History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
On January 27th, 1794, the State Board of Regents received the school which evoluted from Sir Willam Johnson's free school under its visitation.
The Academy was erected in 1796, the eleventh academy in the State, and held high position among the schools of the country until 1869 when the trustees declared their office vacant, and the old private educational institution was adopted as the academic department of the Union Free school.
Pursuant to an act of the Legislature, the Johnstown schools were reorganized in 1869.
Prior to this the village was divided into two school districts by Market Street, the one on the west side, No. 4, being known as the "Lower District," and the one on the east side, No. 23, as the "Upper District."
On December 11th, 1882, the inhabitants of Johnstown authorized the construction of a commodious school building at the northwest corner of the intersection of Perry and Montgomery streets.
This was erected in 1884, and occupied in February, 1885.
Just four years later, February 1st, 1889, it was completely destroyed by one of the most tragic and notable conflagrations in the history of Johnstown.
The destroyed building was replaced the same year.
In 1908 the growth of the academic department reached such a point, and the necessity of a new high school building became so great, that the Board of Education asked for an appropriation for this purpose and the citizens enthusiastically voted for it.
The new, handsome, and much-needed present high school building was erected in 1910, and occupied in September of the same year.
Among those entitled to honorable mention in connection with the development of Johnstown's school system is William S. Snyder, who came to Johnstown as teacher in the "lower district" school house.
He became principal and superintendent when the school system was reorganized the second time, in 1873, and continued in this office until 1898.
He was a man of indefatigable spirit and energy, a strict disciplinarian, a very capable teacher, a man who put his whole heart in the work of developing and improving the school system, and to whom the present generation and posterity owe a debt of gratitude that like many others, perhaps, will never be paid.
Mr. Snyder was succeeded by P. M. Hull who served as superintendent 1898-9, who in turn was succeeded by Dr. Frank W. Jennings who served until 1910.
The present superintendent, Mr. Earl L. Ackley, has served since the retirement of Dr. Jennings.
He is a tireless worker, an efficient organizer, a strong and capable teacher, and is doing good work and achieving substantial results in raising the standards of our educational institutions.
During the administration of Superintendent Ackley, Johnstown's school system has made a healthy and wholesome progress, kept abreast of the times, and ranks with the school systems of any of the cities of the State.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
In the case of the Presbyterians, or the "Calvinists", as they were popularly called; the Lutherans; the Methodists; the Baptists; and the Roman Catholics; these several sects or denominations held church worship long before there was a formal organization or incorporation, and before church edifices were erected.
Following the Revolution, the Presbyterians were granted by the Legislature sole control of the St. John's church property, and worshipped in the old stone church heretofore described, erected in 1772.
For a number of years the Lutherans also were permitted to worship in this building.
We have no record of where services were first held by the Scotch Highlanders, (Roman Catholic), but we do know that such services were held as early as 1773, and that the first Catholic clergyman was Rev. John McKenna, an Irish priest, educated at Lorain University.
The Presbyterian Church was formally organized and incorporated in 1785.
The first Presbyterian church edifice was erected in 1799, and is now the main building of the manufacturing plant of the Scotsmoor Company on North Market Street.
This church building was erected during the pastorate of Rev. Simon Hosack, a man of high scholarly attainments, great strength of character, who served as its pastor for a period of forty-three years.
The United Presbyterian Church sprang from a secession of members from the "Calvinist" church, which occurred in 1827, due to a change in the manner of conducting the singing in connection with the church services.
For many years services were held in the building on South Market Street, until recently occupied as a glove factory by W. M. Grant and Son.
The present church edifice was erected in 1869.
The late James A. Williamson, D. D., was selected as pastor in 1864, and served as such for more than fifty years.
A golden jubilee of Dr. Williamson's pastorate was fittingly celebrated June 17th, 18th and 19th, 1914.
The original incorporation of the church society, which has evoluted into St. Paul's (Lutheran) Church, occurred February 4th, 1801.
The first church building was just westerly of the old burial ground on the northerly side of the extension of West Main Street, on the Gross farm, and dates back to pre-revolutionary days and to the time of Sir William Johnson.
This edifice was erected by the Lutherans of Albany Bush and Johnson's Bush, as the scattered settlement in the vicinity of the church was called in the early days, and on a glebe donated by the Baronet.
The first Methodist Episcopal church edifice was situated on the northerly side of Main Street, just easterly of the law office of Judge Daniel Cady.
The date of the erection of this building has been lost, but it was many years before the present church organization was perfected, and which occurred August 31st, 1829.
The cornerstone of the present magnificent church structure was laid with fitting ceremonies July 16th, 1887.
The Baptist Church was organized November 3rd, 1842.
There were persons of this denomination living in or near the village as early as 1795, and prayer meetings were held at this time at the house of a Mr. Hardy, an Englishman, residing on William Street; also at the home of a member of the Methodist Church named Brewster, who resided opposite the Dutch Reformed meeting house.
Governor Enos T. Throop, (1829-32), a native of Johnstown, was an elder of the Baptist Church during a period of the early days of the Nineteenth century.
The modern churches of Johnstown include the Reformed Church; St. Mark's Lutheran Church; St. Anthony's Church (Slovak Roman Catholic); Sts. Cyril and Method, (Slovak Catholic); Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, (Italian Roman Catholic); St. Patrick's Roman Catholic; First Church of Christ Scientist; and the A. M. E. Zion.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
In the case of the Presbyterians, or the "Calvinists", as they were popularly called; the Lutherans; the Methodists; the Baptists; and the Roman Catholics; these several sects or denominations held church worship long before there was a formal organization or incorporation, and before church edifices were erected.
