BOUND VOLUMES

Jan. 16, 2020

200 YEARS AGO

Advertisement: Cloth Found, in Milford, in the road between the Village of Cooperstown and Oak’s Creek, on the 6th Inst., a roll of homemade WOOLEN CLOTH. The owner can have the same by applying to the Subscriber, or to B. Fitch, in Cooperstown, on proving property and paying charges. Simeon J. Clinton
Advertisement: Look to It! The subscriber having closed his business in this place, and will leave here on Monday, the 24th inst., it becomes necessary that those indebted to him should settle their Notes and the accounts before that time. Those that neglect this will be sued immediately. A.B. Shankland.

January 17, 1820

175 YEARS AGO

The writings of Dr. Scoresby, a scientific gentleman of England who recently traveled in America, are summarized: “There are certain general national characteristics of the native born American. Among these are pride, perhaps vain-glory, of the Americans in their country and institutions. This was naturally excited by the vast and inexhaustible resources of their country, and by their political constitution and civil institutions, under or in connection with which the masses feel such independency of action and realize such general respectability of condition. There is no country in the world in which the masses of the population are so raised above servile degradation – so independent of the control of the rich – so generally respectable in their condition, as in the northern continent of America. However, it would be but right to anticipate some future inquiry as to whether these are the pure results of a superior constitution, or whether they are results yielded by the riches of the country and the enterprise and talent of the people, in spite of an inferior form of government.”

January 20, 1845

150 YEARS AGO

Circuit Court – William Wheeler, indicted for arson in the Third Degree, for burning the barn of Hiram Barton in May, 1869, containing 26 head of cattle, and a large quantity of personal property was tried. The evidence was entirely circumstantial, but the chain of circumstances was so complete that the jury found the prisoner guilty, and the Court sentenced him to six and one-half years hard labor in State Prison – seven years being the limit of the law. The prisoner said he was about 30 years of age, a native of Hartwick and by occupation a farmer. District Attorney for the People; Lynes & Bowen for prisoner.

January 20, 1870

125 YEARS AGO

Obituary – Hiram Reed of this Town was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1816, and died at his home in Pierstown on January 14 in the seventy-ninth year of his age, after a brief illness. He did not marry until he was about sixty years of age. He has left a wife and four children in poor circumstances. Mr. Reed was a very industrious and hard-working man, who had earned the small farm on which he lived and about $1,500 in cash. The latter he loaned to a man who
formerly lived here, without security, and lost it – a misfortune which caused him further severe trouble and hardship. But he fought life’s battle like a brave man, and died respected by his circle of relatives and neighbors.

January 17, 1895

100 YEARS AGO

Purely Personal – Louis A. Pratt, formerly of Central Bridge, and recently of Milford arrived last week to take charge of his new property, the Pioneer Hotel, which he purchased from John Cronauer. Mr. Pratt is making ready to open the hotel about February 1. A great deal of renovation has been planned.
Mrs. William T. Hyde of Cooperstown, the County Agent for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was in Oneonta Friday accompanied by Dr. H.W. Tillson, the veterinary surgeon. During the afternoon, both attended the auction sale of horses at the stables of H.W. Sheldon. Mrs. Hyde said that the horses disposed of were quite uniformly in good condition and that there was little to correct.

January 14, 1920

50 YEARS AGO

Homemade cake with coffee will be the feature of the “dessert bridge” gathering sponsored by the Woman’s Club of Cooperstown on January 23, according to Mrs. F.H. Gardiner and Mrs. Ed Stevens, co-chairs of the food committee. This will be served at the tables at 8 p.m. Tickets for the Helen Hale Scholarship Fund benefit are available at Augurs Bookstore or from any of the following: Mrs. Harry Shepard, Mrs. Donal Wertheim, Mrs. Henry Troeger, Mrs. Frederick McGown, Mrs. Lyle Roberts, Mrs. Ann McDonough, Mrs. Wayne Willis, Mrs. Ed Stevens, Mrs. George Tillapaugh, Mrs. Bruce Buckley, Mrs. Raymond Sprague, or at the door. Tickets are $1. A telephone call to any member of the committee will reserve a table for you. The public is invited – both male and female.
In response to problems now facing our youth, the Cooperstown Parent-Teachers Association will sponsor a program on “The Problems of Drug Addiction” Wednesday evening at the high school at 8 p.m. in the cafeteria. Two narcotics educators, Miss Mary Dobeck and Walter Silver, both Associates in the Bureau of Professional Education, Narcotics Ad
diction Control Commission for the NYS Department of Health will offer a community action program to attack the problem.

January 14, 1970

25 YEARS AGO

Four Route 28 parcels and one downtown property have been acquired by the Clark Family Real Estate Investment Partnership through Charisma Partners II Realty Corporation. Edward Stack of the Clark Foundation said that the parcels include Newberry’s on Main Street in Cooperstown as well as properties with a trailer and a house near the Pepper Mill on Route 28, the parcel on which sits the Odbert car dealership and the space next to Wilber National Bank, formerly the Sperry car dealership. “The property is the gateway to Cooperstown and it is very important that the gateway be protected,” Stack said. All of the properties were acquired as long-term investments. “There are no plans to change them. They are still on the tax roll and they will be paying taxes on them,” Stack added. There had been reports that previous owners, the Bettiol Corporation, had planned to build a McDonald’s restaurant and convenience store on one of the Route 28 sites.

January 11, 1995

10 YEARS AGO

The Buffalo-based Tops Friendly Markets is bidding to buy bankrupt P&C’s remaining stores, although no decision on the fate of the Hartwick Seminary outlet has yet been revealed.
A Jan. 8 Tops’ press release announced that Penn Traffic, P&C’s parent company, had accepted its bid to acquire 79 stores and was awaiting U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval.
Employees at the local store say they’ve been told P&C will close the location Feb. 15 if no decision is forthcoming by then.

January 15, 2000