Veterans remembered, burlesque is back: This week in Mohawk Valley history
1891, 132 years ago
Veterans remembered
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Oneida Square in Utica is unveiled on Tuesday, Oct.13, a memorable day in the city's history. Thousands are able to attend the unveiling ceremony because schools, stores, mills and factories are closed. A big parade attracts many spectators along Genesee Street from Bagg's Square to Oneida Square.
Edward Huntington Bright unveils the monument. He is the son of Major William H. Bright of Utica, a Civil War veteran who was wounded in 1864 in the Battle of Peach Tree in Georgia. After the war ended in 1865, the major returned to Utica and fought for the erection of a monument to honor the city's men who had joined the Union Army to fight the southern states that had seceded from the Union.
The lady atop the monument points south and it is fitting that she does. Many of the war's major battles were fought south of Utica, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee.
The idea for a monument was conceived during the war, but it was not until 1887 that enough money was raised to hire architect Karl Gerhardt, of Hartford, Connecticut, to design it. Uticans then voted to tax themselves $15,000 to reach the $32,000 needed to complete the project.
The monument has been the center of controversy for many months. Most veterans wanted it erected on Oneida Square, but some Uticans thought it belonged on Bagg's Square. Others wanted it in Steuben Park at the head of Charlotte Street while still others chose a plot on Varick Street.
1923, 100 years ago
Burlesque is back
It is standing room only at Utica's Colonial Theater as burlesque returns to the theater on the north side of Bleecker Street, one block from Genesee Street. A two-act musical revue called "Temptations of 1923," features Flossie Everette and the American Beauty Chorus. Tickets vary from 28 to 95 cents. Area clergymen were successful last year in closing the Colonial's burlesque shows for "being indecent," but the theater owners went to court and recently won the right to stage their shows.
1948, 75 years ago
Hockey arena
The village of Clinton, one of the most ice hockey-conscious communities in the country, is building a metal-covered, indoor hockey-skating rink. The $50,000 arena is on a site once occupied by the Clinton Canning Company. It will be 228 feet long, 119 feet wide and have arches reaching a height of 56 feet. A leading figure in the project is Edward Stanley, who organized the Clinton Hockley Club about 20 years ago.
1973, 50 years ago
Legion honored
The Clifford J. Fulmer American Legion Post, in Waterville, honors four 50-year members. Certificates are presented to Irving Crandall, Daniel B. Conger, Alfred Isley and Charles McLean.
In high school football, Sauquoit Valley Central's Don Canfield scores two touchdowns to lead his team to a 24-0 win over Richfield Springs Central.
And the Mohawk Valley Baseball Umpires Association elects new officers. They include John Siegel, president; Anthony Cannistra, vice president, and Dick Arcuri, commissioner of assignments.
1998, 25 years ago
Wynn Hotel
Steve Wynn, a former Utican and chairman of Mirage Resorts in Las Vegas, opens his Bellagio Hotel-Casino in Vegas. It contains art masterpieces valued at $300 million (VanGogh, Monet, Renoir, Picasso). It is named for a picturesque town on Lake Como in Italy where Wynn and his family visited.
Wynn's parents -- Michael and Zelma Kutner -- moved to Whitesboro from New Haven, Conn., in the 1940s and then to Utica. Their son attended Kemble and John F. Hughes schools and later graduated from Manlius Academy near Syracuse and the University of Pennsylvania. (The Wynn Family Foundation has donated $50 million toward construction of the new hospital being built in downtown Utica.)
The Players of Utica presents the musical-melodrama, "Blood Brothers," in its theater on Oxford Road in New Hartford. It is directed by Dan Fusillo.
In high school football, undefeated Waterville beat Cato-Meridian, 41-0. Jeremy Godfrey scores four touchdowns and Daryl Graham runs back a kick-off for a score.
Bernard D. Weiser, a former Utican who became a world-famous pianist, dies. He was a longtime student of Johannes Magendanz, who ran The Music Studio, on the 1000 block of Miller Street in Utica's Cornhill section, for many years. Weiser lived on Sherman Place and graduated from Utica Free Academy at age 15. He headed the piano division at the University of Minnesota for 20 years. He appeared many times with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra and played often in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
2013, 10 years ago
Firefighters honored
The Clinton Volunteer Fire Department honors seven of its veteran firefighters, each with more than 50 years in the department (a combined 385 years of service to the village). They are Peter Burns, William Hameline, John Nester Sr., Ronald O'Neil, Robert Owens, William Owens Sr. and Richard Young.
Janice Reilly, of New Hartford, publishes "The Builders of New Hartford," a history of pioneer settlers in New Hartford and Washington Mills.
The Holy Name Society at St. Anthony-St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, in East Utica, elects Anthony Nicotera as its president. Other officers include John Convertino, vice president; Rich Hensel, treasurer, and John Aliasso, chaplain.
Whitesboro earns a hard-fought 14-6 victory over New Hartford behind the play of quarterback Bodhi Forbes, who runs for one touchdown and passes for another. The winners are led by the outstanding offensive and defensive play of Travis Eberley, Tyler Hudson, Collin Steward, and twins Mike and Andy DiViccaro. New Hartford is led bt the play of Adam Zogby, Steve Tomaino, David Han and Dom Pfisterer.
Trivia quiz
Harry Truman was the only U.S. president in the 20th century who did not graduate from a college. Name the eight presidents in the 19th century who, like Truman, never earned a college degree. (Answer will appear here next week.)
Answer to last week's question: John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States from 1825 to 1829, was the first president to wear long trousers to his inauguration. Previous presidents had worn knee-length breeches.
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: Mohawk Valley history: Soldiers and Sailors Monument unveiled in 1891
