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Tally-Ho 2008
Return to the New Hartford Historical Society Home Page
2008 Issues
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April2008
March 2008
Table of Contents
December Meeting
Christmas Traditions
Contributions
Remember
Eastman Home
Girls Of The Home School
John Law Glances Back Over 90 Active Years
New Hartford High School Has Two Veterans on Rolls
Welcome New Members
Humor
Sunday, December 7 1 P.M.
Adult Dining and Activity Center
Sherman St.., New Hartford
This meeting will be in the form of a covered dish luncheon. Bring your favorite dish to pass. and your own place setting. Beverage and cookies will be provided. A can or two for the Food Bank is also always appreciated, especially this year. A pleasant social affair will follow where we can relax, and perhaps share Christmas memories. What an excellent time to bring a friend to introduce to the New Hartford Historical Society.
It is interesting to note the meaning behind some of our Christmas traditions.
Do you believe that Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 because Jesus was born on that day? Not so. Celebrating Christmas on December 25th originated in the fourth century by the Catholic Church. The Church wanted to compete with the pagan celebration of solstice and the birth of their sun god, Mithras. The actual birth date of Christ is unknown.
Martin Luther was responsible for the custom of decorating an evergreen tree. Legend has it that he took a walk in the woods and saw a tall evergreen with stars twinkling through its branches. He cut down a small tree, took it home, and decorated it with candles to emulate the stars. This was in the 16th century. German emigrants brought the tradition to America.
Mistletoe was used by the Druids to celebrate the coming of winter some 200 years before the birth of Christ. They believed the plant had special healing powers. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe comes from a pagan fertility rite.
The tradition of Santa Claus goes back to 280 AD when a man named Nicholas was born in Turkey. He was orphaned at 13 when a plague killed his parents. He became an ordained priest at age 19 and went on to become the Bishop of Myra. One legend tells that he heard about a merchant who had three daughters but no dowries for them to be able to marry. The man was so desperate he considered sending them into slavery. Nicholas heard about this man’s plight and secretly dropped a bag of gold down their chimney. Some of the coins landed in stocking hanging by the fire to dry. At his death in 340 AD Nicholas was declared a saint and became the patron saint of sailors, merchants, maidens and children. Children who heard the story started hanging stocking by the chimney hoping that St. Nicholas would drop gold into them.
In Holland St. Nicholas was called Sinter Klass and that is where the name Santa Claus originated. Dutch children leave shoes outside their door to be filled with sweets on Christmas eve.
What we all should remember however is this —Jesus is the reason for the season.
The following is a list of donors and the articles that they contributed in 2008.
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The New Hartford Historical Society is very grateful for these items and for people who take the time to bring or send them to us. This is how we record history.
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In 1909 an article appeared in a Utica paper called “Girls of the Home School” The following are excerpts from that very interesting account.
GIRLS OF THE HOME SCHOOL
June 14, 1909 New Hartford
A very delightful banquet and reunion was held in New Hartford Saturday afternoon. The former pupils of “The New Hartford Home School” residing in the vicinity arranged the meeting. The officers for the day were : Mrs. Annie Kellogg McIntyre; Miss Lettie Cook; and Mrs. Genevieve Gough. The chapel of the Presbyterian Church was beautifully decorated for the occasion. At 1:30 Miss Nana Toll, one of the former principals, called the roll of all former members. Thirty-six responded. An historical address followed:
“So quiet, so uneventful was the life of the New Hartford Home School that it might almost be said to have no history. Yet this school had a mission. Established in 1876; discontinued in 1883, the work was accomplished with little friction. Day after day we followed the routine of school work, so quietly that there was little friction. I remember that one day a visitor passing through the hall said, ‘Do you tell me there is a school here and that school work is going on in these rooms?’
It was in our national centennial year that the school, which began life in Vernona, N.Y. was transplanted to New Hartford. I recall that morning late in August when we toiled up the hill (Ed. 55 Paris Road) from the horse car-how antiquated that expression sounds now. We sat upon the veranda to rest and enjoy the beauty of the wide landscape. In the valley below lay the village, and farther off towered the chimneys of the factory towns. For a few days we lived in the bustle of settling. Then the girls who had been with us in Verona gathered under the strange roof—Merrie Barr, May Stoddard, Nettle Wilmarth, Carrie Starr and Anna and May Williamson. On a September morning we waited for the day pupils, not knowing whether or not any would come. Presently Ida Cheney and Della and Jennie Cloyes came up the hill. Others followed, and the Home School of New Hartford was established.
After two years the school was moved to the Golden Point. In 1879, Mrs. Sherrill became associated with the school as teacher of music, and a year latter Miss Fredericks came to us as English assistant. Still later Miss Dodge, now Mr. H.T, Jackson, took charge of the drawing and painting department. In 1883 in the midst of great prosperity the school was closed to reopen at Verona where it continued to flourish for many years. “
Miss Toll, as necrologist, read the list of silent members: “ Nettie Wilmarth, sweet and gentle Nellie, was the first to leave us. She was ill when she came to New Hartford and did not return for the second year and soon passed away. Jessie Gale, slowly faded and passed out of our sight. Julia Dunbar, loyal in her loves, shy as a wind flower, after a year or two of teaching in her home town, dropped out of life. Minnie Jones, the sweet singer. Happiness in her voice and in her face went away after a long trying illness. Minnie Webber, self reliant, gave her life in service. Lizzie Hatfield, true hearted and faithful. Lizzie House, cautious but firm in her friendships. Dear little Emma Winship. Emma Cloyes, earnest student giving promise of great usefulness. Sunny hearted Celia Sherrill, talented, cultured, years of hard study fitted for her life work, suddenly called to lay it down, to suffer, to linger long on the border land then to slip quietly away. Our sister Addie—beloved of all, was called suddenly in the midst of activity. Laura and Jessie Allanson followed each other through that doorway that never opens to give us who stay this side, even a glimpse of the beyond. Our mother, patient and wide counselor; the dear father, who looked after the interests of everybody and helped everybody. One other—that one the friend and pastor of many of you, the one who baptized some of you, and received you into the fellowship of the church, that man of many gifts, Dr. I.N. Terry.
These have all gone out of our sight.”
A banquet followed. Miss Wilcox, harpist, played softly during the service.
This building (shown in process of being torn down) housed the Home School for Girls after they moved from 55 Paris Road. It was called the Golden Point. In 1902 the Point School was built on this site..
From a Jan. 4, 1948 edition of the Utica Observer Dispatch
JOHN LAW GLANCES BACK OVER 90 ACTIVE YEARS.
Dean of Citizens of New Hartford, John M. Law, 7 1/2 Paris Road, is observing his 90th birthday today. As he walks about the village which he adopted for his own 57 years ago, he can see the evidences of his life work.
The Law Block built in 1911, stands as one of his achievements.
Law was born in Vernon, Jan. 4, 1858, a son of the late William and Mary Copping Law who had come from Kent, England. As a young man, Law went into the cattle-buying business. He delivered meat from Vernon Center to Clinton and to Hamilton college.
On his 25th birthday, he married Alice Vann, Clinton. She died in 1922. There were three children, a girl and two boys, Gertrude, who is Mrs. Marcus Failing, and J. Fred Law, Utica, and Vann R. Law, New Harford. Law remarried. His second wife is Emma Pexton Bowen Law, formerly of Herkimer.
When he came to New Hartford in 1890 Law continued in the meat business. He was associated with Theodore Dixon, later with Frank Lonsdale; and finally he conducted his own store. He retired several years ago.
Law was a trustee of the village board for many year. Mayor Eldred finds him interested in everything pertaining to village affairs today, as he was during his trusteeship. At present he is a director of the Middle Settlement Cemetery Association. Law has two hobbies—one for summer, one for winter. His garden keeps him busy out of doors. Furniture refinishing keeps him busy in the winter. He has collected many fine pieces of furniture. One of his chief pleasures is to drive to his camp on Long Lake.
Law attends the New Hartford Methodist Church and is a member of Amicable Lodge. His children, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren will be with him today for the quiet birthday observance in his home.
B. Frank Londale and John M. Law in front of Central Market which was located at 37 Genesee Street. We know that in 1899 John lived at 2 Pearl St.
NEW HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL HAS TWO VETERANS ON ROLLS
(from a 1946 O.D. article)
New
Hartford High School is proud of its two returned servicemen. Their
modest demeanors give no inkling of their experiences or of the records
they piled up for themselves.
Former Lt. Myron Brewster was graduated in 1942, and since then has spent three years in the Army Air Corps. While overseas he was acting squadron bombardier, and has 21 complete missions over Europe to his credit. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf clusters, the European Theater Ribbon with five battle stars, and the Presidential Unit Citation with an Oak Leaf cluster. While in the army, Myke traveled through the Middle-West, the South, and the West as far as Utah. He spent a year in England during which time he saw most of England, Scotland, and Wales.
Myke re-entered New Hartford High School as a post-graduate student and has been studying trigonometry, physics, English 4 and typing. He now plans to enter Clarkson in the Fall and study to be an electrical engineer.
Before going into the Army, he was very active in Scouts, and since his return he has been made scout master of Troop 52. He enjoys all sports, especially track and baseball, and he is nearly always seen at the basketball games “rooting” for the home team. Hunting and photography rate high on his list of hobbies.
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Lawrence Lockwood is also the only married man in school.
He was born and brought up in Utica and vicinity and attended Whitesboro School. He entered the Navy in June 1943. Upon completing his boot training at Sampson, he went to the Naval Air Station at Quonset Point, R.I. He was assigned as aviation machinist's mate, third class, to the carrier WASP. They went to South American on their shake-down cruise.
The WASP then went to San Diego, and from there to Hawaii. Assigned to the Third Fleet and Task Force 58, Lockwood went to the Marshalls, Wake, and Midway, and took part in attacks on the Mariannas.
In February 1945 the WASP took part in attacks in the South China Sea, the attacks being on Cameron Bay, Hong Kong, and Formosa. Planes form the WASP were among the first planes to hit Tokyo, In Feb. 1945. Then they took part in attacks on Okinawa and Iwo Jima. On Mar. 18, the WASP was hit just off the island of Kyushu. This was the same day that the carrier Franklin was hit.
Lockwood is the proud possessor of three campaign ribbons and 10 battle stars. One souvenir which he picked up was some Japanese papers from the airfield on Saipan, which were given him by his pilot, who made one of the first landings there.
July 22, 1945, Lawrence married Irene Sweet, who is teaching in Clayville. They live in an apartment on Pearl St. When he finished school he hopes to find a good job, preferably as a salesman.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
Lou Parrotta—Utica
Elizabeth Pattengill—N. Hartford
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, “You should do it because you get up first, and then we don’t have to wait as long to get our coffee”
The husband said, “You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee.” Wife replies, “No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee”
Husband replies, “I can’t believe that. Show me!” So she fetched the Bible and opened to the New Testament and showed him at the tope of several pages, that it indeed says “HEBREWS”
Table of Contents
November Program
Rafting On The Sauquoit
Kenotin Dairy Property
Sold
Welcome New Members
Albert S. Terry
They’ve Tilled Good Earth A
Century
History Day Was A Success
About Mary Chapin
Rhoads Hospital
Thanksgiving Cards
Humor
COMBINED MEETING WITH THE CLINTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Thursday, November 13
7:00 P.M.
