125 Years Ago 1897
From The East Hampton Star, December 31
Samuel Overton, son of John D. Overton, aged 15, and Beecher Wells, aged 12, a boy visiting at Charles White’s, were drowned in Lake Agawam, Southampton, about 10 o’clock Tuesday morning. The boys were skating on the lake and fell through the thin ice. The bodies were recovered by the life saving men and taken to the station. The boys were both dead when taken from the water. Coroner Nugent held an inquest Tuesday afternoon.
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At the Suffolk county jail Christmas day the prisoners enjoyed a feast. The dinner was the gift of Sheriff Wood, and the unfortunate inmates ate turkey and other good things until for the time being they forgot their position in life. They sang songs and made merry.
At the Children’s Home, Yaphank, a generous purse, made up by the supervisors and Clerk Bagshaw, and sent to Matron Miller, helped to make Christmas merry for the little tots.
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The young folks of the town enjoyed two days of good skating this week.
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John Miller’s little nine-year-old daughter was shot with a gun on Wednesday morning and so badly injured that it is thought she may lose both hands and one eye.
Miller’s oldest son left the gun loaded and a younger boy picked it up to play with. When it was pointed toward his little sister, he pulled the trigger. The gun went off as the little girl raised her hands before her face.
100 Years Ago 1922
From The East Hampton Star, December 29
After deliberating only twenty minutes, the jury on the case of the Montauk Company against D. Sheldon Miller, Justice of the Peace of East Hampton town, and Frank Edwards, both of Amagansett, arrested last week for trespassing on the Montauk property, a verdict of not guilty was returned.
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We learn upon good authority that the plan for the new Maidstone Club has been accepted. This new structure will take the place of the former club house burned to the ground last summer. The architect is Roger H. Bullard of 4 East 53rd St., New York.
The location chosen for the new club is to be on the dunes between Beach lane and the Wiborg property. The club house will be a two-story frame building, the second story to be on the level with the dune. It will be stuccoed and have a slate roof. There will be verandas on all sides, with a terrace, in addition, on the ocean side. The main room will be eighty by forty-four feet. Restaurant facilities will be provided. The locker rooms for the men and women will be large and commodious.
It is planned to build a separate house for the golf professional with rack rooms for clubs.
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Thomas M. Edwards, engineer at the local electric light plant, was made unconscious one day the early part of the week when he touched a live wire while doing some repair work on the switch board. The current of several hundred volts was on and when Mr. Edwards accidentally touched the wire he was thrown unconscious to the floor. Good fortune was with him, however, and he escaped serious injury.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, January 1
Joseph Samuel Epstein, East Hampton businessman for more than forty years, died at Southampton Hospital on Tuesday morning at five o’clock of a heart ailment, after a week’s illness. He had apparently been in good health up to Monday of last week.
Mr. Epstein was born November 15, 1880, in Yanova, Russia, the son of Boruch and Celia Epstein. He had come from Russia by way of Canada, to New York, while still in his teens. He lived there with an uncle until 1901, when he came to East Hampton to be a clerk in the clothing store of Isaac Meyer; Mrs. Meyer is his cousin.
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Eastern Long Island fared fairly well on Friday, when Greater New York and western Long Island traffic and communication practically came to a standstill, as the result of sixteen hours of snow, a total of 25.8 inches. The snow was light here — only about two inches; it was rain at first, which turned into snow — but accompanied by a high wind and an electrical storm.
Since Friday it has frozen and driving has become dangerous. On Friday, due to the storm, wires were down to the westward and East Hampton’s electrical service was cut off nearly all day. We were troubled most by uncertainty in travel, and by lack of mail, papers, and grocery trucks.
50 Years Ago 1972
From The East Hampton Star, December 28
The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing last Tuesday evening, Dec. 19, to consider whether Amagansett Square Inc., a small shopping center housed in 18th and 19th century buildings, should be permitted to build a commercial driveway through a portion of its property which is zoned for residential use.
Amagansett Square extends 440 feet south of Main Street, Amagansett. The first 400 feet are in a retail business zone; the last 40, fronting on Hedges Lane, are in zone B. The proposed driveway would extend diagonally northwest from Hedges Lane to provide access to a new parking lot, a new restaurant, and six new stores, all of which are to be constructed early in 1973 in the business zone.
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A deer-hunting season will occur here Monday through Friday, Jan. 8 through 12, and again the following week, Jan. 15 through 19; but it will not be easy to participate in it. A would-be hunter must possess a big-game license, must not have used up the “big-game ticket,” must persuade an owner of more than ten acres in one of several specified areas to endorse a permit application, and must obtain a permit from the local Town Clerk.
25 Years Ago 1997
From The East Hampton Star, December 29
Robert Davis, the East Hampton Town Republican Committee chairman, has resigned, and former Councilman Thomas E. Knobel appears to be the likeliest candidate for the job.
The Town G.O.P., which made a poor showing at the polls in November, needs a major restructuring, said Mr. Davis, whose resignation took effect yesterday. The new leader will inherit an organization in such disarray that it was left after Election Day with an estimated $6,000 deficit.
Mr. Knobel left Town Hall yesterday, his term as a Councilman ended and his bid to be Supervisor unsuccessful.
Mr. Davis, who was elected chairman in the spring, said the overhaul could not come too soon. Major State and Federal elections are on the horizon, he noted.
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Final preparations came together this week for the party on Sunday that will kick off East Hampton Town’s official tricentquinquagenary, its yearlong celebration of the town’s founding in 1648.