Following the Revolution, the Presbyterians were granted by the Legislature sole control of the St. John's church property, and worshipped in the old stone church heretofore described, erected in 1772.
For a number of years the Lutherans also were permitted to worship in this building.
We have no record of where services were first held by the Scotch Highlanders, (Roman Catholic), but we do know that such services were held as early as 1773, and that the first Catholic clergyman was Rev. John McKenna, an Irish priest, educated at Lorain University.
The Presbyterian Church was formally organized and incorporated in 1785.
The first Presbyterian church edifice was erected in 1799, and is now the main building of the manufacturing plant of the Scotsmoor Company on North Market Street.
This church building was erected during the pastorate of Rev. Simon Hosack, a man of high scholarly attainments, great strength of character, who served as its pastor for a period of forty-three years.
The United Presbyterian Church sprang from a secession of members from the "Calvinist" church, which occurred in 1827, due to a change in the manner of conducting the singing in connection with the church services.
For many years services were held in the building on South Market Street, until recently occupied as a glove factory by W. M. Grant and Son.
The present church edifice was erected in 1869.
The late James A. Williamson, D. D., was selected as pastor in 1864, and served as such for more than fifty years.
A golden jubilee of Dr. Williamson's pastorate was fittingly celebrated June 17th, 18th and 19th, 1914.
The original incorporation of the church society, which has evoluted into St. Paul's (Lutheran) Church, occurred February 4th, 1801.
The first church building was just westerly of the old burial ground on the northerly side of the extension of West Main Street, on the Gross farm, and dates back to pre-revolutionary days and to the time of Sir William Johnson.
This edifice was erected by the Lutherans of Albany Bush and Johnson's Bush, as the scattered settlement in the vicinity of the church was called in the early days, and on a glebe donated by the Baronet.
The first Methodist Episcopal church edifice was situated on the northerly side of Main Street, just easterly of the law office of Judge Daniel Cady.
The date of the erection of this building has been lost, but it was many years before the present church organization was perfected, and which occurred August 31st, 1829.
The cornerstone of the present magnificent church structure was laid with fitting ceremonies July 16th, 1887.
The Baptist Church was organized November 3rd, 1842.
There were persons of this denomination living in or near the village as early as 1795, and prayer meetings were held at this time at the house of a Mr. Hardy, an Englishman, residing on William Street; also at the home of a member of the Methodist Church named Brewster, who resided opposite the Dutch Reformed meeting house.
Governor Enos T. Throop, (1829-32), a native of Johnstown, was an elder of the Baptist Church during a period of the early days of the Nineteenth century.
The modern churches of Johnstown include the Reformed Church; St. Mark's Lutheran Church; St. Anthony's Church (Slovak Roman Catholic); Sts. Cyril and Method, (Slovak Catholic); Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, (Italian Roman Catholic); St. Patrick's Roman Catholic; First Church of Christ Scientist; and the A. M. E. Zion.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
No community in the State or country, showed a stronger spirit of patriotism during the World war than Johnstown, and its record in this respect is as brilliant as the record of Johnstown in the Rebellion.
In every enterprise connected with the world's greatest tragedy, Johnstown rushed to the front with a spontaneity that was indeed commendable.
In the matter of subscribing its quota for the several issues of Liberty Bonds, in the achievements of the Red Cross, in short in the field of all activities connected with War Relief work, Johnstown displayed a spirit, energy and enthusiasm, which was applauded far and wide.
The following is the registration of the Second Military District of Fulton County of which Johnstown constituted the largest and leading part: June 5th, 1917, 1,793, between the ages of 21 and 31; June 5th, 1918, 52, who had reached their 21st birthday; August 24th, 1918, 26, who had reached their 21st birthday; September 12th, 1918, 2,759, between the ages of 18 and 45.
"What matters death, if Freedom be not dead;
No flags are fair if Freedom's flag be furled,
Who fights for Freedom goes with joyful tread
To meet the fires of Hell against him hurled.
And has for Captain Him whose thorn-wreathed head
Smiles from the Cross upon a conquered world."
The following is a list of names of the young men of the Second Military District who made the supreme sacrifice, gave up their lives, that freedom's flag might not be furled, that our Christian civilization might be perpetuated, that the world might be "made safe for democracy": Leonard W. Ripton, Charles R. Walrath, John Dobijas, Patrick Connelly, Henry Bradt, Russell Trumbell, Frank Filkins, H. J. Smith, James P. Uhlinger, J. Oran Johnson, Lloyd Reese, Frederick Fogarty, Philip C. Gross, William F. Forchette, Clyde Mabee, Brown D. Murray, Dorr Mason, William Weaver, Abbott Laning, Leo F. Burke, Edward M. Sheil and Floyd Manzer.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
No community in the State or country, showed a stronger spirit of patriotism during the World war than Johnstown, and its record in this respect is as brilliant as the record of Johnstown in the Rebellion.
In every enterprise connected with the world's greatest tragedy, Johnstown rushed to the front with a spontaneity that was indeed commendable.
In the matter of subscribing its quota for the several issues of Liberty Bonds, in the achievements of the Red Cross, in short in the field of all activities connected with War Relief work, Johnstown displayed a spirit, energy and enthusiasm, which was applauded far and wide.