St. Thomas Church Community Room
150 Clinton Street, New Hartford, NY
Mary Chapin, Presenter
“Roscoe Conkling Takes on Women's Rights With Susan B. Anthony”
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Mary Chapin as Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906
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| Roscoe Conkling, born October 30, 1829 in Albany, NY He was District Attorney for Oneida Co. in 1850, Mayor of Utica 1858. He served with the United States Senate from 1867 to 1881. Died in New York City on April 18, 1888. He is interred in Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica | |
| Susan B. Anthony was born in South Adams, MA in 1820 to a Quaker family. She was active in the temperance and antislavery movements. After the Civil War she devoted her efforts to woman suffrage. Due to her , married women in NY State were given the guardianship of their children and control of their earnings by 1860. She was arrested, tried, and fined for voting in 1872 |
The following article was submitted by Stephen Gurley of Camp Hill, Pa., a former resident of New Hartford and member of the Historical Society. He is also your editor’s nephew.
RAFTING ON THE SAUQUOIT OR THE NON FLOATING FLOP
50 years ago, the summer of 1958, I was all of nine years old and full of adventure. It would be may last summer in New Hartford (I would move to Pennsylvania in December of that year). Some friends and I had just seen a movie about a raft going down the mighty Mississippi and we decided that looked like a lot of fun. Not being anywhere’s near the Mississippi we decided the Sauquoit Creek would have to do. We figured we could make it down to the mighty Mohawk, maybe all the way to the Hudson. After much consideration, skipping stones and getting wet, we decided that a spot just down stream of the DL&W railroad bridge would be a good place to build and launch our raft.
Keeping our plans a secret from our parents we figured it would take us a day to gather all the materials, another day to build the raft and a third to provision it for the trip. Actually it took us about three days to gather all the materials we thought we needed. We collected used 2 x 4’s, old wooden siding, warped boards, old fence posts, some half soaked logs and even some old wooden doors that someone had put out with the trash. We piled all out goodies near our launch site and then went looking for our most important building material, NAILS!!! We needed a ton of them. Big nails and even bigger nails. We got them from our father’s work benches, from barns and from some of the used lumber we had collected. New nails, used nails, and rusty bent up nails. We even found some old railroad spikes (we knew they would come in handy, or so we thought).
With all our materials in place we began to construct our raft, using the fence posts, 2 x 4’s and the half soaked logs, we built the frame. We used LOTS of nails and the railroad spikes. We then used the old siding and doors for the deck. We used LOTS more nails. It took us three more day. Each night while we were building the raft we would have to return the hammers and saws to their rightful places before our fathers got home from work. Remember, the raft was still a BIG SECRET. Finally the big day came. We packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and containers of Kool Aid and walked down to our launch site We were ready for our great adventure. We loaded the sandwiches and Kool Aid on the raft and began to push and pull it into the mighty Sauquoit Creek. Not knowing anything about displacement and that half soaked logs loaded with nails don’t float, our raft with all our sandwiches and Kool Aid promptly sank in one and a half feet of water. Thus ended the great summer of 1958’s rafting adventure.
Ed. Note. Anybody else have something to share? This really makes the “Tally-Ho!” your newsletter.
KENOTIN DAIRY PROPERTY SOLD
In a transaction involving about $40,000, the former Frederick Sessions farm, now known as the Kenotin Farm Dairy, Sessions Road, Washington Mills, has been sold by Edward R. Stramm and Mrs. Stramm to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Wisniewicz, Schuyler. James Williams, 1141 Linwood, negotiated the sale.
There are five houses, a large basement-barn, three silos, a 300 foot poultry house, several storage buildings and a large milk plant on the 70 acres. The sale includes also 40 head of stock, a team of horses, two tractors, modern machinery and tools.
Stramm acquired the property from the Sessions Estate about 15 years ago. It is understood that more than $100,000 had been expended on the place before the death of Mr. Sessions.
The Wisniewiczs will operate the farm taking possession September 15th. The Kenotin Farm Dairy, 1569 Miller St., was sold previously and will continue its distribution as a separate enterprise.
Joan Carroll—New Hartford
Kim & Janet Kallen—N. Hartford
Hubert Roberts—New Hartford
The following is
from an article titled “Who’s Who in the Savings Band”, printed in 1941.
Those depositors at the Savings Bank whose accounts fall in the A-G classification will recognize the genial countenance of the above.
Mr. Terry was born in Washington Mills, attended the local District School and the New Hartford High School. Later he graduated from the Utica School of Commerce. His first employment was with the Remington Arms Co. of Ilion, where he worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper. He spent two years with the Atlantic Fruit Company of New York as cashier.
From there he came to the Savings Band of Utica, fifteen years ago, holding successively the positions of journal clerk, interest clerk, posting clerk, assistant teller and paying teller.
Mr. Terry is interested in fraternal affairs being a member of Amicable Lodge No. 664, F. & A.M. He also belongs to the Utica Exchange Club and this year he has charge of all the club’s outdoor meetings.
When Al was a young fellow down around Washington Mills he established quite a reputation as a driver of fancy horses and his rig was well-known to all the farmers in that part of the country. When automobiles came into use two “city slickers” from Utica drove down to Washington Mills one evening and interfered with a little party that Al and some of his friends were having, by taking their girls away from them. Al got even by placing four nice juicy pumpkin pies in the seats of the automobile where the city boys and the two girls sat in them. Soon after this Al’s father bought an automobile. We suppose that Al urged him to buy it and now lays claim to being one of the first men anywhere around here to have driven an automobile.
The following is from a July 1976 edition of the Observer Dispatch
THEY’VE TILLED GOOD EARTH A CENTURY
For more than 100 autumns, five area farm families and their ancestors have harvested the fruits of New Hartford’s earth.
The farms have been handed down. The Prescott Farm on Mallory Road was established in 1793. The Tibbitts Farm on Tibbitts Road in 1868, The Palmer Farm on Sessions Road in 1870, the Smith Farm on Mallory Road in 1792, and the Richards Farm on Sessions Road in 1868
The Prescott farm began when Oliver Prescott, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, bought 500 “wild acres’ for 50 cents an acre.
The Palmer family moved to their farm from one which is now the site of Old Forest Cemetery in Utica. There are five generations named George Palmer who have lived and worked on this farm.
The Smith farm began when Simeon Smith paid Jedediah Sanger 50 pounds for 100 acres.
Before the Richards family started their farm they owned another farm near what is now the Utica reservoirs.
Tibbitts Road was once called West Hill Road. In the early 1920s, a group of local residents were hauling stone to a crusher on the Tibbitts farm to build a firm foundation for the road. They thought ‘West Hill Road’ not very original so the new name was given.
The five current owners—Earl and Marjorie Prescott; Friend and Dorothy Tibbitts; Mrs. George H Palmer and her son, George, and his wife Beverly; George and Bernice Smith; Roy and Ruth Richards - were honored last night by the New Hartford Kiwanis Club.
About 100 gathered at the Humphreys’ family farm on Tibbitts Road for the Kiwanis Club’s annual “Farm Family Day,” and presented “Century Farm Family” certificates to the five families. Before the brief presentation, club members and their families toured Humphreys’ farm, fed animals, and watched cows being milked. Children climbed over the farm equipment and to the top of piles of bundled hay.
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HISTORY DAY WAS A SUCCESS
On Saturday, October 4, 2008 we invited the public to visit our New Hartford Historical Society rooms at 2 Paris Road. About 50 people came to tour the exhibits and ask questions about the articles we have on display. Libby Hughes and Hank McCann were on hand in the Elliott Hughes room where old farm, home and ice harvesting tools are on display, each labeled as to their use. Libby and Hank are very knowledgeable about the implements and the people learned from them. Our special thanks to Libby for participating in this event. Burke Muller was dressed in a Sons of the Revolution outfit to add to the festivities. He also handled the book sales. Steve Grant had his old Ford car parked outside which attracted a lot of attention. Burke Galer was on hand to sign some of his New Hartford Schools books. Not only did they come to view, they also came bearing gifts. Several people had donations for us—i.e. a christening gown, home made quilts, a dress from the 1920’s. These were gratefully accepted and will be added to our archives. We plan to publish a list of contributions in Dec. Cider and doughnut holes were served. The people seemed very interested in our displays and files on New Hartford history. Balloons added a festive touch. We thank Bob Dicker for a great job of organizing this History Day. He thanks all who helped make it a success. |
Our speaker this month has had a distinguished career. She graduated from Binghamton University, majoring in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. Serving as President of Dispute Resolution International she was appointed an arbitrator by American Arbitration Association, hearing labor, commercial and judicial disputes. Since 2001 she has served as Host of Mohawk Valley Seniors, at WUTR, Utica. She has received awards from the Mohawk Valley AAUW, Zonta Club of Utica and National Organization of Women, CNY, to name a few. She was on the Board of Trustees of MVCC where she served six years. The above are just a sampling of her achievements.
Mary is probably best known for her tireless work spearheading the six-year campaign for a Day of Commemoration for Susan B. Anthony. The bill was signed into law on November 5, 2005. She authored and performed as a Living Legend Performer in several Susan B. Anthony productions. In 2007 she received the New York State Woman of Distinction Award.
We are privileged to have her as our speaker this month.
REMEMBER
VETERAN’S DAY ON NOVEMBER 11
And
REMEMBER TO VOTE
NOVEMBER 4TH
Pictured above is Rhoads Hospital, located on Burrstone Road in 1942. It was named for Col. Thomas Leidy Rhoads, a career Army surgeon. Rhoads Hospital was one of the great orthopedic hospitals of the US Army. It was an active Army post designated for patients who needed convalescent care and rehabilitation. Patients arrived on special medical trains on the New York, Ontario and Western tracks which came into a siding in back of the hospital. The aim of the treatment was to return soldiers to active duty. Chaplains provided counseling and religious services for Catholic, Protestant and Jewish patients.
Departments included a post office, telephone center, enlisted men and officer quarters, post theater, chapel, motor pool, civilian personnel office, laundry, bake shop, sewing shop, carpenter shop, cadet nurse quarters, quartermaster warehouse, nurses quarters, barracks, wards, Red Cross building, the post exchange with a barber shop and tailor shop, financial office and post engineer.
The Red Cross played a major role in the hospital. It had its own building, the only two story one on the grounds. Sun rooms, adjacent to the wards, were furnished by local clubs and organizations. The people of Utica and the surrounding area gave tremendous support to the patients and staff.
From 1942 to 1946 the hospital served over 25,000 patients. The economic impact was notable as the finance office disbursed $25,000,000 for salaries, products, food and supplies. Construction cost $44,000,000 and the monthly payroll was $175,000.
In 1946 the hospital closed. The land and all the buildings were declared “war surplus” and sold by the government
Thanksgiving Card 1920 |
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Thanksgiving Card 1904 |
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While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor. “It is essential that husbands and wives know each other’s likes and dislikes.” He addressed the man. “Can you name you wife’s favorite flower?” Tom leaned over, touched his wife’s arm gently and whispered, “It’s Pillsbury, isn’t it?” |
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Table of Contents
October Program
New Hartford
Historical Society
Welcome New Members
Condolences
Please Note
Death Of James Lightbody
Mill Homes
Oneida Street
The Gas Station Burglary Story
Humor
Sunday, October 5, 2008
2:00 P.M.
