Oneida County almost split in two 100 years ago: A look back at Mohawk Valley history

1923, 100 years ago

Two-county proposal

"Two counties are better than one, so let's split Oneida County in half with a Utica County having the city of Utica as its county seat and a smaller Oneida County having the city of Rome as its county seat." So says a group of county supervisors (today called county legislators) led by Leon Snyder, of South Utica's 17th Ward.

Oneida County currently is one of a small number of double-shire counties in the state. A double-shire county has two county courthouses. Oneida County has one in Utica and one in Rome. It once had one in Whitesboro, too. Snyder's proposal does not detail the advantages of splitting the county in two, but for years there has been a rivalry between Utica and Rome in county affairs.

According to Snyder, the new Utica County would have 138,214 people and include 13 towns -- New Hartford, Whitestown, Deerfield, Paris, Bridgewater, Sangerfield, Kirkland, Marshall, Augusta, Vernon, Verona, Westmoreland and Marcy. The smaller Oneida County would have 44,619 people and include 13 towns -- Florence, Camden, Vienna, Annsville, Ava, Lee, Western, Floyd, Boonville, Steuben, Forestport, Remsen and Trenton. The city of Sherrill is not mentioned in the proposal, but it probably would be part of the smaller Oneida County.

The proposal will go to the state Legislature in Albany. If the Assembly and Senate approve, it will go to the county voters. (The state Legislature did not approve the proposal.)

1948, 75 years ago

Truman wins

Democrat Harry Truman, in an upset of pre-balloting predictions, is elected president of the United States by defeating Republican Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York. Truman will work with a Democratic House of Representatives and Senate.

In Utica, voters give Truman a win, 28,199 to 19,072. He takes Rome, 6,990 to 6,143. Dewey, however, is victorious in 25 of the 26 towns in Oneida County. Whitestown is the only town giving the most votes to Truman, 3,190 to 2,598.

In other news, Maxwell Bacon is named coach of the Utica School of Commerce basketball team. Players include Joe Kroll, Bud Wind, Charles Riley, Frank Selbach, Warren Howlett, Jack Kinsella and Russ Harjung.

1973, 50 years ago

Hanna wins

Independent candidate Edward A. Hanna is elected mayor of Utica. Unofficial returns show Hanna defeating Democrat Sebastian Convertino by about 200 votes with Michael Caruso, the incumbent Republican mayor, not far behind. The Common Council will have Howard Welch, P. McCormick Reilly, Fred Trino, Sue Baum, Louis LaPolla, Francis Keyes, Gordon Hathaway and Walter Davis.

Meanwhile, St. Elizabeth Hospital trains and graduates six X-ray technicians: John Kiefl, Shelia Donovan, Paul Castilla, Janice Graniero, Michael McCreary and Denise Mahoney.

It's American Education Week and Gina Esposito's art students at Thomas R. Proctor High School are doing their part by decorating the front windows of vacant stores downtown with educational material. They include Rennie Jones, Michael Arcuri, Richard Inserra and Matt Valeriano.

1988, 35 years ago

Hamilton president

Harry C. Payne is named 17th president of Hamilton College. He earned bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees from Yale University and went on to Colgate University to teach history. He advanced to acting dean of faculty there and then provost.

In high school football, New Hartford defeats Oswego, 46-0, for its 17th consecutive win and Section III, Class A-1 championship. Jeremy Hurd runs for 125 yards on 11 carries and scores twice. Coach Don Edick also gets great play from Ron and John Vitullo, Ray Ryan, Tom Oberlies and Keith Skermont. He also praises the play of the offensive line: Chad Ball, Sumeet Rao, Mike Brown, Brian Martin, Jim Friedel and Aaron Smith.

Local election results include Republican Ralph J. Eannace Jr. re-elected to the state Assembly, defeating Democrat Jean E. Teuchert ... in a race for Rome city clerk, Republican-Conservative Rose Marie Carroll defeats Democrat-Future Party Timothy Watts.

2013, 10 years ago

Firefighters honored

Utica Post 229, American Legion, honors two Utica firefighters. Lt. Dominick Meyers is named "emergency medical technician of the year" and Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose is named "firefighter of the year."

Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of Utica honors four area employees by giving them its "pride of workmanship" award. They are: Mary Ellen Dougherty with the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired ... Pat Christensen with Beebe Construction Services ... Marlene Anderson with Adirondack Financial Services ... and Carl Antonucci with the Utica Public Library.

Trivia quiz

The Republican Party was formed in 1854-56. The party's first candidate for president of the United States was (a) John C. Fremont, (b) William Lewis Dayton, (c) Abraham Lincoln or (d) William Henry Seward. (Answer will appear here next week.)

Answer to last week's question: In 1996, members of the the American Psychological Association analyzed our first 41 presidents and said the most intelligent was Thomas Jefferson, third president from 1801-1809. Theodore Roosevelt ranked second. He was our 26th president from 1901-1909.

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: Payne named Hamilton College president, Truman back for presidency