Lawrence P. Gooley

North Country / Adirondack Author

Books

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Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley

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Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley-Front Cover

Killing in the Kuyahoora Valley is the true story of a murderous attack in 1914 by a teenager (Jean Gianini) in the village of Poland, New York. Kuyahoora, the native-American name for West Canada Creek, is located in Herkimer County. Poland, in the southern Adirondack foothills, is about 15 miles northeast of Utica.

The death of petite schoolteacher Lydia “Lida Lou” Beecher at the hands of a former student proved to be a landmark case—the first to cite intelligence on the same level as insanity in determining a defendant’s guilt or innocence. America’s courts would never be the same.

The viciousness of the crime, the intensity of the trial, and worst of all, the indifference and arrogance of the killer were all reasons why a public mania surrounded the proceedings every step of the way. In the wake of the Chester Gillette-Grace Brown story, the Jean Gianini case assumed the moniker, “Trial of the Century.” » More Details

Out of the Darkness: In Memory of Lyon Mountain’s Iron Men, Second Edition

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Out of the Darkness, Second Edition-Front Cover

Out of the Darkness shines a light of recognition on more than 170 men who died in the iron mines of Lyon Mountain, New York. Who were they? How did they die?

You’ll find the answers here in a tribute to the men who lost their lives while working for the mining companies.

Drillers, muckers, furnace workers, timbermen—they’re all here. Many suffered horrible, spectacular deaths, as detailed in the newspaper fashion of the day, tending towards graphic, gruesome imagery. There is no shortage of such stories in this book, so be prepared for some intense reading.

The reality of Lyon Mountain’s many tragic accidents includes explosions, amputations, and decapitations. It’s all here, but there’s much more in this book than just death. » More Details

25 Diabolical Adirondack Murders: The Twisted, Fiendish Deeds of North Country Killers

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25 Diabolical Adirondack Murders-Front Cover

Within these pages are twenty-five complete stories of murder in the North Country. The perpetrators range from average citizens to some of the worst degenerates imaginable. Their methods run the gamut from poison to clubs to knives to guns to axes, while their stories contain shocking revelations and remarkable twists, far too many to count. And some are just plain unusual.

These true chronicles from long ago once held readers spellbound, and are as riveting as many of the high-profile murder cases in modern media. It’s at once fascinating and disturbing to explore the devious minds of those who walk among us. » More Details

Adirondack & North Country Gold: 50+ New & True Stories You’re Sure to Love

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Adirondack & North Country Gold-Front Cover

There is no other book out there like Adirondack & North Country Gold. Within these pages are 51 original stories about remarkable people, places, and events from the Adirondacks and foothills. Included are four anchor chapters that together are large enough to fill a volume: the life stories of Garrett Cashman, Michael Donovan, Harry Elkes, and Eben Rexford.

Though they may be unfamiliar names, their accomplishments are legend. Cashman was history’s second cluster balloonist who, in the 1950s, captured the imagination of the entire nation. Donovan was a world-champion athlete whose achievements rank among the rarest in sports. Elkes was a beloved world-champion cyclist with a brilliant and tragic career. And the modest and unassuming Rexford wrote one of the most enduring songs in American history, a best-seller for more than half a century.

There’s so much more among the other 47 stories. You’ll find humor (The Great Canine Court Caper); inspiration (the Dean Van Clute story); romance (Love So Strong, It’s Criminal); mystery (New York’s Legendary Vanishing Judge); and the offbeat (Alligators in the Adirondacks, and Rock Eaters? No Way … But Anything Else Will Do!). » More Details

History of Churubusco and the Town of Clinton, Clinton County, New York

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History of Churubusco and the Town of Clinton-Front Cover

Churubusco has an unusual name and an unusual range of historical connections. With one citizen for every 60 acres, the town of Clinton’s population is sparse by any measure. And yet, Clinton natives have played a leading role in the history of the county, the state, and other states as well.

Locally, we think of the humble reticent dairy farmer when we hear the name Churubusco. It’s accurate to a degree, and admirable, but perhaps most important for forming the roots of strong, pioneering individuals who have gone on to great success.

