Photo from the Webster family scrapbook – This photograph of Jennie Webster at her millinery store in Holley is filled with fascinating details – the ladies’ clothing, the furnishings, the hats and hat paraphernalia.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminated Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 6

HOLLEY – At one time, hats were an essential component of women’s clothing. A lady would simply not appear in public hatless. Hats were indicative of social status and financial means. Styles ranged from everyday bonnets and berets to large, elaborate confections with flowers and feathers.

While clothing was often homemade, hats were a specialty item and were custom made by milliners. The term “milliner” to denote a person who makes hats, comes from Milan, Italy, noted for its hatmakers in the 16th century. By the nineteenth century, milliners were primarily female. Being a milliner was regarded as a respectable profession which could be sufficiently lucrative to provide an income and financial independence.

Jennie Webster was a milliner in Holley for over fifty years. Born on April 20, 1876, she was a daughter of Martin and Marietta Perry Webster. Her father was a farmer on Hurd Road.

She is listed as a milliner in the 1900 Census. She accepted a position in a millinery store in Canton, Ohio in 1909, presumably to hone her business skills. In Feb. 1912, she purchased Miss Jennie Cole’s millinery business in downtown.

Holley and leased Cole’s parlor on the second floor of the Newton block. She travelled to Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit in August of that year to attend the fall shows of the millinery houses and purchase goods for her store.

Suitably be-hatted, Jennie loved to travel.

Jennie moved into her new millinery parlor in Sept. 1912. Competition was stiff.

Lena A. Church operated a millinery on White Street, while Ethel A. Wilson was on Geddes Street. At that time, hats were large and elaborate. Trimmings could include ribbons, lace, feathers and flowers. Each hat was unique and tailored to the customers’ wishes. Long hat pins were used to secure them to the ladies’ hair.

Jennie regularly attended millinery shows and fashion promenades in Buffalo and Rochester and was keenly attuned to changing trends. Smaller hats and more subdued designs were preferred in the 1920’s. The 1926 Orleans County Directory indicates that Jennie was the only milliner in Holley. By that time, she had moved her parlor to a building adjoining the family home on Geddes Street. It is interesting to note that the county was still well supplied with hatmakers.

Orleans County Directory, 1926

Hats adorned with veils, feathers and artificial flowers made a comeback after World War II. As the clothing industry became more industrialized, women were less inclined to purchase custom-made hats.

Jennie adapted to these changes by joining her brother’s tailoring business on Main Street where she expanded to selling ladies apparel as well as millinery. Having weathered seismic shifts in her chosen field, she retired in 1955, when the store was closed. It was purchased by Nixon’s Clothing.

Jennie was unmarried and apparently supported herself. She enjoyed a busy, independent life. Her activities and social engagements were frequently mentioned in the Holley Standard newspaper. She died on Monday, Jan 2, 1967, at the age of 91. The Webster family is buried in Hillside Cemetery, Holley.

Photos from Orleans County Department of History: Owned by Harvey L. and Blanche Hill, this fine dining establishment was located at the corner of Knowlesville Road and Million Dollar Highway/Rt. 31 in Ridgeway.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

Illuminating Orleans, Volume 6, No. 5

RIDGEWAY – “Service and Satisfaction” was the stated motto of Fairhaven Manor, a very successful fine dining enterprise which hosted innumerable meetings, banquets and parties during the 1920s and 1930s.

Conveniently located on the north-west side of the intersection of the Knowlesville Road and Million Dollar Highway/Rt. 31, it was owned and operated by Harvey L. Hill and his wife, Blanche.

The substantial house was built as a residence for A.M. Brinsmaid in 1870. It changed hands several times and was purchased by the Hills. They added a large dining room on the south side of the building. Rooms were also available.

Unfortunately, the establishment was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of Friday, April 9, 1937. The fire was believed to have started in the cellar, possibly from an overheated furnace. Sleeping on the second floor, the Hills were awoken by choking smoke around 2 a.m. They managed to escape to the roof of the addition using a rope made of sheets. They, along with the manager, Thomas Fitzgerald and farm hand Donald Latta, had a narrow escape. Mr. Hill then ran, without shoes, to the home of his son, Percy, three quarters of a mile away, to summon the Medina Fire Dept. Assistant Fire Chief Ranallo responded with two pumpers, but a strong northeast wind and a lack of water stymied their efforts. The garage and barns were saved, but only the cellar walls of the Manor remained.

Remarkably, the Medina Rotary Club bell survived the blaze. The Club held their weekly meetings at Fairview. Dr. Harry F. Tanner left the bell under the entrance staircase following the April 6 meeting. The bronze bell, which had been presented to the club in 1923 and was used to summon members to meetings, had somehow fallen through to the basement during the fire. Its mahogany base was destroyed but the bell was in good condition.

(Left) Orleans Republican ad., July 4, 1928. (Right) Unidentified boys, Fairview Manor barn in the background.

The Hills did not rebuild. Mrs. Hill died the following year, and Mr. Hill died in 1961. They are buried at Tanner Cemetery, Ridgeway.

The Dept. of History file on Fairview Manor states that “the dwelling place which now occupies the site was moved there from the grounds of the N.Y. S. Training School in Albion.”

