‘When Albion organized an oil company in 1864 to speculate in Pennsylvania oil and lost all the cash it invested?’

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 9

“I remember when…..”

These words, when uttered by an elder, are almost always guaranteed to send the younger generation scurrying from the room. As we age, we tend to reminisce about “the way things used to be.”

In recent years, social media has facilitated memory sharing, we can find online peers to confirm our recollections, even if the young folk are disinterested.

In the early 1920s, Albion newspaper editor Lafayette H. Beach, used his newspaper, The Orleans Republican, as a platform for his reminiscences. Born in 1856, Beach, for whom Albion’s Lafayette Park is named, was then in his sixties, a decade when the onset of “rememberingitis” is prevalent.

The columns were titled:

“Doings of the Old Days Long Gone By – Do You Remember?” They consisted of memories framed as short questions. These entries capture the flavor and color of daily life some fifty years prior i.e. the 1870s to 1890s.

Here are some, with explanations where necessary:

“When Albion was an open town for gamblers and painted women and when John N. Proctor as Village President and John Cunneen as Village Attorney put skids under these undesirables and moved them out of town?”

“When the rule prevailed with workingmen of one day’s wage for one week’s rent?”

“When Albion belonged to the Town of Barre* and our folks travelled to Barre Center for political caucuses and election in the spring, rain or shine?”

(*The Town of Albion was formed in 1875 from 17,000 approx. acres in northern Barre.)

“When spray rigs were unknown, and worms and bugs had their orchard picnics without fear of poison spray?”

 “When cows roamed the village streets and were sometimes coaxed into backyards and robbed of their milk by mischievous boys who had learned how to filch the lacteal fluid?”

A Dolly Varden outfit

“When venison and bear meat were sold in the local markets every winter?”

“When the butcher used to give away liver and other interior trimmings and never expected that one day they would be exchanged for coin?”

“When crinolines* were the proper thing and women’s full dress skirts were ten yards around the bottom and just escaped the ground?”

(*Crinolines were stiffened or hooped petticoats which made the skirt stand out, thus making the waist appear smaller. They were popular from the 1850’s to the late 1870’s.)

“When Dolly Varden* costumes were in great favor with the ladies?”

(*The Dolly Varden costume was popular in the early 1870s. Named for a Charles Dickens character from his novel Barnaby Rudge, the outfit featured a brightly patterned dress with a polonaise overskirt which was gathered up and draped over a separate underskirt. A flat straw hat trimmed with flowers and ribbons completed the ensemble.)

“When tobacco was a staple farm crop along the Ridge and when Revenue agents used to snoop around and try to catch farmers selling tobacco without a government tax?”

“When the Western New York Hedge Company* induced farmers to edge their farms with hedges which later took money, time and labor to pull out?”

(*The Buffalo Weekly Express, 29 July 1886, noted that a stock company called the Western New York Hedge company had been formed in Medina with a capital of $20,000. On 27 April 1893, the Democrat & Chronicle noted that the company had failed.

“When sugar beets appealed to the farmers and they raised them for the Lyons* sugar factory for $5 per ton, the state paying $1 per ton as a bonus to encourage production?”

(*The Empire State Sugar Company factory was built in the Wayne County town of Lyons in 1900.)

“When Albion organized an oil company in 1864 to speculate in Pennsylvania oil and lost all the cash it invested?”

“When boils* and felons* were a common affliction of mankind?”

(*Boils were painful bumps that formed on the skin, felons were infections that formed on the pads of the fingertips.)

“When the child with a sore throat or stiff neck wound a wool stocking around the neck as a sure cure?”

“When political bigotry was so rampant that no Republican would take a Democrat paper and no Democrat would take a Republican paper?”

By Catherine Cooper, County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 7

Sadly, the name selected for this young person was not recorded on this studio photograph.

Our first names can reveal a lot about us – the era we were born in, ethnicity,

or religious background, for example. We tend to make assumptions about people based on their first names.

