Photo by Tom Rivers: This group passes under the lift bridge in Eagle Harbor on Friday. They are aboard a replica of the Seneca Chief. This boat is 73 feet long and is making a commemorative journey along the canal in hoor the canal’s 200th anniversary. The boat was built as a replica of the original Seneca Chief that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton on the maiden voyage on the completed canal in 1825.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 34

“View on the Erie Canal” – The New York Public Library Digital Collections from 1832.

The commemorative journey of the Seneca Chief along the Erie Canal has attracted a great deal of attention. The boat left Buffalo on Wednesday and is on a 33-day tour that ends Oct. 26 in New York City.

On the original trip, the boat was hauled by “four fully caparisoned grey horses.” That would have been quite a sight! For this voyage, the horses have been replaced by a 33-foot-long tugboat, the C.L. Churchill.

We have mentioned the novel Rome Haul by Walter D. Edmonds in a previous column. It portrays a realistic view of life in the early years of the canal. The sight of the Seneca Chief brought this passage to mind. Here Dan Harrow remembers the opening of the canal and that first voyage:

“We’d talked about the canal. It didn’t seem it would ever get to us. They’d surveyed in ’19 (1819) and the route would come close to my place….Then, first thing we knowed, in ’23, men commenced working on the route between Black Rock and Lockport…..

 “I remember, two springs after that, how me and Ellen sat on the big stoop in June. A warm afternoon. The word come the water would come in from Erie. And after a while we seen it come. Brown and muddy, very slow, so’s not to rip the banks. It went by us in a little creek. We watched it rise all day. At night it was still getting up. Brown and muddy. We didn’t have no supper. We didn’t want it. We’d listen to the water eddy down below all night. In the morning it had come off blue in the sun — pretty near that color.”

“Tolls was taken on the first of October. It had been a fine farming summer. I’d had more money in than I’d expected for a single year. Then on the twenty-sixth the opening come.”

“It was a masterful event. The leaves had turned late that year, and there was still color to the woods. “They had put cannon — you know how —all along the canal and down the Hudson. There was an old ten-pounder mounted on my rise of ground, its snout pointing west, and there was one of McDonough’s sailors there to touch it off.

“The neighbors came next morning early. Ellen and the women had gotten up a big feast. The men sat on the porch, looking down the canal to the lake. I had some Jamaica and Golden Medford for them — it was a brisk morning. Cool from frost at night, but no wind at all. The smoke from our pipes hung under the roof. The children played round — noisy. The cook smells came out to us.

“The sailor, Benjy Wright, sat on the cannon’s butt… About nine o’clock Benjy cut him a hard plug with his sailor knife. He lighted his match and we stood waiting. Then a cannon sounded down by Buffalo. And Benjy touched the match to the fuse and in a minute the old gun bucked and roared, and a glass broke in the window of the parlor….Then we sat down and watched Benjy load up the cannon. And an hour and forty minutes later there was a cannon faint to eastward of us. And our gun bucked and shot again and we heard a gun boom in Buffalo. But with that sound from the eastward of us we knowed that New York knowed. The sound of it told us that.

“All to once we knowed there was other people back east who knowed about us. We were in a country as big as half the world, but with that shot it all come closer together. We weren’t alone.

“For a while there was silence.

“Clinton’s boat come along a while later when we were eating dinner. The food got burnt somehow. But we cheered him by and his four grey matched horses, and he waved to us. And we cheered the other boats.

“But nights now me and my wife hear the boats once in a while —a horn, maybe — or, when it’s still, the clink of a trace chain. Or we see the night lanterns. The railroads come in time. But here it didn’t make so much difference.”

Rome Haul by Walter D. Edmonds in 1929 is available through your local library.

Photo by Tom Rivers: The arch leads into Mount Albion Cemetery. The historic site was dedicated on Sept. 7, 1843.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 33

It is always intriguing to find out “what happened on this date in history.”

In 1976, the Orleans Bicentennial Corp. produced a calendar with this theme, 365 tidbits of local history. Who could resist such a treasure?

Looking at the month of September, we find that it is bookended by tragedies:

On Saturday, September 1, 1951, State Trooper Sgt. Harry Adams of Medina was killed in the line of duty. He was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while directing traffic at the scene of an accident on Sawyer Road in the Town of Carlton,

On September 28, 1859, tragedy struck in Albion when fifteen people drowned in the Canal. They were among a crowd of 250 who had assembled on the bridge to watch a tight-rope walker cross the canal when the span gave way.

September 13, 1826, was the date that William Morgan, who had threatened to publish the secrets of the Freemasons, was abducted from jail in Canandaigua and was never seen or heard from again.

