USA > New York > Otsego County > In old Otsego : a New York county views its past > Part 5
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ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, IN 1859
IN THE final chapter in this series a look will be taken at some con- ditions and events pertinent to Otsego a century or so ago. Some con- trast interestingly with those of the present.
According to the most recent census the population of the county was then 49,735, almost as large as now, but a much larger proportion was living on farms. Cooperstown, Cherry Valley and Unadilla, in that order, were the largest incorporated places. Oneonta, which now houses more than a quarter of the county's people, was in fourth place with 678 inhabitants.
Considerable manufacturing was being carried on, but mostly for local consumption and by small concerns. Included were 142 saw- mills, 37 grist-mills, and 26 tanneries. The latter provided leather for 54 boot and shoe shops and 20 harness shops. Sixty-six establishments were devoted to blacksmithing, 55 to wagon making and 17 to cooper- ing. Seven cotton mills, employing 300 hands-men, women and small children-constituted the largest industry.
The year 1859 opened here with a first-class murder. Patrick Mc- Namara, of Richfield Springs, celebrated a holiday weekend with two friends, then went to work the next morning. The friends consumed more whiskey, grossly insulted Mrs. McNamara and left. When Pat came home, he heard the tale, became enraged, but instead of seeking the offenders, slew his wife with a club. The following June he received a life sentence, but was pardoned before death.
At the time Otsego was the leading national hop producing area. Throughout the year the weekly papers carried market quotations, crop prospects and news of the hop situation overseas.
It was also a railroad building period. The Albany & Susquehanna (now Delaware & Hudson) had begun construction from the eastward some years earlier, but lacked capital to continue. Application was made to the 1859 legislature for state assistance. $200,000 was appro- priated, but the bill was vetoed by the governor late in the year and not until 1865 did the tracks reach Oneonta.
A horse railroad from Cherry Valley to Canajoharie was being
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also strongly advocated. Opponents felt that the cost of it could be better spent on a "McAdam" road.
Unadilla residents were urging the use of "steam carriages" over existing roads to Fort Plain. Supporters conceded that no tracks were likely to be laid that way, but thought the United States backward in not following the example of England, South America, India and Australia in trying traction engines for transport, thus doubling the speed of six miles an hour possible for horses.
The "hoop skirt" was all the fashion and occasioned as much comment and caricature as the "hobble skirt" of a much later day. One New York City factory was employing a thousand girls, using 300,000 yards of steel spring wire and 150,000 yards of tape a week and turning out 3,000 skirts a day. Harper's Weekly commented, "Smart girls, we are told, can easily make $4 a week. . . . Four dollars a week, it need hardly be remarked, is very fair remuneration for work which is neither excessive or unhealthy."
The Mount Vernon Association was beginning to solicit public subscriptions for the purchase of George Washington's home. The Otsego committee in charge reported in February $381.25 received for the cause.
In June a panther was sighted on the east side of Otego Creek one mile below Laurens, possibly the last recorded instance of this animal in the county.
On the Fourth of July a Burlington Flats resident recalled that exactly fifty years before he had returned from a Sunday School pic- nic at the "Green" through a driving snow storm.
During several previous years mowing machines were being per- fected and now several models were on the market. A competition among them was held at Cooperstown in July. All but one worked satisfactorily. This device proved its value when a man power short- age came soon with the Civil War.
James Markham, a Revolutionary soldier, died at Richfield Springs on August 4th at the age of 96. Did the county have a later survivor of that struggle?
When in August oil was struck by drilling near Titusville, Pa., the modern petroleum age began. Before the end of the year kerosene was for sale in local stores at $1.25 a gallon.
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The Hyde Park Methodist Church dedicated its building in October. The edifice cost $1,000!
Jared Gardner, of New Lisbon, retired in November after having ridden weekly for 14 years a 70-mile route to deliver local newspapers in the western part of the county. He was 79.
This was the year the Colorado potato beetle appeared here- and to stay. A Yankee had patented copper-toed boots and Otsegoans demanded that these be stocked here. Whisky could be bought for twenty-five cents a gallon. Venison, bear meat, wild turkeys and wild pigeons were displayed in the markets.
Erastus F. Beadle, a printer and a native of Pierstown, published at New York City "The Dime Song Book." Its popularity gave him an idea. The next year the Beadle Dime Novels began to appear, selling in huge editions, furnishing an outlet for many writers and inspiring a rash of imitators.
The new Republican party was rapidly gathering strength. In December 1859 Abraham Lincoln consented that his friends might advance his candidacy as the Presidential nominee of the party. The result was that the first President born beyond the Appalachians en- tered the White House in 1861. Among the most stanch and effective of his supporters was the eminent lawyer, Isaac N. Arnold, who had left Otsego County for Chicago some thirty years before.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Some sources for the study of the Otsego area-Compiled by Roy L. Butterfield
BACON, Edwin F.