Faced with this responsibility, it is no wonder that expectant parents find that selecting a name for their newborn is a daunting prospect. Some prospective parents already have a favorite name in mind.

For the others, there are so many choices: family names, historical names, currently popular names, old fashioned names, or names associated with nationality or religion.

Will we name him Henry or Michael or Landon or Louis?

Should she be called Jordan or Aoife or Carol or Lydia or Emmalyn or Elizabeth?

Suggestions for names may of course be found in baby name books but as local historians can attest, older graveyards are a rich source of unique and melodious first names.

Thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, burials at these cemeteries have been listed, a painstaking process. They have since been digitized and may be accessed from the comforts of home by clicking here.

Not surprisingly, there are many instances of demure and virtuous first names, for girls, of course: Charity, Content, Mercy, Patience, Thankful or Virtue.

There are many strong, aspirational name choices for the boys: Deliverance, Freelove, Noble, Philander or Victory.

Here is a list of possible first name choices, all found in the smaller rural cemeteries of Orleans County:

For boys: Adin, Adonijah, Archelaus, Birdsall, Boudoin, Dillis, Dimmick, Epaphras, Fordyce, Ithamar, Kenyon, Nehemiah, Obediah, Orephesus, Peleg, Polycarpus, Remick, Sellick, Theophilus, Ypsilanti, Zardius, Zebulon or Zenas.

For girls: Adelia, Alzoa, Athilla, Aurilla, Diadema, Gashea, Lutheny, Lynneota, Hepsey, Mehetable, Narcissa, Orilla, Perthenia, Philanda, Rosepha, Roxalana, Ruhama or Triphene.

Apart from these notable first names, there are some joyous combinations of first and last names also. Who could resist but linger over these names:

• Content Swift (Yates Center Cemetery)
• Freelove Hall (Pine Hill Cemetery)
• Narcissa White (Tanner Cemetery)
• Thankful Snow (1915 Census, Albion)
• Victory Ball (Union Cemetery)
• Wealthy Joy (Lynhaven Cemetery)

Let me know if you select any of these first name suggestions!

The study of personal names: Anthroponymy

Elbert Johnson, 30, was married with 2 young children

Elbert Johnston married Pauline Skinner on June 4, 1913

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 6

HOLLEY – Elbert Johnston, Part 2. In our previous column (click here), we read about Elbert’s move to Holley in 1907 from a journal that he wrote at that time.

Elbert settled in to life in Holley and continued to work at Hudson Canning, the fruit and vegetable processing plant owned by his uncle, Joseph B. Hudson.

When Hudson Canning acquired the Batavia Canning Company plant in Brockport in 1910, Elbert was appointed superintendent. Elbert also managed the Holley plant when his uncle went to Long Island to attend to the original Hudson Canning plant in Mattituck in Suffolk County.

Elbert married Pauline Skinner on June 4, 1913. Born in Rochester on July 6, 1889, Pauline was the daughter of DeWitt and Stella Skinner. Pauline worked in the office of the Shinola Company, a Rochester based company which produced boot and shoe polish.

The couple was engaged on New Year’s Eve, 1912, following a courtship of six months. The wedding took place at Pauline’s home, 209 Flower City Park, in Rochester, on June 4, 1913, with about sixty guests in attendance. Elbert was then aged 26 and Pauline was 24.

“The bride wore a gown of white voile trimmed with ratine lace, made over white silk and carried a shower Bouquet of Bride roses and lilies of the valley….The groom’s gift to the bride was a gold monogram watch and pin.”

A wedding supper was served following the ceremony. According to a family story, an ice-cream maker set up on the front porch was snatched by  young boy, but the bride’s father chased him down the street and retrieved it.

Elbert Johnston photographed on Sept.1, 1918, with his daughter, Arietta Jean, born March 9, 1917.

The couple honeymooned in New York City and lived in Brockport at first, but later moved to Holley, to a house across the tracks from Elbert’s uncle’s home.