The reference to the birth of the Bushnell sextuplets is by far the most intriguing entry:

Alberto Bushnell, a resident of the Orleans County Home for over thirty years, celebrated his birthday on September 8. So too did three of his siblings. They were the surviving members of sextuplets born on September 8, 1866, a rare event at any time but even more unusual then.

Concerned that the children would be viewed as “freaks” or that they would be castigated for bearing a litter, parents James and Jennie Bushnell downplayed the multiple births to the point where some confusion arose as to where exactly the birth occurred. The paper trail appears to point to Chicago, though there are also claims that they were born in Medina and in Lockport.

Two of the sextuplets died in infancy. The family moved back to Western New York following the destruction of their home in the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871. They lived in Medina briefly and subsequently moved to Lockport, to Buffalo, and to Phelps (Ontario County) but were back in Orleans County by 1892. James, the father, worked as a bookkeeper for a quarry. He died in Albion in 1904. Norbert lived in Gaines, worked as a salesman, and died in 1934.

Alice graduated from Albion High School in 1889 and was employed as a clerk at Landauer’s in Albion. She won a year’s study at the Boston Conservatory of Music, which she financed by selling subscriptions to the Ladies Home Journal. Upon her return to Albion, she taught piano full-time. She later married and moved to Arizona.

The siblings never publicized their unusual birth story. The birth of the Dionne quintuplets in 1934 renewed interest in multiple births. Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” researchers contacted the Bushnell siblings and invited them to New York for an all-expense paid trip. Orleans County Commissioner of Welfare, J.L. Derrick, accompanied Alberto to New York. Sibling Alinca Parker of Perry also traveled for the recording which took place on June 28, 1938.

Alberto, who was a member of the Howard Bible class of the United Methodist Church, died in Albion in 1940. He is buried with his parents in the family plot in Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport.

Other entries of interest in the month of September:

Mount Albion Cemetery was dedicated on Sept. 7, 1843.

A school attendance law that went into effect on Sept. 2, 1909, mandated that all children aged 7-14 must attend school. Students aged 14-16 were also obliged to attend, unless they were employed.

Don Cook, a photographer for The Journal-Register in Medina, captured this image of the demolition of the Hojack bridge on Sept. 11, 1995.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 32

CARLTON – Our recent column on the history of the Hojack Railroad evoked many memories, particularly of teenage hair-raising exploits on the landmark trestle bridge at Waterport.

Built to convey the trains of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad trains across the Oak Orchard River gorge, the actual dimensions of this impressive structure are unclear. According to one source, it was 500 feet long, 10 feet wide and 200 feet above the river, while another site describes it as having been 800 feet from bank to bank and 90 feet high.

This photograph gives a sense of the scale of the bridge.

At any rate, the railroad line was discontinued in 1978, and the infrastructure soon fell into disrepair. In November 1993, citing missing railroad ties and concerns for the safety of the public as well as of emergency personnel presented by the condition of the bridge, the Town of Carlton went on record to request action from Penn Central.

As it transpired, the title to the bridge was owned by Charles Pelleschi, an avid angler from Summerhill, Pa. He had purchased some vacant railroad property adjacent to Park Avenue, in the Town of Carlton from Penn-Central, with the intention of building a second home there. Much to his surprise, the deed to the land included the bridge.

Mr. Pelleschi decided to have the bridge removed on account of its deteriorating condition. It was dismantled in the fall of 1995 by Jack Weakland of Hastings, Pa. The steel from the bridge was sold to a New York City company and the landmark was no more.

However, it lingers in the memories of many and was captured in this pen and ink drawing by Arthur Barnes.

This artwork of the Trestle in Waterport was done by Arthur Barnes.

Rail line was popular leading to post offices, hamlets and businesses

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 31

Photo from Orleans County Department of History: A Hojack goods train crosses the Trestle Bridge over the Oak Orchard Creek in Carlton.

KENDALL – “Without looking out a window, you could generally tell what the weather was or what it was going to be simply by the sounds of the Hojack’s whistles. On clear days, they’d be sharp and abrupt. But on rainy days, they’d give out long, mournful cries, especially at night.”  (Doris Behnke Crego, Requiem for a Railroad)

In the 1980s, William Aeberli of Rochester, interviewed older Kendall area residents about their recollections of the Hojack and compiled them in a series of articles entitled “Requiem for a Railroad.”

“The Hojack” was the name used to refer to the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad (R.W. & O. R.) which ran from Oswego to Niagara Falls from 1876 to 1978.

It served the northern third of Orleans County where industrious farmers of English, German and Norwegian descent harvested high yields from soil that was particularly suited to fruit cultivation. Prior to the advent of the Hojack, the Erie Canal and later the New York Central Railroad shipped produce from the farms north of the Ridge.

