Bound Volumes
January 29, 2026
135 YEARS AGO
Dr. Lynn Babcock of Norwich, known to many of our readers personally, and to others as a noted teacher of piano music and conductor of concerts, and as a dealer in musical instruments, belongs to a rare type of Americans. For years he has had no use of his lower limbs, and when he gets about, he moves only with the assistance of his body servant and a crutch; a sufferer from inflammatory rheumatism, he has not the free use of his arms and hands—and yet he still plays the piano with great skill and effect. In his condition, most men would retire from active life, and not a few would become despondent and taciturn. Not so with Dr. Babcock. Though now a man on the shady side of 50, he is full of energy and activity; is ever cheerful and entertaining, is a living rebuke to complainers and grumblers and doubtless, though unknown to himself, is an encouragement to other men of sound health and more favored in their ability to get about.
January 30, 1891
110 YEARS AGO
Blake Norton, 26 years of age, who has been employed as a carpenter in Cooperstown for several years has confessed to setting fire to the John F. Brady & Company lumber mill on Grove Street, shortly before one o’clock Saturday morning. Norton was sentenced Saturday morning to 30 days in the county jail on a vagrancy charge by Justice Vanderwerker. When his sentence is completed he will be arrested on a charge of arson and held for the grand jury. On the morning of January 22, a fire was discovered in the lumber sheds of John F. Brady on Grove Street in this village by Mrs. E.I. King. She at once called her husband who procured several pails of water and succeeded in putting out the fire. Mr. Kimg, Mr. Brady and others then made a careful search about the premises and found tracks leading across a vacant lot to the residence of A.S. Potts and thence to Chestnut Street. Officer Southworth was notified and afterwards placed Blake Norton under arrest upon complaint of Henry Schneider who said Norton was attempting to get into his barn at 3 a.m. His shoes matched the tracks.
January 26, 1916
60 YEARS AGO
Fluoridation in the Courts—Over and over, the courts have held that fluoridation does not violate constitutional rights, is not “mass medication,” and does not violate religious or other fundamental freedoms. The courts have ruled that a reasonable relationship exists between fluoridation and public health and that the prevention of dental decay is a proper objective of community governments.
January 26, 1966
35 YEARS AGO
The CCS Redskins’ boys’ basketball squad clinched their seventh Center State Conference title in eight years with a 72-48 road victory over the Warriors of Morrisville-Eaton last Friday. The Redskins’ conference record is now 11-0 with games remaining against Sauquoit, Hamilton and Richfield Springs. The overall CCS record is now 16-1. That record includes two wins in the Utica Notre Dame Juggler Tourney over Brockport, 59-55 and Utica Notre Dame, 65-51.
January 30, 1991
20 YEARS AGO
A Love Letter to Our Library—We are the first to admit that we are unabashedly in love with Cooperstown’s Village Library. It is not just the stately building that sits so regally on Main Street. It is the big, heavy doors that lend even more import to the event of entering the library itself. It is the front porch and lawn that – like aging aunts and uncles – graciously permit children to climb and play on them during story time and ice cream socials.
January 27, 2006