Willowvale Fire House, Oneida Street, Chadwicks
Steve Grant will present the history of the Model T Ford. He will have his model T Ford on display as well as other old Ford automobiles.
NEXT MONTH
Thursday, November 13
7:00 PM
Combined meeting with the Clinton Historical Society
St. Thomas Church Community Hall
Utica St., New Hartford
Program
Roscoe Conkling vs Susan B. Anthony
Mary Chapin, presenter
This article was in a 1908 scrap book . Here is proof that there was a New Hartford Historical Society before the turn of the 20th century.
New Hartford Historical Society
It is with sorrow we learn of the death in Utica of Rev. Israel N. Terry, D. D, for 14 years as the beloved pastor of the Presbyterian Church in New Hartford. He came here in 1876. On September 28, 1880 he married Miss Emily Huntington Butler, daughter of Harriet Sherrill and Francis Butler, whose families were early representatives of the church and the town. The ceremony took place in the Presbyterian church where he was pastor. Relinquishing his charge in 1890, he remained in the presbytery and in Utica churches and the acquaintance and attachment of his first parishioners grew and strengthened with the years. In joy and in sorrow they always felt they could not be separated from their former pastor and his beloved wife; their devoted lives were spent together and we can not refrain from speaking here of our sorrow in her bereavement. Nor will he be forgotten here and in distant places many hearts will mourn for their minister and their friend.
He was a member of the New Hartford Historical Society; was born in South Waymouth, Mass., February 20, 1851, numbering 57 years and five months. Several members he knew passed 80 and 90 years. One clergyman reached his 99th. Another his 100th year, but Rev. Israel N. Terry, D. D. was called earliest.
Edith Howe –New Hartford
Kathy Philo—New Hartford
Kenneth Temple—N. Hartford
Our sympathy to the family of Peg Betler who passed away on September 16, 2008. Peg and her husband, Bob, joined us in 1991 and have been participating members.
Due to the increased cost of postage we will not be sending out membership cards when you renew your membership. Clip and save the portion of the renewal slip for your records. If ever there is a question about your membership feel free to call Barbara Munde at 737-8216.
Over 50 members have not renewed their membership. Please look at the label on your newsletter. If it say June 2008 you are in arrears with your membership by 4 months. There is a renewal form in every issue of the “Tally-Ho”. Please let us here from you.
The “Tally-Ho!” has been printing obituaries that we find in old scrapbooks in our Society rooms. They contain interesting facts about the people who contributed to New Hartford as well as information regarding life as it was back then. i.e. Mr. Lightbody was a poormaster. Did you know that New Hartford had a poormaster? We welcome suggestions and ideas. Help us make this newsletter one that you want to read.
This obituary was written in 1901.
DEATH OF JAMES LIGHTBODY
An Aged New Hartford Man
Was Active in the Religious, Political and Social Life of the Community—Poormaster of the Town for Twenty-Seven Years and Village Trustee and Constable for Shorter Periods.
New Hartford, July 26— James Lightbody, for many years one of the best known and most highly respected residents of this place, passed away at 3 o’clock this afternoon at his home, 11 Paris street. Until about five or six weeks ago, when he was enjoying a Western trip, Mr. Lightbody had been blest with good health. On his return from the St. Louis Exposition, which was one of the objective points of his trip, he stopped in Springfield, Ill. to visit relatives and it was there that the illness that yesterday resulted in his death manifested itself. He was not so sick then as to be confined to the house and he therefore came on home. He continued to grow worse after reaching here, however, and was soon obliged to take to his bed. Death had been expected for some time when it came.
Mr. Lightbody was a native of Scotland. He was born in Lamaric on January 12, 1819. In 1820, his parents came with him to this country and located in Sauquoit. After remaining there a short time they moved to New Hartford and in that town James Lightbody passed the rest of his long life. His father was a long time proprietor of a drug and grocery store in New Hartford. The son was apprenticed, when about 16 years old, to learn the trade of a machinist at New York Mills. He became thoroughly acquainted with this work and followed it as long as he engaged in any active occupation, for the remainder of his life. He was with the New York Mills Company for a long period, much of the time as master mechanic, and was a valuable employee, understanding fully all kinds of machinery used in the big plants there. Since giving up the work at the Mills he has been interested in the canning business in New Hartford. He was a stockholder in the New Hartford Canning Company, Limited, and the Excelsior Canning Company. Whenever anything of a serious nature happened to the machinery at either of these factories, Mr. Lightbody’s knowledge and long experience as a machinist were at once brought into requisition. As a business man and workman Mr. Lightbody was known as reliable, industrious and straightforward.
Mr. Lightbody was a member of the Presbyterian church, Amicable Lodge, F. & A.M. , and Clan Campbell of the Scottish Rite. In politics Mr. Lightbody was always a staunch Republican.
In the village he was trustee and constable and in the town served as poormaster. The last named office he held for a period of twenty-seven years. The position is a difficult one, but Mr. Lightbody discharged the duties with fairness to the taxpayers and to the poor. His honesty in handling the funds of the town was never questioned. They were used economically , and yet no really worthy and deserving person was ever turned away without help.
How many of you remember the mill homes that used to be in Washington Mills? They were where the Kids Market is today. The complex was built to house workers in the silk mill that stood on the other side of the Sauquoit Creek, about where the Hannaford Shopping Center is. The mill shut down around 1880 and was demolished. The building material from the mill was taken to Chadwicks to build mill homes there. The housing complex remained as residential residences until the arterial was built.? If you can date the car, you can date the picture.
This is Oneida Street coming from Utica to Washington Mills. On the right is the Utica Tool Company that was located on the hill about an eighth of a mile before you reach the mall that houses the Gingerbread Shop today. The house on the left still exists. The company was established in Unadilla Forks in 1840 and manufactured hoes. It moved to Washington Mills in 1865 where it was enlarged and forks and rakes were added to the production. The factory burned down in 1923. This stretch of Oneida Street is known as Hoe Shop Hill by old timers in Washington Mills.
 Roy Hart’s Gas Station |
THE GAS STATION BURGLARY STORY
This story was submitted by Lewis Smith He and his wife, Jane, live on Oneida Street in Washington Mills.
In the spring or summer of 1942 Jane and I returned from a date one evening sometime before midnight. When we pulled into the driveway of Hart’s house on Kellogg Rd.,.Duke, their dog, appeared in the front yard. While we were setting in the car wondering why Duke was out , Jane’s father Roy Hart came to the front door and asked “Is that Duke?” We answered “Yes” and with that Jane’s father said, “I put him in the gas station earlier in the evening”.
Roy got dressed and Jane, Roy and I proceeded to the Gas Station. Now if you remember the gas station was on the corner of Kellogg and Oneida and the Hart residence was in back of the station across the little creek on Kellogg Rd.
Now becomes the interesting part. When Roy and I approached the front door of the Gas Station the door opened and behind the door was the intruder. We both grabbed him and in the struggle ended up out side. I had him around the neck and Roy was still hanging on to him. In the meantime Jane was standing by watching it all.
We finally got him subdued and had things under control and told Jane to go over to Ken’s Grill (where MacDonald’s is now) and have someone call the police. As Jane tells it, Ken’s wife, Isobel, did not want anyone to make the call to the police. Roy turned on the front flood lights to light things up and soon Ed Smith appeared on the scene. He must have heard the commotion and came up to see what was going on. I still had the burglar around the neck and Ed took over for me.
After what seemed like a long time, the State Police arrived and took over the situation. It wasn’t until the burglar was subdued did I learn that while we were struggling with him, he had a gun in Roy’s ribs.
Quite a few years have passed since this happened and I had forgotten about it until, by chance, I saw the old newspaper article. I showed the article to members of the Hart family at the Hart Reunion on August 5, 2007 and have made some changes.
Jack Hart remembered his father, Roy, having injured his nose during the scuffle. His nose was bleeding from the injury and when he returned home, as Jack tells it, Julia Slozek, who was Tom Slozek’s wife, came over to the house and as Roy sat in the kitchen Julia took over attending to the injury and took charge of everything that was happening afterwards.
Tom Hart told me that he was only eight years old and his mother, Agnes, let him look out of the kitchen window so that he could see what was happening. He also remembers the part about the injury to Roy’s nose.
Kay Hart stated to me that I had the time as before midnight wrong and that it was after midnight because her mother, Agnes, was quite upset that I was keeping her daughter, Jane, out after midnight.
THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
BUFFALO MAN IS ACCCUSED OF BURGLARY
Utica, June 1—Recent burglaries in Waterville, Chadwicks and other nearby towns were believed solved today in the arrest of Edward S. Taiakowicz, 31, of 32 Gorski St., Buffalo,. Trooper Sergt. Chester Kempston, of the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, said.Sergeant Kempston reported Taiakowicz, who is wanted for a jail break in Oswego, admitted a string of robberies after being trapped yesterday in a Washington Mills service station, operated by Roy Hart.
Sergeant Joseph Steeley, who assisted Kempston in making the arrest, said Hart, the gasoline station owner, was at his home adjoining the gas station when he was aroused by his dog barking. Another man and he went to the front door and saw someone inside. The stranger opened the door and, according to Hart, shoved a gun in his ribs. A tussle followed during which the stranger was disarmed and subdued. Then Hart called the troopers. Taiakowicz told Steeley that when the two men appeared at the door, he walked out and gave himself up.
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, ‘Relatives of yours?’ ‘Yep,” the wife replied, ‘in-laws.’
Table of Contents
September Program
Upcoming Programs
Save The Date
Welcome New Members
Condolences
Notice
New Hartford On The Map
The Lyons & Shay Families
New Hartford Presbyterian Church
Olympian Knitting Mill
Area Woman Joins Her Husband in
Medical Practice
Fine Business Man Taken By Death
Definitions
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Roast Beef Dinner
First United Methodist Church, 105 Genesee Street, New Hartford
6:00 PM Social Hour 6:45 Dinner $10.00 per person
Program: Video of New Hartford Historical Society Rooms
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Sunday October 5, 2008
2 PM
Model T History
100th Anniversary
Willowvale Fire Co., Chadwicks
Steve Grant, presenter
Old cars on display
Thursday, November 13
7:00 PM
Roscoe Conkling vs Susan B. Anthony
Mary Chapin, presenter
St. Thomas Church Community Hall
Utica St., New Hartford
| SAVE THE DATE
|
Alice Browar—NH
Bonnie Carlucci –Los Gatos, CA
Kerstin & Ferhun Soykan –NH
Dr. Stephen & Donna Paravati –NH
Marsha Furgal -Chadwicks
Shirley Hunziker—NH
Bob & Bonnie Loomis—NH
Charles Murphy—Fairfax, VA
Deborah Murray—Chadwicks
Eileen & John Scala—Whitesboro
Merritt & Sue Smith—Chadwicks
Lydia B. Zegarelli—NH
Our sympathy to the families of the following members who died this summer.