Otsego County, Geographical and Historical-Oneonta-1902 (Brief, some errors, limited value)
BARTHEL, Otto
New Century Atlas of Otsego County-Philadelphia-1903
BEARDSLEY, Levi
Reminiscences-Charles Vinten-Albany 1852 (Excellent on early social condi- tions)
BEERS, F. W.
Atlas of Otsego County-New York-1868 (Shows early school district bound- aries)
BIRDSALL, RALPH
Story of Cooperstown, revised-Augur's Book Store, Cooperstown-1948
CHILD, Hamilton, ed.
Otsego County Directory, 1872-3-Syracuse Journal-1872
COOK, Frederick
General Sullivan's Indian Expedition-Auburn-1887
COOPER, James Fenimore
(the novelist)
Chronicles of Cooperstown-H. & E. Phinney-Cooperstown-1838 (Reissued with additions by S. M. Shaw and Walter Littell in 1929 as History of Coopers- town by The Freeman's Journal)
COOPER, James Fenimore
(the lawyer)
Legends and Traditions of a Northern County-Freeman's Journal-Coopers- town-1920 and 1936
COOPER, Susan
Rural Hours-Willis P. Hazard-Philadelphia-1854-A journal of Cooperstown area in 1848, with observations on its history, inhabitants, occupations, wild life, etc.
COOPER, William
Guide in the Wilderness-reprinted-Freeman's Journal-1936 (unsurpassed for description of early conditions)
ELLIS, David M.
Landlords and Farmers in the Hudson-Mohawk Region-Cornell University Press-1946
FOX, Edith M.
Land Speculation in the Mohawk Valley-Cornell University Press-1949
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FROST, James A.
Life On The Upper Susquehanna, 1783-1860, King's Crown Press-New York- 1951 (contains excellent bibliography)
FRENCH, J. H.
Gazetteer of the State of New York-R. Pearsall Smith-Syracuse-1860 (Re- vised in 1872 by F. B. Hough to include Civil War Data. Other gazatteers include Spafford, 1813, and 1824, Gordon, 1836, J. Disturnell, 1842, and Barber & Howe's Historical Collections, 1845)
HALSEY, F. W.
Old New York Frontier 1614-1800-Scribner-New York-1901 (Best early local history)
HALSEY, F. W., ed.
Tour of Four Great Rivers-Scribner-New York (1906) (Journal of Richard Smith, Burlington, N. J., during a trip on the Hudson, Mohawk, Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers)
HAMMOND, J. B.
History of Political Parties in the State of New York-H. & E. Phinney- Cooperstown-1846
HASTINGS, Hugh, ed.
Military Records of the Council of Appointment 1783-1821-J. B. Lyon-Albany -1901 (Useful for commissions in the militia to which all able-bodied men belonged)
HEDRICK, Ulysses P.
History of Agriculture in the State of New York-Albany-1933
HIGGINS, Ruth E.
Expansion in New York-Ohio State University-Columbus-1931
HOUGH, F. B.
Census of the State of New York 1855-Albany-1857 (Detailed census reports for 1865 and 1875 also published)
HUNTINGTON, W. V.
Old Time Notes (an unpublished manuscript chronology of the area from the earliest times to 1865, owned by the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society, housed at the Huntington Library, Onconta. Copy at N. Y. S. Historical Assoc'n)
HURD, D. Hamilton
History of Otsego County-Everts & Farris-Philadelphia-1878 (Like most sub- scription county histories of the period, this is heavily weighted in favor of resident subscribers and their families, but data included has value)
LINCKLAEN, John
Journals of Travels in 1791 and 1792 as agent of the Holland Land Company, edited by Helen Fairchild-Putnam-New York-1897
(VARIOUS EDITORS)
New York Civil List (issued annually many years, contains an excellent con- stitutional history of the state and lists colonial, state and county officers down to year of publication)
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VOLWILER, A.T.
George Croghan and the Westward Movement-Arthur H. Clark & Co .- Cleve- land-1926 (Much on the local operations of the largest land holder in Otsego's early days)
WILLIAMS, Edgar
New York Annual Register (various dates)
WRIGHT, Henry C.
Human Life (Autobiography) -Bela Marsh-Boston-1849 (very scarce, it gives an excellent picture of pioneer life)
No author stated
Otsego County Biographical Review-Boston-1898- (the same stricture applies as to Hurd's History)
As a useful guide the following title should be added:
JOSEPHSON, Bertha E.
Donald Dean Parker: Local History, how to gather it, write it and publish it. Social Science Research Council-New York-1944
Nearly all these titles can be found in the library of the New York State Historical Association at Cooperstown, many will be in other local libraries.
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