However, in a History of Knowlesville (1958), Lois Higgins wrote:

“The house that was moved to the spot of the Fairview Manor disaster had previously stood on the south side of West Avenue (Knowlesville), between the rear of the Hatch house and the Frank Higgins house”

Can any of our readers clarify this discrepancy? Or identify these two boys? (Email Catherine.cooper@orleanscountyny.gov)

This evocative sign was mercifully saved from the garbage pile by Erica Joan Wanescki who donated it to the Medina Historical Society.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County History

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 4

The Bishop Nursing Home in Medina, Rose Villa Nursing Home in Albion, the Rembrandt Nursing Home in Kendall are but a few of the Orleans County facilities that provided residential care for elderly and incapacitated patients from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Variously referred to as “convalescent homes,” “care homes” or “old-age homes,” they were privately owned and operated. Usually located in larger houses, the number of patients depended on how many bedrooms could be reconfigured and could range from 5 to 30.

In many cases the homeowners were nurses. Additional nursing staff were employed to cover shifts and nighttime hours. Doctors visited on a regular schedule and patient records were kept.

Patient care was provided in a homestyle setting. Meals were home-cooked, residents who were not bedridden could socialize in a common area. Family members or outside hired help assisted with housekeeping tasks.

The Holley Standard of June 15, 1954, contains an account of a new facility, the Birner Nursing Home in Kendall:

“After considerable remodeling and installations to conform with state laws, including the addition of a fire escape, the home is now ready for occupants. The patients will have the entire second floor, including a small sitting room of their own and a total of 12 patients can be taken care of. Mr. and Mrs. Binder and their two daughters will live downstairs”

The evolution of this era of public health care is complex. The concept of public responsibility for the care of the indigent had long been established and had evolved through various phases. By the beginning of the 20th century, the poorhouse model of care was under stress. Poverty rates among the elderly increased after the Depression and it was estimated that over 50% had insufficient income to support themselves.

The groundbreaking Social Security Act of 1935 provided a cash income to the elderly poor. However, the act prohibited the payment of cash to any “inmate of a public institution,” as a result of financial irregularities uncovered at almshouses and infirmaries. At that same time, many homeowners had lost their means of income and thus private nursing homes evolved.

The Medina Daily Journal, June 15, 1959 printed this ad for Green Acres Nursing Home in Albion.

We searched through obituary listings on www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org to compile this list:

ALBION

Doloway Nursing Home

Green Acres Nursing Home

Hughsen Nursing Home

Pagel’s Nursing Home

Parker Nursing Home

Rose Villa Nursing Home aka Hazard Nursing Home

BARRE

Waldo Nursing Home

CARLTON

Young’s Nursing Home

HOLLEY

Ethel DeVoe Nursing Home

Lynch Nursing Home

KENDALL

Birner Nursing Home

Rembrandt Nursing Home

MEDINA

Bishop Nursing Home

Casey Nursing Home

Poler Nursing Home

Timmy’s (Timmerman’s) Adult Home

This home care nursing home model was all but phased out by the early 1970s as the State Health Department imposed more stringent requirements.

Mrs. Gertude Patterson, operator of the Bishop Nursing Home in Medina, observed that they were being forced out oof business.

“Rocky (Nelson Rockefeller, (Gov. NYS 1959-1973) got a grant for state-owned nursing homes, so they are trying to force us little ones out of business so they can build big hospital type nursing homes.” (MDJ 8-10-1968)

On June 28, 1969, William Knights, Jr. presided over an auction of the “Entire Household Goods and Supplies” of “The Bishop.” Included were 24 hospital beds, 12 antique rockers, 12 regular rockers, 7, fire extinguishers, night bells, hospital commodes and “many other articles, too numerous to mention.”

(Special thanks to Mrs. Jean Cardone for her recollections. We welcome any additional information, photographs, etc. Send to Catherine.cooper@orleanscountyny.gov)

This 1913 map of Lyndonville shows a concentration of food processing plants adjacent to railway line and open area advertised by H.A. & A.A. Housel. (New Century Atlas of Orleans County, 1913)

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County History

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 3

An ad from Lyndonville Enterprise on January 27, 1910

“LYNDONVILLE – HER PROGRESSIVE HEALTHY GROWTH,

“AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE –

“REAL ESTATE MARKET IS ACTIVE”

“Put me off at Lyndonville” (station)

“Why?”

“Oh! Lyndonville is such an enterprising little town that it has become a desirable place in which to settle and invest money. It is wonderful how prices are soaring and if you want to be “in it” you must “get there” right quick.

Why, within this past year, 15 new dwelling houses, at a cost of from $2,500 to $3,000 have been erected and more are to be built by spring and these mostly by retired farmers in our town who have so prospered by big crops and good prices that they have been able to pay off their mortgages and still have money enough to buy a village lot at a cost of $300 to $400 and erect an elegant house with all modern improvements from a furnace to electric lights.

Small wonder then that Lyndonville was the subject of postcards such as this 1910 era card from the Balls-McComb collection.

In addition, this past year, the Lyndonville Ice and Cold Storage plant was built at a cost of  $125.000; Barnum’s brick hotel at a cost of $4,500; the Lyndonville cement Automobile Garage; N.J. Barry’s cola building with an electric elevator. F.D. Langdon’s new drive barn is in progress, as are plans for a new general store and opera house.”

This article was originally published as a centerpiece on page one of the Lyndonville Enterprise of January 27, 1910. The Housel ad. appeared in the same issue.

Lyndonville’s prosperity referred to can be attributed to the transportation service provided by the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad. The first train passed through on June 12, 1876. For the next 70 years, freight and refrigerated trains transported the area’s fine produce to market while passenger trains carried passengers to Rochester and Buffalo.

