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From the Otsego Herald for Saturday, Aug. 18, 1810
NEW SCHOOL-BOOK
H. & E. Phinney, Jun. (Proprietors of the Copy-Right) have just Printed, and now offer for Sale at their Book-store, by the 100, dozen, or less quantity of a new and useful work, called, The Columbian Reader, containing a new & choice collection of Descriptive, Narrative, Argumentative, Pathetic, Humorous and Entertaining Pieces, Together with Speeches, Orations, Addresses and Harangues. To which is added, A new collection of Dialogues. Designed for the use of Schools.
Note: Merchants, and others, will be furnished with the above Book, by the dozen, at the usual price of the Preceptor. It is believed that those who will take the pains to procure and peruse the Reader, will be well satisfied as to the merit and arrangement of the Book, for the use of Schools. August 11.
COMMENT: I have a copy of the second edition, published in 1811, and apparently identical with the first, except for the correction of typographical errors. It states that the first edition was printed in an edition of 4,000 copies, and that 12,000 copies are to be printed of the second.
It contains 226 pages, and includes a wide variety of quotations, from one to three pages, from mostly British sources.
My copy originally belonged to Alvah McCollom (1803-1884), a farmer in New Lisbon, who wrote on the fly-leaf ``Alvah McCollom’s Property.
These are to forbid all persons writing in this Book or making any marks whatever or tearing or damaging it in any way.’’
Alvah may have been a son of James McCollom, who was the first schoolteacher in New Lisbon.
Alvah apparently passed his reader on to his youngest daughter, Elizabeth C. Mc- Collom (born 1852) who, in 1865 and at the age of about 13, inserted in the book a slip of paper demonstrating her excellent handwriting, On it she has written: ``The donation for Mr. Wales is to be Friday evening, Dec. 22nd,’’ followed by ``This is a specimen of my hand writing,’’ eleven times, and then by the alphabet in both lower case and upper case letters.
On the back is written ``Miss Elizabeth C. McCollom, New Lisbon, Otsego Co., New York’’ and ``Miss Charlotte Chapin, New Lisbon, Otsego Co., New York.’’ Charlotte was a little older than her friend Elizabeth, having been born in 1848.
Kill the Dogs!
Boston, August 7. Mad Dogs.
It is said that many dogs in this town, yesterday, discovered evident symptoms of madness.
Would it not be well for the inhabitants to follow the example of the people of Billerica, who, it is said, last week made a general slaughter of the dogs in that place, on the appearance of madness among them.
One mad dog in Dorchester, it is said has done more than one thousand dollars damage.
At best, in this town they are become a great nuisance, and surely the safety of one human life ought to be preferred to the whole species of this loathsome and dangerous animal.
Columns
Otsego Herald: New school book
- Columns
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Mother's visit was a benchmark for this year
Last week, my mother made the 25-hour plane trip out to Thailand to visit her son, me, after nine months of having only choppy Skype sessions and scattered emails to give her an idea of what I look and act like since having left home last August.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: World traveler calls Euro-Tour experience of a lifetime
While I've had a great time throughout my entire exchange, I can say hands down that the month of April brought me the best memories of my exchange if not some of the best of my entire life. What kind of wonder would bring me to say this? Simple. Euro-Tour.
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Maryland port attacked
Havre de Grace, May 3. "This morning, a little after the break of day, a British armed force, under cover of armed vessels which anchored in front of this town ... landed below a small breast work which had been roughly thrown up, and in which were one 9 and two 4 pounders, manned by 50 militia.
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Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career'
Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
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Imagine what might have been ...
A while back we got a telephone call from a reader of this column wanting to know why we had not written a column in support of Otsego Manor continuing to be owned and operated by Otsego County. And even though we have followed the debate over this issue in the newspaper, we readily admitted we did not feel we knew enough about the situation to take a stand.
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Herpes virus brings harness racing to a halt
I've been going to harness horse race tracks my entire life. My family has been in the business for years.
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Time, if not traffic, moves on ...
It is with sadness we note the passing of two people who we have known since moving to Cooperstown in 1982.
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Canadian capital captured
Dear Sir, I have just returned from Fort Niagara, where I saw a Captain of the United States' navy. He is just from little York, the capital of Upper Canada, and gives the following account, which is confirmed in official dispatches from Gen. Dearborn to Gen. Lewis ...
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Local Voices From Around The Globe: Exchange is like a life in a year
All exchange students realize the credibility of this statement. Like all lives no exchange is the same, all are incredible unique exchanges. The metaphor of life, from baby to old age, extends to every part of the exchange.
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Movie depicting legendary Jackie Robinson does not disappoint
Going to the movies is not something I do often. I can count the number of times I have gone on my fingers, unless you include trips to the drive-in. And even so, it took me years before I made it to one of those -- going for the first time two summers ago.
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'Dubious' about weather, Hawkeyes 'suitable' nickname
Unfortunately, it seems to us that this spring has, thus far, been anything but spring like. In fact, we are still more than happy to stay bundled up in our polar fleece.
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'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball
The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
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Swallow talk and bluebird vigilance
I assume the swallows have returned to Capistrano. They have returned to Hawthorn Hill as well.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Life in Hungry has taken a turn for the better
I can truthfully say spring has finally arrived in Hungary. It's almost time to wear shorts and sandals, for summer will be just around the corner. This brings me great happiness and great sadness, my adventure is coming to a close. Really what a time it was, I don't think I can compare it to anything else.
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The importance of speaking up ...
Over the years we have come to understand that, in writing a weekly column, it is not possible to always please everyone. And such was the case with our column that ran at the end of March in which we wrote about our experience as in inpatient following a total hip replacement.
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Public schools created
The Common School Act of 1812 marked the start of New York's public school system. Much of the credit for this was due to the radical Otsego County politician Jedediah Peck (1747-1821). To quote the NY Education Department:
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Book takes readers on path for equal rights
One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Experiencing India at every new turn
Come, sit down. Hold this and, wait ... ah, there you go. Obeying these commands, I found myself seated on the pavement, wearing a turban and attempting to make sounds out of a recorder-like instrument for the black cobras in the baskets not two feet away from me.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Will I be American or will I be Thai today?
When would someone have the ability to present themselves as a native of a country of their own choosing? When they’ve lived eight months as an exchange student, of course!
Continued ... - Second host family makes Hungary feel like home
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Mother's visit was a benchmark for this year