Ray Cooley joined us in 2007.He had an active political life in New Hartford and will be missed.
Elaine Kelsey was a member since 1997 and had served on our Board of Directors. She will be missed by family and friends.
And Carol Sator, who passed away in the spring, had been a member since 2003. Our sympany is extended to her sister, Rita.
Due to the increased cost of postage we will not be sending out membership cards when you renew your membership. Clip and save the portion of the renewal slip for your records. If ever there is a question about your membership feel free to call Barbara Munde at 737-8216.
The following is from an August 1919 edition of the Utica newspaper. Keep in mind when you read this that New Hartford at that time extended to Prospect Street in Utica.
Utica’s Thriving Suburb is an Ideal Place for a Home and Its Merchants and Manufacturers Are Helping to Keep It So.
At the upper corner of Prospect and Genesee streets is a sign which bears a legend which is read daily by hundreds of automobile tourists. It gives information to the effect that it marks the dividing line between the town of New Hartford and the city of Utica and that the goblins will get speeding automobiles if they don’t watch out. Farther up the street, a mile more or less, is a similar sign which marks the lower boundary of the incorporated village of New Hartford. The section between these signs has been designated as “No Man’s Land,” being out from under the jurisdiction of traffic officers of both places.
This is not intended as a column of information for speeders, but to call attention to the fact that New Hartford is very near Utica. Maybe you don’t know the bond between Utica and its pretty neighbor to the south. Perhaps it hasn't occurred to you that Uticans by the score have sought homes in that village within the past year and that the exodus continues. And after living there for a time, they can hardly be induced to return to Utica. Take a walk, some day, along the streets that lie back from the main thoroughfare and you will begin to comprehend why. There you will see homes such as you hope some day to own. You will find a difference in the air you breathe and it gives you a feeling of suffocation to again enter the stuffy atmosphere of the city,.
But there are other reasons why New Hartford is a thriving village and an ideal place for a home: Go into the stores and you will find them well stocked with full lines of merchandise and ready to supply any household want: whether it is hardware, groceries, drugs or automobile parts, you can get them there. If you wish your children to have as good an opportunity as there is to get an education, the New Hartford High School is second to none in this section of the State. It has city conveniences, with rural surroundings; its people have plenty of imitative and are never found lacking when any movement is on foot that is going to benefit the village.
In the Olympian Knitting Mill, the village has an industry that is alive to the interest of its employees and to the village, and its payroll is an item that is worthy of consideration by any community. Other industries are the American Emblem Company and the Utica Chair Company, which give employment to many.
On the heights above the village are many beautiful homes that the tourist never sees and of the existence of which even many Uticans are not aware. Take a car up to the village on some of these pleasant Sundays, and get a firsthand view of some of the splendid residences. Afterwards you will have a different idea of things up that way. New Hartford is on the map to stay.
The following is from a letter that was received from Charles F. Hurlburt of Brooklyn, NY, to be read at the 1888 New Hartford Centennial
It is with pleasure that I comply with the request so kindly made me by the centennial committee, to contribute a sketch of the life of Samuel Lyon and Hiram Shays. While I do not feel that I con do the subject entire justice, ill health preventing me from searching among the old records as I could wish, yet I hope that my brief story may not prove wholly unacceptable. As far as I have been able, I have examined deeds and other papers, but my dates will, in some instances, necessarily be approximate. I shall always feel a deep affection for my native town, and it has been very interesting to me to pry into these old records; and I have learned many things about its old and honored citizens; for New Hartford has furnished many such.
First, I will speak of Samuel Lyon. Mr. Lyon was born in New Jersey, September 9, 1780. After living in his native town for some time, he took up his residence in Bennington, Vt. And there he married Eunice Haynes on March 11, 1802. In 1805 he came to New Hartford. In 1824 he bought a house on the corner of what is now Genesee and South streets. This house was built by Judge Sanger. Mr. Lyon bought it of Frederick Stanley. It was a very large and fine house for those early days. And here I will remark that the attic was one immense room, and it was used for some time as a Masonic lodge room. My good wife (a granddaughter of Samuel Lyons) tells me that this big room was full of nooks and corners which could be used to keep the goats that the brethren were supposed to ride, or as “lock-ups” for the refractory of hilarious members. Whether they were so used will be forever buried in mystery. Mr. Lyon had six children—two sons and four daughter, all of whom are now deceased but the youngest daughter, Mrs. A. R. Grosvenor, now residing in Utica. Mr. Lyon bought the paper mill of Judge Sanger, and he carried on the business for many years. It then stood beyond the “stone factory.” In 1825 George Cone moved the mill to the grist mill site—a distance of nearly a mile. It was considered a great feat in those days. The first sheet of writing paper every made in the county (and perhaps in the state) was made by Mr. Lyon in this mill. He bought the grist mill property of Jacob and Lewis Sherrill in 1826. He also had a store opposite his residence, which was carried on for may years , with his son-in-law Hiram Shays as his business manager. Mr. Lyon died in January 1851 in the 71st year of his age. In his obituary the writer used these words: “He was an honest man; his word was as good as his bond.” Mr. Lyon came to New Hartford but seventeen years after Judge Sanger, and therefore he may be classed among its oldest inhabitant.
Mr. Shays was born in Rensselaerville, Albany county, January 6, 1799. He was the son of Daniel and Ruth Shays, and the grandson of General Daniel Shays, an officer of the revolution, and who, afterwards, was the leader of “Shays Rebellion”. He came to New Hartford about 1821 and on December 28, 1824 married Persis E. the second daughter of Samuel Lyon. They had three children: Emilie F., the youngest daughter, is the wife of the writer of this sketch. Mr. Shays was always a strong democrat. On the 4th of November, 1833, he was elected to the assembly by a majority of about one thousand. He took a very prominent position in that body. In 1836, the Oneida Bank was incorporated, and Mr. Shays was a member of the first board of directors. On July 22, 1843, he was appointed postmaster of New Hartford, and retained that office until 1849. The office was in Mr. Lyon’s store. New Hartford was always a Whig stronghold, but in 1853 Mr. Shays was elected supervisor, the first democrat who had been elected to that office in the town. Mr. Shays lived for many years in the house (one of the oldest buildings in the town) next south of Mr. Lyons, his father-in-law. He died there on the 20th of August, 1855, after long years of physical suffering, aged 56 years. His whole fife was one of the strictest integrity, and his death was a severe loss to the community. Mrs. Shays made her home with her daughter, Mrs. C.F. Hurlburt, for 27 years. She died in Brooklyn in 1885, aged nearly 79.
Nearly all of the old residents have passed away. I think that New Hartford's future is very bright and promising, and my earnest wish is that those who are now on life’s stage may emulate the virtues of the many who have gone before.
This is a rare photograph of the New Hartford Presbyterian Church. The road in the center is Genesee Street. Pictured is the point of Genesee Street and Paris Road where the Point Apartments are now. The photo was taken around 1890.
An August, 1919 picture of the Olympian Knitting Mill on Genesee Street in New Hartford. In 1937 the American Emblem Company, which was across the street, took over the building. The building was demolished to make way for the route 8 arterial around 1963.
The following is an article from the August 20, 1944 Utica paper
Area Woman Joins Her Husband in Medical Practice
Dr. Esther L. Moeller, who was the only woman in the class of 1942 at Albany Medical College, has returned to New Hartford, her home, to practice general medicine.
She has opened an office at 72 Genesee, where her husband, Dr. A. DeWitt Brown, established an office in December.
Dr. Moeller is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert L. Moeller, 8 Allport Pl., New Hartford. She is a graduate of the village high school She received her pre-medial education at Barnard College, Columbia University, and after her graduation from medical college she served a year’s internship in Memorial Hospital, Albany.
For the last year, she had been assistant resident in pathology and bacteriology in the Albany Hospital. She is a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Dr. Moeller and Dr. Brown were married Dec. 29, 1942. a few months before they received their degrees together from the Albany Medical College.
(ed. note, Dr. Moeller is a current member of the New Hartford Historical Society.)
Our many scrapbooks at the Society Rooms reveal interesting obituaries of prominent men and women in New Hartford. The following was of particular interest because it relates to our June program on Willowvale. It was printed in 1907.
FINE BUSINESS MAN TAKEN BY DEATH
Bradford C. Divine of the Willowvale Bleachery
Bradford C. Divine, the manager of the Utica-Willowvale Bleachery, died at his home in Willowvale, south of this city, about 9 o'clock last evening, after an illness which had covered a period of about a year. Mr. Divine was one of the best known mill men in this part of the state, and for about twenty years he had charge of one of the most successful manufacturing properties in this vicinity. Mr. Divine was born in New York Mills in1844, and after acquiring a meager education, he secured employment in the Utica Steam Cotton Mills in this city. There the family moved when Mr. Divine as quite young. He entered the employ of the company in a minor position, but by close application to duty he was rapidly promoted until he was made the head bookkeeper of the big corporation, then as now one of the largest employers of help in Utica.
Those who were the directors and the principal stockholders in the Steam Cotton Mills later organized the Utica-Willowvale Bleachery, as a separate corporation and recognizing Mr. Divine’s fitness for the work, they appointed him as the manager of the new plant, a position which he held for the past 21 years. Under his management and guidance the corporation thrived and prospered. Only about 100 operatives were employed at the start, but the capacity of the plant was added to at different intervals, and the operating force very largely increased. About the mill a prosperous little hamlet has developed, many fine residences have been built, until today Willowvale is one of the most attractive little villages in the Sauquoit Valley. Mr. Divine’s house is in front of the mill, and the businesses all about bear the evidence of care, neatness and thrift. There is a continual demand for the products of the mill and every since it was formed it has been one of the most successful corporations in which Utica capital has been invested. Much of the success of the company is due to the fidelity and the excellent business judgment of Mr. Divine.
Mr. Divine was practically a Utican, for he was here nearly very day. He was prominent in the social life of the city and a member of its prominent organizations and societies. He was a member of Oriental Lodge, No. 224, F. & A. M.; Oneida Chapter, No. 3, Knights of Templars; Ziyara Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,; Yahnundasis Lodge of Perfection, and of the Consistory of the Ancient and Scottish Rite, which meets in Syracuse. In all his Masonic relations he was a man who believed in the teachings of the fraternity. He was vice-president of the Divine Brothers’ Company, manufacturers of polishing wheels, motors, etc. in this city, and was a director in the Fred D. Divine Company, manufacturer of fish rods, novelties and certain mill supplies, in State Street.
Mr. Divine was married in 1867 to Miss Lucy Saunders of this city and she survives with three sons, Dr. Lawrence Divine of New York, Bradford H. and Wallace Divine of Utica. He was a brother of the late E. H. Divine of this city and he leaves a sister, Mrs. Sarah Pepper who lived with him in Willowvale. He also leaves three grandchildren.
