BOUND VOLUMES
Feb. 20, 2020
200 YEARS AGO
Excerpt from the Augusta, Georgia Chronicle, February 1, 1820 reprinted with the following introduction: “A Horrible Punishment” Who can read it and believe that such horrible cruelties are practiced in this land of freedom and civilization! The heart sickens at the recital! ‘Oh Slavery! Thou art the curse of heaven!” Execution – on Friday last, two Negro men, named Ephraim and Sam, were executed in conformity to their sentence for the murder of their master, Mr. Thomas Hancock, of Edgefield District, South Carolina. Sam was burnt and Ephraim hung, and his head severed from his body and publicly exposed. The burning of malefactors is a punishment only resorted to when absolute necessity demands a signal example. It must be a horrid and appalling sight to see a human being consigned to the flames. The circumstances attending the crime for which these miserable beings have suffered, were of a nature so aggravated, as imperiously demanded the terrible punishment which has been inflicted upon them.
February 21, 1820
175 YEARS AGO
Letters from Washington mention that President Tyler had withdrawn from the Senate the name of Chancellor Walworth for the vacant seat on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court, occasioned by the death of Judge Thompson of this State, and sent in that of Chief Justice Nelson, whose nomination it was confidently believed would be confirmed by the Senate. We had not supposed that objection to Judge Nelson would be taken from any quarter whatever, and was therefore surprised to find the Whig letter writers from Washington attempting to deprecate him in the public mind. His character is too elevated and his motives of action too pure, to be stained by the aspersions of political opponents at the Capitol or elsewhere.
February 17, 1845
150 YEARS AGO
Local: Efforts have been made to divide different counties and to remove county seats at about every legislature for the past 25 years. In some cases, strong and vigorous efforts, backed up by ample resources, have been made, and yet in all that time not a single county in the State has been divided. In but one case has a county seat been changed. An attempt to divide old Otsego, or to remove the county seat, would signally fail.
Advertisement: The Best – The Davis Sewing Machine now on exhibition and trial in the parlor of the Empire House, wins friends rapidly among all persons who have had experience with machines. Every family needs a sewing machine. In a large family, it pays for itself in a single year. The interest on $60 can be earned in a single week. Ladies are invited to call and examine this machine.
February 17, 1870
125 YEARS AGO
Local: The Opera “Mikado,” by Gilbert and Sullivan, will be given in Cooperstown on March 28, 29 and 30
under the personal direction of Mr. and Mrs. Harry F. Dixie of New York in the interest of the Phinney Hose Co.
A strong cast and chorus of 40 voices has been secured. The elaborate Japanese costumes come direct from the city.
Someone started a report that the floor of the Presbyterian Church settled last week from the large congregations gathered there. The trustees have thoroughly investigated the matter and assert that there is no foundation whatever for the report. The floor of the church rests upon the most solid foundation.
February 21, 1895
100 YEARS AGO
Republican members of the House of Representatives have been doing little else but investigating the Democratic Administration since they took over the legislative part of the government last May 19 when the extra session convened. Conduct of the victorious war, why America startled the world by its overnight shipping achievements, and anything else that it was thought might furnish political capital was eagerly seized upon by an investigative committee. The Democrats now propose to bring these committees to book and force them to confess officially how much of Uncle Sam’s money has been spent in chasing the elusive rumors. An investigation of the Shipping Board and the War Department from May 19 to July 1, 1919 makes it plain that these two committees alone have spent at least $150,000 in those six weeks. It is estimated that when all of the receipts are gathered the cost to the American public to satisfy Republican curiosity will closely approach $1 million dollars.
February 18, 1920
50 YEARS AGO
Cooperstown Central School’s basketball team defeated Richfield Springs 54 to 48, February 6 in a Center State Conference game at Richfield Springs. Brothers Cliff and Carter Coleman took control of the backboards grabbing 27 caroms between them. Carter Coleman joined Chris Shockley as Cooperstown’s top scorers of the evening with sixteen points each. The win moved Cooperstown into second place in the Eastern Division of the Center State Conference.
The many friends of Charles A. “Skip” Coleman III, of Cooperstown, will be glad to know that he is continuing his basketball career even while serving in the U.S. Air Force at Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine. On his Wing team, Skip has been averaging 38 points per game, and as a member of the “Bombers,” the air base team, he is averaging 28 points per game. Skip graduated from Cooperstown Central School in 1968.
February 18, 1970
25 YEARS AGO
The Cooperstown High School boys’ hoop team closed out a 9 wins, 10 loss season with an 89-66 victory against Mohawk but will not be engaging in post-season action. Cooperstown Coach Dick White played all 12 members of his team in the game but it was the six active senior members who shined as they combined for most of the 89 points. Center Reid Nagelschmidt led the senior offensive barrage with 29 points and finished his varsity career with 1,065 points.
February 15, 1995
10 YEARS AGO
St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church was packed to honor all aspects of Stu Taugher’s life. His five daughters were pallbearers and participated in the service. Mayor Carol B. Waller praised his dedication of time to the village as mayor, as a village trustee and county representative – “something we give freely, something we cannot get back.”
February 18, 2010