The following is the registration of the Second Military District of Fulton County of which Johnstown constituted the largest and leading part: June 5th, 1917, 1,793, between the ages of 21 and 31; June 5th, 1918, 52, who had reached their 21st birthday; August 24th, 1918, 26, who had reached their 21st birthday; September 12th, 1918, 2,759, between the ages of 18 and 45.
"What matters death, if Freedom be not dead;
No flags are fair if Freedom's flag be furled,
Who fights for Freedom goes with joyful tread
To meet the fires of Hell against him hurled.
And has for Captain Him whose thorn-wreathed head
Smiles from the Cross upon a conquered world."
The following is a list of names of the young men of the Second Military District who made the supreme sacrifice, gave up their lives, that freedom's flag might not be furled, that our Christian civilization might be perpetuated, that the world might be "made safe for democracy": Leonard W. Ripton, Charles R. Walrath, John Dobijas, Patrick Connelly, Henry Bradt, Russell Trumbell, Frank Filkins, H. J. Smith, James P. Uhlinger, J. Oran Johnson, Lloyd Reese, Frederick Fogarty, Philip C. Gross, William F. Forchette, Clyde Mabee, Brown D. Murray, Dorr Mason, William Weaver, Abbott Laning, Leo F. Burke, Edward M. Sheil and Floyd Manzer.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, concluded ...
The reader will appreciate that the limitations of a sketch of this character makes necessary the omission of a great many things that otherwise and in the interest of completeness should be included.
A chapter could be written in relation to the Bar of Johnstown, past and present, and the many eminent jurists and lawyers, who have been and are identified with and who have graced the same, since the days of Judge Daniel Cady down to the present time; and the many important and sensational trials and litigations which have taken place in the old court house, and in which such eminent men and lawyers as Chancellor Kent, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Thomas Addis Emmett and others have participated.
Much the same can be said of the medical profession.
And no sketch of Johnstown is complete without giving some of the details of the more important events in the life and career of its illustrious founder, Sir William Johnson.
And the history of St. Patrick's Lodge No. 4, F. & A. M., of which Sr. William was the first Master, chartered in 1766.
Another chapter could be written in relation to the ancient highways by which the hardy pioneers found ingress and egress to and from this section a century and a half ago.
But for the reason stated all this must be omitted, and for the reader interested I would suggest the perusal of many volumes on these several subjects to be found in nearly every public library.
A few pertinent facts not heretofore referred to are the following: the first newspaper in Johnstown was published in 1796; the first bank incorporated in 1831; the first great fire occurred in 1834; first telegraph introduced in 1857; gas introduced in 1857; first horse railroad, 1874; first electric railroad, 1893; first water works system built in 1878; electric lights introduced, 1887; first asphalt pavement laid, 1891; Johnstown Historical Society organized, 1892; first Masonic Lodge building erected, 1794; Y. M. C. A. building erected, 1902; Johnstown Public Library erected, 1902; Johnson Hall purchased by State of New York, 1907, now in the custody of the Johnstown Historical Society.
As there are no two individuals just alike so there are no two communities just alike.
Communities are simply aggregations of individuals, possessing all the characteristics of an individual, reflecting the average virtues and vices, the average strength and weakness, of all.
And each community differs in certain of its characteristics from every other community.
Johnstown is noted for a certain wholesome conservatism.
The citizens are not inclined to embrace a thing until they are soundly convinced that it is right, and when so convinced they get behind every worthy enterprise with a public and community spirit that is indeed commendable, and which has excited applause and admiration throughout the State and the country.
A notable organization quite recently perfected, largely through the efforts and energy of Mrs. Rose M. Knox, is the Federation of Women's Clubs for Civic Improvement, whose slogan is, "Beautify Johnstown."
It was through the efforts of Mrs. Knox and these women that an appropriation was secured from the State Commission on Parks for the purpose of improving and beautifying the grounds surrounding Johnson Hall.
Mrs. Knox is a woman of extraordinary executive ability, who manages the extensive business established by her late husband, the Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co., Inc., and her connection with any public or community enterprise or movement insures success.
She is very progressive, commendably generous, and much attractiveness has been added to life in Johnstown through her and her late husband's princely benefactions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, concluded ...
The reader will appreciate that the limitations of a sketch of this character makes necessary the omission of a great many things that otherwise and in the interest of completeness should be included.
A chapter could be written in relation to the Bar of Johnstown, past and present, and the many eminent jurists and lawyers, who have been and are identified with and who have graced the same, since the days of Judge Daniel Cady down to the present time; and the many important and sensational trials and litigations which have taken place in the old court house, and in which such eminent men and lawyers as Chancellor Kent, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Thomas Addis Emmett and others have participated.
Much the same can be said of the medical profession.
And no sketch of Johnstown is complete without giving some of the details of the more important events in the life and career of its illustrious founder, Sir William Johnson.
And the history of St. Patrick's Lodge No. 4, F. & A. M., of which Sr. William was the first Master, chartered in 1766.
Another chapter could be written in relation to the ancient highways by which the hardy pioneers found ingress and egress to and from this section a century and a half ago.
But for the reason stated all this must be omitted, and for the reader interested I would suggest the perusal of many volumes on these several subjects to be found in nearly every public library.