While Yates Center was the site of the first settlement in the Town of Yates, it was soon eclipsed by the growth of Lyndonville just a short distance south. The Johnson Creek waterfall provided a source of power, essential at that time for operating mills. A grist mill was built in 1836. Other businesses soon followed.

The village was incorporated in 1903. In 1908, the village contracted with the Swett Electric Light and Power Company to provide electric lamp posts on Main St. Electric power was also available for the newly built “elegant houses.”

A Town of Murray road map shows Padelford Road, which connects to Route 31 near the Hickory Ridge Golf Course and RV Resort (shown on map as SUNY at Brockport – Fancher campus.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No. 2

MURRAY – Road names are an interesting aspect of local history. We tend to take them for granted but they each have a story and reflect an aspect of our past.

Orleans County’s road names cover a range of topics: origin (Salt Works), nature (Hemlock Ridge), buildings (Schoolhouse, Fletcher Chapel), features (Culvert), boundaries (Townline, Countyline), functions (Telegraph), shape (Angling, Zig-Zag) and the wittily named Alps Road referring to its “mountainous” topography. Many roads were named for farmers or long-term residents: Carr Rd., Sawyer Rd., Lattin Rd.

Charles E. Padelford

In April 1973, Town of Murray Supervisor Thomas De Palma took what a Medina Journal editorial described as “a brave and commendable step” of naming two roads in the town in honor of former physicians. Dr. Charles E. Padelford and Dr. Leon Ogden tended to the needs of Murray residents for a total of 78 years, having started their practices in the horse and buggy era.

Padelford Road is located south of Fancher. It runs from Lynch Road to Route 31.

Ogden Road is located east of the village of Holley and runs from Route 31 to the Orleans-Monroe County line.

Charles E. Padelford was born in Canandaigua in 1869. He trained as a jeweler and optician but always wanted to practice medicine. Following his marriage to June M. Sidell in Victor in 1898, he entered the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and graduated in 1905, at the age of 36. He practiced in Clarendon for five years, then moved to Holley where he practiced until his death at the age of 74 in 1943.

In his memoir “Roses and Garlic” Michael A. Charles recounted that Dr. Padelford charged $1 for homecare, including medicine, but would accept food as payment. Since the Charles family operated a store, Dr. Padelford liked to get paid with large cans of black olives or stop at their gas pump to fill his tank.

Ogden Road is east of the Village of Holley in the southern part of Murray, close to the Clarendon town line.

Dr. Padelford helped found the Holley Rotary Club and the Holley Rod and Gun Club. In 1922, he donated a cup to the Gun Club which was to be owned permanently by the person who won the title three years in succession.

He had a keen interest in local history and was a collector of clocks, coral, books, canes and antique firearms. Several boxes of his papers were donated to the Holley Depot Museum. Dr. Padelford and his wife, Jenny, who died in 1963, are buried in Hillside Cemetery, Holley.

Dr. Leon Ogden was born in the hamlet of Allen’s Hill, Ontario County in 1875. He studied medicine at the Albany Medical School and by 1900 was practicing in the Murray area. The Holley Standard of Sept. 6, 1900, reported that “the excessive warm weather of the past week has caused a good many cases of sickness. Dr. Ogden has been very busy attending calls.”

He served as Coroner for 25 years and in 1950, he was honored by the New York State Medical Association for 50 years of service as a physician. His favorite pastimes were hunting and fishing.

He died in 1953 while vacationing in Lake Nipissing, Ontario, Canada. He and his wife, Katherine, who died in 1968 are buried in Hillside Cemetery, Holley.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 6, No.1

MEDINA – The gusty winds of January revive generational memories of terror for one household in Medina. A news article in The Daily Press, Jan 10., 1889, gave a vivid description.

“Nearly all day yesterday, the wind blew a strong gale from the west…. About four o’clock (a.m.), a terrible crash that could be heard even above the roaring of the wind, shook the town. People who heard it awoke with fear and trembling, and it was soon learned that the Methodist Church spire had fallen, and that the residence of M. Cooper, situated about twenty feet directly east, was partly buried under the pile of debris.

“People began to collect and it was found that the spire had fallen in a northeasterly direction, just grazing the west wing, tearing the cornice off and completely crushing the woodshed. The yard is filled to a depth of some three feet with a pile of broken timbers, brick and slate, all of which are broken in fine pieces and the collapse could not be more complete.”

Medina businessman, Michael Cooper (1839 – 1899) had a narrow escape when the spire of the Methodist Church fell on his home on January 10, 1889.

The residence at 216 West Center St. had been built in 1850 by Sylvester Sherman. Michael Cooper purchased it in 1866 for $3,000. At the time of the steeple collapse, it was occupied by Michael Cooper, his wife Catherine and sons John and George.

Construction of the First Methodist Episcopal Society of Medina Church at 222 West Center St. was completed in 1876. A prior location on Main Street had been destroyed by fire.

A notable feature of the new construction was a 156-foot-tall spire. (The height of the spire was also described as 180 feet and at 235 feet.) Currently, the 175-foot–high spire of the Presbyterian Church in Albion is the highest point in Orleans County.

Whatever its exact height, the spire was not structurally sound. A high wind in May 1884 caused a three-foot-long crack in the brick work. Architect A.J. Warner of Rochester, who was hired by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Medina, described the spire as “unsafe and in a ruinous condition and liable to fall and do serious damage to life and property.” He recommended that it be taken down or “rendered entirely safe” without delay.

Architect William Morgan of Somerset agreed that it was unsafe but proposed that it could be made perfectly safe with new braces. He supervised the repair which was carried out by “a force of men” and “pronounced it entirely safe, in fact stronger than ever.”

