HOMETOWN HISTORY 

June 28, 2019

150 YEARS AGO

Oneonta Local: The subterranean grog holes of this village are damaging humanity pretty badly nowadays. What law we have to preserve public order ought to be thoroughly enforced.
The ladies of the Presbyterian Church will hold an ice cream and strawberry festival at Blend’s Hall, on Tuesday evening. Admission, including strawberries or ice cream, twenty-five cents.
The first nine of the Lightfoot Base Ball Club of this village, will play a match game of ball with the first nine of the Laurens Fearless Base Ball Club, on July 3. Also, on June 26, the second nine of both clubs will play a friendly game at Laurens.
A festival for the benefit of Samuel Carr, who lost an arm and both eyes by the premature discharge of a cannon at the railroad celebration in Hamden on May 4, will be held at the village on the afternoon of July 3 under the auspices of Hamden Union Lodge, No. 473, L O. of G.T.

June 1869

125 YEARS AGO

The Local News: Monday of this week, 900,000 out of the 1,700,000 bricks required for the new Normal building had been laid. With favorable weather there will be no trouble in getting the west wing ready for occupancy next September.
A combination of bicycle and street car frightened a pair of blooded horses belonging to O. Fleming so badly on Main Street last Saturday afternoon that they ran away, throwing Mr. Fleming and Miss Jean Russell out on the pavement in front of the fire department building. Mr. Fleming was not much injured, but Miss Russell had one foot badly bruised and it is possible she will be confined to her room for several weeks. Bad as the accident was, it is really remarkable how both got off so well.
The last Normal ball game of the season was played Saturday with the Schenevus club. It was an exciting game and was won by the visitors by a score of 4 to 2. Inability to hit Mills, who pitched an excellent game, was the principal cause of defeat.

June 1894

100 YEARS AGO

Nearly 200 members of the Alumni of the Oneonta High School and friends of the institution were in attendance at the annual banquet held in the Paul Revere corridor of the school building. Not the least interesting feature of the evening was the decision reached during the business meeting to purchase a bronze tablet to be placed in the walls of the building in honor of the 170 men from the alumni who have served with the colors of whom seven are known to have made the supreme sacrifice. Louis B. Capron, Class of 1910, was the first speaker and responded with “The Present Victory.” Mr. Capron told of his experiences at the front in an interesting way and declared that the victory can be made permanent only by untiring activity in the future. “In Flanders Field” was the topic assigned to Miss Brennan, the faculty member on the toast list. She delivered a well-worded fitting tribute to the seven members of the alumni who fell or died while with the colors.

June 1919

80 YEARS AGO

Four threats to peace dogged Europe on the anniversary of the event that plunged the world into war and another which started the current series of crises. Exactly 25 years ago (June 28, 1914) at Sarajevo, Bosnia, then Austrian territory, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian student, Gavrillo Princip. That started the chain of events which ended in a four-year World War. Twenty years ago today (June 28, 1919) a solemn gathering of statesmen at Versailles signed a “peace treaty” between 27 nations and Germany. That furnished the basis for Adolph Hitler’s Nazi campaign which is now gathering momentum toward scrapping the few parts of the Versailles document that remain in effect. Throughout the world, governments are frantically rebuilding their war machines.

June 1939

60 YEARS AGO

Kurt Franz Rossmeisl learned Thursday he must leave the United States – the country he adopted illegally. He agreed to go of his own accord. But the onetime German Army officer who escaped from a prisoner of war camp said he doesn’t want to get far from America. “I hope to go to Mexico,” he said, “and go to the nearest American Consulate and apply for an American visa. Milton V. Milich, hearing officer for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, ruled Rossmeisl is in this country illegally because he has no valid visa. Rossmeisal also lacks a passport, his biggest worry right now. Rossmeisl is a master of nine languages and served the German Army as a linguist with Rommel’s Afrika Corps when he was captured in 1943.

June 1959

40 YEARS AGO

Four years from now, all New York State motorists will have their pictures on their driver’s licenses under a bill given final legislative approval. The measure, which is expected to be signed by Governor Hugh L. Carey, would replace the current drivers’ licenses with a credit card type bearing a photograph of the motorist embossed into the material. The new licenses will cost a dollar more than the current ones. The changeover will take place over the next four years as new licenses are issued and old ones expire and are renewed. The bill was supported by many groups as a means of providing more accurate identification.

June 1979

20 YEARS AGO

It was something Joan Stanley did not want to do, but she had no choice. Battling health problems and running a business have become too much for one person to do. As a result, Stanley has put up “For Sale” signs in Nick’s Diner, her Chestnut Street restaurant. Out of love for customers though she will keep the business open until she finds a new owner. “I’m trying to find somebody who will carry it on because this place shouldn’t close down,” she said. “It’s a landmark. Everybody that’s ever lived in Oneonta knows Nick’s Diner. Stanley has owned the diner about three years, but its history goes back many years when the Oneonta rail yards were thriving.

June 1999