A few pertinent facts not heretofore referred to are the following: the first newspaper in Johnstown was published in 1796; the first bank incorporated in 1831; the first great fire occurred in 1834; first telegraph introduced in 1857; gas introduced in 1857; first horse railroad, 1874; first electric railroad, 1893; first water works system built in 1878; electric lights introduced, 1887; first asphalt pavement laid, 1891; Johnstown Historical Society organized, 1892; first Masonic Lodge building erected, 1794; Y. M. C. A. building erected, 1902; Johnstown Public Library erected, 1902; Johnson Hall purchased by State of New York, 1907, now in the custody of the Johnstown Historical Society.
As there are no two individuals just alike so there are no two communities just alike.
Communities are simply aggregations of individuals, possessing all the characteristics of an individual, reflecting the average virtues and vices, the average strength and weakness, of all.
And each community differs in certain of its characteristics from every other community.
Johnstown is noted for a certain wholesome conservatism.
The citizens are not inclined to embrace a thing until they are soundly convinced that it is right, and when so convinced they get behind every worthy enterprise with a public and community spirit that is indeed commendable, and which has excited applause and admiration throughout the State and the country.
A notable organization quite recently perfected, largely through the efforts and energy of Mrs. Rose M. Knox, is the Federation of Women's Clubs for Civic Improvement, whose slogan is, "Beautify Johnstown."
It was through the efforts of Mrs. Knox and these women that an appropriation was secured from the State Commission on Parks for the purpose of improving and beautifying the grounds surrounding Johnson Hall.
Mrs. Knox is a woman of extraordinary executive ability, who manages the extensive business established by her late husband, the Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co., Inc., and her connection with any public or community enterprise or movement insures success.
She is very progressive, commendably generous, and much attractiveness has been added to life in Johnstown through her and her late husband's princely benefactions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville.
"Uncle Sam's glove factory, the gateway city of the Adirondacks" — A study of the city's glove industry which makes eighty per cent. of America's gloves — "Gloversville gloves America" — Gloversville historical and general notes by the editor — The city's Adirondack neighborhood — Garoga and Canada Lakes — The Sacandaga Trail — The Sacandaga River, Sacandaga Vly, and Sacandaga Lake, the most southerly and accessible large Adirondack Lake — Gloversville the metropolis of the central southern Adirondack region.
By Fred B. Carl
The following chapter, descriptive of the city of Gloversville, is by Mr. Fred B. Carl of the Leader-Republican, Gloversville, with addenda by the editor:
Unique to a major degree is the history of Gloversville, today one of the most thriving of the industrial cities of Northeastern New York.
Just why the earliest pioneers of this section should have chosen this location for their settlement is somewhat problematical, as it is situated some eight or nine miles north of the main arteries of transportation — the New York Central Railroad, the Mohawk Turnpike, the Mohawk River and its Barge Canal — it has few natural physical advantages for an industrial center, no river or stream of any size to provide power for its mills and factories, no fertile fields to yield provender for its people, no sources to supply its industry with raw material.
Yet it is out of conditions such as these that the hardy pioneers and the succeeding generations have wrought a miracle of transformation.
Nestling here in the foothills of the Adirondacks and forming the gateway to the vast Northern country, is a city modern in every essential, made up of vast interests, particularly as related to the glove and leather industries — a city of cheerful homes and a happy and contented people.
From those pioneer days of about 1754, when a few followers of Sir William Johnson made the first clearings and built rude homes in that section of a royal grant which they named Kingsborough — now Gloversville — the thus formed hamlet grew until in 1848 there were two adjoining hamlets, Kingsboro (the final "ugh" being dropped) and Gloversville, each with a population of about 400 souls.
In later years the two were combined, first in 1852 into an incorporated village, which in 1890 became the city of Gloversville.
At that time the population had passed the 15,000 mark.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville.
"Uncle Sam's glove factory, the gateway city of the Adirondacks" — A study of the city's glove industry which makes eighty per cent. of America's gloves — "Gloversville gloves America" — Gloversville historical and general notes by the editor — The city's Adirondack neighborhood — Garoga and Canada Lakes — The Sacandaga Trail — The Sacandaga River, Sacandaga Vly, and Sacandaga Lake, the most southerly and accessible large Adirondack Lake — Gloversville the metropolis of the central southern Adirondack region.
By Fred B. Carl
The following chapter, descriptive of the city of Gloversville, is by Mr. Fred B. Carl of the Leader-Republican, Gloversville, with addenda by the editor:
Unique to a major degree is the history of Gloversville, today one of the most thriving of the industrial cities of Northeastern New York.
Just why the earliest pioneers of this section should have chosen this location for their settlement is somewhat problematical, as it is situated some eight or nine miles north of the main arteries of transportation — the New York Central Railroad, the Mohawk Turnpike, the Mohawk River and its Barge Canal — it has few natural physical advantages for an industrial center, no river or stream of any size to provide power for its mills and factories, no fertile fields to yield provender for its people, no sources to supply its industry with raw material.
Yet it is out of conditions such as these that the hardy pioneers and the succeeding generations have wrought a miracle of transformation.
Nestling here in the foothills of the Adirondacks and forming the gateway to the vast Northern country, is a city modern in every essential, made up of vast interests, particularly as related to the glove and leather industries — a city of cheerful homes and a happy and contented people.
From those pioneer days of about 1754, when a few followers of Sir William Johnson made the first clearings and built rude homes in that section of a royal grant which they named Kingsborough — now Gloversville — the thus formed hamlet grew until in 1848 there were two adjoining hamlets, Kingsboro (the final "ugh" being dropped) and Gloversville, each with a population of about 400 souls.
