Depending on who you talked to, Sherburn M. Becker was either a good neighbor or a bad neighbor during his time in South Worcester. Admired by some, loathed by others, Becker was certainly one of the most colorful figures ever to live in the hamlet.
The Oneonta Herald of July 25, 1929, was kind to Becker, saying, "What Owen D. Young is doing for his native village of VanHornesville, and Justice Abraham L. Kellogg is financing for his native place, Treadwell, that Sherburn Becker, former 'Boy Mayor of Milwaukee,' but more recently a successful Wall street broker, is doing for the birthplace of his father, Washington Becker, and the old home of his paternal grandfather, Abraham Becker, long successful attorney, the little village of South Worcester "
Young and Kellogg built modern schools for their respective hometowns. Becker settled in South Worcester in 1928 to establish a country estate, determined to re-establish his family's former prominence.
Early settlers arrived around 1800 to South Worcester, including Jacob Becker. He had built a sawmill in this area around 1780, and the family was influential in bringing other settlers here. Jacob's son, Abraham, later built a 60-room mansion called Lindenwood while becoming one of the best-known lawyers in Otsego County. The mansion was later destroyed by fire.
Abraham's grandson Sherburn grew up in Milwaukee, Wis. Sherburn got his name "Boy Mayor" by upsetting a four-term incumbent and getting elected mayor in 1906 at age 29. Becker served only one term, and it was a thorny one at times, as the former mayor won back his seat in the next election.
A publication from the Milwaukee Public Museum said the business district of that city had numerous cast-iron street clocks placed on sidewalks in front of buildings, some being quite elegant. Mayor Becker considered them "sidewalk obstructions" that hindered firefighters. In 1907, Becker and a party of firemen started knocking down clocks on a major street. This became a Becker legacy and the city endured many lawsuits over the practice long after his leaving office in 1908.
Sherburn Becker's family came to South Worcester and spent about six months a year there, while spending the other six in New York City.
According to "A Bicentennial History of the Town of Worcester," published in 1997, until Becker's death in February 1949, he dominated all aspects of life in South Worcester. He first moved the family into a recently renovated hotel, originally an 1840s era tavern. Becker then bought up a lot of flat valley farmland from Titus Hill Road west to the town line, another large farm at the intersection of the road to Worcester, and ample acreage north of the hamlet. He bought the former Olmstead & Sturges store and eight private houses. Together he consolidated all of these purchases into his 3,000-acre "Charlotte Valley Ranch."
As Becker purchased his buildings, he improved and preserved them, as well as others in the hamlet, providing employment for some residents, while driving others away. With the death of Sherburn's wife, Irene, in 1961, this era came to a close.
"Local reaction to Sherburn Becker was mixed," according to the bicentennial publication, "but mostly negative. Stories of his generous, quixotic and autocratic nature abound a half-century later. The present physical attractiveness of South Worcester is due, at least in part, to his influence. On the other hand, he disrupted an established way of life, caused an accelerated loss of population and economic activity as persons whom he bought out moved away, and some residents said that he sapped the vitality of the community."
On Monday: Another clock controversy overtook Richfield Springs from 1953-62.
Oneonta City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. Contact him at simmark@stny.rr.com, or visit www.oneontahistorian.com for information.
Print this story
E-mail this story