The repair only lasted four years. The church was badly damaged by the collapse of the spire, the Cooper house was badly jarred, but “the family of Mr. Cooper had a very narrow escape and are receiving the congratulations of their many friends today.”

This charming “Merry Christmas” postcard was mailed to Miss Hattie Ball in Lyndonville in 1903. (Ball-McCombs Card Collection)  

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 43

Who could better provide a glimpse into life in days gone by other than a County Historian?

Joseph B. Achilles served in that position from 1944-1957. Here are some of his observations about life in Albion in the late 1890s.

Reminiscences of Main Street

“Shopping for the ladies in those days was a comparatively simple matter. You went to Upper Landauer’s, now a grill, where Moritz Landauer sold you Sattinetts, Cassimeres, Velveteens etc., or to Lower Landauer’s where Simon Landauer, his brother, showed you the same patterns in the recently streamlined store, now operated by his grandson. That dignified and friendly competition has no counterpart in the savage merchandising of today, and you did not require a metal name plate and a number to open a charge account, and you did not have to pay before the end of the month either.”

Joseph B. Achilles, Orleans County Historian, 1944-1957

“The residents of “Ruffled Shirt Hill”, as Upper Main Street was called, turned out on Sunday morning in fine equipages, some even ran to part time coachmen and the ladies sported those small black silk parasols to protect complexions that would drive Elizabeth Arden green with envy.

Sunday morning in those days meant church, not a hangover. You dined at the Albion House about 1:30 p.m. and the check was about $.75, not $7.50. Meals like those are definitely a matter of history.

Short drives in the afternoon and a light lunch in the evening closed Sunday for our grandfathers and if the surrey with the fringe on top didn’t get you here or there very quickly, at least the finance company was not interested in it, and you could cross the street in front of it without someone collecting your insurance.

People were born, lived and usually died in their own homes. The maternity ward and the pulmotor* squad and funeral home were still in the future, and a doctor was called when you needed him and not just when you wanted him, and home remedies took care of most of the troubles of those days.

And, if the toll of years or the lack of Sulfa* or Penicillin closed your earthly account, George Brown and the Black Team took you for a quiet ride in the plumed hearse out the Avenue to Mt. Albion for a long rest in the only surroundings that seem to have defied the changes that Time has made in the Albion of those other days.”

*surrey: a four-wheeled open horse-drawn carriage

*pulmotor: an early device for artificial respiration

*Sulfa: antibiotics

The West Barre Church as it appeared in 1940.

  By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 42

WEST BARRE – Mildred Anne Paine, who grew up in the cobblestone house on Pine Hill Road in the Town of Barre, spent over forty years of her adult life as a missionary in Japan. Hers is a remarkable story.

Born on July 25, 1893, Mildred was the third of five children of Emory and Martha Waterman Paine. Emory was a farmer in Barre. Mildred’s great-grandfather, Elisha Wright, an early pioneer, was one of the organizers of the West Barre Methodist Episcopal Church, as it was then referred to, in the 1830s. (An historic marker on Eagle Harbor Road highlights the location of Wright’s home.)

Mildred received her early education at Schoolhouse #6, a one-room cobblestone structure close to her home. She later attended Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, NY and Oberlin College, Ohio. She then taught at West Barre and Shelby schoolhouses for several years.

Mildred Anne Paine, 1893-1988

In 1919, at the age of 26, she was commissioned by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society as a missionary to Japan. The Society, which had been established in 1869, sponsored and sent women to establish schools and spread the word of Christ.

Mildred studied Japanese for one year and worked at the Japanese city of Kagoshima in southern Kyushu for five years. She wrote:

“The strange Japanese culture and baffling language were my environment at the Tokyo Language School and in Kagoshima until 1926.”

She returned to the U.S. in 1927 and studied for a Master’s degree at Boston College.

In 1928, she was assigned to rebuild an important Methodist sponsored Welfare Center in Tokyo. It had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1923. The center, named “Ai Kei Gakuen” (Garden Radiating Love and Grace) was located in a slum. Many residents were ragpickers, while scores were homeless or destitute. Mildred was associated with the Center for 33 years, during which time thousands were enrolled in the orphanage, schools, and clinics which she established.

In an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle while on a rare visit home in 1934, Mildred explained that their missionary work could not be overt:

“If we made any attempt to coerce the people towards the religion, the Buddhists and Shintoists would at once take their children away. If we live our faith, and the people find there is something in Christianity that these other religions do not have, then is the time to explain. Once they become our friends, then we can discuss any subject freely with them.”

She commented that life there was far from monotonous, but full of thrilling adventures and “underground currents.”

With the outbreak of WWII, Mildred was interned in September 1942. Her sister, Helen Parsons Frey, recounted that “The soldiers who came to arrest her shot their guns inside of her house. All of her dishes were broken – except one plate. She found the plate when she returned after her internment.”

Fortunately, Mildred experienced “very fair” treatment at the camp. She was also fortunate to be among the 1,300 repatriates who boarded the M.S. Gripsholm, a Swedish cruise ship which had been chartered by the U.S. government to transport civilians and POWs caught behind enemy lines.

Mildred enjoyed time with her brother Cuyler following  her return to the U.S. in 1963. He died in 1965.

The six-week return voyage began in Mormuago, a small harbor in Portuguese India, on October 19, 1943 and included stops in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Rio de Janeiro. On her arrival in New York on December 1, 1943, Mildred was greeted by her sister, Helen (Howard Parsons) and by Rev. Jesse Young, and his wife Ruth, who later served at the West Barre Church from 1955-57.

