Photo by Evan Martyniuk – Deborah A. Kaufman is sworn in as the first female Mayor in Little Falls history by State Supreme Court Justice Mark Rose while her husband, David E. Warner, holds the family Bible.
State Supreme Court Justice Mark Rose swore in Deborah A. Kaufman as the first female Mayor in Little Falls’ history. His father, Judge Edward Rose, was also going to be part of the ceremony but had to bow out at the last minute for health reasons. The elder Judge Rose was the City Court Judge when he appointed Ann Burrows as Acting City Court Judge, the first woman Judge in the City’s history.
The ceremony was held in the Council Chambers last Wednesday, with Kaufman’s family members coming in from Maryland, Albany, Syracuse, and the local area. Campaign supporters were in attendance as well.
Rose stated, “The City of Little Falls was first recognized by Governor Burnet in 1725 as a place of location when he allowed the Palatine Germans to settle ‘no further west than the Little Falls’ as distinguished from Big Falls in Cohoes, this area became large in history, notwithstanding its diminutive start.”
Formed as the Village of Little Falls in 1811, Herkimer’s only City is full of history. “It became a leader in the knitting industry and the marketing of cheese. In fact, because of its extensive trade here, it became recognized as the cheese capital of the United States. Add to the luster of that notoriety is the boast of becoming America’s first Board of Trade and the first to export cheese to England,” he said.
Rose remarked that it had taken 197 years for the City to have its first female mayor. Little Falls is one of only 62 cities in the state and is the only city in Herkimer County.
Little Falls Historian Pat Stock provided details about past Presidents and Mayors of the City, stating, “M.W. Priest served 11 one-year terms. Isaac Richmond and Arphax Loomis both served five terms, and S. Richmond and T. Dasey both served four. Ted Wind had five terms of four years and a few months. These lists came from my own records, the 1960 City Directory, and an article written for the Historical Society.”
View the full list of Little Falls’ Presidents and Mayors – PDF
