S. M. Shaw

“ Mr. Henry F. Phinney had returned to Cooperstown with a handsome fortune, with an increased love for his native village, and with great confidence in its future growth and prosperity, toward which he resolved to devote his time and money. He was a liberal subscriber to every good object and true charity. The Seminary property had passed into the possession of the Second National Bank, by which it was sold to Mr. Phinney in January, and in it he sunk not far from $65,000. The interior of the building was changed and improved, to fit it for the purposes of a summer hotel ”

“ But the gentlemen of the Bar concerned in the trials were intelligent, faithful to their clients and to the Court, whose learning and diligence in the preparation greatly relieved the Judge of his labors, and whose professional deportment and respect banished from the court room every disturbing element, leaving free the full and undivided exercise of the faculties of the Court and counsel in their inquiry after the truth and justice of the case. ”

“ CHERRY VALLEY, "the historic town of Otsego," was formed from the town of Canajoharie, Montgomery county, in 1791. In 1797, Middlefield, Springfield and Worcester were created from its terrtory, and in 1854 Roseboom was set off. It was settled as early as 1740, and rapidly advanced in population and importance until the massacre of 1778, which for a short time checked the growth and prosperity of the town and village. The Cherry Valley Academy, which had for many years a very high standing among institutions of learning, was founded in 1796. ”

“ On the 16th of May, a small dwelling house on Bay street owned by Winchester Childs was destroyed by fire. His loss was partly made up by the donations of a few liberal-hearted citizens. In the month of July the Catholic Society of this village purchased ground for a cemetery on the hill west of the village, now owned by them. The consecration of the same, took place with imposing ceremonies on the first of August. On the 28th of July, a large war meeting was held at the Court House, over which Judge Campbell of Cherry Valley presided. ”

“ As late as this year many men were engaged in making boots and shoes in this village, as we read that 25 journeymen shoemakers were on a strike for higher wages, in August. Now, 1886, not a pair of boots, and seldom a pair of shoes, is made on this corporation. The few journeymen remaining — at the head of whom stands the veteran Sam'l W. Bingham — being wholly employed in mending. 1853. A suggestion appears in the Journal, in January of this year, that inasmuch as the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad is likely to be constructed, a branch should be built from Cooperstown to connect with it. ”

“ The address of the Bar of New York on the termination of my judicial labors, and in approbation of them, I look upon as the crowning reward, which will be a source of perpetual consolation in the decline of life, and so long as a kind Providence shall permit the speaker to linger here on earth in the enjoyment of faculties unimpaired. ”

“ Party politics ran very high in Cooperstown this year, and many meetings were held in and near the village. The village had long been noted for its many prominent and active politicians. The County Jail, which succeeded the old log structure, was burned Dec. ”

“ Stairs lead to the highest platform of the tower, and from the numerous openings and loopholes with which the walls are pierced, a fine panoramic view of the lake and country can be obtained. The effect of the structure is that of a picture from mediæval times, and its value to the lake is very great. Mr. Clark has been led to erect it simply by a desire to beautify the lake and add an attraction which must be seen by all who traverse the lake or drive along its shores. They whose minds can rise above simple notions of utility to an appreciation of art joined to nature, will thank him for it. ”

“ In September the army quota of the town of Otsego was filled, and no drafted men were sent. The bounty had been raised to $1,025, for the war; and in December the town bounty was increased to $800 for "three years' men." Gov. Seymour, who was the Democratic Presidential candidate this year, addressed a political mass-meeting in this village, in Oct. 1865. Lieut. Morris Foote returned to his home in Cooperstown, in January, having happily made his escape from a rebel prison. His brother, Frank Foote lost a leg in the battle of the Wilderness, and was for a long time thought to have been killed. ”

“ Men here, as elsewhere, saw the cloud gathering with feelings of mingled sorrow, apprehension and alarm; they were divided in opinion as to the causes which led to the war; and party feeling, before actual hostilities commenced, very naturally strongly held sway over the minds of men who were active in political life. ”

“ H. Averill, Esq., presiding, on which occasion Cooperstown made a very liberal subscription to this enterprise, amounting to several thousand dollars. Dr. Horace Lathrop opened an office in Cooperstown, in March, and he is now the oldest resident physician of the place. In July, G. W. Ryckman, Jr., bought the "Hall," the old Cooper residence, and two lots near, with a view of fitting it up as a summer hotel. Early the next year a large corps of workmen was employed to remodel and enlarge this building, and in July it was opened to the public. ”

“ At the annual meeting of the County Medical Society, held in July, 65 members were present, and a resolution was passed adopting the Washingtonian pledge. The movement was one of great popularity, and it accomplished much good. Governor Bouck, who had been in attendance at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Hartwick Seminary, of which he was a member, stopped over night in Cooperstown at the Eagle Hotel. ≈ 64 Doct. John Russell, long a resident of this village, the father of Mrs. Judge Nelson, died the 2d of August, in the 71st year of his age. ”

“ Judge Nelson was appointed Judge of the Sixth Circuit, which included Otsego county, in April 1823, which position he held until February 1831, when he was made Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and on the resignation of Chief Justice Savage, in 1837, he took his place. In February 1845 he was elevated to the Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, where he has won the highest honor as a Judge of strong common sense, broad views, the highest sense of honor, and a ready grasp of weighty topics. ”

“ Carelessness with fire-arms was then not so common a cause of serious accident, it seems, as at the present time, but one instance is recorded in August of this year, when a young German man-servant employed in one of the families of the village, with great recklessness, pointed a gun, not supposing it loaded, at a female servant, and discharging it, killed her instantly. ”

“ In November, the Cooperstown Aqueduct Association purchased the old Gregory Mill property, thus getting control of the "water power" for running their pumps, and decided to reconstruct the entire water works, by building — on the site of the old grist mill — a new brick pump house, and placing in it two very powerful pumps, capable of supplying the village most abundantly with water. This plan was carried into effect. A large pipe was laid up into the lake, commencing at a point just south of the cemetery, and running thence to a well in the pump house ”

“ J. R. Worthington, with a capital of $50,000, was announced in January. During this year Mr. Levi C. Turner was a regular contributor to the Journal, over the signature of "Otsego." He was an easy, fluent writer, who had seen much of the world. ”

“ The loss was about $10,000; the insurance only one-half that amount. A large number of persons in the employ of the Messrs. Phinney, were obliged to leave the village after this disaster, from a lack of employment, and thus it was a serious affair in respect to the interests of the place, as the business was removed to Buffalo. The original of the following paper, in the handwriting of Col. J. H. Prentiss. was handed us by Mr. George W. Ernst, while on a visit to Cooperstown, the day on which the preceding paragraph was put in type, and we give it as of interest in this connection. ”

“ What was at first very naturally regarded as a public calamity, in which individuals suffered considerable loss — though only a few of them were unable easily to bear it — in the end proved of great and lasting benefit to the place. ”