Geneva1893Geneva Mar 8 Mrs Margaret Fox-Kane, one of the Spiritualist Fox Sisters, dies in Brooklyn, in poverty. Apr 7 Dancer Irene Foote (Castle) is born in New Rochelle. May 1 A Central Park-Broadway-Bowling Green cable car line is completed along New York City's Seventh Avenue. May 5 New York Stock Exchange securities plunge. A financial panic ensues. May 10 New York Central's Empire State Express train, Number 999, with Batavia engineer Charles Hogan at the throttle, goes 112.5 mph, between Batavia and Buffalo. Jun 27 The American stock market crashes, beginning a four-year depression. Jul 1 President Grover Cleveland undergoes surgery for sarcoma of the upper jaw. The operation is kept secret, performed on a yacht in New York harbor. Jul 4 Members of Rochester's Italian immigrant Bersagliere La Marmora society first march in the city's Independence Day parade. August German immigrant Otto H. Kahn arrives in New York City. Oct 16 Historian-folklorist Carl Lamson Carmer is born in Cortland, New York, to Dansville high school principal Willis Griswold Carmer and Mary Lamson Carmer. (See my homepage for an Odds & Ends article on Carmer) December The first segment of New York City's Third Avenue cable railroad is completed. City Brooklyn's Atlantic Dock Company is bought by the New York Dock Company. ** Psychiatrist-educator Henry A. Murray, pioneer in personality theory, is born near the present site of Rockefeller Center.** William Waldorf Astor's Hotel Netherland is completed. State 18 people are killed when the propeller ship Dean Richmond founders in Lake Erie off Dunkirk's Van Buren Point. ** The Angelica Progress Club is founded, as an organization for women to study English literature and history. ** The Holland Purchase Historical Society is founded in Batavia, to prerserve the Holland Land Office building as a museum. ** Deland Chemical of Fairport Village, major U. S. supplier of baking soda, burns to the ground. ** The Pittsburgh Reduction Company, a forerunner of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) becomes the first commercial user of power from Niagara Falls. ** The Montauk Extension Railroad Company is chartered as part of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). ** Lillian D. Wald founds the Henry Street Settlement. Rochester The State of New York forces local employers to fire some German and Polish factory workers because they cannot read or write English. ** Peter Gruber (Rattlesnake Pete) and his "pets" arrive from Oil City, Pennsylvania. He opens a combination bar and museum of curiosities on Mill Street. ** Clinton Avenue is extended south across the canal, to the city line. 1894 February New York City's Third Avenue cable railway is extended south to City Hall. Jul 17 Photographer Berenice Abbott is born in Springield, Ohio. Oct 13 The Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia is dedicated, to the memory of General Agent Robert Morris. Six members of Grover Cleveland's Cabinet and desendants of Morris are in attendance. U. S. Treasury Secretary John G. Carlisle delivers the main oration. City A Columbus Avenue cable railway is completed. ** Merchant-banker William L. Strong, running on the Republican ticket, defeats former Democratic mayor Hugh J. Grant to become mayor, serving 1895-1897. State The Holland Purchase Historical Society is formed to restore Batavia's Land Office building and turn it into a museum, after newspaperman Colonel William Seaver warns the building is deteriorating badly. ** During a baseball game between the towns of Pittsford and Honeoye Falls, fans of the former heckle their rivals so badly that five members of the team walk off the field. The Honeoye Falls manager and four volunteers fill in to complete the game. They are victorious, 10-9. Rochester The main entrance to the Broad Street City Hall is removed when an arcade is built to connect the building to the County Building. 1895 Jan 27 Broadway and film composer and librettist Buddy George Gard Desylva is born in New York City. Jan 31 New York City lawyer and social arbiter Samuel Ward McAllister dies at the age of 68. May 8 The first cat show is held, at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Jun 17 The Harlem Ship Canal, creating a deeper navigation between the Hudson River and Hellgate, on the Harlem River, is opened for commerce. Jun 20 Cornell University grants Caroline Willard Baldwin a doctor of science degree, making her the first woman to earn the degree. Jul 12 Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II is born in New York City. September William Randolph Hearst purchases the New York Morning Journal, begins a circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's