The Hojack served eight station points in Orleans County: Morton (East Kendall), Kendall, West Kendall, Brice Station (Kent), Carlton Station, Ashwood (Carlyon), Lyndonville and Millers.

Hamlets soon evolved at these stations. Storage and processing facilities for fruit and vegetables were built adjacent to the stops: Kendall Cold Storage; Morton Canning Company; A.S. Hice in Ashwood; W.G. Dailey in Kent; Bahrenburg & Beckwith in Carlton Station and Kendall. General stores and churches soon followed. Since the Hojack carried mail, post offices were established: Carlyon in 1876, Carlton in 1877, Kent in 1899, Millers in 1882 and Morton in 1894.

In 1888, eight passenger trains ran daily. By 1908, this was reduced to four daily passenger trains, and in 1933, passenger and mail service was discontinued. Automobiles and truck transportation superseded the railroads. But apart from the convenience of passenger service, the primary benefit of the Hojack was the transportation of goods – fruit and produce to market, deliveries of coal and ice to supply the cold storage facilities.

The Kendall Station was active. The following establishments were located on either side of the railroad: Bahrenburg and Beckwith’s was a cooperage and a storage facility; the Greece Lumber Company which also dealt in grain; the three-story structure at W.V. Newcomb’s which had bins to hold grain, beans, or peas; Robert Burke’s which sold chemicals and fertilizers as well as coal; Carr, Eggleston & Ritz, an evaporated fruit and cider business.

Seasonal laborers and transient workers camped in Crandall’s Woods just across the railroad tracks. The location was referred to as “Hobo Alley.”  An old boxcar was moved there to provide shelter.

Doris Behnke Creg, who grew up in Kendall in the 1920s, observed:

“We figured the Hojack was simply a natural part of the neighborhood, we took the railroad for granted. Who might have thought that someday the railroad would disappear?”

This depiction of a mule-drawn packet boat come from America Illustrated at eriecanal.org.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” –  Volume 5, No. 30

“The Erie is a swarming hive. Boats coming and going, passing you by all the while. You can hear their horns blowing all day long. As like as not, there’s a fight at every lock. There’s all kinds of people there and they’re all going all the while. There’s freight going west and raw food going east, all on the canal: there’s people going west, New Englanders, Germans and all them furrin folk and there’s people coming east that’ve quit…It’s the bowels of the nation! It’s the whole shebang of life.”

So said the Shakespeare reading peddler Jacob Turnessa in the novel “Rome Haul” by Walter D. Edmonds. Published in 1929, this book has been neglected, one of those books on the library shelf deemed worthy of keeping but not of reading.

Life on the Erie Canal in the 1850s has not been a fashionable topic. But this book is a gem, and should be read this year as we celebrate the bicentennial of the canal. Edmonds captures a world and a way of life that is foreign to us – the gritty, hardscrabble lives of the “canawlers” who made it work.

He vividly describes the sights, smells and sounds of daily life. Historical fiction can do that, bring you to a time in the past and give you a sense of what it was like to have lived then.

Our hero, Dan Harrow, is an upstanding young man who is attracted to life on the canal. He soon becomes involved with a wanted man and with the canal bully. Shortly thereafter, he hires the canal bully’s ex-cook/girlfriend. Naturally, drama ensues: confrontations, daring rescues, and a knock-down fight. There are interludes of domestic coziness aboard the boat he captains, the Sarsey Sal. In the background, the routines of daily life on the canal continue.

“Rome Haul” conveys the business aspects of the canal and how teeming that “swarming hive” was.

“The basin and the canal beside it [Albany] were thronged with boats, Dan could scarcely believe so many boats existed….Men jumped ashore and went after their horses or they brought their horses off the boats. Agents for the steamboat lines ran about with ledgers under their arms signing up captains for the Roman line or the Swiftsure. They quarreled among themselves, crying down the other company, while the boater looked on and signed with a third company”

Mrs. Lucy Cashdollar runs a “Cook’s Agency for Bachellor (sic) Boaters.” The book teems with colorful characters such as Fortune Friendly, the pinochle playing preacher who works on the Sarsey Sal.

The book presents perspectives which are new to us: people’s distrust of the railway for example. Mrs. Sullivan says “I wouldn’t ride in one of them trains. They go too fast”.

Edmonds surely captured “the whole shebang of life” on the Erie Canal. “Rome Haul” surely deserves to be dusted off and read.

Photo by Isabella Zasa: Orly the Ox rides a hydro-bike on the Erie Canal in Medina on July 18. Orly has been highlighting fun things to do and local history and heritage this year as the Orleans County bicentennial mascot.

Provided photo: Derek Maxfield, GCC associate professor of History, will be presenting “Dr. Benjamin Rush, America’s Forgotten Founding Father” during a lecture on Sept. 3.

