America 250 - January

Let the local celebrations begin for “America 250” 17762026

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

Greetings and welcome to a debut edition to mark the region’s celebration of our semiquincentennial, easier known as “America 250.” This and coming editions will be published monthly, and your writer will be guiding content in these special pages of The Daily Star.

This edition will be an introduction to what you can expect from across our region during the celebration of the Declaration of Independence. It might seem a bit “Oneonta-centric” to start, but it will be more inclusive of Otsego, Delaware, Chenango and Schoharie counties in the months to follow.

How did Oneonta and this region get to where we are today? We’ll dive into it this month, and others to follow. We’ll touch briefly in all four counties of our region.

I am pleased to chair a committee of more than a dozen enthusiastic and energetic area residents to present a superb celebration in the “City of the Hills” throughout the year. This committee has been meeting since August, and has worked to develop some signature events

through the year, but especially during July.

Mark your calendars for Independence Day Weekend for an impressive line-up of family-friendly activities in Oneonta. It’s a celebration of how we got here.

Friday, July 3 is a federal holiday, and the weekend will begin the highlighting of three of Oneonta’s showplaces in history.

The Swart-Wilcox House Museum got much attention in 1976, as Oneonta’s oldest house was just beginning to be renovated. It will again, starting at 3 p.m. Friday, and lasting until dark. Among many family-friendly activities there will be a dedication of a historic barn to be erected on site, a dedication of a DAR historic marker to honor Revolutionary War soldier Lawrence Swart, who built the Swart-Wilcox House, a “Riverside Museum” at the elementary school, a vintage 1825 baseball game, a renowned food vendor in Oneonta’s history and a variety of other activities, in the works.

The weekend will continue Saturday, as Hill City Celebrations will hold the always popular Hometown Fourth events, beginning at 1 p.m. with a parade through downtown Oneonta, the traditional festival in historic Neahwa Park starting a 2

FSATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2026

p.m. with the fine assortment of free, family entertainment, and the spectacular fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

On Sunday afternoon, Huntington Park’s grounds will come alive with more family-fun activities, on both levels. The upper level will feature a re-creation of a Chautauqua, to feature a large tent, under which there will be entertainers, speakers and music during the hours of 1 to 5 p.m.

The lower level of the park will also be bustling with more family-friendly events. Never heard of a Chautauqua? Look for an

Excitement grew each year locally with arrival of Chautauqua

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

or generations, communities everywhere grew excited when the circus came to town, or the annual county fair was held.

While these events had the excitement of animals, games, and the “festive” foods, there was another similar traveling event in the early 1900s that attracted people from far and wide to Oneonta and Cooperstown — that stimulated thought, discussion, culture and music. It was called Chautauqua.

Founded in 1874 by businessman Lewis Miller and Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent, Chautauqua’s origin was on Lake Chautauqua, near Jamestown. The programming first focused on training Sunday school teachers, but quickly expanded in its range and was the first to offer correspondence degrees in the United States. It actually became a summer camp for families, promising “education and uplift.” It became so popular that other communities copied the concept, usually holding it by lakes or in groves of trees.

Circuit Chautauquas were formed, and traveled from community to community, bringing classic plays, a variety of music and lecturers on a variety of topics. The number one goal of Circuit Chautauqua was to offer challenging, informational and inspirational stimulation to rural and small-town America.

In our region, the circuit that visited from 1914-31 was called “Redpath Chautauqua.” Oneonta hosted the first Chautauqua in 1914, with Cooperstown following the next year. Depending on whom you spoke to, Chautauqua got mixed reactions. Woodrow Wilson described it as “the most American thing in America” during World War I, and as an “integral part of the national defense.” On the other hand, Sinclair Lewis

a Chautauqua will be re-created in oneonta on the upper level of Huntington Park on July 5, 2026.

Oneonta hosted the first Chautauqua in 1914, with Cooperstown following the next year.

called it “nothing but wind and chaff and … the laughter of yokels.” Nevertheless, it brought a lot of people out to the brown tent which Redpath Chautauqua was known for.

The first location in Oneonta was secured on the property of Henry E. Huntington, which is the upper level area of today’s Huntington Park. In August 1914, The Oneonta Herald reported how Huntington was away on an extended vacation in France. He was pleased to give consent to use the site for the summer Chautauqua on his grounds. It was a fine location, just a short distance from Chestnut Street, which the local trolley passed by. The entrance and exit were on

Church Street, and a section of fence had to be removed to bring in the big tent. By 1918, the site of Oneonta’s Chautauqua moved to the lower level of Wilber Park. In Cooperstown, the initial Chautauqua in July 1915 was held behind the old high school building, near the corner of Chestnut Street and Glen Avenue. Both communities did well in their first season holding Chautauqua. Cooperstown sold 750 advance weeklong tickets at $2.50. The Freeman’s Journal noted how, “No one need stay away from the Chautauqua on account of fearing that there will be no place to sit down, for the tent is equipped with benches which have backs and are very easy to sit on.” Several hundred Oneontans attended the Huntington property Chautauqua, at the same price. Children were not neglected during Chautauqua. There was the junior Chautauqua with trained children’s workers entertaining the boys and girls, drilling them for a pag-

eant usually held on the last day of the event. This gave adults a chance to enjoy the lectures, attend theater and listen to concerts.

Lectures were by far the backbone of Chautauqua, given by special guest speakers. For instance, in the 1927 Oneonta Chautauqua, Theodore M. Graham spoke about “Keeping America American.” Graham was an “expert” in immigration matters of the day, and said, “The hour has come when we ought to put such severe restrictions on immigration that this beloved land of ours should never again be a possible dumping ground for the rubbish of any nation on the face of the earth.”

At its peak in the mid-1920s, circuit Chautauqua performers and lecturers appeared in more than 10,000 communities in 45 states to audiences approximated at 45 million people. The Great Depression was partly responsible for the demise of circuit Chautauqua, but a few held out until the outbreak of World War II.

accompanying article, as Redpath Chautauqua’s traveling circuit held an event on these grounds in Oneonta in 1914.

These three major weekend events have been in the works for several months, and there’s plenty more event planning to be completed in less than six months. Updates will be forthcoming. Following pages will tell about other events — from what we know so far — and the writer would love to hear more about what’s in the works in your communities. Be in touch at simmark@stny.rr.com.

The Year 1976 in Oneonta History

In an intense school board election, Eloise Ellis narrowly defeated Johanna Koenig for the board presidency. Two years after a teachers’ strike, the district’s relations with its employees were still the major campaign topic.

H Urban renewal projects continued, with the closing and complete demolition of remaining buildings on Broad Street. A downtown shopping mall was planned in the area, and the search was on for major retail tenants.

H The junior high school on Academy Street was abandoned in June. Demolition began on the old North and South buildings, which had been the alma mater for thousands of students dating back to 1908. Affordable housing units now occupy the site.

H Oneontans joined in America’s bicentennial celebration. Among the activities were a large parade on Main Street and the dedication of the recently saved and lightly restored Swart-Wilcox House.

H Jessie Smith Dewar died. She was reportedly one of the richest women in the country, leaving her fortune to friends, relatives and charity. Hartwick College and A.O. Fox Hospital got large shares, once her estate was settled.

H The modern era Oneonta Farmers’ Market in downtown Oneonta debuted on July 24 in the Market Street parking garage. It later moved to Main Street.

H Hartwick College mourned the death of Dr. Adolph Anderson, former college president.

H With interest in soccer growing on both college campuses and a strong youth soccer program in the city, the first Mayor’s Cup Tournament was held Sept.10 -11. Hartwick beat Southern Illinois University to win the first cup. SUNY Oneonta took third, beating Bucknell. The games were played at Damaschke Field.

H The city carried the vote for putting U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan into office. Moynihan had a residence near Pindars Corners in the town of Davenport.

The Swart-Wilcox House Museum, Oneonta’s Oldest House

By Helen k.B. reeS, DeBBy ClougH anD norMa SlawSon Contributing Writers

One of Oneonta’s earliest settlers was Lawrence Swart. Originally from “Scoharry” he served in the militia with General James Clinton’s campaign in 1779, when he first saw the land he was later to settle.