In later years the two were combined, first in 1852 into an incorporated village, which in 1890 became the city of Gloversville.
At that time the population had passed the 15,000 mark.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
With the beginning of 1925, Gloversville had a population exceeding 25,000, and its industries, which for more than one hundred years had been confined to the tanning of leather and the manufacture of gloves and mittens, had expanded to include the manufacture of silk, hosiery, slippers, sporting goods, automobile tops, storage batteries, fire escapes, sewing machines, moving picture films, pocketbooks, toys, machinery, tools, dies, leather novelties, concrete blocks, knit goods, mattresses, brooms, and many other articles of general use, making a total of 196 manufacturing industries within its boundaries.
It would therefore appear that it was foreordained, when the hardy New Englanders first settled here, that Gloversville was to be industrial, and it has never faltered for a moment on its trend towards the great manufacturing center that it is today.
And the end is not yet, for Gloversville has building room of ideal topography and proportions.
It has no ravines to bridge or hills to dig away, or climb, in order to get from one section of the city to another.
It knows nothing about the drawbacks of insufficient building room or hard topographical conditions.
It is healthful above the average city, with its proximity to the great outdoor country of the Adirondack mountains and lakes just north of the town.
The urge to be out and doing, in the sports that go with such an environment, is great and naturally prevails.
Nature has endowed this whole region very richly.
As its name implies, of all its varied industries of today the manufacture of gloves and leather form its principal industry.
Here are more than 125 separate glove factories, five shoe leather tanneries and eighteen glove leather tanneries.
As an industrial center, these are augmented by twelve silk mills, three paper box factories, three woodworking and five leather novelty factories, two knitting plants, a hosiery factory, three slipper factories, five sporting goods and leather novelty factories, two millwork plants and lumber yards (taking both hard and soft wood from the nearby forests), three machine shops, a sewing machine factory and a foundry.
Sweatshops and fire traps are unknown.
More gloves and finer gloves are turned out each year than in all the other cities of the United States combined, making it justly entitled to its slogan, which is emblazoned along the railroad lines and highways throughout the country — "Gloversville Gloves America."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
With the beginning of 1925, Gloversville had a population exceeding 25,000, and its industries, which for more than one hundred years had been confined to the tanning of leather and the manufacture of gloves and mittens, had expanded to include the manufacture of silk, hosiery, slippers, sporting goods, automobile tops, storage batteries, fire escapes, sewing machines, moving picture films, pocketbooks, toys, machinery, tools, dies, leather novelties, concrete blocks, knit goods, mattresses, brooms, and many other articles of general use, making a total of 196 manufacturing industries within its boundaries.
It would therefore appear that it was foreordained, when the hardy New Englanders first settled here, that Gloversville was to be industrial, and it has never faltered for a moment on its trend towards the great manufacturing center that it is today.
And the end is not yet, for Gloversville has building room of ideal topography and proportions.
It has no ravines to bridge or hills to dig away, or climb, in order to get from one section of the city to another.
It knows nothing about the drawbacks of insufficient building room or hard topographical conditions.
It is healthful above the average city, with its proximity to the great outdoor country of the Adirondack mountains and lakes just north of the town.
The urge to be out and doing, in the sports that go with such an environment, is great and naturally prevails.
Nature has endowed this whole region very richly.
As its name implies, of all its varied industries of today the manufacture of gloves and leather form its principal industry.
Here are more than 125 separate glove factories, five shoe leather tanneries and eighteen glove leather tanneries.
As an industrial center, these are augmented by twelve silk mills, three paper box factories, three woodworking and five leather novelty factories, two knitting plants, a hosiery factory, three slipper factories, five sporting goods and leather novelty factories, two millwork plants and lumber yards (taking both hard and soft wood from the nearby forests), three machine shops, a sewing machine factory and a foundry.
Sweatshops and fire traps are unknown.
More gloves and finer gloves are turned out each year than in all the other cities of the United States combined, making it justly entitled to its slogan, which is emblazoned along the railroad lines and highways throughout the country — "Gloversville Gloves America."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
Since the days when the manufacturing of gloves was developed to a nation-selling scale, the growth of the city has been steady until today it has an assessed valuation of more than $22,000,000.
It has thirty acres of parks and playgrounds; seven mountain reservoirs, with a capacity of 380,000,000 gallons of spring water, making an unusually pure water supply; it has an excellent educational system, including a $500,000 high school, a $350,000 grammar school, eleven grade schools, two parochial schools, and a public library with a circulation of about 10,000 volumes a month; it has nineteen churches, two chapels and a full quota of religious societies; thirty-one fraternal societies are represented here; the general social facilities are ample and include several fine club houses.
The city is beautifully laid out with hundreds of miles of streets, a majority of them well paved and amply lighted, the post light system being employed in the business section, where the streets are free of wires of any kind.
The manufacturing plants are scattered over a wide area, making it impossible to cramp the business section, thus tending to keep a monopoly of central real estate out of Gloversville.
The city's health conditions could hardly be improved upon, having a clear, dry atmosphere, 812 feet above sea level; the birth rate is 19.21 per thousand, and the death rate 13.01 per thousand.
Labor conditions which are exceptionally good here prevail.
There have been but few strikes in the city's history and the relations between employers and employees are unusually satisfactory.