Pauline assisted with office work at the canning factory.

Their daughter, Arietta Jean, was born on March 9, 1917, at Park Ave. Hospital in Rochester. Pauline had stayed with her parents for two weeks before the birth, to be close to the hospital. Elbert visited frequently. Arietta was named for Elbert’s mother, Arietta Hudson Johnston.

Pregnant with their second child, Pauline went to stay with her parents in Rochester again, in September 1918. Arrietta accompanied her.

A letter, which Elbert wrote to Pauline on Wednesday, September 25, 1918, survives. It is full of the details of their everyday lives. Elbert wrote that he brought some wood home and set a fire in the kitchen as the house was damp, gathered dandelions for the rabbit’s breakfast and cleaned the hutch. Lad, their Irish setter dog, spent a lot of time at the office, sleeping at the back of the stove. He included a snippet of gossip: “Chet and his wife are separating.” Elbert enquired after Arietta Jean and wrote that he would see them on the coming Sunday.

Their son, Robert Walter, who was named for Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, was born on Saturday, September 28, 1918. But when Elbert went to visit on Sunday, as promised, he was denied entry. Visitors were not allowed at the hospital on account of the Spanish flu epidemic.

Within a week, a quarantine was declared in Holley where the flu was rampant. Elbert contracted it. His Aunt Allie cared for him, but he died on October 18, 1918, just shy of his thirty-first birthday, having been ill for just one week. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Rochester.

His son, Robert Walter, was two weeks old. Elbert had not had an opportunity to see him because of the quarantine. Arietta Jean was nineteen months old.

Following Elbert’s death, Pauline remained in Rochester with her parents. She never returned to their home in Holley, which was sold. Later, since she needed to earn a living, and was an accomplished seamstress, she took a correspondence course in dressmaking and started a business.

This poignant tale is sourced from items graciously donated to the Orleans County Dept. of History by Gail Wadsworth, daughter of Arietta Jean. Considering the domestic upheaval surrounding Elbert’s death and the fact that Pauline moved house several times, it is quite remarkable that these items survived.

True, this material just provides details on the life and death of one individual. But from a local history point of view, its significance is that it helps us understand the great events of the time. It also points to the role of the local history entity in the preservation of such unique and irreplaceable documents.

In our previous column, we mentioned that Elbert and some friends attended a Political Suffrage program in Holley in 1907. It is apparent from Elbert’s comments following the event that he was not in favor of women’s suffrage, which is surprising, given that he was a modern young man from New York City who enjoyed the company of young ladies. His stance starkly indicates the daunting negativity and prejudice that faced the suffragists.

We can read that 65,000 people in the United States died from the Spanish flu, but when we read about a relatable individual, a healthy young man from Holley who succumbed having been ill for a week, we realize how virulent it was and the long-lasting impact it had on so many families.

Incidentally, at one point, Pauline and her family were neighbors of the Reverend Randall Kenyon family, whose housemaid was May Howard, a young English girl, one of the survivors of the Titanic, who is buried at Boxwood Cemetery, Medina…but that’s another story.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 4, No. 5

Elbert Johnston was initiated as an Entered Apprentice of Murray Lodge No. 380, Free and Accepted Masons on January 25, 1910, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on February 8, 1910, and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason (Third Degree) on February 22, 1910.

HOLLEY – May 4, 1907: “Up early, left New York, 7:50 am train….. At Mauch Chunk (PA.), went into the dining car and had dinner, Vegetable soup, English mutton chops, potatoes with cream and ice-cream, cost $1.25 with a tip of 25c. The waiter gave me the menu as a souvenir…..Had to change trains at Rochester….Mailed card to Mother….Walked about a mile from the Lehigh Valley Station to the N.Y.C.& H.R. Railroad and waited for the 7:55 pm train. Reached Holley nearly 9 pm.”

Thus begins a charming journal, written by Elbert Johnston, then aged 19, as he started his journey to a new job and a new life in Holley, NY.  The journal is short-lived, little more than a month long, but the entries are detailed and offer a unique view into daily life in a rural village at that time.

