March 1915 - 100 Years Ago in "That Thriving Town"

From the Andes Recorder

An important vote took place in the creation of a Bovina Center Fire District, with low voter turnout, while the Bovina Water Company continued to struggle to have the necessary paperwork required by the state. [And yes, this was 100 years ago.]

March 5, 1915
•Peacock meetings have taken many to Delhi during the past week. [Peacock refers to an evangelist and temperance lecturer, mentioned below. He was in the Delaware County area for a couple of months holding evangelical meetings.]
•The Bovina Center Creamery now receives milk every day except on Sabbath.
•The U.P. church was filled last Friday to hear the Rev. Peacock.  The collection amounted to over $60.
•William J. Archibald [1870-1941], who was operated on last week for appendicitis, is recovering nicely.  David Currie, who has been ill for several weeks, was taken worse Wednesday night. [Currie apparently recovered and lived on until 1958.]
•It is stated that Anthony Gabriel, who recently bought a farm in Glenburnie, will remain on the Mabon farm during this season and during the summer will repair the buildings on the farm purchased.
•The Bovina Center Water company is finding lots of “red tape” preparing maps of the watershed and making reports to the conservation commission, which must know all details about the taking and using of the water from Coulter Brook. Thos Gordon, the secretary, was at Delhi consulting an attorney Friday.

March 12, 1915
•A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Hilson, March 5 [This would be James Alexander Hilson, better known as Alex. He lived most of his life in Bovina and ran Hilson’s Store and the feed store with his brother Jack for many years. Alex passed away in 1990.]
•From a social held at the home of Frank Kinch the Methodist church realized $10.
•Mrs. Elizabeth Bryden, who recently came from Delhi to live with her son, Ellsworth Tuttle, is in very poor health. [Mrs. Bryden would die in November 1915.]
•Word has been received of the death of Dr. Rabuck on Long Island, from acute pneumonia following the gripe.  He practiced in Bovina for a few years leaving here in 1905 [See the August 4, 2014 entry in this blog for a bit more on Dr. Rabuck and other Bovina physicians].

Special Election
Bovina Center Fire District Will Vote on Appropriations March 18
The Bovina Center Fire District will hold a special election on Thursday, March 18, for the purpose of voting on four propositions as follows:
1-Shall the sum of $500 be appropriated for the purpose of purchasing apparatus for the extinguishment of fires in Bovina Center Fire District?
2-Shall the sum of $1,000 be appropriated for the purpose of erecting a building for the keeping and storing of apparatus for the extinguishment of fires in Bovina Center Fire District?
3-Shall the sum of $105 be appropriated for the purpose of procuring supplies of water for the extinguishment of fires in Bovina Center Fire District?
4-Shall the sums mentioned in Propositions Nos. 1 and 2 hereinbefore mentioned being the sum of $1,500, be raised by installment?

March 19, 1915
•Peter Gerry’s saddle horses have arrived at Lake Delaware from Washington, D.C.
•Mrs. Margaret Palmer, who has been visiting her brother, George Gladstone, returned Saturday to her home in Andes. [Mrs. Palmer was the widow of Civil War soldier Roman Palmer, who died in action in December 1864. She was widowed for almost 60 years, dying in 1923.]
•Sabbath afternoon as Geo Johnson was returning from Delhi, he turned out to let another auto go past at T.C. Strangeway’s and struck a bowlder in the ditch, causing the breaking of his auto, the knuckle attaching the wheel to the axle being broken.
•Mr. and Mrs. E. George Gladstone, who have been visiting relatives in this vicinity, left Wednesday for their home at Crested Butte, Colorado.  Enroute they will visit their son in Albany, see the sights in New York, and also stop off at New Wilmington, Penn to see his sister, Mrs. J.L. Coulter. [George Gladstone, born in 1862, died in Colorado in 1928.]

March 26, 1915
Under Surgeon’s Knife
Silas Rockefeller, on the Ed Dean farm, on the Bloomville road in Bovina, was operated upon Wednesday at the Neal hospital in Delhi.  The operation was performed by Dr. Latcher, of Oneonta, assisted by Dr. Ormiston, of Delhi, and Scott, of Bovina.  The surgeons found serious conditions when the cut in, the trouble being a cancer at the entrance to the stomach and the patient was made as comfortable as possible. [Silas would pass away in July 1915.]

Bovina Fire District Election
All Propositions Carried – Apparatus Purchased – Site Donated for Fire House
In the special election for the Bovina Center Fire District, held March 18, only 12 votes were cast and all four of the propositions were carried, viz.
Appropriating $500 for apparatus; appropriating $1,000 for building for apparatus and fire department rooms; appropriating $105 for water for fires, on which vote was unanimous. One vote was cast against paying the $1500 by installments.
The building will be erected on the site adjoining the public library, in what was formerly the D.L. Thomson tin shop and which site had been donated by J.W. Coulter.
The Fire Commissioners have purchased a hose cart and other apparatus. A hook and ladder truck will be purchased later.