The assets of the city include a thoroughly modernized motor fire department, a Y. M. C. A., a Y. W. C. A., and a Jewish Community Center, each with a handsome and commodious building of its own; three theatres; a Home for Aged Women; and the Nathan Littauer Hospital, one of the finest equipped institutions of its kind in the state, together with the Harriet Littauer Home for Nurses, both erected and partially maintained by Hon. Lucius N. Littauer as memorials to his father and mother, who were among the early residents of the village.
Up to the present, Mr. Littauer, who is the head of one of the largest glove manufacturing companies in the city, has contributed more than one million dollars for the construction and upkeep of these institutions.
One of the most influential civic organizations is the Chamber of Commerce and Better Business Bureau, which has done much in advancement of business and industrial interests during recent years.
Gloversville takes particular pride in its Home Fund, it having been the pioneer city in the country in establishing, in 1918, the community chest method of caring for its charities — a method which has proved so successful that it is now employed in about 250 cities throughout the country.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
Since the days when the manufacturing of gloves was developed to a nation-selling scale, the growth of the city has been steady until today it has an assessed valuation of more than $22,000,000.
It has thirty acres of parks and playgrounds; seven mountain reservoirs, with a capacity of 380,000,000 gallons of spring water, making an unusually pure water supply; it has an excellent educational system, including a $500,000 high school, a $350,000 grammar school, eleven grade schools, two parochial schools, and a public library with a circulation of about 10,000 volumes a month; it has nineteen churches, two chapels and a full quota of religious societies; thirty-one fraternal societies are represented here; the general social facilities are ample and include several fine club houses.
The city is beautifully laid out with hundreds of miles of streets, a majority of them well paved and amply lighted, the post light system being employed in the business section, where the streets are free of wires of any kind.
The manufacturing plants are scattered over a wide area, making it impossible to cramp the business section, thus tending to keep a monopoly of central real estate out of Gloversville.
The city's health conditions could hardly be improved upon, having a clear, dry atmosphere, 812 feet above sea level; the birth rate is 19.21 per thousand, and the death rate 13.01 per thousand.
Labor conditions which are exceptionally good here prevail.
There have been but few strikes in the city's history and the relations between employers and employees are unusually satisfactory.
The assets of the city include a thoroughly modernized motor fire department, a Y. M. C. A., a Y. W. C. A., and a Jewish Community Center, each with a handsome and commodious building of its own; three theatres; a Home for Aged Women; and the Nathan Littauer Hospital, one of the finest equipped institutions of its kind in the state, together with the Harriet Littauer Home for Nurses, both erected and partially maintained by Hon. Lucius N. Littauer as memorials to his father and mother, who were among the early residents of the village.
Up to the present, Mr. Littauer, who is the head of one of the largest glove manufacturing companies in the city, has contributed more than one million dollars for the construction and upkeep of these institutions.
One of the most influential civic organizations is the Chamber of Commerce and Better Business Bureau, which has done much in advancement of business and industrial interests during recent years.
Gloversville takes particular pride in its Home Fund, it having been the pioneer city in the country in establishing, in 1918, the community chest method of caring for its charities — a method which has proved so successful that it is now employed in about 250 cities throughout the country.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
The general prosperity of Gloversville is reflected through the reports of its three banking institutions, each of which is housed in a handsome building of its own of modern construction.
Their reports, in 1924, showed a combined capitalization of $1,250,000; deposits of more than $12,000,000; and surplus and undivided profits of $1,500,000.
Having reviewed the Gloversville of today, it is now well to hark back to the beginning in order that the reader may appreciate the miracle of transformation since the time when this section was a virgin forest roamed only by the redman, and explaining why this became the seat of the glove industry in America; an industry which in volume amounts to many millions of dollars a year, and produces approximately 75 per cent. of the gloves and mittens manufactured in this country.
Some time in 1738 William Johnson, being disappointed in love, determined to forget his sorrows by coming to America to manage the estate of his uncle, Peter Warren.
It took Johnson no long time to see the possibilities of the region.
He adapted himself easily to the frontier life and soon became a landowner on his own account.
His British nature longed for great estates and feudal mansions.
In 1752, Arent Stevens and nine others purchased the 20,000-acre Kingsborough tract, for which they paid "three pieces of Showde, six pieces of gailing linnen, three barrels of beer, six gallons of rum, and a fatt Beast."
This sale was confirmed by the government the next year.
The land was immediately made over to Johnson, who has been suspected, reasonably, no doubt, of having had a hand in the deal from the first.
To make his project a success, it was necessary to have settlers on this land, so Johnson brought to it a number of Highlanders who had been exiled from Scotland after the defeat of the Pretender.
This scheme was eminently successful and for the next few years Johnson gave his attention to fighting the French.
Arent Stevens was an Indian interpreter and general factotum employed by Johnson in his dealings with the Indians.
It was as a reward for his services in the French-Indian war that George III, in 1760, granted him the title of the 100,000-acre Kingsland grant.
From then until his death, in 1774, Johnson devoted his entire time to his estate, it becoming more successful each year.
Sir William's son, John, and his sons-in-law, Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus, were by no means his equal; and so, after Sir William's death, the affairs of the estate became entangled through poor management.
At the outbreak of the Revolution it was abandoned, and Sir John, a Tory, fled to Canada, followed by the greater part of his tenants.
His lands and property were confiscated by the new government and for a time lay vacant.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
The general prosperity of Gloversville is reflected through the reports of its three banking institutions, each of which is housed in a handsome building of its own of modern construction.
Their reports, in 1924, showed a combined capitalization of $1,250,000; deposits of more than $12,000,000; and surplus and undivided profits of $1,500,000.