Between 1795 and 1804 he purchased three lots of the Wallace Patent and settled along the banks of the Susquehanna River with his second wife. Known as “Hemlock” Swart, he cleared the land, started a farm and in 1807 built a German Palatine Vernacular wood-frame house.

In 1841, the property was sold to Peter Collier and Jared Goodyear, just weeks before Swart died and was buried in the old section of the Riverside Cemetery in Oneonta. Swart’s land was used by entrepreneurs Collier and Goodyear to attract the railroad to Oneonta. Much of the land north of River Street was sold to the railroad and adjacent lots along River Street became railroad workers’ homes.

In 1873, the house and remaining land south of River Street was purchased by Henry and Adelaide Phoebe (Smith) Wilcox for $9,000 and over the next several years it was remodeled in the more fashionable Victorian style. They had three children; Fred, Myrtle and Merton. Sadly, their young daughter died in 1875. Henry was instrumental in developing the streets and houses on the south side of River Street.

After the death of their parents (Phoebe in 1903 and Henry in 1912) the two bachelor brothers lived in the house with no modern conveniences except a phone. They continued farming, raising apples, and selling their garden vegetables in the River Street area. With the death of Fred in 1958 and Mert in 1970, the Wilcox family had occupied the house for 103 years. The family is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

In more than 200 years of existence, the house was only occupied by two families, the Swarts and the Wilcoxes. Thus it was given the name of the “Swart-Wilcox House” when in 1974, the city of Oneonta purchased the remaining 14.6 acres of the land for $130,000. The property was used as the focus of Oneonta’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. It was then boarded up, remaining closed and unused.

In 1988, the Swart-Wilcox Steering Committee composed of four Oneonta City School District teachers –Debby Clough, Dawn Minette, Tina Morris and Helen Rees, was given approval by the city’s Common Council

In 1976, the Wilcox house was a dilapidated, rundown farmhouse, which was used as the focal point of Oneonta’s Bicentennial Celebration. Fifty years later the restored house museum will be the starting point for Oneonta’s America 250 celebration on July 3, 2026.

to undertake the task of getting the Swart-Wilcox house placed upon the historic register and raising money to restore the deteriorating structure. An effort was then begun to restore the Swart-Wilcox property and turn it into the active community-centered museum that it is today.

The steering committee designed an educational curriculum, wrote grants and worked on getting historic status for the house. In 1990, the Swart-Wilcox House was included in the National Register of Historic places as the city of Oneonta’s oldest house. That same year, “Creative Curriculum: Using An Historical Site” was written by the four teachers as the basis for the Swart-Wilcox educational program and the fourth grade local history curriculum.

In 1991, the city of Oneonta received a $100,000 matching grant to be used for stabilizing and restoring the house. This grant was successfully matched through the efforts of the Swart-Wilcox Steering Committee, fundraising events, and community support. Also in 1991, “Swart-Wilcox Document Package: Teaching History Through Local Documents,” was written to coordinate the use of the Swart-Wilcox House and primary source documents. In 1994, the Swart-Wilcox House was officially dedicated. The continuous upkeep of the house was, and is, assured by an endowment fund from Richard Applebaugh, a prominent local insurance man.

In 1995, a “Friends of Swart-Wilcox” group was officially formed to replace the former steering committee. The “Friends” have focused on developing the museum collection as well as the on-going educational programs, planning community activities, coordinating programs with other community groups and planning the longrange direction of the Swart-Wilcox House Museum. An Interpretive Plan for the Swart-Wilcox House and Site was developed in 1996. Over the next several years, an active series of “hands-on” local history programs was

instituted for community service groups and school.

In 1999, the Catharine Shaffer Beecher Room was dedicated after the first floor rooms were restored with a gift in her memory from her husband, Ray Beecher. This gift also included the Dimmick family collection of Civil War items and Dimmick Liver and Kidney Cure memorabilia that are on display.

In 2003, an archeological study was done as the preliminary step to authenticating the existence of a barn on the original site, with the goal of moving or building an appropriate structure for use as a welcome center, display area, work space and meeting area. A barn will complete the Swart-Wilcox farmstead, as the original barn burned in 1969.

In 2004, the Swart-Wilcox House was chartered by the state Department of Education as a house museum, and has maintained a regular series of community events with the Summer Sunday Series.

In 2007, the Swart-Wilcox House Museum celebrated 200 years with a series of events, including DAR recognition honoring the Revolutionary War service of its builder, Lawrence Swart.

Since 2012, the museum has offered the Summer Sunday Series during the months of July and August, which focus on local history, people and events connected to this area and various other topics of interest. Organizers said the success of this series and the educational programs and events has shown the need for more space which could be used during inclement weather. The barn restoration will complete the authentic farmstead look.

In 2023, the city approved locating a barn on the property, and the search began for a historic English threshing barn. One was found atop Crumhorn Mountain on the property of David Wightman, who donated the barn. Plans and designs were drawn up, the IRS 501(c)3 designation was received, and fundraising began, with the understanding that no taxpayer funds would be used for the project.

The city is the lead agency on the construction bidding process, as the SWHM is on city park land. The museum is responsible for the funding of the project, and has been supported by the local community.

In 1976, the Wilcox house was a dilapidated, rundown farmhouse, which was used as the focal point of Oneonta’s Bicentennial Celebration. Fifty years later the restored house museum will be the starting point for Oneonta’s America 250 celebration on July 3, 2026. The progress highlights just how much Oneonta appreciates its history and heritage, organizers said.

Oneonta’s map, population started expanding in 1872

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

News around Oneonta in 1872 was likely in the same pitch of excitement as in recent weeks in the Syracuse area with the groundbreaking of a $100 billion semiconductor plant in the town of Clay.

This will be the largest semiconductor facility in the country. It is expected to create up to 50,000 jobs. To start, Micron said it will focus on local labor and aims to have 80% of its total workforce composed of people from Central New York.

There were no television news cameras on hand in 1872 in Oneonta, and the joy was likely a bit more subdued than in Clay this month. That was the year when news broke about Oneonta getting the machine shops and roundhouse for the Albany and Susquehanna (A&S) Railroad. Initially, the news meant an estimated 1,000 jobs in the rail yards. When the A&S was built through Oneonta in 1865, the village population was 744. Villagers were already happy to have the railroad and depot, which had added a surge of new trade and travelers to their business center.

Attracting the roundhouse and shops had always been on the minds of local business leaders. They were almost located in Colliersville, as Jared Goodyear had

obtained a contract with the A&S to donate sufficient land. But two other prominent railroad promoters, Eliakim R. Ford and Harvey Baker, talked Goodyear out of signing. They had a better location in mind – Oneonta. Goodyear stood to benefit from Oneonta, as he owned a huge tract of land in today’s Sixth Ward. Many railroad families had their homes in this area.

Oneonta looked like a sure thing until early 1870. The A&S leased the railroad line in perpetuity to the Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal Company. Suddenly the D&H would determine where the shops would be established.

What led to the D&H lease was a significant struggle for control of the A&S Railroad. Roxbury native Jay Gould and a cast of plenty were the masters of the Erie Railroad, and wanted to gain control of the A&S. Gould began buying A&S stock. He attempted to put the railroad in receivership, and got a Judge Barnard, of New York City, to help. This took place in early August 1869.

The A&S leaders in Albany fought back. They also bought more stock, and took the Gould receivership effort to State Supreme Court. The case wouldn’t be heard until December.

Gould was dissatisfied with the delay. Since he couldn’t gain

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control of the A&S in the courts, he tried another way — force.

In August 1869, the infamous “Battle of Belden Hill” took place, pitting the roughnecks of Gould’s Erie Railroad against an equal gang of toughs from R.C. Blackball’s A&S. Gould’s men outnumbered Blackball’s almost two to one, but the A&S won the battle, with the intervention of the New York State Militia.

The Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of the A&S. The D&H then took on the lease in February 1870.

Sites were visited along the line for shops, including Sidney, Harpursville, Binghamton, Otego, Emmons and Schenevus.