Elbert was born in New York in 1887. His mother died when he was young. His father remarried. Following his death, Elbert was raised by his stepmother, Emma Johnston. He worked at the U.H. Dudley Co. in the city.

In May of 1907, he moved to Holley to work as a bookkeeper at Hudson Canning, the family business. Elbert’s Aunt Alice was the wife of Joseph B. Hudson, originally from Mattituck, Long Island, who had built the Hudson Canning factory in Holley in 1901. (See Column V4, No.4)

When he arrived, Elbert noted that “The house is not quite finished inside, and things are all in any old place.” It seems that his aunt and uncle had just moved in. There are references throughout to workmen in the house, the new bathtub “Very good washing, only the sides are slippery,” carpet selection, planting a hedge, sowing grass seed and putting sheep-manure on it.

Having arrived on a Saturday, Elbert attended the Baptist Church next day:

“I was welcomed and stayed to communion and Sunday School. The new minister, Rev. Herrell had a cold and could not speak very well. There were 81 people present and about half of that number in church service.”

He “fell in” to work at Hudson Canning on Monday, May 6 and “began to charge from farmers seed receipts to farmers ledger. Wrote letter to Gt. A&P Tea Co….and later mailed them 200 Hudson gallon apple labels by express collect.”

He recorded details of what he worked on each day at the Canning factory office.

It seems that there was a backlog of accounting to be dealt with. Once that was in order, he spent a great deal of time cleaning the “capper,” the machine which was used to process the pea crop.

At the end of the first week, Elbert wrote:

“Well, here I have been for one entire week, and I hardly know anyone….Kind of lonely, evenings not like the city.”

The next morning, he still had a “blue streak on, but I guess I had better laugh.”

That was about to change. He became friendly with George Dibble, a young man of the same age, whose father was involved in the Orleans Canning Company. Pretty soon, the two young men were out each evening for drives, or walks around the village, or to the cemetery or The Glen, accompanied at different times by Claire, Kathryn, Cora, Sally and Jennie, Miss Copping or Isabella Newton.

For evening entertainment, they visited the young ladies’ homes to hear them play piano or gramophone records. At his aunt’s house, Elbert played Dominoes, Pit, or Flinch or sometimes read.

Elbert’s first outing with George is worth noting. George invited him to a Women’s Suffrage meeting at the Presbyterian Church. The speaker was Mrs. Shaw.

“Her talk was interesting to those who perhaps were in favor of woman suffrage, but after sitting from eight to ten on a hard straw cushion and then not having converted me, well she wasn’t very good.”

Elbert was an inveterate “numbers person.” It is entirely appropriate that he wrote this journal in a Cash Ledger as he noted all his expenses and spending.

He noted attendance at every church service he attended. He noted the number of people he passed in the town square. On the evening of May 16, having shaved and put on his high collars etc., he and his new friend, George, went for a short walk and passed twenty-five people “That is pretty good for a little place like Holley.”

Later, on May 17, he noted: “While out, not counting the Square, there were 214 people that we passed, or about one nineth of the population. At the Church, there were over a hundred people.”

He noted the time he went to bed and the time he got up each day – he retired 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., but as late as 11:15 p.m. once. He generally rose around 6 a.m., a little after 7 a.m. on Sundays. He noted the weather and temperature each day. It turned cold on the second week of May and snow fell on May 10.

He mentioned meals as “after breakfast” or “home to dinner,” but unfortunately, he did not specify what they ate. On two or three occasions, he refers to buying grapefruit when they were out, they were 5 cents each.

It is interesting to note how important mail was as a means of communication prior to phones. The Hudson household had a phone, but there are references to the expense. Letters required a 2-cent stamp, postcards a 1-cent stamp. Postcards cost 5 cents.