Having reviewed the Gloversville of today, it is now well to hark back to the beginning in order that the reader may appreciate the miracle of transformation since the time when this section was a virgin forest roamed only by the redman, and explaining why this became the seat of the glove industry in America; an industry which in volume amounts to many millions of dollars a year, and produces approximately 75 per cent. of the gloves and mittens manufactured in this country.
Some time in 1738 William Johnson, being disappointed in love, determined to forget his sorrows by coming to America to manage the estate of his uncle, Peter Warren.
It took Johnson no long time to see the possibilities of the region.
He adapted himself easily to the frontier life and soon became a landowner on his own account.
His British nature longed for great estates and feudal mansions.
In 1752, Arent Stevens and nine others purchased the 20,000-acre Kingsborough tract, for which they paid "three pieces of Showde, six pieces of gailing linnen, three barrels of beer, six gallons of rum, and a fatt Beast."
This sale was confirmed by the government the next year.
The land was immediately made over to Johnson, who has been suspected, reasonably, no doubt, of having had a hand in the deal from the first.
To make his project a success, it was necessary to have settlers on this land, so Johnson brought to it a number of Highlanders who had been exiled from Scotland after the defeat of the Pretender.
This scheme was eminently successful and for the next few years Johnson gave his attention to fighting the French.
Arent Stevens was an Indian interpreter and general factotum employed by Johnson in his dealings with the Indians.
It was as a reward for his services in the French-Indian war that George III, in 1760, granted him the title of the 100,000-acre Kingsland grant.
From then until his death, in 1774, Johnson devoted his entire time to his estate, it becoming more successful each year.
Sir William's son, John, and his sons-in-law, Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus, were by no means his equal; and so, after Sir William's death, the affairs of the estate became entangled through poor management.
At the outbreak of the Revolution it was abandoned, and Sir John, a Tory, fled to Canada, followed by the greater part of his tenants.
His lands and property were confiscated by the new government and for a time lay vacant.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
But the land was not forgotten.
Colonial soldiers had carried home tales concerning it.
Before long the people of New England, becoming dissatisfied with their poor farms, decided to move West — and where more naturally than to Kingsborough?
Broadalbin and Mayfield, however, were resettled a little before Kingsborough.
The newcomers, upon taking up the partly cleared farms left by Sir John Johnson's people under the last Southern spur of the Adirondacks, found that, in the heavily timbered slopes reaching far back into the big woods, deer, moose, and other fur-bearing animals were plentiful.
Here New England pioneers made their homes; here they found a climate of long winters and deep snows which generated energy — and these transplanted Yankees knew how to harness that.
Their fathers had been taught in a crude way how to tan deer skins, by the Indians of Plymouth, and necessity urged them to utilize that knowledge, for they must have covering for hand and foot.
The boys could shoot the deer; the family needed the meat; the father could tan the skins and make patterns of thin basswood boards, which mother could place upon outstretched skins and with a lead pencil trace the outline of glove, mitten or moccasin; then with heavy sheep shears cut them out and sew them with three-edged needles, using homespun hempen thread.
This sewing was done by the mother and the girls, one glove or mitten being sat upon while the other was being sewed.
This corresponded to the present system of "laying-off", or steaming and pressing the product.
At that time Connecticut was especially well represented in the community and a number of these Connecticut people were tinsmiths by trade.
They bartered tinware with the Indians for skins, thus collecting, for the first time in quantity, the raw material for the leather which really started the great glove industry of the present day.
This was the simple beginning of an industry in which every member of the family could help, and the surplus, after supplying the family needs, could be bartered for other necessities.
Thus the product of the forest, the farm and the tinsmith became the circulation medium.
Money was a novelty, but the lack of it increased the thrift and resourcefulness of the settlers, making them alert to every opportunity.
The pioneer probably thought only of his own success, but he was building better than he knew; his efforts were contagious and soon every house in the community was a glove factory and every family master of its own fate.
After the surplus grew to greater proportions than the tin peddler could handle, the buckskin peddler was born, who carried his wares in wagons and sleighs to distant distributing points, for there was always a demand for hand protectors.
This spreading of the market developed new processes of dressing leather, newer patterns, better shapings, better sewing, which would bring a blush to the tinman's cheek who had extolled the first product.
Now the industry had passed the tinman and was keeping abreast of the demand.
All of this happened before the screech of the steamboat whistle had echoed from old Storm King on the Hudson; before the Erie Canal stretched its serpentine trail from Troy to Buffalo; before the snort of a locomotive had punctured the Indian stillness of the Mohawk Valley.
Each year brought greater knowledge of the treatment of leather; each year brought better and more economic skill in form and quality of gloves.
The wooden patterns have been replaced by accurate steel dies; the sewing machine has given eternal rest to the housewives' fingers and her three-sided needle; now the whole world is asked to contribute skins to satisfy the gloveman's greed; now the whole world is his market.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
But the land was not forgotten.
Colonial soldiers had carried home tales concerning it.
Before long the people of New England, becoming dissatisfied with their poor farms, decided to move West — and where more naturally than to Kingsborough?
Broadalbin and Mayfield, however, were resettled a little before Kingsborough.
The newcomers, upon taking up the partly cleared farms left by Sir John Johnson's people under the last Southern spur of the Adirondacks, found that, in the heavily timbered slopes reaching far back into the big woods, deer, moose, and other fur-bearing animals were plentiful.