In September 1870, R.C. Blackball sent a letter to Harvey Baker, instructing him to meet with D&H officials on the 14th, to look over sites in Oneonta. The letter read, “You had better be alone as I am not authorized to have mentioned this subject to any person.” The content of this letter had been very secret, even years after it was sent to Baker. Baker complied with Blackball’s request. He showed the D&H a few sites. A wide level stretch about a quarter mile from the Main Street business district, which Baker owned, pleased the D&H contingent.

Ground was broken on Oct. 4 and eight days later the foundation was nearly completed for the first of two roundhouses in the rail yard. The structure was finished by January 1871.

Incidentally, the major decision of where the D&H would establish its shops wasn’t going to be made until April 1872. It took until March 21, 1872 for the Oneonta Herald headline to read “Machine Shops to be Built Here!”

Blackball predicted that this was only the beginning of what the future held for Oneonta as a regional railroad center.

It was an accurate statement. By 1912, the D&H employed 39 % of the city’s labor force. The 1910 Oneonta census was 9,491. That amounted to roughly 3,700 employed by the railroad, substantially more than the original prediction of 1,000.

Oneonta, from first settlers to a city

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

The condition the glaciers left this area thousands of years ago might explain how Oneonta became a regional hub of activity and commerce.

From the time the first settlers arrived in the 1770s — and Native Americans before them — five valleys brought them to Oneonta, on the northern bank of the Susquehanna River.

After the first family of settlers, the Vanderwerkers, arrived, the settlement didn’t have a name. The Vanderwerkers built a gristmill, later bought by James Mc Donald. The settlement became McDonald’s Mill. Later it was known as Milfordville, until the town of Oneonta was formed in 1830. The settlement within its limits was also named Oneonta, which became a village in 1848.

The Revolutionary War drove many of the early settlers out of the area, but they returned as the frontier expanded. The hills and valleys were fertile, and with an early western movement, Oneonta grew with the farm community. In addition, farmers were part-time lumbermen. With plenty of trees and waterpower from the Susquehanna, logs were harvested and rafted to markets in larger cities. What began as nearly unsettled in 1780, Oneonta had about 200 people by 1825. The valleys leading to Oneonta saw trails, turnpikes, and then roads built. Stagecoaches brought more people, providing a boost to new business.

Oneonta was anything but a boomtown at first, despite its easy accessibility. Along came the Erie Canal, finished in 1825. For the local economy this was a tragic turn of events. Suddenly it became less expensive to transport farm goods and other materials to places like Albany or New York from the Midwest than it was from Oneonta. The farm community remained flat or depressed for years to come.

There were ideas of building a Susquehanna Canal, but they passed quickly. However, in 1826 Oneonta businessmen began talking publicly about a railroad along the Susquehanna. It took a few more decades to raise enough capital for such a huge project. Meanwhile, larger cities like Utica and Albany had more political clout with the state Legislature in placing their transportation projects ahead of rural ideas.

Still, efforts to get inexpensive transportation to Oneonta continued, peaking in 1851 when a committee of ten men from the region called for a convention to charter the Albany and Susquehanna (A&S) Railroad. All were very motivated to make the railroad a reality. Oneontans such as Harvey Baker and Colonel W.W. Snow went from house to house, seeking stock subscriptions. But people were slow to buy. They wanted the railroad to come, but wanted someone else to pay for it. A&S President Joseph Ramsey also worked tirelessly to seek aid. He endured four annual gubernatorial vetoes of aid, but in 1863, Gov. Horatio Seymour signed a state aid bill calling for $500,000. As the railroad line was under construction, subscriptions to stock and other contributions grew, compiling the nearly $7 million required.

The first train arrived in Oneonta with great fanfare in August 1865. The rails were completed to Binghamton by 1869. With the rising importance of coal as a product being shipped from Northeast Pennsylvania to the New England states, the A&S became a very busy railroad. It required building and repairing freight cars. Repair shops were needed somewhere, so communities along the line began their efforts to attract the shops. Likely because Oneonta was located in the center of the railroad path between Albany and Binghamton, it was chosen for the shops in April 1872.

The shops became an economic boon for the village of Oneonta. By 1875, the population more than doubled what it had been in 1870, mainly to fill the growing number of jobs. The railroad became the Delaware and Hudson (D&H), named after the Pennsylvania canal company that transported the coal to the northeast.

As population grew, so did other businesses. With growing wealth came an improved quality of life and appearance. Elegant hotels were constructed, nicer houses and schools would appear, Main Street was paved, a horse-drawn trolley started service, and water and sewer services were established. Not satisfied enough with the railroad and growing businesses, Oneonta’s leaders were successful in establishing another sector of economy — higher education. The Oneonta Normal School, today’s State University of New York at Oneonta, arrived in 1889. A second, Hartwick College, arrived in 1928.

People were arriving rapidly in Oneonta in 1906. They were coming here for all the new jobs created by an expanding D&H Railroad.

New residents must have been puzzled by some talk on the streets that year about building a city hall. We know it today as 242 Main St., offices for Otsego County.

The confusing thing was — Oneonta was still a village. There had been occasional talk of becoming a city, but nothing serious had been done about it. Sometimes, in order to get the talk into action, it takes a crisis or disaster. Probably the most visible event in getting Oneonta moving toward city status took place in May 1906. Fire broke out on May 22, destroying the Wilber National Bank block, which at that time stood where the top of South Main Street is now located. How fortunate it seemed the village firehouse was only a few buildings away on that side of the street. The firehouse, built in 1876, also served as village offices was where today’s 242 Main St. stands. It was a two-story wooden structure with a basement.

While fire is destructive, it can also create

One railroad wasn’t enough for Oneonta

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

Substantially better access to New York City and the Catskills from Oneonta was finally achieved in mid-July 1900 when the Ulster & Delaware Railroad tracks were completed here.

At completion this meant the trip to New York via Kingston, a total of 219 miles, could be made in about 5 1/2 hours. One could see the U&D schedule at the Wilber National Bank in late June that year, as the depot was still under construction and actual service in Oneonta was about a month away from starting.

Completion of the line also meant some new economic opportunities to people and businesses along the line. For farmers close to Oneonta this was a new way of shipping milk and dairy products to the big city markets. Progress regarding construction was regularly reported in The Oneonta Herald. In February the U&D proposed to divert the course of the Charlotte Creek near the Otsego County line and save the cost of building three long bridges and necessary approaches. Instead, a canal a quarter of a mile long, costing $6,000 was an alternative idea. The proposal became action and that job had to be a cold one for the workers, as “a force of men has already been put at work and the water will be diverted to the new channel as soon as possible. The old course will be filled up instead of bridged, but large iron pipes will be laid to carry whatever water still follows the old channel.”

In the June 21, 1900 edition of The Herald it was reported, “Grading on the U&D extension is completed practically up to the junction with the Delaware & Hudson line in this village. The rails were laid last week as far as the Susquehanna bridge at Slade’s Slang,” or in an area approximately in back of today’s Interskate 88 and McCarthy’s Tire store. “At this point rail-laying is stopped by lack of material herewith to complete the trestle. As soon as this arrives the rails will go down and for the first time a U&D engine will cross the Susquehanna.”

Additionally, “Briggs and Miller have most of the excavation finished and part of the foundation walls laid for the new depot.” We know it today as The Depot Restaurant on Railroad Avenue.

“The U&D Open For Business” was a leading front-page story in the July 19 edition of The Herald. “It is a consummation long and devoutly wished for, moreover well and honestly worked for, and everybody will welcome the road as the fruit of earnest endeavor not less than for mere selfish personal interest.”

“As early as ten o’clock Sunday morning (July 15) visitors began to gather at the U&D terminus. These, however, were sightseers who besides viewing the coming in of the first train wanted to look over the engines, cars and projected buildings of the company. The real rush began at about 11 a.m., and when a later announcement was made that two cars from the outgoing train 36 would be switched back to the incoming train 9 at Davenport Center there was a rush for tickets to that place. About 300 were sold before the Rip Van Winkle special started on its first outward-bound trip. Not all these, however, were used for transportation. Many were bought for souvenirs, and for this purpose there was strife to get the lowest numbers.”

Train 9 picked up some passengers at Davenport Center and then returned to Oneonta. About 2,000 to 3,000 people were there to greet the train.

The first freight train had arrived the day before at 4:09 p.m., and had eleven cars loaded with freight.