BATAVIA – The “Historical Horizons” lecture series at Genesee Community College will feature a forgotten founding father and also a bicentennial mascot.

The GCC History Club has announced the Fall 2025 Historical Horizons Lecture Series. There are two speakers and both events on Sept. 3 and Nov. 5 begin at 7 p.m. They are free and open to the public.

Derek Maxfield, GCC associate professor of History, will be presenting “Dr. Benjamin Rush, America’s Forgotten Founding Father” on Sept. 3 in room T119 in the Conable Technology Building.

One of the most fascinating men to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Dr. Benjamin Rush, nevertheless is often the forgotten founding father. Educated in Europe, Rush was one of the most educated men in America.

His medical practice would be one of the most robust in Philadelphia – though his practices have been controversial. One of his greatest contributions was pioneering treatment for mental illness. Come hear about this remarkable man.

Tom Rivers

Tom Rivers, editor of Orleans Hub, will be presenting “The Tale of Orly: How a Historic Ox Walked, Talked & Charmed a County into Learning its History” on Nov. 5 in room T102 in the Conable Technology Building.

Orleans County’s new mascot, Orly the Ox, has made a splash during anniversary celebrations and has been a visible reminder of the county’s birthday. Rivers will discuss the origins of Orly and the anniversary of Orleans County.

Rivers has been part of the Orleans County Bicentennial Committee for the county’s 200th anniversary this year. Rivers also is part of the “Orly Team” where Orly the Ox has an active social media presence and also attends many events in the community as the bicentennial mascot and a county ambassador.

Isabella Zasa of the Orleans County Tourism Department also often portrays Orly, photographs him and creates many of his social media posts and videos.

Orly has helped present Orleans County history in a new and fun way. Click here to see some of his adventures on the Orleans County Tourism Facebook page.

Tom lives in Albion with his wife Marsha. They have four children. The Rivers family has embraced the Orly character and worn the outfit for some of the different events.

Photo by Tom Rivers: In May, Orly stopped by the original canal loop in Holley. This is a rare section of the canal remaining from when the original was complete. Most of the original was widened several times. In Holley, the original loop was near the Public Square, but was later straightened out from 1854 to1861 to create a shorter, more navigable waterway. A new section of the canal was built over a very high and long embankment.

Strickland VFW Post #4635 is located at 38 North Platt St. in Albion.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No.29

ALBION – On August 8-9, 1942, the first major naval engagement between the Allied Naval forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy took place in the South Pacific Ocean, near Guadalcanal.

Thus, this weekend marks the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Savo Island. It has since been described as one of the worst defeats in U.S. naval history. Three American cruisers: Astoria, Quincy and Vincennes and one Australian cruiser, Canberra, were destroyed. Almost 1,000 lives were lost.

Ensign Everett C. Strickland, 1918-1942, for whom the Albion VFW Post is named.

Ensign Everett Carlton “Carl” Strickland of Waterport was aboard the Astoria on the night of August 9. He was on the stern of the ship when it was hit by numerous torpedoes and gunfire from enemy planes.

Captain William Greenman, the ship’s captain, later reported that: “Ensign Strickland, in the heat of battle, recognizing the danger from the planes on the deck being hit by enemy shells, attempted to take off in one, but found that the mechanical releasing devices had been damaged. He then was attempting to shove the plane over the side with his own hands when he was fatally cut down by fire from a Japanese aircraft.”

Ensign Strickland had just celebrated his 24th birthday. Born in Carlton in 1918, he was the son of Everett Strickland and Elizabeth Tuttle Strickland. His father was employed by Bell Aircraft in Buffalo and his mother worked at the Albion State Training School.

Strickland graduated from the Waterport school in 1934, attended Lehigh University and enlisted in the Naval Reserve Air Force in 1941. He completed his training in Jacksonville, FL. in October 1941 when he received his gold wings and ensign’s commission. He remained at Jacksonville as an instructor for several months but requested to be transferred to active duty immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941). He spent a two-week furlough at home and was called into active service on February 1, 1942.

News of Ensign Strickland’s death in action “some time within the last two months” was not communicated to his parents until September. Reports of the incident did not appear immediately in the press. Analysis of the event continued for some time, as is evidenced by the following headline in The Buffalo News of December 7, 1946:

“Battle of Savo Island: Our Worst Sea Defeat, But Foe Muffed Victory”

Ensign Strickland had the rare distinction of having a U.S. Navy ship, a destroyer escort, named in his honor. The USS Strickland (DE-333) was launched in Orange, Texas on November 2, 1943, by the Ensign’s mother, Mrs. Everett Strickland and was commissioned on January 10, 1944. A plaque bearing a citation tribute to Strickland was placed on the ship and a photo of him was placed in the captain’s cabin. The USS Strickland was in service from 1944-1946 and from 1952-1959.

