Blizzard of 1888 strands Utica's Roscoe Conkling: Mohawk Valley history

1888, 135 years ago

Historic blizzard

Utica's Roscoe Conkling — once a powerful, influential U.S. senator and now a successful corporate lawyer in New York City — looks out a window in his office at Broadway and Wall Street and sees snow. A lot of snow. Really a blizzard with temperatures just above zero and winds howling and gusting up to 75 miles an hour. It is 3 p.m. on a Monday, March 12, 1888 (135 years ago today). What Conkling is witnessing is the beginning of the historic Blizzard of '88.

He decides to close shop early and take a horse-drawn cab to his New York Club on Madison Square, about two miles away. He plans to have dinner there and then walk to his nearby apartment. (His wife, Julia, and daughter, Bessie, continue to live at No. 3 Rutger Park in Utica, a mansion now owned and maintained by the Landmark Society of Greater Utica).

He doesn't realize that the few cab drivers still on the road during the storm are charging exorbitant fares. He hails a cab and is told it will cost him $50 for the ride to his club. He is outraged and decides to walk. He begins to battle the snow, cold and and wind. Halfway to his club, he stumbles into a six-foot-high snow bank and exhausts himself climbing out. His face is covered with ice as he trudges through high snow drifts and finally reaches the entrance to his club. There he stumbles and collapses. An attendant helps him to his feet and takes him inside.

The tough 59-year-old Conkling recovers and eventually returns to work.

(But our story doesn't end there. Three weeks later, Conkling complains about a pain in his head. Doctors say it is caused by an abscess in his inner right ear and that it is the result of his exposure to the cold and wind during the blizzard earlier in the month. His temperature soars to 104 degrees and doctors operate on his skull to relieve pressure there. He seems to recover, but on April 18 — with Julia by his side — he dies, a victim of the Blizzard of '88.)

1923, 100 years ago

BBB in Utica

Utica now has a Better Business Bureau, a non-profit organization formed to protect businesses and the public from unfair, misleading or fraudulent advertising and selling practices.

1948, 75 years ago

Rail center

Utica's importance as a rail center takes a giant step forward when, for the first time, New York Central Railroad assigns a full-time trainmaster and an assistant to the railroad's general manager to Utica. Trainmaster Bert Daniels and assistant manager Lee Pangburn will have offices in Union Station.

Mohawk Valley history:Woolworth's is born in Utica

Mohawk Valley history:Here's what the president said to a crowd on Main Street in Utica

Mohawk Valley history:Utica prepares for a visit by the man who soon will be president

1973, 50 years ago

Police installation

Philip Arcuri is installed as president of the John E. Creedon Police Benevolent Association in Utica.

Delores Leonard, an assistant administrator for nursing services at Faxton Hospital, is elected the first president of the Mohawk Valley Health Education Council.

Matthew J. Dudek, of Yorkville and a senior at St. Bonaventure University, is the winner of the school's prestigious Mark Hellinger Award for journalism.

1998, 25 years ago

Parade marshal

Dan Callahan, the 39-year-old manager-bartender at the Uptown Grill in Utica, is named grand marshal of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day Parade. Callahan, of Whitesboro, is the youngest marshal in the parade's long history. It will feature the O'Keefe Irish Dancers of Syracuse and the Cycling Murrays of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Deerfield Volunteer Fire Department elects Robert Tomaino as its chief. Others elected include Andrew Brennan and Michael Husnay, assistant chiefs; Richard Douglas, assistant chief and chief instructor, and Gary Matt, assistant chief and maintenance engineer.

Civil officers elected include: Robert Day, president; Andrew Frank, vice president; Vincent Costelli, financial secretary; Gary DeStefanis Jr., secretary; George Haskell, treasurer, and Joseph Cieslak, sergeant-at-arms.

In high school basketball, Notre Dame defeats Bishop Ludden, 53-50, in a Section 3, Class C playoff game. Coach Mike Durr's squad is led by Kevin Roberts' 23 points, 11 points each by Bob Pasqualicchio and Mike Plonisch, nine points and 12 rebounds by C.J. Cantil and eight points by Mike Brooks.

2013, 10 years ago

Holicky retires

William Holicky, executive director of the House of Good Shepherd and an employee there for 36 years, retires. Last year, the House worked with 700 youngsters and more than 2,000 families. Bill Read, of the board of trustees, says, "Bill has shown over the 36 years a unique ability to lead the House through challenging times and make difficult decisions while always reminding those involved that 'everything we do is focused on changing children's lives.'"

Trivia quiz

Who was the Republican candidate that Democrat Barack Obama defeated in November 2008 to become 44th president of the United States? (Answer will appear here next week.)

Answer to last week's question: When Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as president on Jan. 20, 1977, it was said that "he never took too much to golf. He's more a softball man. He plays tennis a bit, loves fishing and is crazy about auto racing. But golf? Forget it."

This Week in History is researched and written by Frank Tomaino. E-mail him at ftomaino221@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Blizzard of 1888 traps Utica's Roscoe Conkling: Mohawk Valley history