BOUND VOLUMES, May 22, 2014
175 YEARS AGO
The action brought by Mr. Fenimore Cooper against Andrew M. Barber, Editor of the Otsego Republican was decided on Wednesday last at Fonda, Montgomery County, by a verdict of $400 damages in favor of the plaintiff. The complaint was for a libel copied, with some editorial remarks, from the Chenango Telegraph, in connection with a controversy for the possession of the Three-Mile Point, on the west shore of Otsego Lake. There was no justification made, but the defense set up at the trial, was a pretense that Mr. Barber had intended to defend Mr. Cooper from the imputations of the Editor of The Telegraph, and not to adopt them. Judge Willard, we learn, presided with great dignity and impartiality. He laid down a doctrine that all should understand, viz: that no resolution of any body of men can justify a libel. The truth of injurious allegations must be shown, and not the fact that other persons have advanced them. Mr. Cooper appeared in his own case, supported by his relative, Richard Cooper, Esq. A suit is pending against Mr. Pellett, the Editor of the Chenango Telegraph, for the same libel.
May 20, 1839
150 YEARS AGO
Important War News – It will be seen after seven days hard fighting, Gen Grant gained a decided – but by no means decisive – victory over Gen. Lee on May 12th. From that date, Lee took up a strong position near the scene of his recent defeat, and there he awaits Grant’s expected assault. Gen. Grant has been delayed by bad roads and the worn out condition of his army, which has been largely reinforced. Lee, it is reported, is also receiving reinforcements. Whatever has been won by our forces during this campaign in Virginia is due to the indomitable courage and hard fighting of our brave soldiers. The losses on each side are probably about equal and the aggregate cannot be much short of 100,000.
May 20, 1864
125 YEARS AGO
Excursion –The D. & H. Company is to run an excursion train from Sidney to Albany on Thursday, May 30, which is a holiday, and on that day Barnum’s great circus exhibits at Albany. Leave Sidney at 6:30 a.m.; arrive at Albany at 11 a.m., and leave there on return at 6 p.m. Fare for the round trip at all points as far east as Schenevus, $1.75; Worcester and points east to Schoharie Junction $1.50. A special train will leave Cooperstown at 7 o’clock a.m. to connect with the above at a reduced rate for the round trip.
Pensions – After years of effort by different attorneys, Capt. A. Davidson has finally succeeded in obtaining for Mrs. Eliza Eggleston of this village a widow’s pension of $12 a month with arrearages amounting to $2,000. She is now an invalid, and it is feared will not long live to enjoy her good fortune. Tabor Card of Hartwick has received a pension of nearly $1,300, with eight dollars per month during life.
May 24, 1889
100 YEARS AGO
In Our Town – At a meeting of the members of the Sunset League held at the office of C.B. Johnson on Wednesday evening it was voted to levy a tax of 25 cents on each member of the various teams and each member should pay 10 cents each week toward the support of the organization. The money collected will be used to repair the bleachers, grandstand, players’ benches, scorers’ stand, club house and to defray the expense of a man to keep up the grounds and mow the grass. The city water will be turned on and the clubhouse will be open to the members who wish to make use of it. (Ed. Note: The ball field was located on the site of the present Cooperstown Elementary School.)
May 20, 1914
75 YEARS AGO
A photo reproduction of a letter from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dated April 19, 1939, appeared on the front page of The Freeman’s Journal. The text reads: “It is most fitting that the history of our perennially popular sport should be immortalized in the National Baseball Museum at Cooperstown where the game originated and where the first diamond was devised a hundred years ago. Baseball has become, through the years, not only a great national sport, but also the symbol of America as the melting pot. The players embrace all nations and national origins and the fans, equally cosmopolitan, make only one demand of them: Can they play the game?” (Ed. Note: In 1939, there were no African-Americans playing in the white-only professional major leagues; integration finally came in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers)
May 24, 1939
50 YEARS AGO
The Wilson E. McGown House was moved from 25 Chestnut Street to its new site back of the First Presbyterian Church on Church Street where it will become an integral part of the church’s new education center. With nearly 1,000 people looking on from curbside along the route, the house was transported in two sections on big rubber-tired dollies to Church Street in a little over one hour by L.D. Dexheimer and Son, Inc. of Guilford.
May 27, 1964
25 YEARS AGO
Otsego County representatives voted in favor of a resolution to purchase more than six acres of land at $9,000 or less per acre near the Meadows where a new Otsego County jail will be constructed. Otsego County has been under pressure to build a new jail to relieve overcrowding in a structure built in the 1840s in the village.
May 24, 1989
10 YEARS AGO
Local historian Tom Heitz recently stumbled across previously unnoticed references and articles describing suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony’s visit to Cooperstown in early February, 1855. Heitz, who was researching entries for his history column Bound Volumes in The Freeman’s Journal at the NYSHA Library said Anthony scholars at Rutgers University confirmed that the information was previously undocumented. (Ed. note: The Freeman’s Journal incorrectly listed the year of Anthony’s visit in their 2004 story as 1885 rather than 1855)
May 21, 2004
TODAY!
President Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, made history in Cooperstown Thursday, May 22, by becoming the first sitting president in modern history to visit the Birthplace of Baseball. He delivered an message on the economic importance of tourism as the 75th anniversary season of the National Baseball Hall of Fame was due to begin Saturday, May 24, with the annual Hall of Fame Classic.
May 22, 2014