Ensign Strickland’s death was Orleans County’s first naval air force casualty of the war. An Albion post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars had been organized in 1946. On March 10, 1947, Thomas Hunt, Post Commander, announced that it would be named in Strickland’s honor.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 28

State Sen. Earl Brydges, center, visits the Iroquois Narcotics Rehabilitation Center in July 1970. He is shown with, from left: Herbert Riley, work coordinator; Valory Koch, leader of the Narcotics Rehabilitation Center; John Kennedy, former Medina mayor and member of community liaison committee; and John Cobb, Medina’s mayor at the time. Koch is presenting the state senator with an ashtray made in the pottery shop.

SHELBY – A recent inquiry about the existence of a drug rehabilitation program at the Job Corps facility in Shelby prompted us to research its history.

In light of the recent announcement to close the Job Corps program, it is interesting to note that from its very inception, the fate of the facility has been determined by outside political swings and changes, rather than by its performance.

Job Corps, a federally funded residential and job training opportunity for disadvantaged youth, was established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.

Locally, the establishment of a Job Corps camp on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Shelby was announced in early May 1965. The camp would be located on Tibbits Road, about a quarter of a mile east of Sour Springs Road. Up to one hundred young men were expected to go into training at the camp. An article in the Medina Daily Journal, July 9, 1965, explained:

“The Job Corps provides jobs for boys aged 16-21 who are mostly school dropouts from poverty-stricken areas and trains them so that they can obtain employment when they leave.”

At first glance, the location of this Job Corps site on the edge of a remote 10,000-acre wildlife Refuge, may seem unusual, but is better understood when one realizes that the initial objective of the program was to provide labor for the development of the Refuge. The boys were to be trained in the skills necessary to install nature trails to attract visitors. They would also work on creating dams to encourage backflow, thus encouraging waterfowl to come to the area to breed.

Newly appointed director, Raymond Calagne, based the office for the newly named Iroquois Job Corps Conservation Center in a former farmhouse at the corner of Oak Orchard Ridge Road and Sour Springs Road in Shelby.

Benderson Construction Co. of Buffalo constructed the shop, warehouse, combination dining room/education/recreation building, and two dormitories, each providing accommodation for 56 boys. Three trailer-living units provided accommodation for employees and their families on site.

The facility opened in 1966 with the Shelby location was the only Job Corps installation in New York State.

On Jan. 29, 1968, it was slated for immediate closure, along with 16 others nationwide, as part of a budget cutting measure. The remaining Job Corps sites were closed in 1969. The underlying philosophy had changed: the new theory was that disadvantaged, unskilled urban youth could be more effectively trained in urban sites, rather than in remote conservation sites.

Naturally, the announcement was greeted locally with astonishment and dismay. The facility cost $800,000 to build, had 149 students and a budget of almost $500,000.

On August 6, 1968, a plan to convert the former Jobs Corps Center into a New York State sponsored facility for drug addicts was announced. The Iroquois Narcotics Rehabilitation Center would be an experimental site, an “open” treatment facility. Director A. Luis Cid elaborated on the nature of this “open” program, to reassure area residents who might be concerned at the lack of formal security features such as fences and guards at the site.

“These will be selected men, probably between the ages of 18 and 25, who have already spent several months at a secure center and have been de-toxicated.”

He explained that the addict is almost always a sensitive person, easily hurt, who then retreats from life’s problems through the solace of drugs.

“One of our first jobs is to resocialize the addict, to try and give him a new social personality”

He acknowledged that addiction was a complex problem, with many possible causes and was thus far impossible to cure. Cid believed that the trusting atmosphere at the site, the services provided, along with useful work therapy on the grounds of the Refuge, would prove beneficial. He acknowledged the possibility that the residents might “walk off”, but said that if they did so, they would be returned to a stricter facility.

The Center opened in August 1968, with 11 residents and 26 staff members. On its second anniversary, it had 140 residents and 125 staff. Over the course of the next several years, program residents participated in community events such as the annual Christmas toy drive in Medina.

Citing budget concerns, the closure of the facility was announced on Jan.13, 1976. Again, the announcement was greeted locally with astonishment and dismay.  Medina Mayor John Cobb issued a strong resolution to Governor Carey to continue the operation, citing its success, the disruption for clients and their families, and the impact to the local economy of the impending loss of the $1.5 million payroll for the 133 employees.

But to no avail. By May, equipment worth over $3 million had been removed from the site and distributed to other state facilities.

