HOMETOWN HISTORY

September 17, 2020

150 Years Ago

Real Estate is unusually active in our village, and many houses are in progress and under contract. Oneonta is to be a railroad center, business is lively, and lots can be had at reasonable rates. We are to have the central round-house and repair shops of the A. & S. R.R., and probably their car and general machine works, all of which indicate growth of population and great increase of business.
On Thursday night last, a horse belonging to John Gifford was run over and killed by the 11 p.m. train from Albany. The engine was thrown from the track. It must be that the fences are in a poor condition as this is the fourth or fifth time accidents of this kind have taken place within a year. The horse was valued at $200.

September 1870

125 Years Ago

For the Ladies: Mrs. Booth’s “New Woman” – My new woman is a womanly woman. She is not that peculiar perverted, revolting creature in mannish dress, with coarse manners and sacrilegious ideas of the sacred ties of wifehood and motherhood. This creature must be set aside. You must not exhibit her as the “New Woman.” She lacks the sacred, powerful, yet tender traits of woman. She would imitate man and at the same time trample him under her feet. Men watch her and turn from her with scorn. We women look into her face and shun her with shame. She belittles man and tells her so-called weaker sister that she is going forth to emancipate her sex and crush man beneath the wheels of her chariot. We say to her we don’t want such emancipation. The true new woman should raise herself to the highest level. Rise to man’s side, and to him to raise himself to be a nobler and truer man.

September 1895

100 Years Ago

The Assembly of the New York State Legislature tonight, by a vote of 90 to 45 expelled three of five Socialist members – Louis Waldman and August Claessens of New York City and Charles Solomon of Kings. Then, by a vote of 87 to 48, Samuel A. DeWitt and Samuel Orr, Socialist members from the Bronx, were permitted to retain their seats. However, DeWitt and Orr took the floor in turn and verbally tendered their resignations after a vote to reinstate Waldman had been lost, 81 to 52. The resolution calling for the expulsion of the five Socialists was introduced by Colonel Ransom Gillett, Republican of Columbia County. The five Socialists took part in the debate and each declared that he had come to the extraordinary session to serve the people in helping to solve or remedy the housing situation and not to make application or defense of the Socialist Party. They characterized the proceedings as un-American.

September 1920

60 Years Ago

Duffy Mohar of Oneonta scored the third hole-in-one of the season on the Cooperstown Country Club course Saturday afternoon while playing in a threesome with Marshall Naumann and Mel Abbott. Mohar used a No. 3 iron to ace the 206-yard third hole, the second time this has been done by a player since the hole was changed at the beginning of this season. CCC pro Ed Kroll fired the initial ace on the new third hole earlier this season. During the summer John Goddard shot a hole-in-one on the 196-yard ninth hole.

September 1960

40 Years Ago

A recently completed national survey, conducted for the national commission on Social Security shows that most people know quite a bit about the protections offered by Social Security. Most people know that benefits are related to previous earnings. A majority know that benefits are not intended to be a full replacement of previous earnings, but rather a base upon which to build additional retirement income. About 75 percent know that social security benefits are not based on need, but rather on rights spelled out in the law. Many also are aware that social security pays disability and survivor benefits in addition to survivor benefits. About two out of three know that current social security taxes are used to pay benefits to people now on the rolls. Many Americans are concerned about the ability of the program to pay future benefits at levels now authorized. However, one in four of those surveyed said current social security taxes are too high. When asked to choose between higher social security taxes and lower future retirement benefits, six out of ten surveyed chose higher taxes and raising the retirement age.

September 1980

20 Years Ago

Memory Walks coordinated by the Leatherstocking branch of the Alzheimer’s Association are planned to raise funds to support services for local people, raise public awareness, and provide support for research efforts. Wilber National Bank, Inc. and the Wal-Mart Store of Oneonta have been named as major sponsors of Memory Walk 2000 in Oneonta on Saturday, September 23. Each will contribute at least $1,000 to the cause. Corporate patrons providing a minimum of $500 include Bassett Healthcare and WDOS/WSRK. Other supporters include: A.O. Fox Hospital, Price Chopper, Hampshire House, Otsego Automotive, Country Club Chevrolet, SUNY Oneonta Student Organization, Holiday Inn of Oneonta, Sidney Federal Credit Union, Mirabito Fuel Group, Pickett Building Supplies and the Powell Company, and others.

September 2000

10 Years Ago

“Why Margaret Fuller Matters” an exhibit celebrating the Transcendentalist and early supporter of women’s rights in the bicentennial of her birth will be on display September 19 to 30 in the Chapin Memorial sanctuary of the Unitarian-Universalist Church. The national traveling display was designed by historian, author and graphic designer Bonnie Hurd Smith. Margaret Fuller’s short life (1810–1850) was intertwined with some of the 19th century’s most well-known figures. She taught at Bronson Alcott’s School and worked for Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune. Along with Emerson and Thoreau, she was a major thinker in Transcendentalism. Fuller was a leader in women’s rights and considered the most well-read person in the country during her lifetime. Susan B. Anthony and Walt Whitman each considered her a major influence on their lives.
Dr. Lisle Dalton, professor of religious studies at Hartwick College will speak on Margaret Fuller at 7 p.m. on September 22. On September 26, Rev. Craig Schwalenberg’s reflection will be titled “Transcendentalism’s First Lady.”

September 2010