‘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

Photos from Orleans County Department of History Collection – “Transportation Options”

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 5, No. 36

The photo at top shows a lady, wearing the hat and ankle-length skirt of the era, walking along a path. Powerline poles, adorned with glass insulators, line the route.

An automobile approaches. Spooked by this noisy charging machine, the horses have to be led by their drivers. This photograph perfectly captures the old and the new, that brief time when the pivot was tilting from the horse-drawn era to the age of electric power and automobiles.

Road conditions such as those photographed above and directly below led to the formation of the Good Roads Movement in the 1880s. Rural and suburban roads were mostly dirt: muddy and soft when it rained, dusty when dry.

The campaign to improve the roads was initiated by bicyclists who were enjoying the freedom of the roads for the first time. The advent of the automobile further highlighted the problem of muddy roads, as rutted roads damaged vehicles.

“Stuck in the Mud” Burrows Collection, Orleans County Dept. of History Collection

The Good Roads Movement was not without controversy. Who would be responsible for the cost of improving roads? In New York State, some people argued that infrastructure investment had focused too much on the canal and the railroads to the detriment of rural roads. Others argued that the canal and the railroads were far more efficient in transporting goods, so why bother with investing in roads?

Much of the debate focused on whether the condition of the roads impacted farmers. Proponents argued that farmers were socially isolated and hampered in getting access to markets.

Farmers resented the imposition of an extra tax. They also felt that the tax would be used to improve roads other than the roads they needed. This debate was aired in the newspapers right through the 1920s. The Lyndonville Enterprise, for example, ran regular columns of syndicated posts on Good Roads.

In New York State, the issue of payment for road improvements was first addressed by the Higbie-Armstrong* Good Roads Act of 1898 which established cost-sharing between municipalities, counties and the state for the construction of main roads.

The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 provided matching federal funds for road paving conducted by the states and in 1921, the Federal Aid Highway Act provided funding for paving up to 7% of roads in each state.

Lynn & Bea Burrows on a happier motoring outing. (Burrows Collection)

*Senator William W. Armstrong, who co-sponsored the 1898 Good Roads legislation, spent his early years in Albion. Educated locally, he became a lawyer and was clerk of the Orleans County Board of Supervisors in 1886 and 1887. He later moved to Rochester where he was elected State Senator from 1899-1908.  He died in 1944 and is buried in Mount Albion Cemetery.

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.