Willowvale and the Sauquoit Valley will miss Mr. Divine. He always displayed a deep interest in the development of the community, the making of good homes for the many who were employed in the bleachery and the work of the village churches and schools. The corporation, under his direction, built many dwelling houses of a much higher grade than is to be found in the majority of mill towns of the present day. The bleachery plant is an excellent one. Public spirited in everyway, Mr. Divine made an ideal citizen. Possessing fine qualities of mind and heart, he was always a most companionable man, and one who was thoroughly devoted to those who were dear to him. Mrs. Divine had been in ill-health for several years, and his devotion to her and his desire to live to care for her displayed the fine character and tenderness of the man in a very speaking manner.
Mr. Divine, although in poor health for the past year, was not confined to his home. He was able to attend to his duties but slowly failed for the past few days.
Adult—A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
Committee—A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
Handkerchief—cold storage
Secret—Something you tell to one person at a time.
Table of Contents
June Program
Stores And Business Places
The Willowvale Bleachery
It Is Time To Renew Your
Membership
Sympathy
The Hatfield And Sherman
Families
More John Burton Pictures C
1885
Humor
Sunday, June 8, 2008 2:00 P.M. Chadwicks Fire Station, Oneida St.., Chadwicks
“The History of Willowvale”
The Richards sisters (Evelyn Edwards and Joyce Shephard) will present a program about Willowvale, a community where they lived while growing up. It will be a presentation with lecture and pictures and memories of a time not that long ago when the mills flourished, parties were given in the Glen, parades and good times were the norm. Come and let yourselves picture this community as it was over 50 years ago. And bring a friend! We need members!
Memories by Ken Fuller written around 1987
I remember most of the stores and business places in the village when I was in grade school and high school. Across from the Point Apartments a couple by the name of Griffith had an A&P Store. I used to go down with a market basket from Jordan Road to do the shopping for my mother when I was a kid. I would then go over to J. Fred Law’s meat market. Further down Genesee, Mark Failing had a hardware store and an automobile repair shop for many years (where the Bank of America Is now located). And that little street between the bank and Butler Hall had three or four houses back of Butler Hall. Then down behind that street was the canning factory. The canning factory was actually on Campion road , which was then known as Whitesboro Street. They canned beans and peas, principally.
There was a vacant lot back there, and there used to be an old iron cannon back in there out in the field. The cannon still had one or two of its wheels on it. It was either an old Civil War or Revolutionary War cannon. The kids used to haul it up into the park for the 4th of July celebration. And then they would haul it back into the field. I guess it just eventually rotted away.
Farther down Genesee, beyond Butler Hall, a fellow named Morris had a harness shop, where he made and repaired harness and belts and all that sort of thing. Then beyond him was a store run by a man by the name of Pat Hooks. Pat Hooks was a kind of a village character. He had a pool room back of his store. Most of the kids were forbidden to go into the pool room because it was kind of a den of iniquity, and you weren’t supposed to go in there. But anyway, Pat ran a kind of candy store and cigar store and pool room.
There were also a couple of hotels, one on each side of Genesee Street. One was on the corner of Whitesboro Street, and them one across the street was run by a fellow named Billingham. He was a kindly old fellow. Later on he had a saloon over in the woods on the Limberlost Road. I remember going fishing one time up in the woods near his place. He invited me in and gave me free sandwiches and soft drinks.
The Bleachery was located on Bleachery Ave in Chadwicks on land that was purchased in 1881 from the Rogers family of Providence, R.I.; George L. Wood of Binghamton; Truman Butler, Addison Miller, Robert Williams and George Chadwick. Over the next year additional land was purchased from the D & L Railroad, Alimira Arnold; Emma Ney; William Dunn; and Alice Horrock.
All the land was used for the bleachery and building homes for their employees. The houses along Bleachery Ave, were first constructed and then along the Utica-Bridgewater Plank Road (Oneida Street.). They also purchased the property on the west side of the Plank Road better known as the Glen area. There was a water supply there for power to run the machinery in the factory. There was a large house on the corner of Bleachery Ave. and the Plank Road that was for the superintendent’s use. That house was torn down and the Plaza is now located on that property. A large clubhouse was also constructed for the activities of the families who worked at the factory. The club house was purchased by the Casab family and was a grocery store for many years. There was even a park known as Ononda Park on the premises for the use of the employees.
The hamlets of Willowvale, Washington Mills and Chadwicks supplied the work force with both men and women. The products consisted of sheets (Utica Sheets), pillowcases, tablecloths and other cotton goods. In 1952 the factory closed. Between 1948 and 1952 the properties were sold off one by one for homes and businesses established along Oneida Street.
IT IS TIME TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP
The New Hartford Historical Society ‘s membership year is from July 1st to June 31st. So June is the month to think about renewing your membership. We need your support. Without you we would not have a Society. Remember your membership guarantees that you will receive a copy of our newsletter 8 times each year. Use the box on the last page of this newsletter. We hope to hear from all of you.
We have lost three members this last month.
On May 9th Fern Fuller died. Fern was 100. She and her husband, Kenneth, were charter members of our organization. (1976) Fern and Ken actively supported the Society.
Peg Hassett passed away on May 16th at the age of 91. Peg and her husband Tom joined the Society in 1980 and were very active, serving on the board and helping with programs. Peg also was a member of the Oneida County Historical Society where she was responsible for the publication of two books: “Not So Long Ago” and “Focus on the Fifties” from the Russell Rhoades collection.
Carolyn Berwald and Richard Joseph joined the Society on March 8, 2008. Carolyn expressed her interest in becoming an active member. Carolyn passed away unexpectedly on May 19th.
We express our condolences to the families of these women.
THE HATFIELD AND SHERMAN FAMILIES
This article appeared in the December 1982 NHHS Newsletter
On October 2, 1901, in St. Stephen’s Church on Oxford Road, the same church in which the brides parents had been married twenty years before, Mary Frances Sherman and Albert Richard Hatfield were joined in holy matrimony. The church was beautifully decorated with palms and red and white roses. Following the wedding ceremony a glittering reception was held at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs., Sanford F. Sherman, at what was then 841 Genesee Street in New Hartford. Thus were joined two of this area's most able and respected families.
As could have been predicted, this marriage produced distinguished progeny. The daughter, Mary Louise, became the wife of an outstanding lawyer in the south; and the four sons were Dr. A. Richard (Dick) Hatfield, a prominent orthopedic surgeon of Utica, John Bennett Hatfield, Sr. who attained the high echelons of Sears, Roebuck and Company, Sanford S. (Sam) Hatfield who became the valued Director of Industrial Relations and Consultant to the great textile manufacturer, United Merchants and Manufacturers, and Robert S. Hatfield (Bob) who rose through the ranks of Continental Can Company to become President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Continental Group, one of the nation's largest corporations.
Both the Sherman and the Hatfield families have deep roots in New Hartford as well as in Utica. John B. Hatfield’s great grandfather, George Hatfield, who was born in Wales in 1796 came to Utica about 1851 bringing with him his wife Elizabeth and eight children. One of the sons, also named George, at the age of twenty went to work for a farmer near the north edge of the town of New Hartford. He was a bright enterprising young man who soon became a lessee and then the owner of seventy-five acres of farm land. His abilities as a farmer and as a business man brought him success and fortune. He expanded his farm to some three hundred acres in the general vicinity of the Burrstone Road and the present location of the French Road plant of General Electric Company. There he built a beautiful brick house overlooking the valley which stood until it was demolished in 1977. George became a stockholder and director of the Utica City National Band and was an organizer and first President of the Utica Canning Co. He was a leader in the then burgeoning local canning industry, operation several factories in Central New York, He formed the Utica Sanitary Milk company to furnish high grade pure milk to local families. After his death this business was taken over by the Borden Company.
George’s son Albert R. Hatfield was born in New Hartford, received a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, and, after working a short time in Providence, R.I., returned to New Hartford to join his father in the canning business, and to marry Frances Sherman, the daughter of another canner. Eventually he became President of both the Utica Canning Company and the Sauquoit Canning Company, and also operated canning factories in Leonardsville and Rushville. He later pursued a successful venture in the real estate business.
Albert R. Hatfield was an avid sportsman, especially competent in golf and curling. His crowning achievement in athletics was being appointed skip of the Connecticut Curling Team in the 1932 Olympic Games.
Brigadier General Richard Updyke Sherman was born June 25, 1819 at Vernon, NY, the son of Willett Helme Shearman and Catherine Ann Schoolcraft Shearmen. At Utica, on January 14, 1848 he married Mary Frances Sherman, the daughter of a famous steamship captain on Lake Champlain. Soon thereafter he changed the spelling of his last name from Shearman to Sherman to conform to that of his wife. For many years General Sherman lived in the big square house on Genesee Street across from the Point School. He was a man of many and varied facets. He was appointed Brigadier General of the First Brigade in 1853, a position he held for several years. This gave him the title by which he was known thereafter. In his early career during the Harrison-Vanburen contest he published a successful campaign paper in Utica, and then went on to become Editor-in-Chief of the Utica Daily Gazette. Later he edited and conducted newspapers in Oswego, Herkimer and Rochester. In the 1850’s he was Clerk of the New York State Assembly and thereafter became a member of that body. In 1860 he was appointed assistant Clerk of the United States House of Representatives where he served for ten years. While in New Hartford he was Justice of the Peace for several years. In 1880 he organized and became President of the New Hartford Canning company. Among his other activities was his directorship in the New Hartford Cotton Company and his service as a member of the Board of Butler Memorial Hall.
General Sherman’s wife bore him six children, five of whom lived to maturity. She was evidently a splendid mother and a saintly character. Upon her death in July, 1896, her life was beautifully memorialized in the Utica Observer. The obituary particularly described her devotion to the Sunday School of the New Hartford Presbyterian Church and her work with children in the community.
The General’s most famous child was James Schoolcraft Sherman who became Vice President of the United States under President William Howard Taft in 1909. James was born in Utica October 24, 1855. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1878 and was admitted to the Bar in 1880. Although he practiced law in Utica, his great interest was in politics and finance.
His political career began quite early, forwarded by his great personal popularity. He was Mayor of Utica at the age of 29 in 1884; then in 1886 he was elected to Congress where he served, with the exception of one term, until 1908 when he became the Republican candidate for Vice President, to which office he was elected in November of that year. He entered upon his duties in March of 1909 and remained in that office until his untimely death just a few days before the election of 1912.
The Vice-President’s brother, Sanford F. Sherman (1858-1930) was one of Utica’s and New Hartford's most successful business men. In his later life he was a familiar figure leaving or entering the offices of the First National Bank of New Hartford of which he was the principal organizer and President. He had extensive interest in the canning industry which included the factory on Campion Road organized by his father. This factory was located in the general area where Carparelli’s now conducts its building supply business.
He built a large and beautiful house at the corner of Higby Lane (Higby Road) and Genesee Street in the town of New Hartford where he and his family lived in the opulent style that befitted his abilities and position in the business and social life of the community. His daughter, Mary Frances Sherman, who was her grandmother's namesake, as we have said, united the Shermans with the Hatfields in 1901.
MORE JOHN BURTON PICTURES C 1885
Ruins of the old Spencer Eames mansion. This house stood on the point where the Point Apartments are now. At one time it was the Home School for Girls and again it was called the Golden Place. The Point School replaced it around 1902.
