BOUND VOLUMES

February 18, 2021

200 YEARS AGO

Perjury – A fellow by the name of Herrrington was indicted and tried at the Court of General Sessions held in this Village (Cooperstown) on February 8, 1821, on the charge of Perjury, for having sworn in a vote for Governor at the last election, without possessing any freehold estate. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years hard labor in the State Prison. Thus, one man at least, has paid dear for the attempt to make Mr. Tompkins Governor.

February 19, 1821

175 YEARS AGO

Photographic Miniatures – We have nowhere else seen such fine specimens of this art at the room of Mr. Evans, at Lewis’s Tavern, in this place (Cooperstown), and we advise those who may desire to obtain an exact likeness of themselves, finished most skillfully and beautifully, at reasonable cost, to call and test the ability of the artist, who is attentive and gentlemanly in his deportment. (Ed. Note: In the social argot of 1846, the phrase “attentive and gentlemanly in his deportment” was intended to reassure women and children as well as their menfolk that Mr. Lewis posed no threat and that their usual male escorts were welcome but not required.)
The late, severe snowstorm extended from Buffalo to Washington City. Here the snow is two feet deep on a level and it snows and blows most chillingly. The Poor – may they be sympathized with in such an emergency by those in better condition of life!

February 21, 1846

150 Years Ago

Public Lecture – Bowne Hall, Friday Evening, February 17, 7:30 o’clock p.m. – A good lecture on a good subject for a good object. On Friday evening next, the Rev. E. Huntington Saunders will deliver his lecture on Joan of Arc which was very favorably received in Brooklyn and other places. The proceeds will be used to aid in the purchase of a bell for a little church in West Burlington, of which Mr. Saunders is the pastor. As public lectures have been few and far between in our village for the past two winters, we hope our citizens will so far appreciate this opportunity as to give a full house on this occasion. Tickets 25 cents to be had of Kent Jarvis. F.L. Palmer, First National Bank, and at the door. Give him a full house.

February 16, 1871

125 Years Ago

The water-back in the cooking range at the residence of Waterman Willis on upper Main Street in this Village exploded with great force on Monday morning of this week as a result of the water pipes being frozen and then a fire lighted without that fact being discovered. It made things lively for the family for a time as the stove was wrecked and the floor set on fire. Breakfast was considerably delayed.
Rum flowed free in Coopers-town from Saturday till Tuesday evening when the polls closed. Who furnished it? One thing is certain. The Whiskey vote was not cast for the Democratic ticket.

February 20, 1896

75 Years Ago

Telephones serving 8,100 farmers and other rural residents were connected with New York Telephone Company switchboards during 1945, according to D.F. Parce, manager of the company’s Oneonta area office. Mr. Parce says the company’s aim is to bring to the rural areas much the same quality of service as provided in the cities. Across the state some 81,000 customers in rural areas now have modern types of telephone instruments and replacement of the remaining hand-crank instruments is definitely scheduled. In New York State the network of telephone pole lines is so extensive that 90 percent of the rural homes now without service can be connected without pole-line construction cost to the applicants.

February 20, 1946

50 YEARS AGO

Sledding Accident Injures Youngster – Hugh Davis, 11-year-old son of Dr. and Mrs. John S. Davis of 10 Pine Boulevard, suffered slight injuries Tuesday afternoon of last week in a sledding accident. He coasted down a driveway and into the street near his home and into a car being driven along Pine Boulevard by C.R. Jones of Cooperstown, R.D. 3. He was taken to the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital by the Cooperstown Emergency Squad and treated for cuts and bruises before being released. Police Chief Walter Gutman investigated.
Jack O’Brien, the syndicated writer whose column appears in hundreds of newspapers all over the country had some nice things to say about the Cooperstown Playhouse’s Jo Ann Miller last week. “Hear tell an upstate gal named Jo Ann Miller is true star stuff (she played the Playboy Club in New York last week). But, she can’t be bothered with the total touring rat race because she owns her own theater. (The Cooperstown Playhouse is in that Baseball Hall of Fame Town) plus the Act IV Restaurant next door where she also entertains after the theater. Jo Ann writes her own revues, choreographs, stages, is lead comedienne and does the solo spot; sweeps up too.”

February 17, 1971

25 YEARS AGO

Thirtieth Winter Carnival Goes National – For two weekends in February Cooperstown gears up for and enjoys the Winter Carnival which has lately become a nationally known event. Both the St. Petersburg Times and Arizona Republic in Phoenix ran articles about the Winter Carnival. Both articles focused on Gerald Ellsworth. Said the Times: “Residents of Cooperstown, N.Y., baseball’s Hall of Fame shrine annually stage outdoor festivities this time of year to combat cabin fever. There will be a snow sculpture on Main Street, skating, skiing, a softball game and the village tour, led
by historian Gerald Ellsworth, who dons shorts for the walk no matter how cold the air or deep the snow.”

February 18, 1996

10 YEARS AGO

Natural gas drilling poses “a direct and material threat” to Otsego County’s business community, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce has declared. Also released was a list of 300 entities, including 200 upstate businesses, that have joined the Chamber in expressing their opposition. “Industrial-scale hydro-fracking in the region will irreparably damage the essential qualities that make the Cooperstown area an excellent place to live, raise families, farm and work and puts at risk much of the local economy” the statement reads.

February 17, 2011