The U&D’s arrival in Oneonta had been a long time in the making. Original plans were to have it here by 1874. Bankruptcies and numerous other delays tacked on another 26 years before completion.

Those interested can join the Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s History Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, for the opening of a new spring exhibit, “Oneonta’s Other Railroad: The Untold Story of the Ulster & Delaware.” It will be on display until May.

Train 9 picked up some passengers at Davenport Center and then returned to Oneonta. About 2,000 to 3,000 people were there to greet the train.

People were arriving rapidly in Oneonta in 1906. They were coming here for all the new jobs created by an expanding D&H Railroad.

opportunities. The fire station was gone and a new one was needed. Interestingly, the course of the blaze never got much beyond the bank building, never getting close to the firehouse. Nevertheless, the damage had been done, so the village trustees allocated $50,000 for a new structure that was overwhelmingly approved in a vote by village residents. Work began on the new “city hall” on Oct. 25, opening long before Oneonta became a city.

The talk stage of the process of becoming a city gradually turned into a meeting and study stage. On Friday, March 22, 1907, a special meeting of the Merchants’ Association was held at the rooms of the Chemical Hose Co., on Main Street. The association, which had recently been formed, was a forerunner to the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce, and now known as The Otsego County Chamber.

This meeting, according to The Oneonta Herald put forth, “The question of a new charter, either city or village,” and said it was discussed “fully and fairly.” There was difference of opinion, the article reported, “but the talks of the evening served to clear the air, and to some extent at least to show what gain or loss there might be in a change in our form of municipal government.”

Once the fact finding was completed, nearly 200 citizens gathered on Friday, June 13 at the YMCA hall to hear about the study and to further comment on a possible switch to Oneonta as a city.

The first public meeting for consideration of the proposed charter was held Friday, Dec. 27, 1907, at the YMCA. About 100 were present to participate in the discussion. It was the Hon. Abraham L. Kellogg who offered a resolution to the effect that the people of Oneonta desire a city charter, and that the village trustees and our representatives in the Assembly and Senate take action to procure it.

Others weighed in. With 34 affirmative votes and none against, the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution at the Jan. 8, 1908 meeting that the new charter be approved by the trustees and passed along to the state Legislature.

On Friday evening, Jan. 10, after a public hearing held at the YMCA and a citizen vote of 112 in favor, 10 against, the trustees voted to approve the charter and sent it to Albany.

The Oneonta Herald of Jan. 30 reported the charter had been introduced to members of the legislature through Assemblyman Charles Smith of Oneonta and Sen. Seth Heacock of Ilion. The charter had to then go through hearings in both chambers.

Word reached Oneonta at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, 1908 that Gov. Charles Evans Hughes placed his signature on the bill.

According to The Herald of May 22, when word was received, “There was much rejoicing in town. It was contemplated to have a public celebration of the event … but the time being short for preparing a suitable demonstration, it was decided … to wait until the first city officers are installed.” That would take place on Jan. 1, 1909.

Apparently some couldn’t wait, according to The Herald. “A number of young men took it upon themselves last evening to make a demonstration in honor of the success of the charter bill and they serenaded a number of prominent residents with horns and drums.”

The last step to becoming a city awaited in November with the elections. Voter turnout was expected to be good because it was a presidential election year.

Oneontans went to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3 to elect the first mayor of the city, six aldermen, three county supervisors for the city and more. Then around 7 p.m. they gathered along Dietz and Main Streets to watch the elections. They were in for a long night, as people headed for home after 1 a.m., still not knowing who the winners were in the city. For most of the evening the Star said, “The corner about the Central Hotel block was thronged with people … the street being almost impassable from the throngs that filled Main Street.”

Talk about a close election! By Thursday, it was determined that Albert Morris (R) defeated George Gibbs (D) by seven votes, 1227-1220. Thus, Mayor Albert Morris went to work on Jan. 1, 1909 with an evenly balanced Common Council. Morris could serve as a tiebreaker on votes.

Finally, New Year’s Eve arrived and the Star reported that the “Firemen Will Entertain Officials.”

Firefighters must’ve been pretty tired that night, because they’d just finished battling one of the more famous fires in Oneonta history — The Wooden Row Fire. That blaze broke out on Sunday, Dec. 27 and took several old wooden structures on the south side of Main Street, an area across from the former Bresee’s Deptartment Store.

For New Year’s Eve the veteran firefighters and active members of the department entertained the newly elected officials. They met at the Municipal Building and then went to the Oneonta Theater to watch the department’s moving picture reel of Sunday’s big fire.

At midnight as the bells tolled, Oneonta officially became a city. There was no late night partying for the new officials, as the first meeting of the mayor and city board of aldermen began at 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Cooperstown came close to losing its county seat status

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

For a short time in February 1966, Cooperstown came very close to losing its county seat status. This dated back to 1791, after William

Cooper beat John Christopher Hartwick to Albany by horseback to establish Cooperstown as the county seat. Ironically in 1966, the mode of transportation was once again an issue — where to park all the cars to do county business.

In February, the Otsego County Board of Supervisors overwhelmingly approved

construction of a new county office building on 20 acres of county-owned land in Phoenix Mills, in the town of Middlefield. The Otsego County Home and Infirmary was already there, and putting all offices on the site would centralize county buildings, as supervisors thought. Plus, there would be unlimited parking and no properties would have to be taken off the tax rolls.

It seemed a county buildings committee had been attempting to work out an agreement with the village of Cooperstown to purchase two residential properties and one block of a village street to make space for the necessary parking at the proposed new office building on the current site. Both sides of the negotiations had their concerns, and eventually they were resolved.

But one can imagine the talk on the streets of Cooperstown and across the region, while those negotiations over parking were smoothed out. Merchants who wanted not to be identified to an Oneonta Star reporter on Feb. 4 were distressed. They were worried about the loss of business, as employees of the county ate and shopped in the business district. People who came to town on county business often did the same. Sentimental reasons and the tradition of Cooperstown being the county seat rounded out the comments. Someone else quipped, “The road

Mto Phoenix Mills would have to be improved before I go there in winter.”

Other communities were thinking more opportunistically. Oneonta Mayor Albert S. Nader told the Star, “Cooperstown is ideal ... and I want them to know we are not seeking to take the county seat away ... but if they can’t resolve their difficulties I’d like them (county supervisors) to know Oneonta will try to provide the facilities they need.”

A few years later, when Oneonta City Hall moved to its current site, the old post office at 258 Main St., some Otsego County offices moved into the old city hall at 242 Main St., making it a “satellite” office. There likely was a collective sigh of relief by Cooperstown business owners in early March when the supervisors went on record reversing their decision to move to Phoenix Mills. An architect was assigned to come up with plans for one complex to house all government functions in Cooperstown. The more modern structure was finally dedicated in 1969.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Phoenix Mills area is back in the news, as The Star reported, “On Wednesday, Jan. 7, the Otsego County Board of Representatives unanimously approved a land survey of close to 387 acres of vacant farmland that the county wants to buy with an eye towards expanding county operations.”

Eighteen Women and “the Opening Wedge”

By JoHn naDer Contributing Writer

ore than 15 years before New York extended the franchise to women in 1917, the state adopted the Women Taxpayers’ bill. That single sentence piece of 1901 legislation changed New York’s village and town law to give property-holding women the right to vote on propositions to raise money by tax or assessment.

A small circle of Oneonta women were among the earliest beneficiaries of the legislation that modestly expanded the franchise but foretold the success of the suffrage movement. Shortly after Gov. Benjamin Odell signed the legislation on April 24, 1901, 18 women in Oneonta cast votes at a June special election called to decide if the village should issue bonds to fund much-needed paving work. Given the very brief time between the legislation’s adoption and the special election in Oneonta, these 18 women were among the first in the state to vote under the new law.

In reporting on the vote, The Oneonta Star wrote, “A fact quite complimentary to Oneonta women is that eighteen of the gentler sex who are taxpayers had an opinion upon the question and exercised the right to vote upon it.” Yet the newspaper did not fully grasp the significance of 18 women casting ballots. The passage mentioning the women casting ballots appeared several paragraphs below a headline reading, “Pavement Endorsed: Taxpaying Electors Decide By Large Majority To Bond For Improvement.” The article made no mention of the broader historic significance of the vote. Even The New York Times seemed unaware of its importance, devoting scarcely two paragraphs to the law.

