100 Years Ago
In 1912, Silver Creek had a mystery - how serious a one was not known - which concerned the disappearance of Game Protector Robinson of that place. From what was known of the matter, it appeared that there had been violations of the game laws in the vicinity and Robinson went out on Monday, Oct. 28, to make an official investigation. Since that time he had not been seen and a search was being made by his friends. It was understood the sheriff and the district attorney's department had been notified of Robinson's disappearance and they had taken a hand in the search. The most prevalent theory was that Robinson had met with foul play at the hands of some violator of the laws the missing man was sworn to uphold.
The Erie Railroad ran a shopping excursion train to Buffalo from Jamestown this day, paid for by a department store in Buffalo. The train left the depot at 7:20 a.m. and consisted of an engine and four coaches. Tickets were sold on the train, so no accurate record could be obtained of the number who took advantage of the excursion but it was estimated at the depot that the number on board the train was about 100. One coach was empty, one had a very few passengers in it and the other two were partly filled. This was the second in a series of excursions run by this Buffalo concern, the other having been from Batavia one week previously.
75 Years Ago
In 1937, Jamestown Chief of Police Charles A. Sandburg and Sheriff Roy L. Chadwick would appear before the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors to urge the approval of, and an appropriation for, a county-wide police radio system. Permission for the two officials to present their request was granted by the board on a motion of Supervisor Hugo E. Sellvin of Jamestown. He did not explain the purpose for his request but it was known that he and other Jamestown supervisors had been working on plans for a police radio system, in conjunction with Chief Sandburg and Sheriff Chadwick for many weeks.
Nels P. Larson of Jefferson Avenue, Warren, was found dead in the woods at Scandia Saturday evening by a searching party that had been looking for him several hours when he failed to appear at home during the late afternoon. Larson had left home during the morning to go to a woodlot at Scandia to cut some firewood. He had an axe and a saw. When found, the body was face down with the axe still clutched in one hand and a couple of notches in the trunk of a chestnut tree, indicating that he was about to start chopping it down. Larson was born in Sweden but had resided in Warren for about half a century. Before retiring he had been a carpenter. Larson had been suffering slightly from a heart ailment but his condition was never considered serious.
50 Years Ago
In 1962, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a first lady whose stature grew from the White House to the world, died in her Manhattan apartment the previous night. The 78-year-old widow of the nation's 32nd president and niece of the 26th president had suffered from what the family described as "a complicated type of anemia" for 2 years. Her health failed rapidly during the past six weeks, accelerated by non-contagious tuberculosis. Her physicians were with her at the end, along with three of her five living children. Two sons were enroute from distant points in the nation. Nineteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren also survived her. "One of the great ladies in the history of this country has passed from the scene," said President Kennedy. Leaders of the nation and the world joined in expressing sorrow and loss. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first President's Lady in history to be guest speaker at Chautauqua Institution. She had come to Jamestown and Chautauqua frequently in former days and was honored on several occasions by the Chautauqua Woman's Club of which she was a life member.
Jamestown police were ordered to intensify their efforts to apprehend a vandal who had been using street lights to demonstrate his marksmanship. The order was issued after reports were received that globes of seven street lights in the northern section of the city had been broken Monday night. Ray Kerr, of the City Light Department, said globes of seven street lights in the northern section of the city were damaged by the offender who was believed to be using a pellet gun. The lights were on Lakeview Avenue at Gordon Street, Towner Avenue, Severn Parkway and Buffalo Street; and on North Street at Gordon Street and Arlington Avenue.