Mildred spent several months with Helen, Howard and their family at the family home on Pine Hill Road. She returned to Japan after the war and remained there until 1962. She was awarded two honors by the Japanese government: a citation from the Welfare Ministry of Japan in 1958, for her “devotion to children, boys and youth welfare” and in 1960, the 4th Class of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare in recognition of her social work at Ai Kei Gakuen.

Upon her return to the U.S. in 1963, she was involved in counseling and promotional work for the Wesleyan Service Guild. Following a stroke in 1967, she went to live at the United Methodist Retirement Home in Asheville, N.C., where she died on September 7, 1988, at the age of 95. She is buried in the family plot in the West Barre Cemetery.

A collection of Mildred’s personal papers, including 23 diaries, correspondence and photographs is held by the General Commission on Archives and History, an online mission of the United Methodist Church. This collection covers the years 1957-1974. Sadly, the material from 1926-1943, which would have chronicled her first impressions and early experiences, is missing.  Most likely, it was destroyed at the time of her arrest.

Mildred’s brother, Cuyler and sister, Ruth continued the family involvement with the West Barre Church. In later years, her younger sister, Clara Otis, joined Mildred in Japan to assist her missionary work. Continuing the family tradition, her niece, Esther, and husband George Heustis spent forty-three years as missionaries in Brazil.

Mildred’s sister Helen served in the Youth Ministry in New York City along with her husband, Marvin Frey. Marvin wrote over 300 hymns and is the subject of an historic marker at the West Barre Cemetery.

Many thanks to Adrienne Daniels, Town of Barre Historian, and Karen Markle of the West Barre Church for their generous assistance.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 41

This song, “Make Orleans County Dry,” was discovered in  notebook from the pages of a birthday book for the W.C.T.U. in Gaines.

GAINES – A rousing song was found nestled in the pages of the Gaines W.C.T.U. (Woman’s Christian Temperance Union) Birthday Book, a modest notebook with handwritten entries of members’ birthdays for each month of the year and another of the quiet gems in the Orleans County Dept. of History’s local history collection.

This is what gladdens the heart of a local historian! A quintessential piece of local history. The power of a single sheet of paper to evoke another era and a totally different sensibility.

Come comrades to the rescue, help make Orleans County dry,

In this glorious cause of temperance help to lift the standard high

And this shall be our slogan until victory draweth nigh,

Make Orleans County dry.

This composition directly connects a larger, national movement with its interpretation at the local level. What could be more local than a listing of the ten towns of Orleans?

The issue that galvanized the anonymous poet was the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, organized in Cleveland, Ohio in 1874 to combat the influence of alcohol on families and society.

Women of every rank and class could attest to the domestic abuse and impoverishment which resulted from the consumption of alcohol. Members pledged to abstain from all alcoholic beverages and opium and to encourage others to do likewise.

Earnest and committed women galvanized this movement. Locally, an early reference to a Temperance meeting appears in the February 4, 1874, issue of the Orleans Republican, when Rev. Mr. Hoyt spoke at the Free Will Baptist Church in East Gaines.

In June 1885, the temperance organizations in Orleans County were invited to a July 4th Temperance Basket Picnic at the grove property of Mr. C.J. Lewis. The Knowlesville Woman’s Christian Temperance Union furnished tea and coffee, ice cream and lemonade as well as confections, all at reasonable prices.

The semi-annual convention of the Orleans County Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was held in Albion in January 1890. The Millville Woman’s Temperance Union advertised their monthly meeting in 1895.

“Making Orleans County Dry” was a serious proposition. By 1908, the towns of Barre, Gaines and Yates had “voted dry” – well in advance of the 18th Amendment which introduced Prohibition in 1920. According to the Medina Daily Journal, nine towns were “dry” by June 1916, a statistic which helps date our song. We would venture to say that it was composed 1914-1916.

We cannot but smile at the anonymous poet’s rhymes, especially in the third verse.

Ten towns are in our county, six of which have closed their gates.

Barre, Carlton, Gaines and Kendall, Murray and the town of Yates,

Against the legalized saloon, which for the young awaits,

Make Orleans County dry.

His composition lends itself easily to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic. Appropriately enough, and continuing the tradition, the words of the Battle Hymn were set to the melody of John Brown’s Body, an abolitionist song.

Press Release, Orleans County Historical Association

Dennis Carr

GAINES – The Orleans County Historical Association (OCHA) invites the public to their annual luncheon meeting and program at Tavern on the Ridge on December 6th at 12:30 p.m.

Dennis Carr, a founding member of the Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, will be the guest speaker.

“We are fortunate to have Dennis as this year’s guest speaker,” said Sue Starkweather Miller, OCHA Trustee. “He will discuss The Arrest and Trial of Susan B. Anthony: Strategy, Tactics, and the Struggle to Vote. Dennis is an expert on this topic and has led tours for many years at Mt. Hope Cemetery, where Susan B. Anthony is buried.”

With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, and its plain language implication that women, as citizens, had the right to vote, master strategist Susan B. Anthony decided to test the Constitution.

She, her sister Mary, and fourteen other Rochester women registered, and then voted in the 1872 federal election, resulting in Anthony’s arrest, trial, and conviction. The registrars and elections inspectors, the women who supported her by voting, the judge who issued the warrant, the arresting deputy U.S. marshal, and her attorneys are all permanent residents of Mount Hope Cemetery.

