Located at 9 Main Street, this shop opened in 1876, and was in operation for over 45 years.

Thomas Woods (standing, third from right) established this grocery in 1897. It was located at 13 Main Street, remained in business into the 1940s, and was a source of supplies for local hunters.

Dr. Hervey Dexter Thatcher (1835-1925) was known primarily as a druggist and inventor. He operated his drug store, H.D. Thatcher & Co., at 19 Market Street, from 1860-1895. His numerous inventions included a glass milk bottle, Sugar of Milk Baking Powder, orange butter coloring, a paper bottle cap, several board games, and a paper milk carton. Thatcher took out over 20 patents and received awards for his products at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

Thatcher’s milk bottle led to the founding of the Thatcher Manufacturing Company on Depot Street. The company was eventually sold to businessmen in Elmira, NY, where it became the world’s largest producer of glass milk bottles.



Father Bernard Marron came to St. Mary’s, Potsdam, in 1879, to a congregation of about 1,350. Over the next thirteen years that number increased to 2,300, and the small wooden church, built in 1859, was no longer adequate for their needs. Father Marron organized a parish building committee and planned for a new church “to be not less than adequate for 1,000 persons.” During his forty-eight years at St. Mary’s, Father Marron earned the love and respect of his parish and the community.

The “new” church was built next to the old wooden church on Lawrence Avenue. In the memoir “A Random Scoot” by Mary B. Burke, she notes, “That congregation was poor…The entire town shook skeptical heads at the size of the church rising to house it. But rise it did…” St. Mary’s was dedicated in December 1900. The “old” church was sold and dismantled in 1901.

George Wing Sisson and Family

Perhaps no extended family became so thoroughly integrated into the life of Potsdam as the Sissons. George Wing Sisson and his wife Sarah Hamilton Sisson moved from Glens Falls to Potsdam in 1867. After being involved in the lumber business, he and others founded the Racquette River Paper Company in 1892. By 1901, he and his sons owned all the stock and ran the entire company. Eventually, four generations of Sissons were active in the paper and lumber business, in addition to owning thousands of acres in the Adirondacks. Most of George and Sarah’s eight children remained in the area and played major roles in the business, civic, educational, religious and social life of Potsdam.

Sarah Hamilton Sisson (1834-1916) and George Wing Sisson (1829-1913) were married for 59 years and raised 8 children.

 

The Racquette River Paper Company. George Wing Sisson was one of the founders of the Racquette River Paper Company in 1892. At first the paper mill made mostly newsprint, but later it produced butcher paper, embossed paper, printed wrapping paper, and a variety of specialty papers. This company was one of the few 19^th century industries to have survived in Potsdam.

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Gatherings such as this were held at Hillview Farm, the home of George Wing Sisson, Jr. This son, who succeeded his father as president of the Racquette River Paper Company, raised Jersey cows. His was considered one of the outstanding thoroughbred herds in the country. The Sissons were known for their Thanksgiving celebrations featuring printed menus, music performances, recitations and group singing. 

Frank, son of George Wing Sisson, was known as “Potsdam’s favorite tenor.” He studied voice in Potsdam and New York City and sang professionally before eventually becoming general manager of the Racquette River Paper Company. The Sisson brothers were very musical. A trio composed of Charles, Fred and Frank often serenaded the bride at family weddings. It was Charles Hamilton Sisson who married Daisy Crane, a pianist and sister of Julia Crane, founder of the Crane Normal Institute of Music.

                                                              LINDA RICHARDS "A BORN NURSE"

Linda Richards was born on a farm near the Racquette River in West Potsdam on July 27th, 1841 and grew up in rural Vermont. Nine years after her father died of tuberculosis, Linda’s mother was diagnosed with the infection as well. While Linda made it her duty to take care of her ill mother she became acquainted with the county physician, Dr. Currier, who allowed Linda to accompany him on house calls.

By the time Linda turned 13 she had received enough informal training to splint, clean wounds, and apply bandages. At 16 Linda became a school teacher near her home in Vermont but she found this work to be dissatisfying. During this time, Linda became engaged to George Poole who joined the Green Mountain Boys to fight in the U.S. Civil War. George returned severely wounded and Linda had another patient to nurse until his death in 1869.

By the time her fiancé died, Linda decided a career as a caretaker would suit her best. She was hired as a ward maid, responsible for cleaning, feeding and watching patients residing in Boston City Hospital. During this time she encountered resistance to becoming a trained nurse and struggled to find a nursing program. Finally, Linda found training at the New England Hospital for Women and Children and was the first trained nurse graduating in 1873. At this point in American history, females did not have an established role in the medical workforce; many male physicians believed that women did not belong in hospitals. These perceptions and lack of nursing education programs in America created nurses that did not understand the science or the art of nursing. Little did Linda know that she would change these conditions throughout her career.

Linda was hired by Bellevue Hospital Training School in New York City where she helped the board members understand the value of sanitation and developed a system for keeping written patient records which is still used today. Linda left Bellevue Hospital to fight new battles at Massachusetts General Hospital. Appointed as the nursing program superintendent there, she proved that trained nurses are an important part of medical teams.

