HOMETOWN History
Oct. 4, 2019
150 Years Ago
The Fero Trial – The testimony in this exciting case was concluded Thursday afternoon and summed up by Mr. Smith of Albany, on the part of the prisoner, and the prosecution by the Attorney-General for the people. Court adjourned until 9 o’clock Friday morning, when Judge Balcom charged the jury, occupying about an hour. The jury retired, and at 12 o’clock brought in a verdict of not guilty. The case excited a great deal of interest, particularly in Davenport, where the murder occurred. The courtroom was crowded with spectators during the eight days of the trial. We should judge from what we have heard, that few women enjoyed a greater degree of respect and esteem than Mrs. Fero did in the community where she resided. It is not therefore surprising that her sudden and cruel death should create a strong feeling which may not be entirely allayed by the verdict of the jury. In fact, it is rumored that there were some noisy demonstrations around the house where Mr. Fero stopped the night after he returned to Davenport, and he was notified to leave in three days.
October 1869
100 Years Ago
Military Training – All boys 16 years of age and not over 19 years of age will receive military training as arranged by the Military Training Commission. This year each boy who registers for training and receives weekly drill will have a card which will be punched each week and show whether the boy has attended or not. Employers and teachers should require each boy in their employ or attending school to exhibit their card to them each Monday to see whether the boy received the military instruction the previous week. The requirements of the law are such that a boy between the ages of 16 and 19 may not work or attend school who is not receiving the military training under the supervision of the Commission.
October 1919
80 Years Ago
Residents of this vicinity who read the Saturday Evening Post were surprised to see in an advertisement on pages 66 and 67 of the September 30 issue a photograph of R.J. Warren of the Oneonta Sales Co. It appeared with six other automobile dealers from all parts of the country in an advertisement for “The Country Gentleman,” another publication of the Curtis Publishing Company, stressing the vast markets which are embraced in the shopping areas of communities like Oneonta. Mr. Warren was recently recognized by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. as its largest accessory dealer in the world. “With the wholehearted support of the student body, there will be two additional buildings on Oyaron Hill within two years,” said Dr. Henry J. Arnold, president of Hartwick College. One building, which will contain a dormitory, chapel and facilities for various departments of extracurricular activities, will be erected within a year. The second building, which will be called a student center, will be erected through efforts of the “Brick-a-Week” campaign. This structure will house a drill shed and other equipment of the physical education department.
October 1939
60 Years Ago
If you aren’t registered, you can’t vote this fall. In rural areas, it is the function of the election inspectors to see that all qualified residents are listed on the elector’s roll so they may vote. Even then, this Saturday and next, election inspectors will sit at the polling places so that any new residents who have moved in, or any voter who has come of age, may make certain that his or her name is properly on the rolls. But in the City of Oneonta, personal registration is mandatory. If you haven’t already registered during central registration, you must visit your polling place this Friday or Saturday, or Friday or Saturday of next week to sign the voting register. Failure to do so will result in your being barred from casting a ballot for county and city officers, or voting on important amendments to the state constitution.
October 1959
40 Years Ago
Catskill Symphony president George Silvernell announces that Mrs. J. Burton Hulbert has been elected to the symphony’s board of directors for a term of two years to fill an existing vacancy. Mrs. Hulbert is the daughter of John L. Wilsbach who took over and revived the Oneonta Community Orchestra in the 1930s. He held that position until 1940. The orchestra was the forerunner of the Catskill Symphony which began a non-stop series of performances in 1953. At the time John Wilsbach was chairman of the Music Department at the Teachers College in Oneonta. Mrs. Hulbert is a long-time devotee of classical music. Mrs. Hulbert is also president of the Board of Trustees of Fox Hospital.
October 1979
20 Years Ago
A five-year fund-raising campaign by the State University College at Oneonta that capped off in June
has netted almost $6 million. The Campaign for Oneonta collected $5,986,406, or nearly twice its initial goal of $3 million set in 1994. The college’s endowment more than tripled from $4 million to $12.8 million during the campaign. Money from the campaign has been used to fund scholarships and research grants, renovate the Goodrich Theatre and provide support for Milne Library. The college’s next major fund-raising goal is to raise $1 million by 2002 to fund an endowment for the new Alumni Field House.
October 1999
10 Years Ago
The Oneonta Yellowjackets will induct eight alumni and one former coach into their Athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony that starts at 9 a.m. Saturday. “It’s a good mix with some recent graduates and some old-timers,” said Vince Foti, chair of Oneonta’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The Class of 2009 honorees spans 63 years of OHS athletics. Frank Super, who died in 2007, graduated from Oneonta High School in 1935. Also honored will be Lee Gill (Class of 1964) and George Kershaw (1944) posthumously. Tiffany (Hurley) Carr is the most recent OHS graduate (1998) to join the Hall, which also has spots reserved for 1997 graduate Quame Patterson and Leigh Irwin, Kevin Burnsworth (1982), Don Jester (1953) and former football coach Loyd F. Baker. Baker served as head football coach from 1956 to 1964 compiling a record of 51 wins, 16 losses and 2 ties.
October 2009