The scope of their reach is surprising: a state leader who both befriended and battled some of America’s most famous politicians; a founding father of another state and one of the country’s best-known cities; musicians who have performed across the nation and are at the top of their genre; a vital member of the US Olympic Bobsled Team; and two men who helped drive the North Country economy for half a century. » More Details

Terror in the Adirondacks: The True Story of Serial Killer Robert F. Garrow

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Terror in the Adirondacks-Front Cover

In the summer of 1973, a serial killer’s rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers.

A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen.

And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow.

But there is much more to Garrow’s story than a series of murders. Before he was captured, there was the longest manhunt in Adirondack history, and one of the longest the state has ever seen. There was a bizarre trial, with horrifying revelations that shocked the senses of citizens from coast to coast. » More Details

Oliver’s War: An Adirondack Rebel Battles the Rockefeller Fortune

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Oliver's War: An Adirondack Rebel Battles the Rockefeller Fortune-Front Cover

*** Adirondack Center for Writing Best Book of Nonfiction (2007) ***

The true story of Oliver Lamora’s battle with William Rockefeller is told here for the first time. For a decade in the early 1900s, their saga gripped newspaper readers from coast to coast.

William Rockefeller was the brother of John D. Rockefeller. Together they built the Standard Oil Trust, the richest, most powerful corporation in American history.

The aging Lamora was a hunter, fisherman, and lumberjack all his life in the far northern Adirondack Mountains of New York State. He was surviving on a meager Civil War pension when William Rockefeller decided to build a grand mountain estate. Lamora’s home was in the dying village of Brandon, and Brandon was in Rockefeller’s way. » More Details

Brendler’s Boys: The House That George Built

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Brendler's Boys: The House That George Built-Front Cover

When they started league play in 1953, the Eagles finished with no wins. In 1955, only their third year of league competition, they won their first sectional championship. Other titles followed through 1964, but in 1965, Chazy soccer entered a new era with the arrival of Coach George Brendler.

Brendler took a good team, taught them to play his style of soccer, and took the North Country by storm. No matter who the opponent was, no matter how big the school might be; more often than not, the Chazy Eagles cut them down to size. Brendler’s career at the helm lasted for twenty-four years. When he retired from coaching after the 1988 season, he left a tremendous legacy. » More Details

A History of the Altona Flat Rock, Silver Anniversary Edition

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A History of the Altona Flat Rock, Silver Anniversary Edition-Front Cover

The Altona Flat Rock is spectacular. Its natural physical beauty is outstanding, its glacial story is dramatic to the highest degree, and its place in North Country history is unique, remarkable, and undeniable.

This updated version of the 1980 original work takes the reader directly to the source, with many new photographs documenting the Flat Rock’s features, both natural and man-made. It’s the next best thing to being there.

Though its intrinsic beauty remains, much has changed on The Rock in the past twenty-five years. The site has been officially defined as a Sandstone Pavement Barrens by New York State, which places it at the very top of the list of endangered ecological systems. It is the rarest among the rare, with fewer than twenty similar sites existing around the globe. » More Details

The Battle of Plattsburgh Question & Answer Book

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The Battle of Plattsburgh Question & Answer Book-Front Cover

The Battle of Plattsburgh Question & Answer Book will bring to the reader a wealth of interesting information in a unique and fun style.

For instance, did you know:

  • That Thomas Macdonough once destroyed a famous ship of the United States Navy?
  • That Plattsburgh has an unusual link to Pearl Harbor?
  • That Vermont once minted its own coins?
  • What caused that red glare that Francis Scott Key wrote of in our national anthem?
  • That Thomas Macdonough performed legendary heroic deeds in another war before Plattsburgh?
  • That a famous American forever linked to glory in the War of 1812 was a war protestor?
  • That the rooster story on the Saratoga may have origins related to Thomas Macdonough himself?
  • That President John Quincy Adams promoted Alexander Macomb ahead of two senior ranking generals?

» More Details