This day in Mohawk Valley history: January 9
This day in Mohawk Valley History from Days of Old recalled by Items Clipped from The Star Files, The Oneonta Star, January 9. 1924.
The Code of Handsome Lake
This week’s The Wampum Chronicles, Darren Bonaparte continues with “In the Shadow of Serpents: The Code of Handsome Lake”
This day in Mohawk Valley history: December 31
Dutch explorer Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert left Fort Orange (Albany), and passed around the little falls, possibly south of Fall Hill, while visiting Iroquois villages on his way to Oneida Lake. Most likely, he was the first white person to have visited this area.
![Harris & Ewing, photographer. USS Pennsylvania. [Between 1911 and 1917] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016853699/](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3163-180x180.jpeg)
Harris & Ewing, photographer. USS Pennsylvania. [Between 1911 and 1917] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016853699/This day in Mohawk Valley history: December 28
This day in Mohawk Valley History, December 28, 1917, Sailor Boys Hardly Know How to Thank the Ilion-Mohawk Relief.
![[Santa with toys in a sleigh, drawn by reindeer…] [between 1880 and 1890]. Part of Marion S Carson Collection. Prints & Photographs Division](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3154-180x180.jpeg)
[Santa with toys in a sleigh, drawn by reindeer…] [between 1880 and 1890]. Part of Marion S Carson Collection. Prints & Photographs DivisionTime for a Visit from St. Nicholas
‘Tis December 24, the day before Christmas, and all through the land, families send excited children to bed with a reading of Clement Moore’s classic poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
![[Gen. Washington resigning his commission to Congress, Annapolis, Md., Dec. 23, 1783]. Photograph of a painting by John Trumbull, [between 1900 and 1912]. Detroit Publishing Company. Prints & Photographs Division](https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3153-180x180.jpeg)
Washington Resigns His Commission
George Washington resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.
The First Electric Christmas Lights
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the first successful practical light bulb, created the very first strand of electric lights.
This day in history: December 19 in Herkimer, NY
On December 19, 1888, it was announced another knitting mill would be in the Herkimer Manufacturing Company brick building.
This day in Mohawk Valley History: December 18, 1924
The Oneonta Daily Star from December 18, 1924 headline reads “The Spoken Newspaper.”
This day in history: December 16 in Utica, NY
On December 16, 1886, the Utica Daily Observer reported on a rail Belt opening as well as a rail road Holiday Excursion to New York City.