On the journey to Holley, Elbert mailed a card to his mother from Rochester. During the month, Elbert received 26 letters and 5 postcards. These were from his mother, his friends George and Brooks, a young lady named Ethel, and former work colleagues from the Dudley Co., including the office-boy, Eugene Davis, whose card “Hope you arrived safe,” mailed in NYC on May 6, arrived in Holley on May 7. Elbert saved this correspondence, replied to each piece and made notes of his correspondence.

Elbert mentioned at the end of one day’s entry that “Uncle (Joseph Hudson) wants meaning of Deut. 14-26-28”. A few days later, Elbert mentioned that he had written to Dr. R.S. MacArthur for a “church letter,” and for an explanation of Deut.14-26. Dr. MacArthur was pastor at the Calvary Baptist Church in New York. Elbert presumably needed the “church letter” to transfer membership to the Holley church.

Elbert must have felt sufficiently at ease in Holley after the first month that he did not have to chronicle his experiences, or perhaps his blossoming social life did not allow him sufficient time to write – his gain, our loss. This diary is one of the many unique items in the Orleans County Dept. of History collection.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 2

CARLTON – This 1912 photograph shows the Kent Post Office in the Town of Carlton. It was located on Kent Road, just north of the N.Y.C. & H. R. line railway station.

In the center stands John Sherwood, who served as Postmaster from 1906 to 1915. The mail carrier on the left, with his 1911 2-cylinder Maxwell automobile is J.C. Hamilton, while on the right with his horse and wagon is George (Burt) O’Dell.

“How many Post Offices currently operate in Orleans County?”

In response to an informal survey, most people replied “5” to this question.

The correct answer would be 10: Albion, Clarendon, Fancher, Holley, Kendall, Kent, Lyndonville, Medina, Morton and Waterport.

The first Post Office established in Orleans County was in Gaines, on July 9, 1816, William J. Babbitt, postmaster.

At one time or another, Post Offices were established in: Albion,  Ashwood,   Barre, Canal, Carlton (Two Bridges),  Carlton Station,  Carlyon,  Childs (1897-1902), Clarendon, County Line (1894-1903), Eagle Harbor, East Barre (1852-56), East Carlton, East Gaines, East Kendall, East Shelby, Fancher, Farmers (1824-28), Farmingham, Gaines,  Hindsburg,  Holley,  Honest Hill (1897-1903),  Hulberton,  Jeddo,  Kendall,  Kendall Mills,  Kent, Kenyonville, Knowlesville, Kuckville, Lakeside Park, Lyndonville, Manning (1897-1901), Medina, Millers, Millville,  Morton, Murray, North Murray, North Ridgeway,  Northton,  Oak Orchard,  Point Breeze,  Riches Corners,  Ridgeway,  Sawyer, Shelby, Shelby Basin, South Barre, Waterport, West Barre, West Carlton, West Gaines,  West Kendall,  West Shelby and  Yates.* (Total: 57)

As indicated by the dates included some of these Post Offices were short lived, while the names of a few were changed: Northton (1825-30) to Yates and West Carlton (1837-1865) to Kuckville.

“Honest Hill” is a name now forgotten. It was in the Town of Clarendon, with John B. Merrill as postmaster.

The Post Office played a pivotal role in the early history of this Republic. It connected the residents of the colonies and facilitated the spread of ideas through the speedy and affordable delivery of newspapers.

As the westward expansion progressed, so did the Post Office. When people had settled in any number, they soon petitioned for a local Post Office, as a means of establishing their identity – hence the proliferation of Post Offices as seen above. The church, the school and the combined general store/ Post Office were the first building blocks.

Then U.S. Postmaster John Wanamaker said that whether great or small, the Post Office was “the visible form of the Federal Government to every community and to every citizen.”

Rural postmasters were political appointees and so could change with every new election. For many years, the location of the Post Office in Eagle Harbor was either north or south of the bridge, depending on which party was in power.