The old Dr. Wiser House. Hub’s and Spokes He sold cheese, molasses and bees wax, among other things. It is similar in archectiture to the stone Hicks House on Oxford Road that is across the street from St. Stephen’s church. Could this house have been where the bank is now on Genesee, across the alley from Butler Hall?
All my husband wanted was to pay for some batteries, but none of the clerks in the electronics store seemed interested in helping him.
“I've got an idea,” I said, and pulled a tape measure out of my purse. I stepped over to one of the giant plasma-screen TVs and started to measure it. Faster than you can say “high definition,” a young man came running over. “May I help you?” he asked breathlessly. “Yes,” I said, “I’d like to buy these batteries.”
Tasia Date from Readers Digest
Table of Contents
May Program
Dewey Stresses State Aid
To Veterans In New Hartford “Welcome Home” Fete
Welcome New Members
Ken-Wel
Lives
Village Has Fire Tank
It Doesn’t Need, or Want
Menu from Jack & Andy Diner
Washington Mills
& Norwich Corners Private Telephone Company
Swiss Float
Death Takes G.I. Durrant,
Store Manager
Stevenson’s Drug Store
Perks Of Being Over 50
Thursday, May 1, 2008 7:00 P.M. Community Building, Kellogg Rd., Washington Mills
“Field of Fire: the 146th New York State Regiment at Saunder’s Field”
At our May meeting Cheryl will talk about the local Civil War regiment, the 146th New York Infantry and the costly fight at the battle of the Wilderness. We have enjoyed Cheryl's talks at previous meetings. This is sure to be entertaining, especially to Civil War buffs. See if you can bring someone new to our meeting this month.
DEWEY STRESSES STATE AID TO VETERANS IN NEW HARTFORD “WELCOME HOME” FETE
From a 1946 edition of the O.D.
Governor Dewey, speaking at a “Welcome Home” celebration for New Hartford’s 1,100 service men and women, declared yesterday that New York State was leading the nation in aid to veterans because his administration believed that surplus state funds belonged to those who had fought the war.
He said the administration had doggedly fought off the “parasites who proposed various means of spending” the state’s 500 million dollar wartime surplus.
Dewey was introduced by Henry H. Rathbun, president of the Dairymen’s League Co-operative Association, and a resident of New Hartford.
More than 5,500 persons lined in the streets in New Hartford to view the parade which opened the festivities and then gathered on the athletic field behind the high school to hear Governor Dewey and other notables.
The Chadwicks High School Band led a State Guard detachment in combat helmets, jeeps and trucks. Also represented were the fire departments of New York Mills, Chadwicks and New Hartford, complete with their trucks; the bands of the Utica Post 229, American Legion, South Utica Victory Drum and Bugle Corps and New Hartford High School.
Bringing up the rear of the parade were some 35 horses ridden by Kenyon Cowboys of Washington Mills. About 100 veterans in uniform also marched. Exemplifying the village’s all-out mood, even the children’s bicycles had red, white and blue bunting entwined in the spokes.
The speaking program began after the line of march had formed into four divisions facing the speakers’ platform with Henry T. Dorrance, master of ceremonies, introducing the officials and guest who crowded the stands.
The Rev. John R. O’Brien, pastor of St. John’s the Evangelist Church, gave the invocation which was followed by the official welcoming address by Mayor Eldred, serving his fifth term in the office. The mayor praised the 1,100 men and women who served during the war and paid tribute to the 19 of the village and township who were killed.
“Mere words are not enough to repay the sacrifices of those who died during the war,” said Town supervisor Robert J. Thomas.
Mayor Golder of Utica said soon Utica will have 400 additional housing units for low income rental and urged that all citizens take a more active interest in civic life.
Others introduced included Joseph A. Ferris, general chairman of the event , who was credited with the original idea of the celebration and with doing most of the ground work, which was started last summer. Three gold star mothers also were present.
The high school driveway down which the procession drove was lined with several posters erected by members of the Association of Younger Republicans of Utica and Oneida County, which announced their endorsement of Dewey for re-election.
The gymnasium of the high school was filled with about 860 veterans and guests who were served turkey dinners following the speaking program. The Governor was busy signing scores of autograph books all through dinner.
A varied program of baseball, games, contests and band concerts highlighted the rest of the afternoon program. A block dance was held in the evening in Park St., near the fire station.
Scott & Michelle Holbrook —NH
Raymond Culver —Dunnellon, FL
Norman Scianna —NH
Excerpts from the Apr. 5, 2008 OD by John Pitarresi
And Scott Fiesthumel has something to do with it.
Ken-Wel, the sporting goods company that was founded in Gloversville during World War I before spending decades making its products in New Hartford and Utica and then gradually running out sbeen revived to a degree by Akadema Inc. of Garfield, NJ.
Akadema’s high-quality replicas of Ken-Wel baseball gloves are made in China, and sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods and other stores, by mail order companies, such as Orvis, and through their own catalog. “I think it’s great,” Fiesthumel said, “Anything that will keep alive the history of the game and especially the local connection. And especially since Ken-Wel is all but forgotten except by some local people and diehard fans.”
Akadema’s major business is making modern baseball gloves—but they also sell replicas, including Reach and J.D. Higgins styles, and the Ken-Wel Lou Gehrig and ground-breaking Dazzy Vance models once made here.
Ken-Wel was founded by the Kennedy family in Gloversville in 1916, then moved to New Hartford in 1927. The factory later was occupied by American Emblem, but was razed to make way for the Genesee Street on-ramp for Route 8. In 1939 the company moved to a building on Catherine Street in Utica, about where Six Nations Plaza is now. In 1952 the Kennedys sold out. By 1960, Rawlings and Spalding were dominating the market and Ken-Wel was out of business.
Fiesthumel, a Clinton resident, is chairman of the board of the Oneida County Historical Society and also is on the board of the Greater Utica Hall of Fame. He has a lifetime interest in sports and history, and he’s written five books and produced several DVDs on those subjects. These are available at the Oneida County Historical bookstore.
Joe Gilligan, who runs Akadema with his brother Lawrence, a former All-American shortstop at the University of Tennessee, says he would like to hear from anyone who once worked at Ken-Wel or perhaps used their gloves. He can be reached at joe@akademapro.com.
VILLAGE HAS FIRE TANK IT DOESN’T NEED, OR WANT
From an article dated Jan. 13, 1946 in the OD
New Hartford village has today become custodian of an $842 emergency fire tank “which it does not need;” scores of civilian defense volunteers are in possession of equipment, including warden’s helmets, for which they have no further use; and farmers are wondering what to do with spray tanks, issued to them in wartime precaution.
A.D. Eldred, Mayor, of the town and R. J. Thomas, supervisor, as heads of the civilian protection projects during wartime, have issued word based on a communication from the Washington Civilian Defense Headquarters, that defense activities are terminated officially, but that all government-loaned property is to be retained by those now holding it, who are to be regarded as responsible for its care and preservation until further official action is taken to reclaim, reconvert or sell it..
(Ed. Note. “What a predicament this is!” as Ollie would say to Stan. We wonder what they did with all those things. Did the government ever reclaim them?))
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Menu from Jack & Andy Diner in the 1940s |
WASHINGTON MILLS & NORWICH CORNERS PRIVATE TELEPHONE COMPANY Be it hereby known that on Monday evening October 30th, 1899, at the residence of William H. Griffith in the town of New Hartford, County of Oneida, and State of New York, that a meeting was held, and an association formed, and organized; and to be hereafter known as the Washington Mills & Norwich Corners Private Telephone Company. And that the said company comprises the consolidation of a private line now in operation and extending easterly about one and one half miles from the D.L. & W. R. R. Station in Washington Mills to the residence of A. P. Mallory of the same place, with a section of new line yet to be constructed, and extending easterly about three miles from the residence of the afore said A. P. Mallory to the residence of Frederick King, in the Town of Frankfort, County of Herkimer, and State of New York. Officers were duly elected as follows:
Line inspector to receive compensation for services rendered. On motion the Company was limited to twenty telephones. |
The back of this old photo uncovered in the Historical Society rooms merely says, “Swiss Float” and the name Carl A. Tritten, Sr. It is obviously a parade on Genesee Street and they are in front of the old American Emblem building which was torn down to make way for the route 8 arterial ramp. Can anyone help us with this picture? From the clothing on the men parading at the rear it looks to be early 1900. It must have been a magnificent float
DEATH TAKES G.I. DURRANT, STORE MANAGER
From a
Friday, June 21, 1946 edition of the Utica paper.
George I, Durrant, 75, for the last 22 years manager of the Victory chain store in New Hartford, died unexpectedly today in his home, 7 Richardson Ave.
He was born January 12, 1871, in Adams, Mass., son of the late George and Sarah Ann Jackson Durrant, and went to New Hatford with his family at the age of two years. He attended the public schools there and a Utica business school before entering the employ of William S. Jackson, his grandfather, to learn the meat cutting trade.
Mr. Durrant was employed for many years by John Law, who operated a meat market in New Hartford, before becoming manger of the Victory store. A member of the First Baptist Church, New Hartford, which he formerly served as trustee, Mr. Durrant married Nettie Harvey in 1898. She died Sept. 11, 1938. The only survivors are nieces and nephews, Mrs. Wellington Barker, Deansboro; Mrs. Charles Lounsbury, Utica;. Alfred Moore, Rome; Douglas Eadie and George Aldrich,
Waterford, Conn; Floyd Harvey, New Hartford; Emerson Griffith, Utica; and Clarence Harvey, Rome.
Ed. Note: The Victory store was located next to Casab’s Café. It was in one of the buildings that were torn down when Campion Road entrance off Genesee Street was enlarged. Mr. Durrant was a well known and respected member of the New Hartford community.
December 17, 1917 A big snow storm—Matt Durrenbeck’s plowing You can just see Butler Hall (with pitched roof) in background. The building that the plow is in front of later became Stevenson’s pharmacy
Stevenson’s Drug Store April 26, 1949
No one expects you to run — anywhere.
People call at 9:00 p.m. and ask, “Did I wake you?”
There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
You can live with out sex but not your glasses.
You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
You can sing along with elevator music.
Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
Table of Contents
April Program
New Hartford
Welcome New Members
Area Grew From War’s Ashes
Coming In May
Old Saint John’s Rectory
Lustron House
Dr. Griffith, Chadwicks
Mrs. Emily Seaman Serves 82 In
Same Church
Sidewalk Bridge
Humor
Thursday , April 3 7:00 PM
First Presbyterian Church, 45 Genesee Street, New Hartford
Frank Tomaino will be our speaker. His topic is “How Little Things Change History”. This promises to be a very entertaining program. Please mark the date on your calendar and plan to attend. We really need your support. Attendance at monthly meetings has been very low.
Article is from the New York State Gazetteer of 1860.
The town of New Hartford was formed from Whitestown on April 12, 1827. A part of Kirkland was annexed in 1834.
Early settlers were: Asabel Beach, Amos Ives, Solomon Blodget, Salmon Butler, Joel Blair, Agift Hill, Stephen Bushnell, Oliver Collins, Joseph Jenings, Joseph Higbee, Nathan Seward, John French, (rest listed without first name) Kellogg, Risley, Olmstead, Seymour, Butler, Hurlbut, Kilbourn, Wyman, and Montague.
