BOUND VOLUMES, September 25, 2013
200 YEARS AGO
Alarming!! – Noah Preston, an inhabitant of Camden, in the County of Oneida, being subject to turns of mental derangement, on Saturday, the 11th inst., left his home and family, and after strolling around the fields and woods of his own town, was at last recognized by an old acquaintance, on Oneida Creek, near Oneida Castle, on the same night, and since which time he has not been seen or heard of. The afflicted family of this unhappy man, alarmed for his safety, give notice that any person who may have observed a stranger in delirium of the following description, would immediately write by mail, to the subscriber; and if possible detain him in his care until he can be sent for. Mr. Preston is a man about six feet high, of slender person, and about 52 years of age; he had on a butternut-colored coat, considerably worn, dark colored velvet pantaloons, and black cloth vest, with an old hat and a pair of coarse shoes without stockings; of a fair complexion, and grey eyes; he went away without any money. All printers of papers in the Western District, are requested to insert this notice two or three times, and send their accounts to Wm. R. Preston. Camden, September 17, 1813.
September 25, 1813
175 YEARS AGO
Otsego County Education Society – An association of citizens for the improvement of Common Schools in this County was organized on the 14th of November last, appropriating the above title as the denomination of the Society. Its annual meeting is on Tuesday succeeding the third Monday in October in each year, at the Court House in Cooperstown. It will fall this year on Tuesday the 16th of October. Of all enterprises claiming public attention, it is hoped there is none more interesting than that of making education universal, and a concern of the States as well as one of individual care. Without education and intellectual culture general and diffusive, no reflecting man can hope that succeeding generations will be able to perpetuate the example of a nation of self-governing freemen.
September 24, 1838
125 YEARS AGO
Vassar is the oldest, and so far as we have any knowledge, the best College for girls in this country. It is not a sectarian institution. On Monday, President Taylor said to a correspondent: “This is the first year we have had no preparatory department and I am deeply gratified at the brilliant prospect. We have entered more than one hundred new students, and the freshman class will number seventy – the largest ever known. The total number of students will be about three hundred.” Of the three hundred girls at Vassar the larger number come from the Empire State, but every state and territory has its representation, and so have several foreign countries. It is a remarkable fact that only one of the thousands of pupils educated there ever died in the institution.
September 28, 1888
100 YEARS AGO
Jim Byard’s prize porker got loose on Tuesday morning and started on a tour through the neighborhood, emptying garbage pails in a most accommodating manner for some of the residents on Elm Street. Then it walked leisurely through the Baptist church yard towards the sheds. Word was sent to Jim to come and capture his wandering property. But, as the popular barrister had sat up late the night before reading “Pigs Is Pigs,” his young son Jimmy was sent with a pail of feed to coax the pig home. Jim is so happy over the recovery of his treasured animal that he has promised a pork dinner to all the residents of Pioneer Street.
September 24, 1913
75 YEARS AGO
During the past summer the attendance at the National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has proved highly gratifying, even surpassing the expectations of its officers. From the time it was officially opened in July until Labor Day, 2,921 adult and 713 children’s admissions were paid. Between the time the collection was placed in the museum and its official opening the register shows that a 1,000 more were called to inspect the relics of the national game making a total of more than 4,500 admissions for the summer.
September 28, 1938
50 YEARS AGO
The congregation of the First Presbyterian Church voted Sunday, 93 to 7, to accept the Wilson E. McGown house on Chestnut Street as a gift from Wilson E. McGown, Jr. The house will become a basic unit in the church’s new education center to be built on Church Street. Also included in the proposal submitted to the congregation by the Church’s Building Committee, headed by George H. Harrison, was a plan to purchase the Edward H. Shove house on Church Street. Cost of the project was estimated at $68,000. Present plans call for the demolition of the present Church House on Church Street (the old Universalist Church manse now owned by the Presbyterian Church) and the Shove House. The McGown house will then be moved onto the Church Street site in two sections. Work is expected start next spring.
September 25, 1963
25 YEARS AGO
Former Cooperstown Trustee and Mayor Gerald E. Clark, who died last week at the age of 58, was remembered by many who knew him as having a deep love for his family, his friends and his village. “You could agree or disagree with him. It didn’t make any difference. He always treated you the same,” said village treasurer Joyce Shevalier, a lifelong friend of Clark’s who worked with him when he was in office. “You could always count on him being there when you needed him. He was very special.”
September 28, 1988
10 YEARS AGO
The vestiges of Hurricane Isabel, long since downgraded to a tropical storm, whipped through the area on Friday, September 19. According to NYSEG, some 18,000 customers served by the Oneonta division were without power as a result of Isabel’s sustained high winds. Wind rather than rainfall from the storm was the most significant factor in causing damage to power lines.
September 26, 2003
