BOUND VOLUMES, July 24, 2014

175 YEARS AGO

There is an admirable partition of qualities between the sexes, which the author of our being has distributed to each, with a wisdom that challenges our unbounded admiration. Man is strong – Woman is beautiful; Man is daring and
confident – Woman is diffident and unassuming; Man is great in action –Woman in suffering; Man shines abroad – Woman at home; Man talks to convince – Woman to persuade and please; Man has a ragged heart – Woman a soft and tender one; Man prevents misery – Woman relieves it; Man has science – Woman taste; Man has judgment – Woman sensibility; Man is a being of justice – Woman an angel of mercy.
July 22, 1839

150 YEARS AGO
Lieutenant F.W. Foote of the 121st Regiment, reported killed, is alive and prisoner in Libby Prison, Richmond. He was wounded in an engagement on the 10th of May, captured, and was obliged to have a leg amputated above the knee. In a letter to his Mother he says: “I passed through everything safely until the 10th when about sunset, eight picked regiments selected from our corps were detached to charge a position of the enemy’s works consisting of strong rifle pits with a battery of 12-pound howitzers. We formed under cover of the woods without being observed. The 5th Maine and 121st N.Y. formed the first line of battle. Between us and the enemy was an open plain 300 yards across. We broke from the woods with one cheer and then advanced with a steady double-quick without firing or cheering until close to the works, when we fired a volley and went over them with a yell. It was nobly done and we did not stop here, but carried a second range of rifle pits and captured their battery. By this time our little force was considerably scattered and broken up; we were without supports; the enemy advanced on us with fresh troops and we were forced back. Just before we started I received a Minnie ball through my thigh, which brought me down. The next day I was carried to one of the enemy’s hospitals; the bone was found to be shattered and my leg was amputated. At the end of a week I was removed here where we have comfortable quarters with all that is necessary to keep us from suffering.”
July 29, 1864

125 YEARS AGO
A lady who was recently traveling through this section of country, and who stopped at Richfield Springs, there remarked to some visitors: “I spent a few hours driving about the streets of Cooperstown; it seems to be especially the home of widows. When I inquired as to the ownership of a fine residence, in about every instance, the reply was: “That belongs to Mrs. A., or Mrs. B., or Mrs. C.; then I went into a graveyard, and about the first headstone I approached contained the simple word ‘Husbands.’ Wasn’t it rather strange and suggestive?” (Ed. Note: Within the Christ Church graveyard is found a burial marker for the Husbands family, of which Joe Tom Husbands was a prominent member)
July 26, 1889

100 YEARS AGO
Thursday was a red-letter day for the orphans of Cooperstown. In accordance with its annual custom, the
local Automobile Club waved its fairy wand and transformed the 84 little people into a feverishly excited convention. The host of business men who loaned their cars for this worthy purpose seemed as delighted as the children themselves. The start was made shortly after 2 o’clock from the Orphan House of the Holy Savior and the route lay to Richfield Springs with a return late in the afternoon. At Richfield Springs the children were treated to soda water and sang several patriotic songs. As the long ribbon-like line of autos swept through the beautiful country there wasn’t a doubt that the trip would long be remembered by the fatherless and motherless little ones.
July 22, 1914

75 YEARS AGO
Tomorrow, Cooperstown will receive an influx of boys from every part of the United States all hoping to be selected to play on the “All-American Amateur” baseball team representing the United States at the International Amateur Championships in Havana, Cuba from August 12 through 27. The boys coming to Cooperstown for tryouts have been selected as the outstanding amateur players from their respective communities. During ten days of trials at Doubleday Field judges will observe their play and rate each boy for consideration by the National Board of Selection which will name the “All-American Amateur” team members on August 5th.
July 26, 1939

50 YEARS AGO
The S.S. Lollipop, owned by Louis B. Hager of this
village, made its first appearance recently on Otsego Lake. It is the first steam-powered boat launched on the lake since 1905 when the S.S. Mohican, an excursion boat, went down the ways. The Lollipop’s hull formerly was a Long Island lighthouse tender. It was reconditioned at W.T. Sampson Smith’s boatyard here, and a nine horsepower compound steam engine installed. It will drive the shaft at about 600 rpm. The boat has a top speed of 18 knots. It will be used as a pleasure boat by the Hager family.
July 22, 1964

25 YEARS AGO
More than 500 people visited the Alice Busch Opera Theater at the first annual Glimmerglass Opera Community Open House on Sunday, July 16. Visitors from as far away as Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as Cooperstown and the surrounding region, enjoyed tours of the theater, scene and costume shops, wig and wardrobe rooms where production staff members demonstrated their crafts and explained the workings of an opera company.
July 26, 1989

10 YEARS AGO
The Village of Cooperstown Board of Trustees voted Monday night to locate a planned Main Street public restroom near the entrance to Doubleday Field parking lot. The village has received a $56,000 grant and a promise of $50,000 more for the project. Members of the public were asked to express their opinions as to whether the restroom facility should be located in Pioneer Park or near Doubleday.
July 23, 2004