HThe meaning of the word “Otsego” has never been firmly established.

According to archives from The Daily Star in 1976, William W. Campbell, author of “Annuls of Tryon County,” claims it to mean “clear, deep water.” Tryon was the original large county from which Otsego and several other counties were formed.

Another theory is the word Otsego means “place or meeting.”

James Fenimore Cooper, among others, believe it to refer to Council Rock, that well known rendezvous of the Native Americans at the outlet of Otsego Lake. Other forms of the word are “Otesaga” or “Ostenha.”

If one considers the earliest habitants, Otsego County has been populated for centuries. The archaeological record documents the presence of ancient Native Americans on our soil in 4500 B.C. The Iroquois occupied at least two sites here which date back to 1450 A.D. Nations of Mohawk, Tuscarora, Oneida and Seneca were the only inhabitants of our area.

The earliest known white men in the area were two Dutchmen who set out from Fort Orange (Albany) in 1614 to explore the fur country. They came to Otsego Lake by the way of the Mohawk River and followed the waters of the Susquehanna to Pennsylvania.

Another theory advanced is

Even today, the significance of that 1901 law is largely unrecognized. The consequence of the legislation, however, was not lost on the visionary feminist leader Susan B. Anthony. Upon its adoption, she viewed the law as “the opening wedge” toward striking the word “male” from the state’s suffrage clause. With the law’s passage she declared that “victory is in sight.”

Few women of the era owned real property; neither did they commonly come from families that would or could pass taxable property on to women. Among the local group of 18, a few were quite affluent in their own right. Some were widows who inherited property through their husbands. Others had prominent parents through whom they acquired property. At least two were quite politically active; others were prominent in civic or philanthropic work well before the 1901 vote.

The best known of those voting was Minnie Westcott Lunn, wife of Joseph S. Lunn, Oneonta’s third mayor and the daughter of Luzerene Westcott – among Oneonta’s “wealthiest and most highly esteemed citizens.” She was a notable woman in her own right. Known as a “lady of culture,” she was an early graduate of the state Normal School in 1892.

Eleviaette Walling, widow of an accomplished engineer and surveyor, James R.L. Walling, inherited half of his real property and served as executrix of his estate. Others came by their property in a similar way.

Sarah Olin was an active member of the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union who, with others, presented a petition to the village board in support of a strict curfew for those under 16 years of age. Her husband, Captain S.M. Olin, had been the Prohibition Party candidate for county clerk in 1890. Sarah Olin was a woman of means. She had an agreement with her husband to lend him $1,500 in return for a pledge to leave her all of his

Otsego County history

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

that the first white man to visit the “Glimmerglass” was Cadwalder Colden, surveyor general, who came in 1737 to ascertain navigability for the carriage of goods down the Susquehanna River.

In 1740, John Lindsay, a Scotsman, and his family moved into a completely uncivilized area east of Otsego Lake. After a most trying winter he asked a friend, Rev. Samuel Dunlop, to help him form a settlement there. Dunlop went to Londonderry, New Hampshire and persuaded several Irish families to return with him. Thus began the settlement of Cherry Valley, which was to become the largest and most prominent of the frontier towns.

Small settlements started to spring up after the establishment of Cherry Valley, and future editions will highlight the settlements we know today.

In the year 1786, William Cooper started the settlement of significance to the future Otsego County, a tract of land conveyed to him by the sheriff of Montgomery County, now within the limits of the village of Cooperstown, named for its founder.

Many families came in the winter of the year and deeds were given to several of the heads of these families who established themselves here during the following summer. Cooper had first visited Lake

Otsego and the present site of the village in the autumn of 1785. He was accompanied by a party of surveyors, his objective being to ascertain the true boundaries of the land covered by a mortgage and judgment which he held on the same. The party came from Burlington, New Jersey and arrived by the way of Cherry Valley and Middlefield. They first obtained a view of the lake from the mountain on its eastern shore.

In 1790, Otsego County was set to be formed, and various villages were vying for the privilege of becoming the county seat. A survey had located Hartwick to be the geographic center of the county, where today’s village is. Pastor John Christopher Hartwick set out on foot to Albany to persuade the authorities to make his town the county seat. As he passed through Cooperstown, he stopped to visit with William Cooper. In their conversation, Hartwick disclosed the purpose of his trip. Cooper wished him well on his mission to Albany. But Cooper, with a similar wish, got on horseback and took a different route to Albany. Hartwick arrived in Albany, only to find out that Cooper had obtained the county seat. Interestingly enough, Hartwick later entrusted Cooper as his attorney for his estate.

Otsego County was established in 1791.

property. Notably, she had property of her own prior to his death that entitled her to vote in 1901.

Another voter, Marcia Nearing, was also member of the WCTU. Her involvement in the suffrage movement dated to the 1890s. Nearing was among the local representatives to the noteworthy 1894 two-day women’s suffrage convention held in Oneonta.

That convention adopted a resolution “earnestly petitioning” the state’s upcoming constitutional convention to amend the constitution “by erasing the word male, thereby giving to the daughters of the State their full freedom.” Further, the Oneonta gathering featured Susan B. Anthony who, though 70 at the time, addressed the convention. A news account noted that “there seems no waning of her brilliant intellectual powers and for over an hour she held the large audience in wrapt (sic) attention.”

Speakers at the suffrage conference in Oneonta made much of the fact that women were subject to taxation without representation. Seven years later, the Women Taxpayers’ bill, and the ballots of 18 Oneonta women were early strides toward addressing that injustice. In seeing that legislation as “the opening wedge,” a far-sighted Susan B. Anthony pledged to follow that with an effort to amend the state constitution’s suffrage clause. Anthony did not live to see that 1917 victory. But the local suffrage convention and the 18 women who cast those first ballots gives Oneonta an underappreciated but significant place in the push for electoral equality.

John Nader is writing a book on Oneonta’s Sixth Ward. “The Greatest Neighborhood: A Biography of Oneonta’s Immigrant Sixth Ward” will be published by SUNY Press. This article is excerpted from the book.

Delaware gearing up for festive 250th

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

The semiquincentennial promises to be a busy year for the Delaware County Historical Association.

Samanth Misa, educator at DCHA explained that among the activities planned for the year are those related to Revolutionary War skills, such as a soapmaking workshop, called “Soapmaking with Your Sweetheart,” 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14; a basket weaving workshop from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, and a candle making workshop, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28. Registrations are now being taken, with deadlines coming soon. To register, call DCHA at 607-746-3849 or email dchadelhi@gmail.com.

Misa said some signature events that will be reflective on the county’s involvement in the 250th celebration will be about veterans of the American Revolution. On May 16 there will be a living history event on the museum grounds at 46549 State Route 10 in Delhi, where costumed reenactors will talk about some of the events that happened in Delaware County, including some of the skirmishes and engagements that occurred in the

area that would eventually become Delaware County, formed in 1797.

A bigger event in July will include a driving tour of some of the cemeteries in Delaware County that have Revolutionary War veterans buried in them. Misa

said the association has been doing a lot of work with donor money to restore some local cemeteries, such as professional re-setting of gravestones and clearing brush and cleaning up burial sites. A guided tour will take participants to some of those sites, to talk about some of the

Delaware County history

When the British divided the province of New York into 12 shires or counties, the land now contained in Delaware County was in Albany County except for a very small portion of the southwest corner, which was in Ulster County.

However, in 1772 the Albany-Ulster line was moved northward to the West Branch of the Delaware River. A new county by the name of Tryon was then erected from a portion of Albany County. The northern part of today’s Delaware County was included in this new county.

In 1784 the name Tryon was changed to Montgomery. Otsego County was erected from a portion of Montgomery County in 1791. By 1797, Delaware County was formed through the marriage of portions of Ulster and Otsego counties.

The western slopes of the Catskill Mountains form the land now known as Delaware County. Drainage of these mountains helps form the Delaware, Susquehanna and Hudson (via Schoharie and Mohawk) rivers. The Pepacton and Cannonsville reservoirs which supply water to New York City are within Delaware County, while a central section of the Gilboa Reservoir is also within the county.

