st and went into the kitchen, in some manner unknown, she fell against the stove. It was supposed that she may have been overcome by coal gas, there being a strong odor of the gas in the house. She was found by neighbors sometime later.
December 17, 1913
50 YEARS AGO
The Cooperstown Pistol Team is tied for first place in the Schoharie County Rifle and Pistol League, having defeated Richfield Springs 1,043 to 1,035 last week. Cooperstown and Richfield Springs both have lost two of their 11 matches. The scores from the match at Richfield for Cooperstown: L. Boyd, 265; C. Talbot, 265; R. Davidson, 259; J. Mayne, 254. Scores for Richfield Springs: R. Dutton, 279; M. Smith, 255; D. Urtz, 252; and Sweet, 249.
December 16, 1963
25 YEARS AGO
Paul Fenimore Cooper, Jr. of Cooperstown, a physicist who was also an expert on the Arctic, died suddenly on Lord Howe Island, Australia, Friday, December 16, 1988 at the age of 58. A great-great-grandson of James Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, Mr. Cooper graduated summa cum laude from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1948 and from Harvard College in 1952, majoring in both Physics and Greek. He was awarded a Doctorate in Physics at Harvard in 1958 and for many years worked with the Harvard Synchroton, which he had helped to build.
December 21, 1988
10 YEARS AGO
The Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society will hold its annual Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 20. The event is one of nearly 2,000 similar counts throughout the Americas. These counts stand as the largest body of ornithological information in existence. Participants will cover an area 15 miles in diameter.
December 19, 2003