Front page news across the country, this real-life Rochester drama, gave Susan B. Anthony the deserved reputation as the most effective advocate and leader of the woman suffrage movement.

Lunch is $30 per person.  Menu choices are vegetable lasagna, cottage pie or winter salad with chicken breast.  Relish tray, beverage and dessert are included.  To make your reservations, call Orleans County Historian Catherine Cooper at 585-589-4174. You can pay at the door or send a check with your lunch choice to OCHA, 3286 Gaines Basin Road, Albion, NY 14411.

OCHA’s mission is to preserve, restore, and maintain what is significant to the history and antiquity of Orleans County, NY.

George E. Smith of Albion wrote and mailed a monthly newsletter to soldiers who were part of a Sunday School Class at the United Methodist Church.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 40

This card was sent to George E. Smith of Albion in response to his monthly correspondence with servicemen during World War II.

ALBION – During World War II, George E. Smith wrote and mailed a monthly newsletter to the servicemen members of the Woods Brothers Men’s Class of the United Methodist Church in Albion.

His daughter, Aloha (Smith) Vick, compiled the correspondence into several albums which were recently donated to the Orleans County Dept. of History by his granddaughter, June (Vick) Schuck.

From Paris, France, Dec. 1944:

“Each month I look forward to receiving the Woods Brotherhood News and I appreciate very much your sending it to me. It always seems good to hear where the other boys are stationed and all about the church activities at home.”

Naturally, the albums make compelling reading. The newsletters provided seasonal information about the weather as well as tidbits of information regarding those who served. Mailed to far flung parts of the globe, this “news” helped service men feel remembered and connected.

George E. Smith wrote a total of thirty-eight issues of the Woods Brotherhood News. The final issue, the “Peace Issue” was written on Sept. 19, 1945.

Recipients of the Newsletters were very appreciative. Their return letters invariably began with expressions of gratitude. Several commented that fellow servicemen envied this correspondence and wished their churches had done likewise.

From: Somewhere in New Guinea, Dec. 1944, J.K. Shipman BKR 1/C USN:

“Your very nice Christmas greeting came yesterday, right on the proper day. I don’t see how you managed to judge the exact day to mail it.”

From Somewhere in Egypt, Nov. 1942, Gil Pritchard:

“Probably at this time, more than any other, I have come to realize how much I enjoy your letters. It may be because of the distance we are from you, or it may be because we are no longer in the States practicing but we are now playing for keeps.”

Portion of a Woods Brothers Newsletter, February 1943

Even though letters were censored, they provide compelling details:

From France, August 1944, A.M. Webber, “Lonnie”

(He operated a water-purifying unit)

Several days last week, we purified about thirty-thousand gallons of water per day. That was a lot of water to put through our small units. Of course, we worked 20 hours a day to do it.

At the present time, we are pretty close to the front line and we have lots of artillery around us. In fact, that is all they do all day and all night is shell the Germans. It is hard to sleep. There’s so much noise. The last two nites we have been shelled by the enemy. In fact, last nite, they landed a shell about 70 feet away from our foxhole and shrapnel went everywhere. We really felt the concussion from that shell, although none of us were hit because we were all in our fox holes.

I guess our boys over here are really going fast. Of course, we really have more equipment. However, the Germans are no pushover. I don’t think it will last much longer now. I would say about three months more and it will be over here.”

News from a proud new father:

Somewhere in Dutch New Guinea, Jan. 1945, Sgt. Louis Massaro, Jan. 1944:

“It may interest you to know that while I was on the boat coming over here, a baby boy was born, my son, named Thomas Charles Massaro. So you see, I have yet to see my son. My wife and son are both doing good, the last I’ve heard from them.”

P.S. Give my regards to the rest of the Brotherhood class and tell the people back home, our friends, that War is Hell.”

Newsletter writer, George E. Smith, grew up on Smith Road in Shelby. He was a state agriculturalist, and an active Mason as well as a member of the United Methodist Church. Incidentally, this is the anniversary of his death: he was killed in an accident on November 15, 1950, in Sodus, New York, when the car in which he was a passenger collided with a train.

‘Continuity doesn’t mean that no change occurs, but that what does change remains recognizable and connected to the past.’ – Adrienne Kirby

A photo from the early 1900s, showing the front of what is now the Tavern on the Ridge, the former Village Inn.

By Adrienne Kirby, Town of Gaines Historian

GAINES – The Bicentennial of Orleans County is a singular point in time to reflect on our roots. As historian, it is part and parcel of my job description.

Occasionally, I am asked to provide a letter of support for historical endeavors in Gaines. Several years ago, the Cobblestone Society asked for a letter to support their efforts to place the hamlet of Childs on the National Historic Register. As I thought about the importance and significance of Childs and of how I would express that to someone who had never seen it, I realized that what I had written was a bit of an “Ode to Childs” in prose.

In the spirit of the County Legislature, which encouraged the citizens of Orleans County to “commemorate the worthwhile endeavors of their predecessors and look forward to the future of this fine county with optimism,” in their Proclamation for the Bicentennial, I present my reflection on Childs, NY.

Our two hundred year old home sits on a rise that slightly elevates it above most of the other buildings in Childs. One of my favorite aspects of our house is the view from my son’s second story bedroom window at night. From there, I can look over the rooftops of my neighbors to the east and see the heart of Childs.

From this angle, the Tavern on the Ridge is barely visible, largely in shadow. The traffic light indicates the crossroads hidden by the silhouettes of houses crowded up against the southwest corner. A portion of Crosby’s signage glows, adding further illumination to the Cobblestone Church, its bell tower a stunning stark white against a black evening sky. This scene is almost magical on a snowy winter’s night; it is so still and peaceful.