The first recorded appearance of white men within the

By HowarD FletCHer DaviDSon

County Historian, 1976

county is in 1615, when three Dutch fur traders made a scouting trip from Fort Niagara to near the present site of Philadelphia. At that time, the watershed between the Delaware and Susquehanna was the dividing line between lands of the Lenape or Delaware Indians of the Algonquin Federation and the lands or the Five Nations of the Iroquois. This section was never used as a permanent home by either nation but was roamed as a hunting and fishing ground.

Delaware County is composed of land acquired by the whitc men through deeds of purchase from the Indians.

The Hardenbergh Patent granted by Queen Anne in 1708 was secured by four separate deeds. After that, Sir William Johnson secured a deed for a strip or land one mile wide on each side of the Charlotte River from its source to its confluence with the Susquehanna, and then down each side of the Susquehanna to the Pennsylvania border. In 1768 General John Harper, by deed, secured more than 250,000 acres between the Johnson Purchase and the Hardenbergh Patent. Gen. John Bradstreet secured the land west of the Harper Purchase.

The Native Americans claimed they were not compensated for the land in the Johnson Purchase but had mere-

Work Begins on Revolutionary War Cemetery in Deposit

By SaMantHa MiSa Contributing Writer

The Delaware County Historical Association awarded a grant to the Koo Koose chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to restore the Revolutionary War Cemetery on Laurel Bank Avenue in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026.

Phase One of the project included new grave markers for those soldiers whose markers were no longer there, gravestone clean-up, rebuilding of the stone wall that had fallen and removal of the scrub brush in the front of the cemetery.

Gary Gifford, from Bainbridge Memorial Works, delivered and set the four missing markers belonging to

veterans George Boyle, John Garlow, Zadock Hawley and Jonas Underwood. Members of the Koo Koose chapter righted stones that had fallen, cleaned unreadable stones, rebuilt the wall, placed memorial markers and cut down brush. Barb Daddis righted stones, and Tim and Donna Lewis, along with Chloe Maglietta, scrubbed and cleaned stones. Ginger Haugen placed memorial markers on each of the Revolutionary War veteran grave sites, Tracy and Jim DeMatteo weeded and picked up sticks, Michele Shirkey rebuilt the wall, and Jan and Ed Macumber cut down the invasive bushes to clear the front of the cemetery.

Phase Two of the project will include dead tree and stump removal, and a new gate. The Koo Koose chapter will hold a ceremony in the cemetery on Memorial Day 2026.

Inoted patriots.

“There are a lot of interesting stories from these cemeteries, such as men who were taken captive by Native Americans, held in prison camps, and those who were present for many of the momentous occasions, such as the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781or the execution of Major (John) Andre,” Misa said.

Another veteran of note was Levi Hanford, from Walton, as when he was young, he was imprisoned in the Sugarhouse Prison in New York City. Misa said among 13 militiamen captured, Hanford was one of only two who survived the ordeal, because of such horrible conditions they endured.

Additionally, David Ogden from the Franklin/Treadwell area, who was captured while very young by Native Americans and held at Fort Niagara, escaped and ended up running about 200 miles home.

“We know where they’re buried, and we can take people from cemetery to cemetery and share the stories of these and others,” Misa said. Details will be forthcoming in coming months. See some related articles about area cemeteries and their restoration projects.

ly granted the right to govern. This dispute was settled by the treaty of Fort Stanwix, which determined the line of property beyond which white men could not settle. Part of this line is the present western bounds of Delaware County.

The first settlers came to the valley of the East Branch in 1763 by crossing the divide from the Shandaken Valley. About 1770, settlers came to the Harpersfield area from Cherry Valley and several families came to New Stamford from Connecticut. In 1773, settlements were made in the Johnson Purchase at Sidney and in the Charlotte Valley.

During the Revolutionary War these settlers fled to the protection of the settlements along the Hudson and Mohawk valleys in order to escape the raids of the Native Americans and Tories. Many espoused the cause of the British and went to Niagara or Canada. After the war, some of these people returned, bringing others with them, but bitterness long remained between neighbors who had taken opposite sides in the conflict.

History of the settlements in the county will be explored in later editions.

Close to Home: Researching Judge

By SaMantHa MiSa

Contributing Writer

n the ongoing process of researching Revolutionary War veterans, I have been attempting to compile names from all across Delaware County and find out information on the service records of those individuals.

When the process first began, I recalled being informed that Judge Gideon Frisbee, builder of the Delaware County Historical Association’s beloved 1797 Federal-style home, was a veteran, and added his name to the list without hesitation. Since I began working at DCHA in 2012, telling visitors about Judge Frisbee’s veteran status was part of the tour, as was the story that the land the home was built on was given to Frisbee for his service.

However, it soon became apparent that there was not much information available regarding Frisbee’s wartime service. In fact, several historians expressed doubt that Frisbee had even served in the Revolutionary War, and if his land here in Delhi had indeed been granted to him. Could the Frisbees have actually been squatters? After all, in 1744, missionary David Brainerd referred to this area of the Catskills as a “howling wilderness.” Who would notice or object to a family homesteading in the woods?

I did a little more digging, and was unable to find any pension records from Gideon Frisbee. While not every veteran filed for a pension – only those who were experiencing financial hardship applied – it was a frustrating setback and seemingly further evidence that the story of Frisbee’s service had been fabricated.

However, searching through the pages of “New York in the Revolution” – a compilation of regimental records from the state archives – revealed Gideon Frisbee’s name on the list of enlisted men in the 17th Regiment of the Albany County Militia, along with his brother Philip and their father, Philip, Sr. Phew! We hadn’t been spreading wrong information all these years!

The 17th regiment participated in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, making it likely that the men of the Frisbee family were part of that monumental conflict. It was the Americans’ success at Saratoga that served as a catalyst for an alliance with the French, and showed the world that the American colonists had a chance at independence.

Further, the 17th Albany was a “Land Bounty Rights” regiment. A “right” was 500 acres of land that would be given to men who performed patriotic service “for the defense of the State.” Colonels, lieutenant colonels and majors were entitled to four “rights,” while enlisted men such as the Frisbees would receive one.

Gideon Frisbee and his wife, Huldah Kidder, arrived in the Catskills in 1788, settling in the area that would later become Delhi, where they built a small log cabin near the confluence of Elk Creek and the Delaware River. Almost ten years later they began construction of their larger, stately home, finished in 1797.

The land Frisbee received as his war bounty had once been owned by wealthy Philadelphian Henry Drinker (1734-1809), a member of the Quakers’ Society of Friends. Due to his religious affiliation, Drinker refused to take a side in the American Revolution, and his failure to declare loyalty to the new government led to his imprisonment and exile to Virginia. Drinker’s land, and the land of other Quakers like the Wharton family, who also had a stake in the area that would become Delaware County, was then free for redistribution to veterans. The young, cashstrapped United States government had little else to offer those who had served in the war for independence. Ironically – despite his prominence and the long-told story of Judge Frisbee’s “veteranhood” – Gideon was the only veteran in the Frisbee Family cemetery without a flag marker denoting his service. DCHA has since remedied that, and installed a bronzer marker at the judge’s final resting place. Earlier this year, we had Frisbee’s stone professionally cleaned with D/2, a biologic agent to remove lichen, along with the assistance of gravestone expert Marianne Greenfield of Delhi.

We hope to continue to identify Revolutionary War veterans throughout Delaware County and ensure that any other graves lacking markers can be commemorated as well.

First recorded cavalry charge of the United States Army was in Schoharie

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

The tiny agricultural settlements of Kniskern’s Dorf, Foxestown, Breakabeen and Duanesborough were all very quiet places in the mid-1770s. These are all former names of places in the old “Schohary District” of a very large Albany County.

The mostly Palatine, or German, settlers were in for some excitement as there were several drives by British troops headed their way in 1777. In what we know as Schoharie County today, some pivotal fighting took place in the American Revolution. One such battle was called “The Battle of the Flockey.”

