HOMETOWN HISTORY

Sept. 6, 2019

150 Years Ago
Brutal Outrage in Hartwick – A young Irishman, one James Kelley, was passing through the Village of Hartwick, on his way from Cherry Valley, where he had been
employed as a laborer to the Midland road. He had money with him, which was seen by several of the citizens, also a watch, razor, and tobacco. He was intoxicated, and soon fell among thieves. The village plug-uglies, who for years have held undisputed sway in that place, soon detected by professional scent, the game ahead, and no time was lost in securing the unfortunate fellow. He was induced, in his intoxicated state to visit the Lodge of Good Templars, assured that it was a brothel kept in the place. As a consequence, the victim was thrown down the stairs by members of the Lodge. He was enticed away by those having him in charge, and upon the four corners of the streets, in a clear moonlit night, he was garroted, his money, watch, razor and tobacco taken away from him, and the poor fellow left bleeding upon the ground. His hair was sheared from his head in a barbarous manner and he was left to seek refuge in an out building.
August 1869

125 Years Ago
Baseball English as she is wrote for the edification of the public is luridly picturesque. The other day, I went up to the Polo Grounds to a prettily played game and enjoyed it. Later, I glanced over a published account of the same game and found that my impressions of it, formed on the grounds, were entirely wrong. In the first place, players who were supposed to have family names hadn’t any such. In the paper, one was “Midget.” Another was “Spud.” There
was a “Fatty” with “Skeleton” to keep him company.
The first man who came to bat did not make a base hit.
He “walloped out a single.” The next batter did not do anything so tame. He got real demonic and “fungoed to center.” The centerfielder wasn’t a bit terrified either, “for he hugged the musty fly.” What I had taken for a three-base hit was nothing of the kind. It was worse than crying twins. It was a “whistling triplet.”
August 1894

80 Years Ago
The communities of Fort Plain and Cooperstown joined Saturday afternoon in observance of Alexander Cartwright Day on the Baseball Centennial All-Summer Program. The Centennials defeated the Fort Plain team at baseball on Doubleday Field 8-5. The program opened with a parade through Main Street to the field, headed by the Cooperstown band, augmented with musicians from Fort Plain. The $5 prize for the best costumes in the parade was won by the Red Men’s organization of Fort Plain. Little Mary VanDeusen of Portlandville won the second prize of $2.50, wearing a beaded Indian costume. A life-size photograph
of Alexander Cartwright was autographed by Cooperstown Village and Centennial officials and the participating ball teams. It will be returned to members of the Cartwright
family in the Hawaiian Islands. Ceremonies included a
10-minute pantomime in which America Russo, representing
Cartwright and five other young men, depicted the laying out of the dimensions of the playing diamond. Members of the two ball teams were decorated with floral leis sent to Cooperstown by the Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.
August 1939

60 Years Ago
Ruth Ray, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Mark S. M. Ray, 2 Walling Avenue, has been appointed as a special term missionary by the commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations of the United Presbyterian Church. She has been assigned to the American College for Girls in Cairo, Egypt, where she will teach music. This instruction includes violin, voice, theory and appreciation, general music classes and choir. The school consists of study from the first grade through the second year of college. Nine tenths of the student body of more than 1,000 are Egyptians. About one-third are Christians, while the remaining students are Muslims. Fourteen of the teachers in the school are Americans. The college was founded by the United Presbyterian Church in 1910 and since then has aided in the education of upper class Egyptian women who include the daughters of royal parents, cabinet ministers and foreign ambassadors.
August 1959

40 Years Ago
Latches have been removed from refrigerators behind Dundam’s Furniture on Chestnut Street following an inspection according to City of Oneonta engineering aide Bruno Bruni. City enforcement officials checked the site recently to find most of the machines were tied shut with string, a closing that would not meet with safety regulations if the locks were still in place. When re-checked, officials verified that the locks had been removed. John Dundam said the refrigerators are stored temporarily in back of his store while waiting for repairs or to be junked.
August 1979

20 Years Ago
Although formal campaigning is banned at the New York State Fair, elected leaders from the governor down to local lawmakers have become a common sight strolling the fairgrounds over the years. Governor George Pataki extended that tradition again this year when he helped officially open the 1999 fair on Thursday. He was joined by more than two dozen state, county and local elected office holders – even a few Democrats – looking for a chance to be seen and heard
by the public. “I don’t think people go to the fair to see politicians. But I do think the public has come to expect that politicians come to the Fair,” said Tom Young, the State Fair’s Director for a decade and a two-term Mayor of Syracuse.
August 1999

10 Years Ago
The start of classes at Hartwick College on Tuesday, Sept. 8, will mark the beginning of its “Three-Year
Bachelor’s Degree Program” option that has won nationwide attention and interest, saving participants $40,000
on a college education.
September 2009