Postmasters took an oath to uphold the Constitution and to perform their duties diligently. It was not a well-paid position and they had to provide furnishings and supplies. Country postmasters were paid by commission based on the volume of mail handled but the recognition, prestige and foot-traffic to their establishments compensated. In 1856, Albion Postmaster Jonathan O. Wilsea was the highest earning Postmaster in the county ($1,250), while Ralph H. Jackson of West Barre earned the least ($13.13).

The personable T.O. Castle was postmaster of Millville from 1853-57 and again from 1878-1897.

Though the postmaster was usually the local general store operator or business owner, Dr. Frank Lemuel June, a practicing physician and druggist was the Waterport postmaster for ten years until his death in 1911.

Female postmistresses were rare. Rarer still were postmaster/postmistress couples. Ann Batt was appointed postmistress in Fancher in 1978. Her husband Wilfred was postmaster in neighboring Waterport for twelve years. He retired in 1980.

Fred Stelianou was postmaster at Lyndonville for 39 ½ years. He retired in 1992.

The Postal Reform Act of 1970 ended the practice of political patronage in the appointment of postmasters. Subsequently, postmasters were hired from within and were experienced in the operation of an increasingly complex postal service.

‘In all kinds of weather, he cheerfully performs his duty. Possessed of an even temperament and tranquil disposition, he permits nothing to ruffle his spirits and philosophically meets all conditions.’

Albert Redfield, with his horse and trusty dog, in front of the Dye Hose No. 5 Fire Company building on East Bank and Platt St., Albion.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 1

ALBION – Everybody knew Albert Redfield. He was a fixture in Albion. A mail messenger, he transferred mail to and from the post office to the New York Central station.

At the time of his death in 1917, he is believed to have been the oldest carrier of a mail messenger route in the United States, having held the position since 1875.

Albert W. Redfield held the contract to transfer mail from the train station in Albion to the post office from 1875 to 1917.

According to an Orleans Republican article on January 2, 1913, Albert made eight round trips a day between the post office and the train station, from 6 a.m. until 8:30 p.m., and one trip on Sunday. He handled the incoming and outgoing mail for the village of Albion and surrounding area. At that time, the Railway Mail Service carried and sorted mail and packages.

“In all kinds of weather, he cheerfully performs his duty. Possessed of an even temperament and tranquil disposition, he permits nothing to ruffle his spirits and philosophically meets all conditions.”

The Redfield family had held the mail carrier contract for the route since 1862, when it was awarded to Albert’s brother, Ebenezer G., who held it for eleven years. Their father, William Byron Redfield, was a carrier for two years. Albert left his job as a painter and took up the reins on January 1, 1875.

It was not a lucrative position by any means. The 1913 article noted that regular mail carriers at that time earned around $1,000 but Albert’s contract paid only $365 a year, and he was responsible for the expense of his horse. Not surprisingly, he had not taken a day for vacation in his 42 years of service and had lost little time due to illness.

His occupation is listed as “hackman” in the 1880 and 1892 census records. A “hackney” was an English term for a horse-drawn vehicle kept for hire, hence the term hackman. The 1900 and 1915 census records use the term “mail carrier” as his occupation instead.

Albion did not have a dedicated post office building for many years and used rented facilities instead. From the 1890s, the post office operated from the imposing sandstone building on East Bank Street (105-107), built by George Kinmont. He operated his marble and granite business in the other half of the building.

A man of diminutive stature, Albert weighed about 90 lbs. and was “a trifle over four feet six inches in height.” He had been refused muster when he enlisted for the Union Army in Canandaigua.

He married Nancy Amelia Putnam in 1862. She predeceased him on June 10, 1884. They had one daughter, Eve, born 1878.

Albert died at his home at 25 Clinton St. on Christmas Eve, 1917. He was buried at Mount Albion Cemetery on December 27, 1917.