World. ** Members of Rochester's Bersagliere La Marmora and Societa Italiano march in the city's Victor Emmanuel Day celebration. Nov 5 Rochester inventor George B. Selden is granted a patent on a gasoline-powered vehicle, 16 years after first applying for one. City A Lexington Avenue cable railway is completed. ** The Harlem River and the Spuyten Duyvil Creek are widened and joined to form the Harlem River Ship Canal. ** Black violinist Will Marion Cook makes his solo debut at Carnegie Hall. He will later become a composer of Vaudeville and Broadway musicals. ** Black composer Gussie Lord Davis wins a New York World prize as the second most popular songwriter in the country. ** Teddy Roosevelt becomes head of the Board of Police Commissions. State New York declares state-owned portions of the Adirondack Mountain region "forever wild". ** Mamaroneck is incorporated. ** George W. Cowles' Landmarks of Wayne County is published in Syracuse. ** Financier J. P. Morgan's Adirondack camp, Camp Uncas, is completed by promoter William West Durant. ** A statue of reformer Emma Willard is erected in Troy. ** Educator Frank N. McMurray founds the School of Pedagogy at the University of Buffalo. ** The Montauk Extension Railroad Company, part of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), goes into service. Rochester Two tollgates are set up along St. Paul Boulevard. ** Barbers decide to close on Sundays, and are criticized for violating the right to shave on Sunday. ** Architects Claude Bragdon and Harvey Ellis dissolve their partnership. Bragdon heads for Europe. ** The city acquires Maple Grove, renaming it Maplewood Park. ** Anthony W. Fromen becomes the first Italian to graduate from St. Patrick's School. ** Irondequoit High School is built. ** The city annexes Brighton's Leighton Lea Tract, increasing its own total area to 18.55 square miles. 1896 January German immigrant Otto H. Kahn marries Addie Wolff, daughter of financier Abraham Wolff of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. Jan 6 The first woman's bicycle marathon begins in Madison Square Garden. Jan 11 Frankie Nelson wins the woman's bicycle marathon, peddling 418 miles. Jan 16 Civil War photographer Matthew B. Brady dies in New York City. Jan 20 Comedian George Burns is born in New York City. Apr 4 Playwright Robert Emmett Sherwood is born in New Rochelle. Apr 20 Charles Klein, Thomas Frost and John Philip Sousa's El Capitan opens at New York's Broadway Theatre. Apr 23 Koster & Bial's music hall on New York City'sWest 34th Street presents the first American showing of a motion picture. Apr 30 The first automobile accident is reported, in New York City. May 18 The Lehigh Valley Railroad's Black Diamond passenger express begins runs between New York City's Pennsylvania Station and Buffalo. Jun 6 George Harbo and Frank Samuelson became the first to row across the Atlantic Ocean, arriving from New York City at England's Isles of Scilly, after 56 days. Aug 29 Chop suey originates, in New York City, when the chef to visiting Chinese Ambassador Li Hung chang invents the dish. Aug 31 Hearing physiology pioneer Hallowell Davis is born in New York City. Sep 6 The New York Times publishes first illustrated Sunday supplement. Sep 8 Lyricist Howard Dietz is born in New York City. Dec 28 Composer Roger Huntington Sessions is born City George E. Bissell's statue of former mayor Abraham De Peyster is erected in Bowling Green. ** The New York Aquarium opens on the former site of the Emigrant Landing Depot in southern Manhattan. ** Charles W. Morse corners the city's ice market, incorporates as the American Ice Company. ** John H. Taylor organizes Oakland Golf Club, on his Queens property, become its first president. ** Adolph Ochs buys the New York Times. ** Nathaniel Hawthorne's daughter Rose opens a cancer clinic in New York City. State The P. W. Minor and Son shoe factory moves to Batavia. ** Poughkeepsie's DeLaval Separator Company (today's Alfa-Laval, Inc.) is founded. ** Le Roy patent medicine manufacturer Orator F. Woodward begins marketing the cereal-based coffee Graino. ** Pianist Monica Dailey graduates from the Buffalo School of Music. ** Future lawyer Alice Day (Gardner) graduates from Smith College with a bachelor of arts degree. Rochester West side Italian homeowners form the West End Political Club. The Italian Columbia Military Band is also formed. ** Claude Bragdon returns to Rochester from Europe and goes into partnership with an architect named Hillman. ** Charles E. Lanni becomes the first Italian to complete the city's public school course. David Minor Eagles Byte Historical Research Rochester, New York 716 264-0423 http://home.eznet.net/~dminor