Culled by Judy Garrison From February 1915 issues of The Andes Recorder 100 Years Ago

Week In and About ANDES

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Events of a Week as Chronicled by the Man on the Street

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With commentary by Jim Andrews

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The bear could not see its shadow Tuesday.

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On Monday, February 1, the Andes Feed Company, Inc., took over the business formerly owned and conducted by the Andes Feed Company.

The new firm takes over not only the building at the depot, where the feed business is conducted, but also the Armstrong store and mill property opposite the Central Hotel. Definite plans as what will be done as regards the opening of the mill and store have not been decided upon. Andes certainly needs a mill, there having been none since the Armstrong’s closed. Leslie Woolheater, who had charge of the old business, will remain with the new firm. [Jim Andrews: I know that Albert Armstrong closed up the Andes mill and had an auction of the contents of the store. His brother Walter had an interest in the mill earlier when it was called Armstrong Brothers Mill. However, the two split, the business was sold and Albert Armstrong continued the feed business at his Shavertown location.]

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The January regents examination in elementary algebra was considered unfair. The Auburn, Utica, Syracuse, Geneva and Binghamton schools have protested. In Binghamton 60 out of 120 passed; in Delhi 10 out of 20, and in Andes none.

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Linn Bruce, Jr., has taken a position with the Union Pacific Railway Company. He will at first be connected with the transportation department and will be located at Denver Colorado. He will be required to obtain a practical knowledge of the workings of all departments. He will also attend the school of instruction which the Union Pacific maintains in connection with its operation. [Ed.: Buffy Calvert was asked about Matthew Linn Bruce, Jr., her Uncle Linn, her mother’s older brother. Buffy recounts how he went west when he was 19 to become a “railroader.” She always thought he had TB and that the underlying reason for heading west was to recover his health, but has no real proof of that. In one letter (there are a couple of interesting pages on his life starting on page 6 of Calvert’s Quadrille) he says, “Nobody knows how I came out here except Mr. Vick Ray (the agent) and Western people don’t ask questions.” Elbridge Gerry, a colleague of Harriman, the owner of the Union Pacific, apparently got him the job and “depended on him to make good.” Linn took to “railroading” and life in the west. When the U.S. entered WWI, Linn enlisted in the American Expeditionary Force and as a lieutenant commanded a company in France. After the war, he returned to Andes and was employed as Superintendent of the Gerry Estate until his death in 1940.]

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A few years ago J. H. Hitt, Andrew C. Fenton and Arthur H. Scott, of Margaretville, and Ralph S. Ives, of Roxbury, purchased the Thomas Mabon farm in the town of Bovina located on the Andes-Delhi State Road. The company built a lake covering 22 acres on the farm, naming it Lake Mahikan. [JA: This is the currently named Silver Lake. The name bounced around for some time. There are postcards with the name Lake Mahikan and also with the name Mohican Lake. Silver Lake came from the man who actually built the lake, Ambrose Silver, and there are several pictures of Ambrose with other workers standing on the dam before the water backed up.] In order to close the partnership the property was sold at auction at Delhi, Tuesday afternoon and was purchased by Arthur H. Scott, one of the partners, the price paid being $6,100.

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February 14 is Peace Sunday. This celebration is the 100^th anniversary of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. [Ed.: Presumably at the end of the War of 1812. Always a good idea to celebrate peace.]——————————————-———

There will be no full moon this month for the first time since 1847 in the Eastern Hemisphere, or since 1885 in the world, according to Professor Harold Jacob of Columbia University.

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Tom Leyden of South Kortright, formerly of Andes, visited bonesetter Sweet in regard to lameness and found that his rheumatism had drawn a bone out of place in both knee and hip. Dr. Sweet put the bone in the knee back, and will adjust the one in the hip later. [Ed: Does anyone know if bonesetters were the precursors to chiropractors?]

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Most residents know that this section belongs to the “Hardenburg Patent,” but few know its history. After the victorious battle of Blenheim, Johannes Hardenburg was knighted by Queen Anne, and he desiring to come to America in 1708, she granted him a tract of 2,000,000 acres of land, now known as the counties of Delaware, Sullivan and Ulster.

Johannes Hardenburg settled at Rosendale, on Roundout Creek, and the old homestead, now known as the “Cornell Place” is well preserved. The ruins of the Hardenburg castle may now be seen near the town of Nordheim.

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John V. Miller, who for more than half a century had been identified with the affairs of Andes, passed away at his home on upper Main street at about 10 o’clock Tuesday evening, February 16, in his 81^st year. Mr. Miller was born in Germany and when seventeen years old he came to America with his parents and a sister and the family settled in Andes.   In 1851 he married Margaret Lambrecht and to them nine children were born, five of whom had passed away before him. Seldom indeed can it be recorded that for 64 years two people have walked along the pathway of life’s journey as man and wife, sharing together its joys and sorrows. [JA: J.V. Miller was Andes’ wagon maker. I dare say that there was a J. V. Miller wagon or surrey or carriage in every town in Delaware County. He signed his work on the underside of the wagon. He built the Dowie Hose Cart for the Andes Fire Department—the one that is still seen in Community Day parades as well as the Andes Hook and Ladder wagon. Unfortunately, all that remains of that vehicle are the hooks and ladders. He was the father of LeRoy Miller who was a bank teller in the Ballantine Bank at the turn of the century and who ran “the Drug Store” after the Nortons gave it up, until his retirement in 1953. J.V.’s daughter Margaret (Nettie) was a schoolteacher and may be remembered as the Queen of the Village Centennial, who at the age of 90 dressed in Victorian finery and rode the parade in the back seat of Shell Ackerley’s Cadillac convertible. J.V. Miller lived in the former Pearl Jaddis house and it was his family that operated Miller’s Foundry located behind the house. His grand nephew, Jack Miller, was a familiar face on the streets of Andes until his death 20 years ago.]~