Ever since the big skirmish in Concord, Massachusetts in April

1775, it became inevitable that this region was going to see its share of battle. In late 1776, Joseph Brant was making visits along Susquehanna River settlements and elsewhere in the Six Nations of the Native Americans, imploring the neutral Iroquois confederacy to join in the battle against what he called a feeble army of the United States. Brant had been to England, and became a close ally with the king. He told a group in Oquaga about the wealth and powerful military of Great Britain, convincing many Iroquois to join in the battle.

By early 1777, the British colonial ministry, headed by Lord George Germaine, prepared a plan to likely end the colonial rebellion before the year’s end. The plan was to cut the colonies in two by separating New England,

Known as the “Breadbasket of the Revolution,” Schoharie County has a heritage that dates back to the early 1700s, and it seems appropriate to have a wealth of living history to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, from farming to fighting.

Mary Johnson, director of the Schoharie County Historical Society, said, from the Old Stone Fort Museum’s opening on Sunday, June 28 until July 4, activities are starting to fill up.

While not on the museum grounds, the society will be assisting as hosts of a tea at Laselle Hall, the DAR House in Schoharie. Johnson said it is a “tip of the hat” to the Edenton Tea Party, which was a political protest by 51 women in Edenton, North Carolina on Oct. 25, 1774. The women signed an agreement to boycott British tea and other goods in response to the Tea Act. It is recognized as one of the first organized female-led political actions in U.S. history. Unlike the Boston Tea Party, The Edenton event was a peaceful public petition, rather than a destruction of property.

Then, on Saturday, July 4, there will be a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the front lawn of The Old Stone Fort. Also that day and in days

already blockaded by sea, from the southern colonies. A British army under Gen. John Burgoyne marched from Montreal south to Albany. Another army, under Gen. Barry St. Leger, headed east from Oswego through the Mohawk Valley, to meet Burgoyne at Albany. Meanwhile, Gen. Howe moved a force from New York City up the Hudson Valley to join the other armies in Albany. It was all good planning, but the colonists put a crimp into things. St. Leger was repelled not even halfway to Albany, at a battle in Oriskany, sending his troops back to Canada. Burgoyne, while victorious at Fort Ticonderoga, got a bit cocky while waiting for reinforcements from Canada, and sent troops into Vermont. Colonists in Bennington were there to hand Burgoyne a humiliating defeat. It all stimulated

American militia enlistments. Burgoyne still tried to make his way to Albany, but was defeated in two battles at Saratoga. But the general’s influence wasn’t finished. Caught between British armies were Albany and Tryon counties, whose loyalist populations were becoming increasingly hostile to their neighbors who supported independence. It was at this time the “Schohary” district became a focal point of the largest loyalist uprising in the Burgoyne campaign.

Loyalists in Albany and adjacent Tryon counties were stirred to action. Adam Crysler of Vrooman’s Land recruited some 70 men and most of the Schohary Indians to join Burgoyne. Other Crown supporters in surrounding settlements raised more than 200 and waited to join those at Schohary. The most surprising of these loyalist leaders was Capt. George Mann of the Schohary Militia, who declared himself a “friend of King George” on Aug. 8, 1777, and drew some followers from his assembled troops who were supposed to march off to join the American army gathering to oppose Burgoyne.

Within days of Mann’s defection, John McDonnell, who was sent to the area by Sir John Johnson to help raise troops for the British campaign, joined Crysler. Together, Crysler and McDonnell seized control of the southern end of the valley while Mann shut off travel and communication from the northern end at Foxestown, near the Old Stone Fort. The only resistance was a

Living history to abound in Schoharie in 2026

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

Schoharie County history

By MilDreD l. Bailey County Historian, 1976

Schoharie County lies southwest of Albany and was formed from Albany and Tryon Counties in 1796.

Previous to that date, many people had lived there. The first were Native Americans and then in 1709 Queen Anne of England invited people from the Rhineland to come over. Those settlers were called Palatines. At first, the people settled at East Camp and West Camp and were expected to work in that region in the production of tar and pitch from the pine trees.

The endeavor was not a success, so they left. Some went to the Mohawk region, some to Albany while others came to the Schoharie Valley in 1711 and 1712.

There, the Native Americans were friendly and taught them how to raise corn and, in some instances, provided them with seeds. The Palatines prospered for a number of years. They built seven dorfs or villages along the Schoharie River from Middleburg to the junction of the Cobleskill Creek and the Schoharie River.

As they were farmers and raised much grain. They needed mills in which to grind their grain so they built mills. By 1721 there were 45 water-powered grist mills within the county.

The French and Indian war of 1754-1760 disrupted their lives to an extent, but they learned much from the experience. Next, the Revolution broke out in 1776. Families became divided, some remaining loyal to and others turning against the British rule.

Forts were built at strategic positions for the safety of the inhabitants. The first, or Upper Fort, was on the west side of the Schoharie River at the upper end of Vroman’s land on the farm of Joseph Feeck. The second, or Middle Fort, considered the “headquarters’ was on the flats a little north of Middleburg. The third, or Lower Fort, was about six miles north of the Middleburg Fort. It was built by the Reformed Protestant High Dutch Society as a house of worship in 1772. In 1778, the building was enclosed by a log stockade and block houses were erected on the southeast end and northeast corners of

the enclosure with a small cannon on the top or each.

Schoharie County rallied to the cause of liberty and 80,000 bushels of grain were supplied to the troops from the farms.

After the close of the war, affairs of the region returned to normalcy and politics began to occupy the minds of the influential men. In 1788, Schoharie organized as a town in Albany County with no representation locally but a person or overseer was appointed in Albany.

Then in 1795, George Tiffany and Jacob Gebbard of Schoharie and Jonathan Danforth of Middleburg, along with William Beekman, John Rice and Calvin Rich, of Seward and Sharon, petitioned the Legislature for the formation of a new county. This was granted April 6, 1795. At this time there were six original towns. Between 1803 and 1848, 10 more were organized making a total of 16.

The people from the earliest of settlers were very efficient and in most ways were self-sufficient. The clothing was made by the housewives from the wool of the sheep and the flax from the fields. The shoes which were generally made by a cobbler, were made from the skins of the cattle. Soon, sawmills sprang up and lumber was more quickly produced so frame houses took the place of log cabins.

As the population increased, a need was felt for more and better roads. Thus the Great Western Turnpike to Cherry Valley was built in 1809, Railroads came into being. The D&H reached Central Bridge in 1863 and Richmondville in 1865. By 1870, the Cherry Valley, Sharon & Albany Railroad was formed to serve the northwestern part of the county. The Middleburg and Schoharie built in 1867 was the only one entirely within the county.

Schoharie has held a very prominent place in the growth of our state and nation stemming from the Revolutionary times to the present day. Schoharie men have gone to the battlefields, to the state Legislature and to the national Congress.

handful of defenders holed up between them at Johannes Becker’s stone house in Weyserstown, called “Fort Defiance.”

After a harrowing escape, Col. John Harper rode through the loyalist lines to Albany and returned on Aug. 13 with a 28-man troop of the 2nd Continental Light Horse. Upon arriving in Schohary, Harper rounded up loyalists at Mann’s Tavern and George Mann went into hiding. The militia rallied around the smartly dressed mounted dragoons and swelled Harper’s ranks. After marching prisoners to Fort Defiance and refusing a demand to surrender, Harper led the Light Horse, his own small ranger company and some of the Schohary Militia against the remaining enemy.

The loyalists had retreated to Crysler’s farm in the upper part of Vrooman’s Land, also spelled as Vroman, which was near a low, flat flood plain referred to by the native Germans as “Die Flache, translated as “the flats.” A stand was made and Harper’s mounted column was ambushed. Despite the loss of a lieutenant and several wounded, the Light Horse charged and drove McDonnell and Crysler’s forces into the woods and out of the valley.

The loyalists were scattered, but hardly beaten. They would return to Schohary many times to destroy the precious grain crop and try to reclaim property and family left behind. What resulted was a long, brutal struggle fought within and around what is now Schoharie County.

ahead, other activities are in the planning stages. Also in the works is an “Eagle Lecture.” There is the Schoharie County Eagle Trail, formed in 2020, as an accessible bird watching route designed to entertain and educate visitors on the flourishing eagle population in Schoharie County. The lecture will take place at the museum, although the trail is found in nearby Cobleskill. The trail allows visitors to see the area, contributes to the local economy and makes a visitor better informed on the nations crest and community ties to Native heritage. Children’s activities will be part of the celebration. Dates are still being developed for two days of child-specific programming on the nation’s celebration, including “Spies of the Revolution.”

