September 22: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

September 22, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1913, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The funeral of the late Mayor William J. Gaynor today held the City of New York in a spell of silence; public and private business was virtually suspended during the services held at Trinity Church, and massed thousands thronged the line of march covered by the funeral procession of officials and private citizens from City Hall to Trinity and thence to Greenwood Cemetery. An ex-President of the United States, William Howard Taft, and notables in the life of city, state and nation acted as honorary pallbearers or assembled to pay their final respects to the dead man at the impressive obsequies held in old Trinity, where the Episcopal service for the dead was performed. From City Hall to Trinity Church and from Trinity to the gates of Greenwood, people stood in solid masses, bareheaded and silent as the catafalque passed, drawn by its sixteen jet black horses. The wheels of industry in all the big office buildings ceased for the time being and the workers crowded the windows to witness the last journey of the late mayor.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1938, the Eagle reported, “Latest available figures show that 19 persons perished on Long Island in the hurricane. A total of 39 persons were missing and 14 injured. In addition, a Brooklyn man was dead in Connecticut. The Associated Press reported 250 lost their lives throughout the East. … Under serene, clear skies, little Westhampton Beach counted the dead and missing today in the tropical hurricane which swept the northeast coast from south Jersey to the heart of New England yesterday, lashing out here with savage winds and a tidal wave. After much checking and rechecking, the committee of citizens which has taken charge of village affairs in the storm’s chaos listed nine known dead and 31 missing. More than 225 summer residents and their servants in a pleasant little colony on the sand dunes near the village were rescued last night by neighbors, state troopers, Coast Guardsmen, firemen and local police, who joined in a spontaneous rush to aid the victims. The tidal wave crushed all but a handful of the handsome homes on the dunes into a mass of floating wreckage.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1940, the Eagle reported, “William R. Crowley, Brooklyn member of the Board of Education, who will preside tomorrow morning at the laying of the cornerstone of the new Fort Hamilton High School, Shore Road and 83rd St., announced yesterday that patriotism would be the theme of the ceremony and that troops and a color guard from Fort Hamilton would take part. In addition to the laying of the cornerstone by Mayor [Fiorello] LaGuardia, the occasion will be marked by the raising of the flag on the flagstaff of the old Crescent Club, the grounds of which are the site of the new school. Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short, commandant at Fort Hamilton, and Col. Ely Denson, commander of the 18th U.S. Infantry, are cooperating with the school authorities in arranging the ceremonies. Capt. Henry Appel, member of the faculty of New Utrecht High School, will lead 500 New Utrecht students, each carrying a small American flag, to the cornerstone laying. Music will be by the New Utrecht band.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, Eagle sports columnist Tommy Holmes said, “The celebration in Cleveland is still going on. And it’s hard to imagine anybody happier about the successful pennant fight of the Indians than a nice guy named Hank Greenberg. Now maybe they’ll forget that the old slugger turned general manager once traded Minnie Minoso to the White Sox. The final front office moves that improved the Cleveland club to the point that the Indians could end the five-year reign of the Yankees were well conceived and well executed. Greenberg called the tune last spring. He conceded that the Yanks were good [and] paid tribute to the great reserve strength which was Casey Stengel’s ace-in-the-hole through five straight seasons. ‘We’ll have to beat the Yankees with pitching,’ he declared. Then he proceeded to do just that. He loaded the Cleveland pitching staff and it rolled the right number.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include “Mickey” singer Toni Basil, who was born in 1943; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Coverdale (Deep Purple), who was born in 1951; “You Light Up My Life” singer Debby Boone, who was born in 1956; musician and author Nick Cave, who was born in 1957; “Con te partiro” singer Andrea Bocelli, who was born in 1958; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett, who was born in 1958; “Happy Days” star Scott Baio, who was born in Brooklyn in 1961; “Dynasty” star Catherine Oxenberg, who was born in 1961; U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer and former N.Y. Rangers goalie Mike Richter, who was born in 1966; “Smallville” star Laura Vandervoort, who was born in 1984; and “Harry Potter” star Tom Felton, who was born in 1987.

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LADY JUSTICE: The first all-woman jury in the colonies was empaneled on this day in 1656. At the General Provincial Court at Patuxent, Maryland, the jury heard the case of Judith Catchpole, who was accused of murdering her child. The defendant claimed she had never even been pregnant. After all the evidence was heard, the jury acquitted her.

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EXECUTIVE DECISION: President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on this day in 1862. It stated that, as of Jan. 1, 1863, “all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever, free.”

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

Quotable:

“If you start worrying about the people in the stands, before too long you’re up in the stands with them.”

— Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who was born on this day in 1927