In October 1978, it was announced that the Iroquois Job Corps program would re-open at its original location on Tibbits Road. The underlying philosophy had changed: the emphasis would be on teaching trades; the students would do minimal work for the Refuge.

Photo courtesy of Susan Starkweather Miller: The tower at Mount Albion Cemetery is a memorial to 463 Orleans County residents killed during the Civil War.

ALBION – The Orleans County Historical Association will host a series of cemetery tours during the month of August, all focusing on the county’s bicentennial, according to Sue Starkweather Miller, village of Albion historian.

• The first tour on Aug. 3 will be at Mount Albion Cemetery on Route 31 with Miller serving as a guide along with Bill Lattin, retired Orleans County historian.

“To commemorate our county’s bicentennial, we will focus on several prominent pioneers around the tower area, including Nehemiah Ingersoll, and hear the story of how Albion became the county seat,” Miller said.

Guests may enter through the main gate, park at the chapel and walk to the tower, or drive to the area and park in the woods behind the tower. It is short walk up a slight incline to the tower.

• The tour on Aug. 10 will be at Robinson Cemetery, Route 237 and Glidden Road, Clarendon, with guide Melissa Ierlan, town of Clarendon historian.

• On Aug. 17, town of Shelby historian Alice Zacher and Orleans County historian Catherine Cooper will lead the tour of Millville Cemetery, 4394 East Shelby Rd., Medina.

Highlights will be a visit to the wooden chapel/memorial vault and a tour of some of the impressive monuments, including the gravestone of Asa Hill, a Civil War soldier who suffered amputation of a leg, yet returned to run the family farm a few short miles west of the cemetery.

• The tour on Aug. 24 Greenwood Cemetery, 16670 Roosevelt Hgy./Route 18, Kendall, will focus on the first Norwegian settlement in the United States in 1825 in Kendall. Orleans County historian Catherine Cooper will lead this tour.

• Aug. 31 at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, 581 East Ave., Albion, will conclude the series of tours. Catherine Cooper and Sue Starkweather Miller will lead the tour, which will include a visit to the chapel to view the beautiful interior stained glass windows, and stops at several prominent gravesites.

All tours begin at 6 p.m. and are free, although donations are gratefully accepted.

By Craig Lacy, member of Medina Historical Society

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 27

Carl Fischer starred as a left-handed pitcher in a professional career for two decades.

“Fischer Fans the Great Bambino.” So read the headlines of The Daily Journal on May 30th, 1931. The day before, 26-year-old Medina native Charlie “Carl” Fischer, relief pitching for the Washington Senators in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, retired three New York Yankees in order, including striking out Babe Ruth and forcing a pop up by Lou Gehrig to save the 3-2 win for the Senators.  A 10-minute standing ovation followed by the Washington fans.

Back when baseball was still more of the national pastime and young boys followed their favorite teams and players while dreaming of making it in the Big League, one Medina boy succeeded.

Charlie began his baseball career playing for Medina High School and left school the spring of his senior year in 1925, forgoing his diploma for a chance to play major league baseball.  He signed with the Rochester Red Wings and was sent to Scranton, Pa. to play in the New York-Penn League helping his team to win the pennant in 1926. It was there that his manager Jack Eagon gave Charlie his nickname of  “Carl” for reason now lost to time but for whatever reason it stuck with him for the rest of his life. He would go on to play organized baseball for over 20 years.

Carl’s major league career spanned seven years from 1930-1937 where he racked up a record of 46 wins, 50 losses with 376 strikeouts in 822 innings while playing in 191 games for the Washington Senators, 1930-’32 and part of the 1937 season; St. Louis, 1932; Detroit Tigers, 1933-’35; Chicago White Sox, 1935-’36; and the Cleveland Indians, part of the 1937 season.

Getting to the big leagues is often a slow, grinding process of making your way through the farm clubs and for Carl it was no different. From Scranton, Carl spent the next three years with the Newark Bears, part of the Eastern Shore League entering spring training in Pensacola, Florida in 1927, as a 5’ 11’, 160 lb. strapping 21-year-old “Southpaw.”

He had speed, curves, hooks and wildness, plenty of wildness. In 1930, after spending time also in the PONY and International Leagues, he was called up to the Washington Senators, thus beginning his career in the majors.

It was in 1931, while with Washington, that Carl gained fame retiring both Ruth and Gehrig in the bottom of ninth with bases loaded to save the 3-2 win with Manager Walter Johnson telling the young pitcher as he took the mound, “Show ’em your real stuff, Charley.” The 1932 season saw Carl pitching for the St. Louis Americans and then on to Detroit in ’33.  While with Detroit in ’34 he pitched in the game that won them the pennant for the first time in 25 years and earned his share of World Series money.

