The History of Hitching Your Horse

by Monica Groth, Curator

Hitching Post Collection by Talitha Botsford

During the 19th century, horse-drawn transportation ruled the roads of Chemung County and the United States. The Chemung County Historical Society has a collection of varied horse-drawn transportation, including a 1936 milk cart from L.J. Houck and Sons Dairy and a beautifully restored c. 1860 ladies basket phaeton with a fringed shade believed to have belonged to Elmira's Foster family.

Ladies Basket Phaeton c. 1860, restored in 2010 and displayed in CCHS's
2019-2020 Transportation exhibit

The common use of carriages necessitated the invention of two interesting objects still seen along streets today: the hitching post and the carriage step. A hitching post was a post to which a rider or carriage driver could tie their horse. A carriage step, often a block of stone or a cast-iron step, provided a raised spot from which a person could climb into a carriage. Ubiquitous in the 1800s, hitching posts and carriage steps slowly disappeared from cities as automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages. 

In the mid-late 19th century, Morgan Dyer manufactured cast-iron farming tools, fences, and hitching posts at a foundry at what is now East Market St. and Clemens Center Parkway. Cast-iron can be easily molded into decorative shapes and was in high demand as a material for hitching posts. In 1871, Dyer designed and patented a cast-iron hitching post and carriage step combination. This creation would have been deeply buried in the ground beside a road. It has both a post to which a horse can be tied and a set of steps from which a passenger can alight into or from a carriage. 

Thanks to the excellent research of Elmira History Forge, one of Dyer’s hitching post/carriage steps located in New Jersey was made known to the Historical Society. The step was subsequently donated by its finder to CCHS and recently returned to Elmira. It's seven feet tall and roughly 250 lbs. 

Hitching Post/Carriage Step 
Manufactured by M. Dyer, Elmira, NY

Local artist Talitha Botsford, whose watercolor paintings are on display in a current exhibit Talitha’s Brush, painted a collection of local hitching posts, including one of the Dyer design (then in Wellsburg on Front St.). Botsford, who lived from 1901-2002, was a prolific artist, composer, poet, and musician who loved capturing historic sites throughout the area. Take a closer look at a few hitching posts as painted by Talitha. 

Three hitching posts by Talitha Botsford

Botsford also included a parking meter in her collection – because meters were used as hitching posts in the 20th century. Modernizing our streets doesn’t always change our ways. 

Hitching one's horse to a parking meter on Water St. c. 1930

It is interesting to think about how historic practices persist - sometimes simply out of personal habit or necessity, and sometimes out of intentional choices to preserve treasured aspects of the past. 

The Last Cartoon

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivists

Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman’s last finished cartoon arrived at the offices of the Elmira Telegram on the morning of his death on March 26, 1935. 

Zim's last published cartoon, courtesy of the Horseheads Historical Society

He had begun his career as a political cartoonist in 1883 working for the satirical magazine, Puck. He jumped ship for rival publication Judge in exchange for higher pay in 1885. Judge was decidedly pro-Republican and for the next 28 years Zim made his money lampooning Democrats. Even after he retired, he continued to draw political cartoons for local and national publications.

Judge, January 28, 1899

 

At the time of his death, he still had a partially finished drawing of a political cartoon sitting on his easel. The drawing shows Uncle Sam being upset by the discordant stylings of Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and “Johnson.” By their nature, political cartoons are incredibly timely. If you don’t know the people in it, you won’t get the joke and, if you’re anything like my coworkers and I, you probably don’t get this one. 

Zim's last unfinished work, courtesy of the Horseheads Historical Society

Knowing the players is key. Huey Long Jr. (1893-1935), also known as “The Kingfish” was a Democratic senator and former governor from Louisiana. As part of a presidential bid, he proposed a series of radical populist plans to redistribute the nation’s wealth. He was assassinated on September 10, 1935, several months after Zim drew his cartoon.

Father Charles Coughlin (1891-1979) was an influential radio personality and Catholic priests whose listeners numbered upwards of 30 million. Although initially supportive of the New Deal, by 1935 he regularly railed against it and painted Roosevelt as a tool of the banks. His populist rants were anti-Semitic, anti-capitalist, anti-communist, and pro-fascist. He is widely considered the father of talk radio.

