It could have been the Wild West or firefighters, but crowds were a small part of life around Oneonta during the summer of 1901. And then there was some quiet time, alone with a good book.
The grounds of the Swart-Wilcox House Museum have been busy this summer, such as on July 3 with the unveiling of a plaque honoring Revolutionary War veteran Lawrence Swart, and as it will be again Aug. 30 when its Summer Sunday Series concludes. The same was true in 1901.
As The Oneonta Star of June 13 reported, “Despite the threatening weather of the early morning, which however turned to fair early in the day, one of the largest gatherings ever seen at a tent show in Oneonta assembled Tuesday to attend Buffalo Bill’s famous Wild West. A multitude came by wagon from surrounding towns, the U. & D. special brought about 600, and the regular trains on that road and on the D. & H. were crowded to the doors.
“The parade, which greatly to the disappointment of many who arrived later by train, started promptly at ten o’clock, was headed by Buffalo Bill himself, and with an array of cowboys, Indians, Cossacks, Arabs, Boers, etc. was fairly representative of the exhibition.” The parade moved from the railroad depot to what was then called Wilcox Flats.
“Various estimates have been made of the number present in the afternoon, but a conservative view place it at from 10,000 to 12,000.” Performances were held in the afternoon and evening. The show ended at 10, and by 11:15 p.m. this massive group was packed and, on the train, headed to Schenectady for a show the next day.
Another big Oneonta crowed turned out for the highlight of that year’s annual Firemen’s Convention held here. As The Star of Aug. 1 reported, “The skies which for several days had lowered above Oneonta smiled once more on Wednesday and even those who had had predicted storms for the firemen’s tournament became hopeful.
“Business places generally were decorated and the town put on a holiday attire entirely befitting the occasion, and prepared for the welcoming for as large an aggregation of volunteer firemen. Each company of the fire department had erected an arch — four on Main, one on Elm and the Veterans on Chestnut street, and in addition there were individual arches and decorations in great numbers. Homes all along the line of march had bunting liberally displayed and it was apparently the intention to show that the firemen ‘owned the town.'”
The summer heat may have found some seeking shade, with a book in hand. Area residents had a chance to read one by a local author. As The Star of Aug. 22 informed readers, “The village of Milford numbers among its five hundred inhabitants one who, if his first volume can be taken as evidence of others to follow, may be destined to no little prominence in the world of letters.
“Born on a hill farm in the town of Middlefield and his early education that which the schools of the county afford, he has for years been a valued and well-paid contributor to the leading agricultural journals of the country. From this practical school of experience in writing he has advanced into fields more purely literary, and the first-fruits of his labor therein are presented in a volume published last week by the F. Tennyson Neely company in New York and London. The book is entitled ‘Zanee Kooran: A Romance of India in the Time of the Great Sepoy Rebellion,’ and its author is Mr. Frederick O. Sibley.
“The story, as its subtitle indicated, is a tale of romantic adventures which has for its theme that memorable rebellion against the British rule in India which in the early ’50s marked a trail of blood across the pages of England’s Asiatic empire.”
Booksellers carried it in Oneonta, as The Star also said, “‘Zanee Kooran,’ price $1.50, is handsomely bound in cloth and can be had of Henry Saunders or of George Reynolds & Son.”
On Tuesday, prices get frozen locally in 1971.