Here New England pioneers made their homes; here they found a climate of long winters and deep snows which generated energy — and these transplanted Yankees knew how to harness that.
Their fathers had been taught in a crude way how to tan deer skins, by the Indians of Plymouth, and necessity urged them to utilize that knowledge, for they must have covering for hand and foot.
The boys could shoot the deer; the family needed the meat; the father could tan the skins and make patterns of thin basswood boards, which mother could place upon outstretched skins and with a lead pencil trace the outline of glove, mitten or moccasin; then with heavy sheep shears cut them out and sew them with three-edged needles, using homespun hempen thread.
This sewing was done by the mother and the girls, one glove or mitten being sat upon while the other was being sewed.
This corresponded to the present system of "laying-off", or steaming and pressing the product.
At that time Connecticut was especially well represented in the community and a number of these Connecticut people were tinsmiths by trade.
They bartered tinware with the Indians for skins, thus collecting, for the first time in quantity, the raw material for the leather which really started the great glove industry of the present day.
This was the simple beginning of an industry in which every member of the family could help, and the surplus, after supplying the family needs, could be bartered for other necessities.
Thus the product of the forest, the farm and the tinsmith became the circulation medium.
Money was a novelty, but the lack of it increased the thrift and resourcefulness of the settlers, making them alert to every opportunity.
The pioneer probably thought only of his own success, but he was building better than he knew; his efforts were contagious and soon every house in the community was a glove factory and every family master of its own fate.
After the surplus grew to greater proportions than the tin peddler could handle, the buckskin peddler was born, who carried his wares in wagons and sleighs to distant distributing points, for there was always a demand for hand protectors.
This spreading of the market developed new processes of dressing leather, newer patterns, better shapings, better sewing, which would bring a blush to the tinman's cheek who had extolled the first product.
Now the industry had passed the tinman and was keeping abreast of the demand.
All of this happened before the screech of the steamboat whistle had echoed from old Storm King on the Hudson; before the Erie Canal stretched its serpentine trail from Troy to Buffalo; before the snort of a locomotive had punctured the Indian stillness of the Mohawk Valley.
Each year brought greater knowledge of the treatment of leather; each year brought better and more economic skill in form and quality of gloves.
The wooden patterns have been replaced by accurate steel dies; the sewing machine has given eternal rest to the housewives' fingers and her three-sided needle; now the whole world is asked to contribute skins to satisfy the gloveman's greed; now the whole world is his market.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
Originally all of the gloves made here were of buckskin, but as the demand for the manufactured product became greater and at the same time the deer became scarcer in the Adirondacks and in all other parts of the country which eventually were called upon to supply the raw material, other lines of suitable leather were developed until today nearly every country on the globe, particularly those of Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, send enormous quantities of skins in the raw which are tanned here and later transformed into gloves of every style and quality.
The various leathers now used include cape, suede, chamois, rabbit, doeskin, lightweight buckskin, horse hide, cattle hides, pigskin and sheep.
The pioneer glovemakers settled here because they just happened to, and they had the pluck never to regret it.
They had to pay millions of dollars more for transportation than if they had been on a trunk line.
They surmounted all sorts of obstacles and they came up smiling; they made a name and fame.
Today the glove business here is feeding fifty thousand people, who live in greater contentment and who are surrounded by more comforts than those engaged in any industry of like proportions on the map.
The glove-making pioneers were the forefathers of the generations which have built the Gloversville of the present, which never fails to call forth its tribute of praise from the traveler.
Hundreds have come and gone who have not been unmindful of its beauty and thrift, and who have never tired of writing and speaking of its attractions, the intelligent and prosperous appearance of its people and other proofs of an active and contented populace.
It is to the energetic and bustling business man of present day ideals and progressive instincts that this city especially appeals.
Here industry never lags and its citizens are always at work, advancing its supremacy in every way possible and making it justly entitled to be known as "Uncle Sam's Glove Factory; the Gateway City to the Adirondacks".
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 120: The City of Gloversville, continued ...
Originally all of the gloves made here were of buckskin, but as the demand for the manufactured product became greater and at the same time the deer became scarcer in the Adirondacks and in all other parts of the country which eventually were called upon to supply the raw material, other lines of suitable leather were developed until today nearly every country on the globe, particularly those of Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, send enormous quantities of skins in the raw which are tanned here and later transformed into gloves of every style and quality.
The various leathers now used include cape, suede, chamois, rabbit, doeskin, lightweight buckskin, horse hide, cattle hides, pigskin and sheep.
The pioneer glovemakers settled here because they just happened to, and they had the pluck never to regret it.
They had to pay millions of dollars more for transportation than if they had been on a trunk line.
They surmounted all sorts of obstacles and they came up smiling; they made a name and fame.
Today the glove business here is feeding fifty thousand people, who live in greater contentment and who are surrounded by more comforts than those engaged in any industry of like proportions on the map.
The glove-making pioneers were the forefathers of the generations which have built the Gloversville of the present, which never fails to call forth its tribute of praise from the traveler.
Hundreds have come and gone who have not been unmindful of its beauty and thrift, and who have never tired of writing and speaking of its attractions, the intelligent and prosperous appearance of its people and other proofs of an active and contented populace.
It is to the energetic and bustling business man of present day ideals and progressive instincts that this city especially appeals.
Here industry never lags and its citizens are always at work, advancing its supremacy in every way possible and making it justly entitled to be known as "Uncle Sam's Glove Factory; the Gateway City to the Adirondacks".
TO BE CONTINUED ...