Welcome back to One Century Ago, a collaboration between Patch and the .
Each week we bring you the front page of a local newspaper that covered the news in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (North Tarrytown) one hundred years ago. This front page comes from the Tarrytown Press-Record. The Press-Record was published as a weekly from 1893 to 1946 and has been preserved by the on microfilm.
Friday, June 28, 1912:
Judge Tompkins Opens Default
The June 21, 1912, edition of the Press-Record covered the of Mr. Walter Talmadge against his wife. He accused her of having relations with his brother, and in retaliation she accused her husband of setting her up in a false adultery scene, and also having relations with a woman named Miss Jennie Monks.
The following edition of the paper reported that Judge Tompkins decided to allow Mrs. Talmadge to open a default case, giving her the opportunity to plead her side of the story. This meant that both husband and wife would be simultaneously proceeding with two separate divorce cases, each one claiming that the other was at fault.
Woodmen Give Minstrel Show
Members of the Tarrytown Camp No. 9534 Modern Woodmen of America gave an outstanding minstrel show at the in Tarrytown. Many musical numbers were delivered, and all were heartily enjoyed by the audience. E. L. Brundage was the interlocutor, and Counsellor William O. Clarke was the musical director. The program included pieces such as the opening chorus “Moonlight Bay”, a “Scotch Song” by J. MacFarland, M. Alpine as a Strong Man, and the finale “Plantation Scenes”.
Students Celebrate Graduation
The High School graduates of Tarrytown, North Tarrytown and neighboring towns had a very busy week one hundred years ago, as one significant stage of their lives came to an end, and they looked forward to all that was to follow.
Members of the Washington Irving High School attended the First Baptist Church en masse, where they heard a baccalaureate sermon preached for their benefit by Rev. Arthur T. Brooks. The theme of the sermon was “be true to yourselves”, which was also the class motto - “Fidelis Ipsi”.
The following day the graduates (along with their parents and friends) attended a Class Night at the assembly hall of the high school, which was decorated with crepe paper streamers and chrysanthemums - the class flower.
A number of renditions and musical pieces were presented, and the president of the class, Romeyn Treadwell Allen, gave an address. Miss Helen Roberts Ely also rendered the class history (containing gentle jibes at the idiosyncrasies of each member of the graduating class). An essay, intriguingly titled “The Chinese Girl of the Future”, was read by Miss Sarah Louise Cornwell, and the girls of the Glee club also sang a song called “The Sweet Little Girl and the Quaint Squeegee”. To end the evening the graduates sung the class song which contained verses such as the following,
“Give a cheer then in the June time
For a school we hold so dear,
Turn your sadness into gladness
With an echo of good cheer.
For we seniors are contented
When we meet with none absented,
And sing our song so gay
On this bright Commencement Day.”
Presented with Ex-Chief’s Trumpet
gave a decadent banquet to celebrate their 12th anniversary. The event was attended by the Riverside fire company members, members of the other local fire companies, and the Tarrytown Board of Trustees.
During the evening, ex-Chief Miller was presented with a Chief’s trumpet, and praised in a speech overflowing with eloquence and feeling. After a great many more speeches, everyone headed downstairs for the banquet. The Press-Record commented that “Needless to say, when there are firemen present, the 'eats' are bound to suffer; and suffer they did”. After the food, cigars were passed around and the men were entertained by the Tarrytown Mandolin Club.
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