With the creation of more nursing programs in America, Linda was in great demand. However, she wanted more training and went to the Nightingale School at St. Thomas Hospital in England in 1877. Here, Linda studied the English technique of nursing and learned that germs caused diseases. In 1885 she was summoned by the America Board of Missions to travel to Japan and establish the country’s first nurse training program. Linda accepted this opportunity, opened the Doshita Hospital in Kyoto, and oversaw the program until 1891.

Within a month of her return Linda became the head of the Philadelphia Visiting Nurses Society. She believed in home healthcare for the ill residing in large cities. Her last endeavor was establishing the practice for specially trained nurses in mental institutions. After her retirement in 1911 Linda kept reading articles on nursing even though she was unable to participate in active nursing. Linda died in April of 1930, leaving behind a legacy in the art of nursing and a workforce of nurses who were accepted and respected in the medical community.

Potsdam and St. Lawrence County have taken great pride in claiming Linda Richards as their own. She has served as an inspiration to many local nurses. In 1941, nurse educators of St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson Counties formed a local branch of the National and New York State Leagues of Nursing education and named it The Linda Richards League for Nursing. The Canton-Potsdam Hospital contains a portrait of Linda and established the Linda Richards Society which recognizes those who help others through contributions to the hospital.

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Photographs from Linda Richard’s autobiography, Reminiscences of America’s First Trained Nurse and History of the Massachusetts General Hospital Training School for Nurses. Sources included “Linda Richards, Nursing’s Forgotten Lady” and "America’s First Trained Nurse” published in the St. Lawrence Country Historical Association Quarterly magazine. Text panel was created by Falisha Gilman, Clarkson University, Spring 2010.

                                                              Julia Ettie Crane (1855 – 1923)

Julia Crane was born on a farm near Potsdam.  She graduated from the Potsdam Normal School in 1874.  Her musical talents were recognized at a young age.  She taught in Potsdam and PA, and studied voice in Boston, NYC and London, traveling by steamship across the Atlantic. Julia’s recitals in England brought praise for the sweetness and purity of her voice.

Miss Crane joined the Normal’s faculty in 1884 as its first director of the Normal Conservatory of Music.  This was the first school in the US connected with a teacher training institution to instruct music students to teach in public schools. At this time her annual salary was $300.

In 1886 she organized the Crane Institute of Music for training public school music teachers.  In 1896 Miss Crane bought the house at 60 Main St. where she and her sister, Harriet, gave vocal instruction.  Her Music Teachers’ Manual (1899 replica watches) served as a standard for many years.  By 1905 the school had graduated 227 music teachers.  Her legacy continues to enrich the lives of Potsdam’s residents.

                                 Additional Links

                                                      The Crane School of Music (Today)  

                                                  Julia Etta Crane: Pioneer Music Educator

                                                    Dr. Helen M. Hosmer (1898 - 1989)

Helen moved to Potsdam from Albany at he age of eight. In 1918, she graduated from the Potsdam Normal School and the Crane Institute as a voice major. She was offered a teaching position in 1922 by Julia Crane, and in 1930, she became director of the Crane School of Music. Dr. Hosmer held that position until her retirement in 1966. Appointed professor and dean emeritus of music at Potsdam College in 1967, she received international recognition as a conductor and choral adjudicator. Hosmer started the Crane Chorus in the early 1930's, involving guest conductors such as Nadia Boulanger and Robert Shaw.

Hosmer earned degrees from Columbia University and honorary doctorates from St. Lawrence University and Clarkson College. Hosmer Hall on the Potsdam College campus was completed in 1974 and was named after this dedicated musician and teacher.

SNELL, Bertrand Hollis, a Representative from New York; born in Colton, St. Lawrence County, N.Y., December 9, 1870; attended the public schools; was graduated from the State normal school at Potsdam, N.Y., in 1889 and from Amherst (Mass.) College in 1894; began work as a bookkeeper and afterward became secretary and manager of a paper company in Potsdam; in 1904 organized the Canton Lumber Co. in Potsdam; president and manager of cheese manufacturing company of New York City; owner of a power plant in Higley Falls, N.Y.; director of the Northern New York Trust Co., the Agricultural Insurance Co. of Watertown, N.Y., and Gould Pumps, Inc., Seneca Falls, N.Y.; vice president of the Northern New York Development League 1908-1910; member of the Republican State committee 1914-1944; delegate to all Republican National Conventions 1916-1940, serving as chairman in 1932 and 1936; president, board of trustees of Clarkson College, Potsdam, N.Y., 1920-1945; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Edwin A. Merritt, Jr.; reelected to the Sixty-fifth and to the ten succeeding Congresses and served from November 2, 1915, to January 3, 1939; chairman, Committee on War Claims (Sixty-seventh Congress), Committee on Rules (Sixty-eighth through Seventy-first Congresses); minority leader (Seventy-second through Seventy-fifth Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1938; publisher of the Potsdam Courier-Freeman newspaper 1934-1949; in 1941 became owner and manager of New York State Oil Co., of Kansas; died in Potsdam, N.Y., February 2, 1958; interment in Bayside Cemetery.