An early electric power plant on the Schoharie Creek in the town of Florida, cited in a recent column, became operational in 1899.

Remnants of the operation can be seen in Wellsville, a Florida hamlet across the Schoharie from Mill Point, a hamlet in the town of Glen.

According to Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar’s book “Montgomery County,” water was diverted to a powerhouse by a 12-foot high dam through a stone and brick gatehouse. Steel pipes carried water to the turbines. The town of Florida power plant was in operation only 12 years.

Wellsville resident Henry Mars, who has lived in the area since 1933, recalled that Ted and Ray Swart had operated the generating station and that the original gears were made of wood. Mars said the facility supplied power to the city of Amsterdam.

ROOTS IN ROOT

Two 19th century notables are connected to the town of Root.

The hamlet of Randall in the town of Root is named for abolitionist Alexander Williams Randall, born in 1819. He was the son of Judge of the Common Pleas Phenias Randall, who lived and practiced law in the village of Ames in the early 1800s.

Randall was first known as Yatesville. Randall and Sprakers in Root were both stops on the Erie Canal.

Alexander Randall moved west and was elected to two terms as governor of Wisconsin. He served President Lincoln as ambassador to the Papal States, was appointed assistant postmaster general in 1862 and postmaster general in 1865.

Randall alienated many Wisconsin residents with his support for President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor. Randall did not return to Wisconsin after his years in Washington. He did not go to Randall either but lived until his death in 1872 in Elmira.

John Bowdish, born in 1815, was an advocate of free schools in New York State and lived in the hamlet of Rural Grove in Root, according to Farquhar’s book, “Montgomery County.” He operated a store in Rural Grove and became a financier with ties to local banks.

Farquhar wrote, “Bowdish strenuously advocated at the 1846 convention on education for the establishment of a free school system, so that everyone could have the opportunity of getting an education.”

ABSTINENCE

In the late 19th century, there was a growing movement to just say no to alcohol. According to Jacqueline Murphy’s history of St. Mary’s Church in Amsterdam, there was a Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society, known as T.A.B., affiliated with the church in 1892.

The pastor at the time was Reverend John McIncrow, who had lectured his congregation on sins of excess committed at a picnic held for factory workers some years earlier.

On January 31, 1892, T.A.B. met and administered “the pledge” to John O’Neil. The organization also held a debate on whether the United States should go to war with Chile. The debate topic for the next meeting was to be whether women should vote. Tapped to argue for the affirmative were F. Burke and D. Manion. Chosen to argue against women’s suffrage were W. Burke and J. Slack.

Reverend McIncrow, who died unexpectedly in 1896, was known for his pointed sermons, frequently summarized in the local newspaper.

In 1885, he struck a blow for fair treatment of working women in the local factories, “In our mills our virtuous Catholic girls have to listen to impure expressions and ribald jests. Should a boss, or any other man in any of our mills use such language to our girls, that girl should immediately inform the Knights of Labor and get the man who so insulted her Christian modesty removed from his possession—discharged from the mill.”