A notable aspect of Childs is its continuity. Continuity doesn’t mean that no change occurs, but that what does change remains recognizable and connected to the past. Architecturally speaking, some buildings have been repurposed from their original intent. Others have had some minor exterior cosmetic changes made over the last sixty years in the name of energy efficiency or ease of maintenance. But by and large, these buildings would be easily recognized by their former inhabitants. The convenience store building, a mere fifteen years old, can also lay claim to continuing Child’s history; there has almost always been a general store on that corner, selling food and sundry goods.

A photo from 1964 shows spectators gathered across the road from the H&A Superette to view the addition of the restored tower to the Cobblestone Church.

The buildings in Childs take center stage, and yet there are trees, too, that serve as landmarks and contribute to the sense of continuity here. Driving in from the east, the lone pine in the front yard of the Visitor’s Center signals one’s approach to Childs long before the road sign does.

Coming from the south, a beautiful sycamore just north of the intersection, nearly three times taller than the corner store, crowns the horizon. The oversize leaves and fragrant blossoms of the catalpa tree at the Vagg house add to the sense of place.

These particular trees and others, have been here nearly a hundred years or more. I know of an instance in which a neighbor successfully negotiated with the town to prevent an old maple from being cut down. The trees are as much a part of Child’s heritage as its buildings.

Two hundred years ago, most of Child’s citizens were farmers. Agriculture remains a primary industry in the Town of Gaines. Almost every backyard of the some dozen families of this hamlet looks out onto a field. In 1890, these fields probably produced beans. In the 1950s, there were surely tomatoes growing. Now, we tend to see wheat or soybeans.

Agriculture has yet another impact here. Unlike many other livelihoods and professions now, farmers don’t move every few years. Because they are dependent upon the land, they understand the value of a particular place. Farmers helped found the Cobblestone Society in order to save the cobblestone church, as well as the schoolhouse. They continue to be significant contributors to large scale community projects.

The National Register of Historic Places highlights what is unique and worth preserving for a national audience. A successful application from the Cobblestone Society to place the hamlet of Childs on the Register will affirm and make known to the whole country what we who live here have long known and appreciated.

The Cobblestone Church, Ward House and Schoolhouse have been designated National Historic Landmarks for several decades, the only buildings in Orleans County to have that honor. But in March of this year, all of Childs was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, giving our bit of Western New York a well-deserved national spotlight, highlighting how the past and the present can live side by side. It is a source of pride to those of us, who, in the words of the Legislature, “acknowledge the advantage of living here.”

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 39

Photos from Orleans County Department of History: A World War II Blue Star Service Flag is shown from the First United Methodist Church of Albion.

ALBION – A World War II Blue Star Service Flag was recently donated to the Orleans County Dept. of History.

It is large, 8 feet by 12 feet with a red border. The center is white and contains twelve rows of blue stars. Each star has a name underneath, written on heavy paper and stitched on to the cloth background.

The flag dates to World War II. The names represent the members of the First United Methodist Church of Albion Sunday School as well as members of the church who “had entered our country’s service.”

The flag was dedicated on October 11, 1942, and was displayed prominently in the church sanctuary. It contains 72 stars. Seventy-two sons from this one congregation in Albion off in the war, a lot of worry for their families.

Mercifully, there is just one Gold Star. It is for Pvt. James A. Brundish Jr., who was killed in action on the Italian front on June 16, 1944. He was the son of James and Irene Brundish. The family lived at 117 Chamberlain St. in Albion. According to his registration card, James was 5’10”, 150 lbs., had brown hair and blue eyes. He worked at Loblaw’s Grocery Store. He enlisted at the age of 18 and was killed 14 months later. He is buried at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Ky.

Two families had four sons in the service: the Massaro brothers: Anthony, Louis, Thomas and Joseph and the Vick brothers: Arnold, Howard, Charles and Harold, while the three Woodruff brothers: Clayton, Raymond and Gerald were also enlisted.

This poignant reminder of bravery was donated by June V. Schuck of Albion. Her grandfather was one of the Vick brothers mentioned. June also donated several volumes of newsletters sent to service members and their responses, which we will share next week.

List of the World War II Service Members from the First United Methodist Church of Albion

• Lyman J. Clark
• William Kast
• Noran Bibby
• Harold Vick
• James A. Beckwith
• Arnold C. Garrison
• Earl Whitbeck
• Charles McOmber
• Clayton Woodruff
• Raymond Woodruff
• Gerald Woodruff
• Arthur Brundish
• Lewis Grimes
• Harold E. Frank, Jr.
• George A. Brace
• Robert Swartz
• Francis Dunn
• Charles T. Milliken
• Earl Filer
• John Shipman
• Robert Lee
• Charles Carr
• Robert Sanford
• Leonard Garrity
• James C. Lewis
• Earl F. Bacon
• John O. Ellis
• Charles A. Vick
• Lyman Stetson
• Gilbert Pritchard
• William Campbell
• Donald Bloom
• Gordon Swartz
• 

  A star on the flag is for Harold Knapp.