While America will celebrate “America 250” this year, The Old Stone Fort is treating this as the “250 Corridor,” where, for eight to nine years, Schoharie County had a role in the Revolution. In 2027, for instance, plans are the works for a major re-enactment for the Battle of the Flockey.

Future editions will update readers on these and other events in Schoharie County, or they can visit theoldstonefort.org.

Chenango County history H H

By Mark SiMonSon Contributing Writer

According to the archives of The Daily Star in 1976, Chenango County was born March 15, 1798.

Although the early historical records differ on several different matters pertaining to the settlements of many of the county areas, the initial development came at the close of the bloody Indian wars from early settlers who principally had lived in Vermont, Connecticut and the already-settled eastern regions of New York state.

The first white men to venture into the county were the nameless band of traders and scouts straggling through the then western wilderness to barter with the Indians and the missionaries who carried the Christian religion into the villages of our country’s original inhabitants.

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 was the major turning point in the actual development or the area as a place for adventurous settlers to live.

History records the earliest of settlers a year after the treaty, when William Gutherie, Abraham Fuller, Reuben Kirby and Gould Bacon from Connecticut and Stephen and John Stiles, Heath Kelsey, Charles Bush, Eben and Joseph Landers and James Graham from Vermont arrived in the Bainbridge area.

Chenango County at the time of its settlement was composed of land formerly contained in 11 towns of the Governor’s Purchase. It included the Harpur Patent, 16,000 acres; the Vermont Sufferers’ Tract, 40,000 acres; the Livingston Tract, 16,000 acres and the French Tract of nearly the same acreage and a number of smaller tracts together with a portion of the Chenango Triangle Tract.

The 20 townships originally comprised by the Governor’s Purchase, nine of which are now apportioned to Madison and Oneida counties, were ceded to the state by the Indians in a treaty with Gov. George Clinton, signed at Fort Schuyler, Sept. 22, 1788.

The county’s official formation was from Herkimer and Tioga counties with half shires established so courts were held alternately at Hamilton, now part or Madison County, and Oxford.

Chenango County’s acreage was reduced in Oneida County and set apart in 1804 and again when Madison County was taken off in 1806.

Courts were held alternately at Oxford and North Norwich after Madison County was established from the northern part of Chenango County and, on March 6, 1807, the county seat was established in Norwich.

Historians have denoted the original eight towns of Chenango County as being DeRuyter, Greene, Jericho, Norwich, Oxford, Brookfield, Cazenovia, Hamilton, Sangerfield and Sherburne.

The old names of the 20 townships were: The Gore, the western end of the county; Fayette, now Guilford and most of Oxford; Clinton, containing Afton, Bainbridge and the Harpur Patent and Greene with parts of Greene, Coventry and Oxford.

Named for the river which bisects it, Chenango means “pleasant river flowing through the land of the bull thistle,” a plant which has become the county symbol. It’s not inappropriate. It suggests our ties with the red men as well as labors of the early settlers and the clearing of lands which have made it one of the top dairying counties in the state.

Besides the Chenango River down the middle, Chenango boats the trout-filled Otselic on its extreme west, and on the east, the Unadilla which feeds into the Susquehanna at the county’s southeast corner. These assets undoubtedly were among the reasons people of sturdy stock, moving from the east, settled permanently here on their post-revolutionary trek westward. Chenango was formed from Herkimer and Tioga counties on March 15, 1798 and included 11 of the “Twenty Towns” in the “Governor’s Purchase’ which were deeded to the state of New York in a treaty achieved through Gov. George Clinton on Sept. 22, 1788.

between norwich and Binghamton in the 1800s. Stops on the route included oxford, east Greene, Chenango Forks, and Port Crane. in 1865, when Capt. William Stever was at the helm of “the Lillie,” fare was $1.50. | Mark

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This Month in American History

Jan 1, 1776

George Washington unveils the Grand Union Flag.

Jan 10, 1776

“Common Sense” by Thomas Paine is published.

Jan. 8, 1815

Battle of New Orleans

Jan. 24, 1848

Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill launching the Gold Rush and the Western Expansion.

Jan. 1, 1863

Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing American slaves.

Jan. 1, 1892

The Ellis Island immigration center opens in New York.

Jan. 29, 1919 Prohibition ratified.

Jan. 15, 1929

Civil Rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jan. 23, 1933

The 20th Amendment is ratified, modernizing the transition of power.

Jan. 20, 1945

President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a record fourth time, leading to the two-term limit.

Jan. 5, 1949

President Harry Truman’s Fair Deal raises minimum wage and expands Social Security postWorld War II.

Jan. 3, 1959 Alaska becomes 49th state.

Jan. 28, 1967

Three Astronauts killed in Apollo 1 training test.

Jan. 22, 1973

Supreme Court rules on Roe v. Wade, establishing a constitutional right to abortion.

Jan. 28, 1986

Seven astronauts killed in Challenger explosion.

Jan. 16, 1991

Desert Storm begins.

Jan. 6, 2021

Save America Rally/insurrection at U.S. Capitol.

Common SenSe plantS Seed that SproutS into the united State S

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ommon Sense” was published on Jan. 10, 1776, in Philadelphia and circulated in the American colonies at a time when reconciliation between the colonists and Britain seemed unlikely, according to the National Constitution Center.

The message in the 47-page pamphlet was presented in “plain, unadorned writing,” according to the center, appealing to common capacities of all people. “Common Sense” questioned traditional hierarchies, condemning monarchy as an affront to God.

“But there is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS,” Paine wrote. “Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of Heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.”

It is unknown how many copies were printed but it was read by thousands and read aloud in taverns and meeting places, pushing colonists literate and illiterate toward the coming fight for America’s independence.

Historic Site: The Battle of Princeton Did You Know?

American actors Betty White, and James Earl Jones share their Jan. 17 birthdays with athletes Muhammad Ali and Dwyane Wade, artists Kid Rock and Lil Jon, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin and Department of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Emancipation

President Abraham Lincoln, on Jan. 1, 1863, in the third year of the bloody American Civil War, made the Emancipation Proclamation, an order freeing slaves in the Confederate states. “Although the poclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom,” according to the National Archives.

By The Numbers

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The Battle of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777, was Gen. George Washington’s first victory against British forces. It followed a victory in Trenton against Hessian forces.

They said it

“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning ...”

— President Ronald Reagan, Jan. 28, 1986

Operation Desert Shield became Desert Storm on Jan. 16, 1991. The war in Iraq also became the largest airborne campaign since the Vietnam War. Over six weeks, the U.S. and 40 allied nations combined for: 18K Air missions 85.5K Tons of bombs 116K

The win electrified the young nation, according to mountvernon.org, a nonprofit charged with preserving, restoring and managing the estate of George Washington.

The general’s use of guerrilla warfare and his effective leader-

Combat air sorties

Ground forces liberated Kuwait in 100 hours following the air campaign.

SOURCE: DEPT. OF DEFENSE

ship delivered confidence to Continental Army soldiers that they could beat the best British soldiers and discouraged loyalists and the opposing forces.

The final actions of the battle took place at the center of what is now Princeton University, at Nassau Hall, which still bears damage from the attack.

“We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jan. 20, 1945, during his fourth inaugural address

Other Americans Born This Month

Paul Revere, Jan. 1, 1735

Thomas Paine, Jan. 29, 1737

Benedict Arnold, Jan. 14, 1741

Alexander Hamilton, Jan. 11, 1755

Edgar Allen Poe, Jan. 19, 1809

Douglas MacArthur, Jan. 26, 1880

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jan. 30, 1882

JD Salinger, Jan. 1, 1919

Jackie Robinson, Jan. 31, 1919

Gene Hackman, Jan. 30, 1930

Elvis Presley, Jan. 8, 1935

Dolly Parton, Jan. 19, 1946

Alicia Keys, Jan. 25, 1981

1980

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