New Hartford (town) has six churches: Presbyterian, Methodist-Episcopal, Episcopalian, Baptist, Union, and Friends
Villages in New Hartford:
New Hartford (post office) has 4 churches, 2 cotton factories, batting factory (“Utica Cotton Mills”), flouring mill, tannery. 892 inhabitants.
Washington Mills (post office) has Washington Steam Mills, Oneida Woolen Mills, and 50 houses.
New York Upper Mills (post office New York Mills) has 1 church, cotton factory, dye house, steam mills and 40 houses.
Willowvale has factory for cotton machinery, a foundry, and 40 houses.
New Hartford (town) population 1860
Male 2,132
Female 2,385
Dwellings 707
Families 827
Freeholders 418
Horses 746
Working oxen 935
Cows 1,471
Sheep 1,261
18 school districts
1,536 children taught
Bushels of grain
Winter 785
Spring 66,768
Tons of hay 4,988
Bush. Potatoes 27,076
Bush. Apples 52,328
Pounds of butter 109, 263
Pounds of cheese 67,426
Yards of domestic cloth 1,273
Carolyn Berwald N. Hartford
Ron McClusky N. Hartford
Mary Shaffer Vienna, Ohio
Matthew & Victoria Schmidt NH
The following excerpts are from an article in the Observer-Dispatch of Sunday, June 29, 1975, written by Mark Patinkin
Upstate New York exploded into one of the key theaters of action during the final year of the American Revolution, and by late 1783, the Mohawk Valley showed more than its fair share of battle scars. Countless skirmishes had left the sparsely populated but once prosperous farm acreage blighted with burnt out buildings, human and animal bones and ravaged fields. The toll on the population was as devastating as the damage to the land. The valley was then part of Tryon County whose militia of 2,500 in 1777 had dwindled to just over a thousand when the peace treaty with the British was signed.
All over the thirteen colonies the treaty signaled the true beginning of the new country of America— a time of resettlement and recovery. Which was nowhere near an easy task in the valley—then considered one of the nation’s more rugged frontiers.
The first newcomers to seek it out, the ‘converted’ pro-British Tories of Upstate New York, received the coldest of all possible welcomes. Under the leadership of their ‘chairman’, Josiah Thorp, the inhabitants of the Mohawk District of Tryon County gathered in meeting late in the year to damn the name Tory and banish all those carrying it from the region.
“The have with malicious pleasure butchered the aged and the infirm. They have made more than 300 widows and 2000 orphans; killed thousands of cattle and horses; burnt two million bushels of grain and many hundreds of buildings; and now these malicious fiends are creeping in among us to claim the privilege of fellow citizens. Impossible!”
Impossible it wasn’t, and many endured initial hostility so that they could stake out a claim. This immigration of locals, however, hardly signified a new era of resettlement. The true future of the valley lay not with those who had lived there before the war, but rather in the adventuresomeness of the population of the east.
Smelling a moment where leadership was crucial, General George Washington decided to take the initiative. He would be one of the first to make the journey to the north-western frontier—the Mohawk Valley—and show his people the 13 colonies were just the edge of a vast land. July 18, 1783, he left his headquarters in Newbury to begin a 750-mile trip by sloop and foot, threading down the Mohawk river, past Wood Creek and near Oneida Lake, stopping off at Fort Stanwix in the Rome area as well as Utica’s own original hub—Fort Schuyler. Looking past the burnt out buildings and the battlefield ruins, George Washington liked what he saw. In the riverways he saw key avenues for westward migration. And in the land he saw a beauty even he didn’t expect of this America of his. Majestic scenery and flowing transportation—now like never before Washington realized the growth potential of the country. He cast a vote of confidence in that potential by buying a thousand acres of farmland in the valley.
There is little question in the minds of historians that word of Washington’s visit encouraged many itchy eastern city-dwellers to finally hook up their wagons and make for the frontier.
First came Hugh White, traveling west in 1784 to lay claim to a land patent he had bought centering on the Sauquoit creek area. Up the Mohawk he came, from Albany, passing the ruined farm-houses and even stopping at one point to plant corn he would harvest months later. Up he came to the creek and built his home, sinking roots that four years later would prompt the state legislature to immortalize his name when they voted Whitestown into existence.
A year later, in 1785 came Fort Schuyler’s first settlers, John Cunningham, George Damuth and Jacob Chrisman, followed soon by Rutger Bleecker, owner of a large tract centering on north Genesee street. And Bleecker begat children whose names read like a present day Utica road map: Elizabeth Brinkerhoff, Maria Miller, John Bleecker, Blandina Dudley and Sarah Rutger Bleecker. One by one friends and relatives came to the area. What they found was not an easy life. When the Mohawk froze in the winter of 1786, the only supplies or news that could flow in from outside were brought by the occasional wandering trapper.
Up came Baron Von Steuben, rewarded by his country for his efforts in the war with an annual pension of $2,500 and 16,000 acres of Oneida County land. Steuben’s favorite hobby was to sell 100 acre tracts for $15, and to give away 50, 60 and 70 acres to fellow soldiers he deemed worthy of the gift. The valley grew.
Up came Jedediah Sanger from Massachusetts in 1788 to seek out a land grant given him by General Washington. By present day demography, it wasn’t too bad a grant, covering as it did both sides of Sauquoit creek from Chadwicks, through New Hartford and over to New York Mills. He turned over a good portion of it to what is now the New Hartford Presbyterian Church (for two pews and a gain of rice annually) and the Valley grew some more.
Fort Schuyler, however, was years ahead of its northern neighbor when it came to public accommodation. The settlers , to their delight, found themselves on the nation’s most well traveled water artery, and in the constant flow of frontiersmen, found at least a marginal prosperity.
By 1798, Fort Schuyler had grown to the point where it was a candidate for organization into a village. The residents streamed to Bagg’s tavern one night to conduct the orderly business of christening the municipality with a name, and all hell broke loose. Some demanded it be Skenendoah, others Washington, still others Hamilton, and a few cried for Kent. Finally names were thrown into a pot. One was chosen.
It happened to have been submitted by a scholar of ancient history who had written down the name of an ancient Phoenician society, a place they called Utica.
Thursday, May 1st, Cheryl Pula will give a talk on “Field of Fire” 146th NY Regiment. Place for the meeting will be announced in the May edition of the “Tally-Ho!”
Old Saint John’s Rectory Early August , 1964
This was the home of Mrs. Carrie Sherman, wife of James Schoolcraft Sherman. It was on Oxford Road, on the upper corner of Sherman Street . After her death, it became the rectory for Saint John’s Church , which was on the opposite corner. It was called “Cedar Circle” but the trees were spruce.
Soon after this picture was taken the house was torn down. The ground breaking for the new Saint John’s Church was on August 27, 1964.
LUSTRON HOUSE
After World War II there was a need for new houses for the veterans. Steel was no longer needed by the government so Carl G. Strandlund came up with a house made of durable steel, easy to clean, heated with radiant heat from ceiling panels, for an affordable price. They could be constructed on the spot and were called Lustron homes. The homes were all one story with low cut gable roof and cutout entry porch. The interior also had panels for a living room, kitchen/dinette, bathroom, two bedrooms and a utility room. There were many built-in features. The company produced 2600 homes and sold them nationwide. Dealerships were set up much like a car dealership, which made purchasing the home swift and easy. This information was taken from an article in “The Preservationist” magazine published by New York State.
The Lustron house in New Hartford is at 128 Genesee Street and is used for a local business, Maranda’s Touch Of Style Beauty Salon and Debbie’s Electrolysis Studio. Owner of the house is Deborah Hapanowicz.
The New York State Lustron Project, funded by the Historic Albany Foundation, has documented all of the homes constructed in the state. Their goal is to locate, record, research and nominate a home to the State and National Register. The overall goal is to preserve these homes.
Take a look at this house the next time you go up Genesee.
The following is the obituary of Dr. Griffith, a well-loved local doctor that many of us remember. This appeared in the March 14, 1946 edition of the O.D.
Dr. Edwin M. Griffith, 69, Chadwicks, a prominent physician and long active in politics, died unexpectedly in his home yesterday, March 13, 1946. Dr. Preston R. Clark, Corner, said death was due to a heart condition.
Dr. Griffith was born in Steuben, March 27, 1876, a son of the late Maurice W. and Jane Jones Griffith. He was a graduate of Holland Patent High School and Union College and Albany Medical College and served his internship in Faxton Hospital.
After his internship, Dr. Griffith opened a practice in Chadwicks and had served that community for 41 years. He was married June 14, 1906 to Anna May Bigelow.
He also was prominent in local politics, having served about 14 years as supervisor of the Town of New Hartford. He also was school doctor in Chadwicks for about 30 years. He served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps in World War I.
Dr. Griffith was a member of the Wiillowvale Methodist Church, and at the time of his death, a trustee of the church. He was a prominent Mason, being a member and past master of Amicable Lodge, 664, F&AM, New Hartford, and a member of Ziyara Temple; New Hartford Chapter, OES. He was a member of the staff of Faxton Hospital and of the board of the Oneida County hospital. He also was a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of New Hartford.
Besides his wife, he leaves one daughter, Mrs. Esther Pierce, East Rochester; a grandchild, Patricia Ann Pierce, East Rochester; a brother, Wilson A, Rochester; a sister, Mrs. Lucy Richards, Elmwood, Conn.; one half-brother Otis Jones, Utica, and a half-sister, Mrs.. Ellen Grace Griffith, Remsen; also several nieces and nephews.
MRS. EMILY SEAMAN SERVES 82 IN SAME CHURCH
When Abraham Lincoln was President, 82 years ago, Mrs. Emily Seaman, who will be 96 Sept. 17 was baptized into membership in the New Hartford Baptist Church. She has held membership there ever since, and is believed to be the champion in point of consecutive service.
An account of her long years of active participation in church affairs appeared recently in the Baptist State Paper, in which the Rev. Halsey W. Morgan, present pastor of the New Hartford Church, issued a challenge in that regard. No one broke her record.
Tom Brenneman, a well-known broadcaster, was contacted. He announced on his broadcast this morning that he is sending her an orchid
(This article appeared in the March 14, 1946 edition of the Observer Dispatch)
This picture, taken in 1896, shows a sidewalk bridge on lower Genesee Street. This was where a stream of water, known as a tailrace that was formed by the McClean Mill pond, went under Genesee St. A little ways up this stream was the village lock-up. In the far distance is the McClean grist mill, operated by water power and established by Jedediah Sanger around 1789.
This picture was taken by John Edgar Burton while revisiting New Hartford in 1896 . We have a wonderful legacy of his pictures. The caption he printed under this one reads as follows:
“Old Humphrey Williams blacksmith shop is right on the bridge. The little old Jack O’Neil house is on the left and McLean’s Grist Mill straight up the stream. The path on the left goes into Joe Richardson’s pasture where for years I went and got the cows morning and night, getting 6 1/4 cents for each and thus saved my first money. James Dobie’s saloon was under O’Neil’s; whiskey .03 a nip.”
The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
Do you realize that in about 40 years we’ll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos.
Money can’t buy happiness—but somehow it’s more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than in a Hyundai.