Even after an hour’s research, I could not figure out which Johnson the one in Zim’s cartoon is supposed to be. Still, I think we can make an educated guess about what Zim was getting at: populism bad. I wonder what he’d say about today’s politics.

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Zim’s final cartoon and other works will be on display at the museum from April through October 2019 as part of the exhibit From Pencil to Page: Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman’s Creative Process. Come check it out!

 

Eugene "Zim" Zimmerman: Cartoonist, Humorist, and One-Time Inventor

by Erin Doane, Curator

One of the most well-know residents of Horseheads was Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman (1862-1935).  Zim was a world-famous cartoonist and humorist.  When he settled down in Horseheads in the late 1880s, not many of his neighbors knew how famous he actually was.  His artistic talent and determination took him from an early life in poverty to international notoriety. 

Eugene "Zim" Zimmerman working in his studio

Eugene Zimmerman was born in Basel, Switzerland on May 25, 1862.  His mother died when he was just two years old and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Alsace, France. When the Franco-Prussian war broke out in 1870, his father brought him to the United States. From then on he was always working some job or other.  He delivered newspapers, did odd jobs at the bakery at which his father worked, worked as a chore boy on a farm, and cleaned bottles in a beer and wine shop.  Eventually he became an apprentice to a sign painter.  In 1878 the sign painter moved to Elmira and brought the 16-year-old Zim with him.

Drawing by Zim

Zim worked at the sign painting shop at the corner of East Water Street and Railroad Avenue for several years before taking a job as the head of the pictorial staff at a rival company, Empire Sign Co. in Horseheads.  During that time, he experimented with drawing cartoons and caricatures.  He kept a sketchbook of his drawings in watercolor and other media.  He took the sketchbook with him on a visit to New York City in 1883 and it found its way into the hands of Joseph Keppler of Puck magazine.  Keppler was impressed with Zim’s work and hired him.  In 1885 Zim left Puck for a job at the rival publication Judge.  He worked for Judge for almost thirty years. 

Cover of Judge magazine by Zim

Zim married Mary Alice Beard of Horseheads on September 29, 1886.  He made his permanent home in Horseheads then even though it meant traveling to New York City every week for conferences with Judge staff.  He had a studio in his home and also had an office in Hanover Square out of which he operated a correspondence course in cartooning, comic art and caricature.  He was an active member of the Horseheads community.  He served as a Village Trustee for a time, he was a member of the Rotary Club, and a member of the volunteer fire department.  He also organized a band and designed the bandstand in Teal Park.

Postcard by Zim

While Zim was best known for his political cartoons, comic illustrations, and caricatures, he was also an inventor.  In 1902 he applied for a patent for a fire extinguishing apparatus. After a disastrous fire at St. John’s military academy in Manlius, New York, Zim began working on an automatic fire extinguisher.  His son was attending the school at the time and lost all of his personal belongings in the fire that started in an unoccupied room.  Zim’s invention would automatically release a spray of fluid if a fire broke out.

Fire extinguishing apparatus patent, 1902

Eugene Zimmerman died of a heart attack on March 26, 1935.  He was such a respected and beloved member of the community that businesses and public schools were closed during his funeral.  All remember him as a quiet and unassuming man who was kind and generous to all.  His dedication to his work lasted, literally, until his death.  For many years he had written a newspaper column as “Ea Zy Pickin’ the Rustling Reporter.”  He wrote his last column on Monday night and it reached the editorial room Tuesday morning shortly after his death.  With the copy was a note that read: “Use what you can of this.  I’m full of pills of every color and kind and I hope when all repairs are made I’ll be good for another marathon.  Please send me a proof when typed, Zim.”

 

In 1980, Zim’s daughter, Laura Zimmerman, conveyed his home that was built at 602 Pine Street in 1890 and its contents to the Horseheads Historical Society.  It contained many of Zim’s possessions, a large number of his works, and both personal and professional papers. His last drawing was still resting unfinished on its easel in his studio.  The Zim House is open to the public by appointment.  To schedule a tour, call the Horseheads Historical Society at 607-739-3938.
 

Zim's home at 602 Pine Street, Horseheads

To learn more of the history of Horseheads, join us on Thursday, August 7 at 7:00 pm at the Chemung Valley History Museum for the ribbon cutting of our new exhibit: The Towns and Villages of Chemung County: Horseheads. This exhibit will be on display through January 2015.