HOMETOWN HISTORY

Nov. 8, 2019

150 Years Ago

Not Slaves After All – At a meeting of the Women’s Franchise Association which was held in New York a few days since, the strong-minded women of the “divine sex” were addressed by some gentleman whose opinions were more truthful than palatable. One of these gentlemen, Mr. Freeman, the orator of the evening, took conservative ground upon the woman suffrage question and advised his fair listeners to move prudently. He said he was opposed to such expressions as calling husbands taskmasters and wives slaves. He didn’t think that women looked much like slaves, as they passed along Pennsylvania Avenue, decked in fine dress and jewelry. From the very fact of women wearing such finery and jewelry he would judge that men were the slaves, from the amount they had to furnish to
purchase such things.

November 1869

125 Years Ago

Fire Loss – On Saturday night, October 27, at about 10 o’clock, the large four-story barn belonging to Adam Shaver, a prosperous farmer living one and one-half miles from Pepacton, was completely destroyed by fire. Eight cows, 90 tons of hay, 350 bushels of grain and all the valuable farming implements were destroyed with the building. The cattle were fed by Mr. Shaver’s son, at about six o’clock, after which none of the family went to the barn. By 10 o’clock, the family had all retired, and at about this time James W. Shaver was awakened by the crackling sound of the burning building. He hastily roused the family who rushed from their beds to work as best they could to save their property. There were in the barn 25 cows, a span of horses, and a yoke of oxen. With the exception of eight cows, all the cattle were driven or led from the building. It was only by the most heroic efforts that the house was saved. The most valuable farm implement was a new McCormick mower. The insurance on the barn and contents approximates $2,000 while the value of the destroyed property is estimated at $4,000. The origin of the fire is shrouded in deepest mystery.

November 1894

100 Years Ago

Editorial Notes: “Is there any rebate if bottles are returned?” a woman in New York City is said to have asked her milkman the other day. It is the opinion of many milkmen in Oneonta, and in fact in all places where bottled milk is sold, that if a deposit were required the consumers would be more careful.
Mrs. William T. Hyde of Cooperstown, superintendent for Otsego of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, will give an address at 8 o’clock this evening at Municipal Hall. All Boy Scouts should be present, as it is one of the laws of scouting that scouts shall be kind to dumb animals. This year an active campaign is to be waged on behalf of animals and Mrs. Hyde believes that the boys can be of material assistance in this work.

November 1919

80 Years Ago

H. Raymond “Red” Griffin, 27, of 30 Hudson Street, Oneonta, was fatally injured Wednesday morning when his car left the highway between Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs. Mr. Griffin, while away on a deer-hunting trip, is believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel. His Ford Coupe left the highway, knocked over two guard posts and somersaulted twice, landing right-side up off the road. The victim was seen emerging from his car and heading back to the highway when he dropped lifeless to the ground. An autopsy revealed death was caused by a punctured lung.

November 1939

60 Years Ago

Oneonta School Lunch Menu: Monday – Baked pork slices with grazed apricot, sliced tomato, mashed potato, half pint of milk, bread and butter, apple sauce. Tuesday – Frankfurter on roll, green salad, milk, raisin and rice pudding. Wednesday – Meat loaf, Harvard beets, creamed potato, bread and butter, milk, fruited Jello. Thursday – Beef stew, cabbage and apricot salad; bread and butter, milk, ice cream. Friday – Baked tuna, macaroni and cheese, buttered Mexican corn, bread and butter, milk, and banana.
Chosen for their “morals, scholastic ability, personality and skill in sports,” seventeen Oneonta High School girls have been elected to the “Girls’ Leaders Club.” They are Joan Wood, Rose Zummo, Betty Oliver, Denella Chamberlain, Connie Cooper, Betsy Jester, Joyce Catella, Linda Hamm, Nancy Hall, Linda Vieweg, Martha Latcher, Jean Stevens, Dorothy Roe, Donna Loucks, Cheryl Bordinger, Kathleen Rogers and Lynn Nelson.

November 1959

40 Years Ago

Senator Edward M. Kennedy declared Wednesday he will seek the presidency in 1980 because President Carter has failed to provide leadership to a country that is “willing, even anxious to be on the march again.” The last of the Kennedy brothers and heir to a modern political dynasty made his announcement in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall, listing what he called stark failures of the Carter administration’s domestic policies. Kennedy said that before the last Presidential election, “we were told that Americans were honest, loving, good, decent, and compassionate. Now the people are blamed for every national ill and scolded as greedy, wasteful and mired in malaise.

November 1979

10 Years Ago

On a breezy but comfortable Saturday afternoon at the National Soccer Hall of Fame fields, the second-seeded Yellowjackets dominated top-seeded Owego in a 3-0 victory, clinching their first sectional crown since 2003. “We definitely thought it was possible,” said sophomore Dan Joseph, who scored Oneonta’s first two goals, the first coming with 24 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half. The Yellowjackets (16-2-1) await the winner of the Section III championship game with Marcellus and Skaneateles.

November 2009