  Robert Moore

• Fr??? Howe
• George Clark
• Albert Miles
• Harold Winer
• Edward Brundish
• Claude Shenton
• Lloyd Cornwell
• Robert Bloom
• Ronald J. Bartlett
• Alonzo M. Webber
• Roy Rutledge
• Herman Brockway
• Clark Miller, Jr.
• Arnold N. Vick
• Claude Marshall
• Howard J. Vick
• Everett Young
• Charles A. Vick
• Thomas F. Hazard
• John Waldo
• Rexford C. Briggs
• Richard C. Bloom
• Clyde Nixon
• William A. Marsh
• Harold C. Knapp
• Hubert Richey
• Arnold Jensen
• Horace J. Holliday
• Louis Massaro
• William Wolfe
• Milton Bibby
• Frederick Brace
• Laverne Wiers
• Wesley Campbell
• John Weeks
• Joseph Massaro
• Gerald Eddy
• Thomas Massaro

Photographs courtesy of Tom Wenhold: A quince tree in full glory on Route 18 in the Town of Yates.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 38

How was your quince harvest this year? Did you make a quince pie or a batch of quince marmalade?

Quince trees were cultivated in Orleans County orchards for many years but have become less common.

The October 6, 1847, Orleans Republican carried an ad from the N. Spicer & Son Nursery at Kendall Corners advertising quince trees for sale.

A fruit orchard “near the Knowlesville depot” which was offered for sale in March 1875, included a quince orchard of 100 trees.

The quince crop of 1883 was unusually large. About 4,000 barrels shipped from Albion at $3.50 per barrel.

In the 1970s, the Brown farm in Waterport grew 55 acres of quince, “the largest acreage of quince on one farm in the U.S.” according to a Journal-Register article.

A ripening quince in sunlight.

A quince resembles a cross between an apple and a pear and emits a lemony aroma. The fruit is hard even when ripe and cannot be eaten out of hand when picked, but must be stewed, candied or jellied to make it palatable. It turns a lovely rosy hue when cooked. It has a high pectin content and was used to make jelly and marmalade. It is high in Vitamin C and antioxidants.

Here is a recipe for a Quince Pie from the “Queen of the Household” cookbook published in 1891: Pare, slice and stew 6 quinces till soft, then press through a sieve. Add to this 1-pint milk and 4 well beaten eggs. Sweeten to taste. Bake in a bottom crust ¾ hour in a moderate oven.

Another recipe in the book is for “Quince Cheese,” which is quince marmalade boiled down very thick. “It will turn out as firm as cheese and can be cut into slices.” No doubt this was the origin of the “slices of quince” mentioned in that wonderful nonsense poem by Edward Lear, “The Owl and the Pussycat.”

“They dined on mince and slices of quince

  Which they ate with a runcible spoon.”

Construction of Route 18 started in 1920s in Orleans County

Photos by Tom Rivers: Roosevelt Highway at the Yates-Carlton town line is shown on Saturday.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 37

A recent drive along Route 18 prompted the question: Which Roosevelt is the Roosevelt Highway named for?

As is often the case with a seemingly simple question, it led to many layers of discovery. It transpires that this is a road of many names. It was originally known as St. John’s Road, most likely from St. John’s Lutheran Church in the Countyline hamlet. It is now generally referred to as Route 18. In addition to being part of the Roosevelt Highway, it is also designated as the Great Lakes Seaway Trail.

This gas station operated from 1930 to 1943. Arpeako was a hot dog brand.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt would seem to be the obvious choice for the road name because of his association with efforts to stimulate the economy during the Depression. Also, he was a friend of Orleans County Judge Bernard Ryan. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Ryans on two occasions.

But the honor goes to Theodore Roosevelt.

Shortly after his death in January 1919, a civic group in Minnesota proposed the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, an automobile trail across the north of the country, from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. The name was later changed to Roosevelt Memorial Highway, though Roosevelt Highway is the most common usage.

The first reference to the road in the Orleans County newspapers was in a July 3, 1919, edition of the Lyndonville Enterprise. The North County Notes correspondent wrote: “Preparing to make the new Roosevelt Highway attractive, D.E. Kenyon and John Beckwith are giving their buildings a new coat of paint.” We detect a note of humor there.

The Olcott Beach to Somerset section of the Roosevelt Highway was completed in 1923. It traversed the famous fruit belt of Niagara County was described as “one of the finest drives in Western New York”.

In November of 1923, a 10-year plan for road development proposed a continuation of the Roosevelt Highway through Orleans and Monroe counties, on through Oswego to St. Lawrence County.

Roosevelt Highway at the Hard Road intersection is an area in the Kuckville hamlet in the town of Carlton.

The Orleans County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution in March 1926 requesting the state highway department prepare plans for the improvement of county roads, including the Roosevelt Highway, a distance of 25 miles, connecting Monroe County through Hilton to Rochester and west through Niagara County to the Niagara Frontier.

W.J. Gallagher of Medina was awarded the contract to construct a concrete road from Countyline Corners to Kuckville, a 10-mile stretch which would include three small bridges as well as a bridge at Kuckville, “the longest highway bridge built in the county.” The cost to the county was $215,600, total cost was $678,000. “When finished it is expected to make a scenic and historic route between the Genesee and Niagara rivers, running at times along the southern shore of LO.”

The route was based on an east-west trail formed by Native Americans and early settlers, because of its proximity to the lake. The Medina Daily Journal of 21 August 1929 noted that several log houses were still in existence along the route but by then were being were used as farm buildings.

Soon “desirable summer home sites” such as these lots at Sunset Beach “reached by good auto roads” were being advertised. Nineteen people purchased lots the first week they were placed on the market.

Incidentally, there’s still a short section of road named St. John’s Road in the Town of Yates. It runs from Power Line Road to East Lake Shore Road.

Medina Tribune ad., May 1930