…Seely Conover first came to Amsterdam as a teacher in 1879, filling a vacancy in the Amsterdam Academy during the spring term. That summer he partnered with a gentleman named Seward Kline to purchase a book store which was located very close to where The Book Hound Bookstore is now located in downtown Amsterdam. After several partnership changes, the business came to be known by its present-day name, The Seely Conover Company in 1903…

You can read the rest of this story about Conover’s remarkable life as a war hero, educator, businessman and politician in my new book “A Year’s Worth of Amsterdam Birthdays.” To order your copy, click here.