His next brush with fame came on July 20, 1935, while pitching for the Chicago White Sox.  Carl held the Washington Senators hitless for 8 innings when the lead batter in the ninth belting a short hit over second base for a single. He then retired the next three batters in order.

He started the 1936 season with Kansas City but in June was sent down to play with the Buffalo Bisons. It was during his time in Buffalo that he was honored as the International League Pitcher of the Year

Like his major league career, Carl’s minor league time was spent with many farm teams across the country.  In his first full year in the International League playing with Baltimore and Toronto, Carl led the league with 196 strikeouts, winning 18 games. 1939-‘41, found Carl pitching for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He would go on to spend 5 years after the war with the Pacific Coast League pitching for Portland and Seattle while also spending time in Kansas City, St. Louis and Buffalo. While with Portland, Carl set a league record with four playoff victories.

This plaque in honor of Carl Fischer at Medina’s Veterans Memorial Park.

At an Elk’s benefit held in Medina honoring Carl in 1936, WGR radio announcer Roger Baker, during his speech recounting the 1936 Bison’s season stated, “I have broadcast many exciting games during my six years of experience as a radio announcer, but never, even in World’s Series games have I seen so many thrills rolled into one season of pitching as those furnished by Carl Fischer.”

While pitching for the Bisons in 1937, Buffalo Times sportswriter Francis Dunn wrote that “(He) has a fast ball that mows down batters and wears out catchers.”

1937 would be Carl’s last year in the major leagues splitting the season for both Washington and Cleveland.

Carl married the former Grace Reynolds from Middleport in 1929 and they made their home at 137 State Street in Medina. Upon retiring from baseball, Carl operated Fischer’s Newsroom in Albion until his death in 1963. While in Albion, baseball was never too far from his mind with displays of memorabilia decorating his business and always a willingness to offer advice and guidance to young ball players while being the founder and president of the Central Orleans Little League for over a decade where he supplied the Carl Fischer trophy to the pennant winner each season.

In September 1964, a year after Carl’s death of a heart attack, a bronze plaque was erected behind home plate at Medina’s Veterans Memorial Park to honor the legacy of Charles “Carl” Fischer.  On the plaque are memorialized Carl’s two big league achievements, his retiring of both Ruth and Gehrig and his one-hitter. Funds for the memorial were donated by baseball fans from Medina, Lyndonville and Albion. A fitting tribute to a local boy who made good.

Note from Orleans County Historian Catherine Cooper: We welcome Craig Lacy as a guest columnist this week. An active member of the Medina Historical Society, Craig was inspired to write this article by the display of Fischer items at the Museum. The Museum is open to the public on the first Saturday of the summer months or by appointment, contact https://historicmedina.org/contact-us/.  This article is published courtesy of the Medina Historical  Society.

This familiar rustic sign by the 4-H Fairgrounds is a familiar sight on Route 31.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 25

KNOWLESVILLE –  As these signs indicate, the Orleans County Fair has been held at a variety of dates over the years.

Whatever the date, “The Fair” is a defining event in the calendar year, equal in stature to “The Holidays.”

This older sign promises “Gigantic Night Entertainment, Many New Features Racing Daily, Big Midway Attractions.” This was when the fair was held in Albion.

Its carnival spirit heightens experiences, tastes, memories. The sights, smells, sounds, even the heat or rain, everything is intensified at the Fair.

This Fair advertising pin is from 1972.

Yes, we will see you at The Fair!

Be sure to visit us at the Orleans County Bicentennial booth this year. Carol Culhane will be on hand with her keepsake Orleans County Bicentennial posters. Of course, Orly, our charismatic mascot, will also be around to join us.

Photographed at Shadigee: (from left) John J. Ryan, Rev. F.T. Latham, Mrs. Latham, Alberta D. Ryan, Mrs. LeRoy Skinner. Children seated: Lee Skinner, Howard Phillips, Gertrude Skinner and Clare Ryan.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 24

YATES – When temperatures soar, we wonder how previous generations coped with the heat. Summer temperatures in the Buffalo region reached over 90-degrees then also: 95 degrees in 1911 and 1914; 93 degrees in 1913; 91 degrees in 1912.

Shadigee, in the Town of Yates, was a popular summer destination for those who lived in the western end of Orleans County. It first developed as a business port. According to the historic marker at the site, the Yates Pier was built in 1850 to facilitate the shipping of lumber and grain. The Shadigee Hotel, a popular resort, was built in 1860. It was located on the site now occupied by the water treatment plant.

Jeddo photographer, William Eaton, captured this crisp postcard photo of a group enjoying the outdoors. John J. Ryan was a lawyer in Medina. He and Leroy Skinner had an office on the second floor of the Cook Block, Medina. The practice was subsequently continued by Bernard Hart and Thomas C. Mack.