After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.
Table of Contents
March Program
Regular Feminist Movement
Tydol Gas Station
Early History Of New Hartford
And Area
First Methodist Episcopal Church
Washington Mills Depot
Billy Throop
Huntington Place
DL&W
Train Station
Great Tip
Quickies
Welcome New Members
Saturday, March 8, 2008 1:00 P.M.
Oneida County Historical Society
1608 Genesee Street, Utica, NY
Brian Howard, director of the OCHS will speak to us and conduct a tour of the facilities. This is something new ; a Saturday afternoon meeting. We hope you will support us and the OCHS by coming to this program.
(The following is reprinted from a Utica newspaper of March 25, 1914. This was brought to our attention by Judith Wittman-Eversen)
Men of the New Hartford Methodist Church did a feminist movement in earnest last evening when they acted as waiters to some 180 ladies of the church and village, who assembled for the first “ladies banquet.” That banquet was a huge success, for there were 31 men actively interested in showing the ladies that they could put on an affair of the sort in just as good style as the fair sex.
Generally it is the lady who waits on the table and wipes the dishes out in the kitchen, while the men are making speeches and having a good time. Last night the tables were turned, or rather the folks around them were turned, for when the ladies made appearance for the doings they were waited on by the nicest looking kind of men, who wore white aprons and immaculate coats with carnations in the lapels. There was a big jolly headwaiter, too, with a regular evening dress suit on. Folks figured out after a while that it was Dr. Arthur P. Clarke.
The program of eats
and talks went through in the happiest kind of a way, and the waiters
distinguished themselves by not spilling oyster patties down the back of
anyone’s neck. The soup was significantly missing from the menu. The
ladies were not taking chances. After the eating was over Mrs. Frank
Morgan acted as t
oastmaster
and following a prayer by Rev. Walter C. Wilmshurst, pastor of the
church; Miss Alma Parry rendered a solo. Mrs. C. C., Townsend of
Herkimer talked on “Home Makers,” and Mrs. C.D. Rosenkrantz of Utica had
something to offer on “Pegs,”. Then there was a piano selection and
“The Forward Look” was discussed by Miss Rhea Parry. The big hit of the
evening came when Mrs. John Miller talked about “Our Waiters,” who stood
modestly in the background and listened to much praise. Then the entire
affair was concluded by the “Ladies’ Chorus,” words for which were
written by Mrs. J.C. Withey.
The ladies who had charge of the various committees were as follows: General committee, Mrs. F.P. Williams; tickets, Mrs. Earl Allen; speakers, Mrs. W.C, Wilmshurst; program, Mrs. A. D. Eldred; music, Mrs. John Miller.
The men’s committee in charge consisted of Dr. Arthur P. Clark, chairman, John Miller, James Withey, Frank Williams, Fay Billings, A.D. Eldred and Mr. Wilmshurst.
The 31 waiters were as follows: Dr. Clarke, John Miller, James Withey, Fay Billings, Frank Williams, Manuel Ackler, Edward Churchill, Ralph Churchill, Dan Harris, D. A. Dealing, Howard Dealing, Charles Greene, A. D. Eldred, Lee Martin, Clifford Inman, George Davis, James Philo, Mr. Wilmshurst, Robert Parry, Harold Barnard, George Healy, Maynard Williams, Chester Blakeman, Fred Blakeman, Lowell Alexander, Robert Thomas, Thomas Roberts, Linn Getman and Harold Leshure.
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The Tydol gas station in this picture (far right) was run by Frank Welch. Lester Farms Dinette was owned by Lester Hameline. Both buildings were razed to improve access to Campion Road from Genesee Street. The building to the left is present day Casabs Deli Cafe
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EARLY HISTORY OF NEW HARTFORD AND AREA
(Taken from “Annals of Oneida County” by Pomroy Jones, published in 1851.)
The Courts
The first court of record held within the present limits of the county was a term of the Herkimer Common Pleas and General Sessions at “the Meeting House in the town of Whitestown,” on the third Tuesday I January, 1794. Present : Henry Staring, judge, and Jedediah Sanger and Amos Wetmore j\, justices.
Eight men were convicted of assault and battery, and fined from 16 shillings to three pounds each.
Like terms of the court were doubtless held in the town of Whitesboro on the third Tuesday in January 1795-6-7.
The records of the Clerk’s Office of Herkimer County were destroyed by fire in 1804, and it is impossible now to learn particulars of other terms of the courts effecting the inhabitants of Whitestown. From a scrap discovered in our Clerk’s Office, it seems that at a term of the General Sessions held at the church in Herkimer on the third Tuesday in January, 1792, Hugh White, Jedediah Sanger, and Moses Foot were fined one pound, 14 shillings each for non attendance as Justices: and John Alden, Lemuel Bradley, and Smith Miller, were fined one pound four shillings each for like default as petit jurors. It is also interesting to note the results of voting for governor held in the town of New Hartford since the year 1828 to 1850. The victor in the state elections should be evident from history, and it is equally evident that area voters did not always support the winner. To look at these few years: 1828, *Martin Van Buren, Jacksonian Democrat 163, Smith Thompson, 328; 1830, *Enos Throop, Jacksonian Democrat 88, Francis Granger, 264; 1832, *William L. Marcy, Democrat 200, Francis Granger, 325; 1834, *William L. Marcy, 191, William H. Seward, 344; 1836, *William Marcy, 163, Jesse Buel, 248; jumping on to 1844, *Silas Wright, Democrat 240, Millard Fillmore, 399, Evan Stewart, 33; in 1848, R.H. Walworth, 166, *Hamilton Fish, Whig 345, and John Dix, 87; and in 1850, Horatio Seymour, 237, and *Washington Hunt, Democrat 340..
(Editor’s note: Those starred won the election for the year listed.)
The first census in which the actual population of New Hartford was shown was that of 1830, when the town's population was 3,599. By 1840, the town had grown to 3,819 and in 1850 , even with a much larger area, including some of Lewis and Jefferson counties, the population was only 22,837.
In 1823, there were 15 churches in the county with 7 ordained ministers. By 1850 there were 26 churches, 27 ordained ministers, and 2.520 members.
| Interior of the First Methodist Episcopal Church 1905. Located on Oxford Road next to the funeral parlor. It burned to the ground June, 1999. At that time it was occupied by the Players of Utica |
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By Doug Preston
(Excerpts from an article in the Tower Topics, the newsletter of the Utica and Mohawk Valley Chapter of the National Historic Railroad Society Newsletter. Reprinted by permission of author.)
For anyone not familiar with the Washington Mills Depot, this wood-frame board-and-batten depot was acquired many years ago by the Town of New Hartford and moved about a quarter-mile west of its original trackside site to the corner of Kellogg and Tibbitts Roads. For many years it was next to the town highway garage, now remodeled as the Jerome Madden Justice Building.
It was quite run-down until the town renovated it about 1979 as a community meeting center. Since then, it has been used for everything from town board meetings to Little League registration, and by numerous groups, including the New Hartford Historical Society and the Utica and Mohawk Valley Chapter of the National Historic Railroad Society.
The depot has been redecorated at least once since the original renovation. The town also replaced a reproduction sign that read “NEW HARTFORD” with a correct “WASHINGTON MILLS” sign. At this point all the exterior of the Kellogg Road depot lacks in authenticity is a DL&W paint job of dark green with red window sashes.
(The following are excerpts from an OD article of Nov. 8, 2007 which were included in the article.)
Town closes Community Center Dec. 1 until April 30. Officials say measure to save utility expenses.
The last section of the article was headed “A piece of surplus property” and read, “In addition to saving on utility expenses, officials said the building is in a ‘deplorable’ state and is therefore unfit to use.’
“It needs a new roof , “Town supervisor Earle Reed said. “We can close it down and analyze the viability of the building.”
“Town planning Board member Jerome Donovan, who has attended meetings in the center for seven years, said the building is an eyesore in the town’s redevelopment plan and occupies valuable commercial property.. It is also unequipped for public presentations, he said.”
He further stated,
“Whether repairs will be made to the building still is undecided, and members next spring will look to appoint a citizens committee made up of engineers and architects who can assess the building’s condition and decide its fate.”
How quickly a restored historic building can be transformed from a charming and useful object of community pride to “an eyesore in {a community’s} development plan! When politicians begin tossing around such words as “deplorable,” “unfit to use,” “needs a new roof,” “I won’t shed any tears,” “unnecessary,” “surplus,” and “valuable commercial property,” then it is time for groups like ours to be on the alert.
The historical significance of the Washington Mills depot goes far beyond its rail transportation heritage, especially in 2008. As of today, the depot is about the last tangible reminder of the Washington Mills of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Prior to being swallowed up in suburban sprawl, Washington Mills was an independent hamlet, with textile mills, residence, and businesses such as Agway that catered to the surrounding farms. Except for the depot and a handful of older houses—such as the one converted into Packy’s Pub—the Washington Mills of years gone by has vanished. Even though the depot no longer stands on its original site it still seems worth preserving.
Groups such as the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica, the New Hartford Historical Society, and possibly others may also find this issue of interest. NHHS has used the depot as a meeting place for many years.
We will all want to keep a close eye on the upcoming “assessments” of the Washington Mills depot, bearing in mind that at least some powerful town officials appear to have already made up their minds about getting rid of it. Stay tuned!
( A copy of the entire article that appeared in the Tower Topics can be found at the Historical Society.)
The following article appeared in the Sunday, June 13, 1948 edition of the Utica Observer Dispatch. It was complete with four pictures but, unfortunately, newspaper pictures are difficult to reproduce. One was a picture of Billy Throop of Washington Mills seated in his coaster. The article reads as follows:
For 11-year old Billy Throop, who has been a Cub Scout for three years, yesterday was a big day. It won’t be soon that he will forget what happened.
For a day, Billy was king. With some old boards, wire mesh, four tricycle wheels, some rope and nails and yellow paint, he had climbed to the pinnacle of boyhoods success. For yesterday Billy had driven his gleaming yellow coaster car down steep Sanger Ave, New Hartford, faster than a dozen others of his generation to win his Cub Pack's coaster derby.
In second place last year, Billy had tinkered with his yellow “Flash” for the past several weeks in an effort to iron out the kinks so that this time it would show its tail to all the rest. Billy’s efforts were not in vain. His car held up long enough to beat all comers and establish a record time of 41 seconds for the two-block long course.
As he brought his racer to a slightly erratic halt after rattling across the finish line, Billy was a little embarrassed by his shouting friends who ran to his car and slapped him enthusiastically on the back.
He tried not to show emotion as he posed for pictures of amateur cameramen, but it was difficult to mask the fact that to date it was probably the biggest thing that happened to him.
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Huntington Place, New Hartford Date unknown |
DL&W Train Station in Washington Mills right after it was moved to the site where it stands today. This is the train station mentioned in the article on the previous page. |
Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a ziplock bag. Seal, mash till they are broken up. Add remaining ingredients, reseal, keep mashing until thoroughly mixed. Cut the corner of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Throw away the bag when done.
The irony of life is that by the time you’re old enough to know your way around, you’re too old to go anywhere.
Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.
Phil and Betty Pearle—New Hartford
