HOMETOWN HISTORY

October 29, 2020

150 Years Ago

Railroad Items – D.M. Greene chief engineer of the Troy & Susquehanna road, and C.W. Wentz, chief engineer of the Albany & Susquehanna road, were thrown from a carriage near Albany one day last week. Mr. Wentz
sustained severe injuries.
Shaul & Curtis will open a new livery establishment in this village in a short time with horses and rigs fully up to the times. Shaul and Curtis have also rented the new store in the Fritts building adjoining Pardee and Coats and will open trade in tea, coffee and spices in a few weeks.
The Oneonta Creamery closed operations for the season last Saturday, having made an entire success. Its butter is all sold at 45 cents. Next year, with enlarged facilities and the benefit of experience, it is safe to predict for it a large and prosperous business.

October 1870

125 Years Ago

A woman who said her name was Schermerhorn, once known in Oneonta as Coombs, was arrested on Saturday and charged with sending a blackmailing letter to A.O. Lewis. She waived examination and was sent to the jail in Cooperstown to await the action of the grand jury.Grand Jurors appointed from Oneonta for the current term are James B. Galer, Charles D. Dyer and John Wells. Trial Jurors called from Oneonta are R.W. Miller, W.S. Fleming, Morris Ackley, S.B. Gardner, Wm. B. Stanton, William Edmunds, Dewitt Bowen, George Crawford, Delos Hodge and Benjamin Janes.
Engineer Seybolt of Oneonta has been in Cooperstown surveying a proposed new line for the lakefront sewer.

October 1895

80 Years Ago

Oneonta area men whose draft numbers were drawn in the past week are: Donald L. Miller, 40 Fair Street, Oneonta; Charles L. Cox, 5 Knapp Street, Oneonta; Charles G. Byrne, Unadilla; Stanley B. Sherman, Milford; Oscar E. Pierce, Worcester; Wilfred H. Washburn, Unadilla; Roland E. Cole, Sidney; and Byrl Montgomery, Otego. There are 4,881 men between the ages of 21 and 35 registered for the first peace-time draft from Otsego County in the history of the nation.Eight Eagle Awards will be presented by the Rev. Walter A. Miller of Westville at the annual dinner and meeting of the Otschodela Boy Scout Council to be held at the Elk’s Club in Oneonta on November 13. Dr. Elbert K. Fretwell, Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and a member of the executive board of the National Council, Boy Scouts of America, will be the guest speaker. Dr. Fretwell is noted for his work in the field of extra-curricular activities based on surveys he conducted in the boys’ high schools in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

October 1940

60 Years Ago

Fire swept through the Vale Vista Restaurant in Maryland early Monday leaving a loss estimated at $40,000. The roadhouse, replete with bar, grill and dance hall, was situated on Route 7 in the Town of Maryland. Fire Chief Charles E. Scofield of Schenevus said flames were discovered about 4:40 o’clock Monday morning by a truck driver. Firemen from four communities were handicapped by lack of water in their efforts to save the structure.
The establishment, operated for the last several years by Jack Munson, had closed about two o’clock. The cause of the blaze has not been determined. The Otsego County Mutual Aid Radio System at Oneonta was used to obtain assistance from Worcester, Westford and Oneonta. Oneonta dispatched apparatus and a crew headed by Assistant Chief Kenneth Hook. The flames threatened Mr. Munson’s bungalow home situated some 50 feet away from the roadhouse.

October 1960

40 Years Ago

At a budget forming session of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, the Department of Forestry and Parks was abolished as of January 1, 1981 by a 9-5 vote. The department had originally requested $125,000 for the 1981-1982 fiscal year. Some money will be budgeted for forestry and parks into the highway department’s budget so that the latter department may maintain county land. With the abolition of this department six people will lose their jobs according to Douglas P. Blakelock, the Forestry and Parks Department administrator. Mr. Blakelock said he felt the highway department could not do the job of his department. “I went to college for four years to become a forester. Just because you can cut down a tree doesn’t mean you’re a forester,” he said. Otsego County owns more than 3,300 acres of land and earned more than $30,000 in sales of forestry products along with a $5,000 subsidy from the federal government. “We need a trained forester to go in and tell people what trees can be taken. We also need a knowledgeable person to decide what needs to be replanted, when and where. With all due respect, no one in the highway department is qualified,” said Mr. Blakelock.

October 1980

20 Years Ago

More than 30 graduate and professional schools will participate in the graduate and professional school fair on Monday, October 30, from 1-3 p.m. in the Chase Gym on the SUNY-Oneonta campus. The event is sponsored by the college’s Career Development Center and is designed to help students plan for graduate and professional school. Community members are welcome to attend. There is no charge for admission. Law schools, medical schools, and various professional schools will have representatives on hand. Colleges and universities in the northeast region are expected and six SUNY colleges and two SUNY university centers will be on hand.

October 2000

10 Years Ago

Editorial Excerpts: You often hear it said: “Elections are about tomorrow – not yesterday.” That’s what Republicans, Democrats, Independent voters and anyone interested in how the political system can help Otsego County should be thinking about as we go to the polls on Tuesday next. Absent some miracle, it appears likely now that Andrew Cuomo, son of Mario, the current New York State Attorney General and the Democratic standard-bearer,
will be elected Governor. One important plank in his platform has been the declaration that he will take redistricting away from elected officials and give the line-drawing to a non-partisan panel. This is a critical, good-government reform, tested and proved in Iowa, which has been doing it that way for two decades. It is critical now, since with the 2010 Census completion, state legislatures will begin redrawing Congressional, State Senate and State Assembly districts next year.

October 2010