The Ryans resided at 411 West Center St. in Medina, the Skinners lived at 238 West Center. Rev. A.J. Latham was a minister at the Baptist Church.

The presence of the children in the photograph helps pinpoint the date. According to the 1915 Census, Lee Skinner was 10, his sister Gertrude and Clara Ryan were both aged 7. Those ages seem to match, so we can assume that the photo was taken from 1914-1916.

The basket of apples on the ground indicates that the photo was taken later in the season, early September, perhaps. Clutching their dolls, the girls pose happily, while the boys assiduously ignore the camera. Some things never change!

This is the cover of Trifles trivia game, left, and the playing board from the game, right.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, Number 23

HOLLEY – Where is Garrand’s Quarry?

Name the postmaster of Holley in 1985?

What was the reason for the formation of the Holley School Boosters?

These Holley area questions are from a trivia game recently brought to our attention by Melissa Ierlan, Town of Clarendon Historian. Marketed under the name  “Trifles: a Unique Educational Trivia Game Customized for Your Community,” this board game was marketed in the mid-1980s as a fundraiser for the Holley Sports Boosters and the Holley Music Boosters.

Designed to be played by two or more players, the box contains a sturdy board, a rules sheet, tokens, dice, discs, a box of question and answer cards, and a set of category questions and answers.

The names of contributing local businesses appear on square tiles on the perimeter of the board. Players who answer General Knowledge trivia questions correctly can place colored discs on the tiles.

A player who has three or more discs on each of the four sides of the board or six discs on any one side of the board qualifies to enter the circle. The Master Position is at the end where the player must answer correctly a question from the Etc. category to be the winner.

The General Knowledge questions are wide-ranging and varied, while the “Etc.” questions are locally oriented.

Trifles was manufactured by Henco in Selmer, TN and was the creation of Tom Hendrix, a versatile entrepreneur who had honed his salesmanship skills as a door-to door Bible salesman. He and his wife, Sherry, started Henco with a $3,500 loan, in a small building in Selmer. The company went national, with nearly 1,000 employees on the payroll in its heyday of helping schools raise money through selling items that Henco manufactured.

Regardless of how much money was raised by sales at the time, this game is a gem forty years later. Kudos to whoever prepared the questions and answers for the “Etc.” category back then. They are now a rich resource of Holley/Murray/Clarendon area facts, and would be perfect for family get-togethers and campfire conversations.

The list of the local businesses, farmers,  and professionals who subscribed captures the essence of Holley at that point in time. How many of them do you remember?

A quick eBay search indicates that the resale value of the game is only about $25, but its local significance will only increase the passage of time.

Holley area sponsors of the Trifles trivia game from 1984-85 incude:

• Assembly of God Church
• Bowen Trucking, Inc.
• Brockport Ford Tractor
• Burgio Tire World
• Country Garden Florist
• Danny’s Small Engine Repair
• Dave’s Antenna Satellite Communications
• Danco Home Improvements
• Deerfield Country Club
• DeNe’s Cake Shop
• Disciples United Methodist Church
• Domenico’s Italian Imports & Deli
• Drennan Service
• Ed Blissett Nursery
• Edward Fuirerer & Sons, Builders
• Fingland Electric
• First Baptist Church
• First Presbyterian Church
• Fissler Collision
• 5 Point Collision
• Gordis Hardware
• Grenadier Kennels
• Hendel Farms
• Herring Development Corp.
• Holley Cold Storage
• Holley Lime Company
• Holley Mower Service
• Holley Pharmacy
• Holley Ridge Stables
• Holley Super Duper
• Hurd’s Orchard Apple Shed
• Jerry L. Wagner, Contractor
• Jim Albright, Remodeling
• J.P’s Farm Market
• Lake Country Pennysaver
• Lester, Rubenstein & Pellegrino, Attorneys
• Liftec Systems
• Lisa’s Dance Boutique
• Lutes Model Dome
• Marine Midland Holley Staff
• Maxon Farms
• Merrill- Grinnell Funeral Service
• Muesey’s Grocery of Clarendon
• Murray Superette Busy Mart
• Personality Plus Hairstyles
• P.J.’s Dolls
• Rayburn’s Jewelers
• Rockafellow & Son Farms
• Ron’s Satellite Sales
• Ryan’s Ceramic Studio
• Salyers Archery & Range
• 7 Brothers Catering Service
• Seward Candies
• Shepherd’s Mill Lumber
• St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
• Squicks – Public Square
• Stockham Lumber Co.
• Sugar’s Bikeology Shop
• Territory Wholesale Supply
• Transit Sportsman’s Supplies
• Thomas Young, Attorney-at-Law