Reporters from Saturday Evening Post, Life Magazine, UPI, Australian Press, nearby newspapers sat in on sessions

Graduating students from Albion’s Santa Claus School serenade their “Dean” Charles W. Howard and his “First Assistant” Mrs. Ruth Howard, the seated couple at the center of this Medina Daily Journal-Register photograph, October 20, 1964.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

Illuminating Orleans, Vol. 3, No. 39

ALBION – This jolly group was assembled at a dinner held at the Apple Grove Inn, Medina on October 16, 1964, to celebrate their graduation from the Charles Howard Santa Claus School and to honor the school’s founder, Charles W. Howard and his wife, Ruth Howard.

Enrollment at the school, which was then in its 28th year of educating department store Santas, was limited to 20. Students from the Class of 1964 hailed from Detroit, Bay City, Michigan, and New York state. In many cases, stores paid the tuition, as they recognized that a graduate of the school was an asset.

Students received a well-grounded training in the philosophy and practice of portraying Santa Claus with integrity during their intensive week-long course. They also learned how to interact with children. Grade schoolchildren from Albion, under the direction of Mrs. Ruth Karns, interacted with the Santa trainees, while students from Medina, Albion and Holley participated in round table discussions.

The fine points of attire were also addressed, while Mrs. Ruth Hazard demonstrated gift wrapping and Mrs. Joy Merkel instructed Santas in the latest dance steps.

The school had elicited much publicity that year. Reporters from the Saturday Evening Post, Life Magazine, United Press International, area newspapers and even the Australian Press sat in on classes and reported on activities.

This celebratory dinner was held shortly before the Howards’ trip to Australia.

On October 25, 1964, the same week as the Journal-Register article, The Sydney Morning Herald of New South Wales, Australia, featured an article promoting their prospective visit. Farmers, a department store in the city, sought six candidates to train as Father Christmas. The store’s fashion coordinator said that the store was flying in “Santa Claus himself,” Mr. Charles Howard, from New York, to supervise the school, the first of its kind in Sydney.

A later article in the Sydney Morning Herald on November 10, 1964, featured an interview with Mrs. Howard, appropriately attributed as “director and instructor-in-chief at the Santa Claus School, Christmas Park, Albion, New York.”

The article continued: “Mrs. Howard is accompanying her husband on a Santa Claus inspection and briefing tour of Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney.”

A November article later that month in a Melbourne publication, The Age, described Howard as “principal of the only finishing school for Santas in the world.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Mr. Howard’s death in May 1966.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 3, No. 34

National Portrait Gallery image of Carl Carmer (1893-1976), Class of 1910, Albion.

ALBION – “Albion is a boom town now, alert, progressive, dynamic. It is about the same size as it was forty years ago, but it believes in growth as it never did then, and it will grow. It has a local ‘Committee of Economic Development’ which was sponsored by the Albion Chamber of Commerce and that committee has worked hard and with intelligence and foresight.”

This was Carl Carmer’s optimistic observation following a visit to his hometown in the 1940s after an absence of 40 years. At the time of this return visit, he was nationally recognized as an accomplished author and folklorist. His first book “Stars Fell on Alabama,” published in 1934 was a bestseller and Literary Guild Selection. He told American folktales on a CBS radio show called Your Neck O’ the Woods.

He described this trip to Albion in the chapter “Hometown Revisited” which is included in his book “Dark Trees to the Wind” published in 1949. He referenced as sources, Charles D’Amico, principal of Albion High School, and Joseph B. Achilles, Orleans County historian. What lively conversations they must have had!

Carmer graduated from Albion in 1910 and then pursued studies in English literature at Hamilton and Harvard. He had happy memories of growing up in Albion in the early 1900s –learning to swim in a swift-running culvert, jumping to the decks of slow canal boats on one bridge and climbing back at the next, bicycling nine miles to Oak Orchard to swim.

He recalled an era when:

 “Albion was big houses and deep tree dominated lawns…The houses of South Main St., paid for by tolls, canal trade, dividends and apple profits, were set apart, each on a spacious lawn.”

Change was immediately visible as soon as he approached the four corners where East and West Avenues meet South Main Street.

“Those corners, austere in the dignity of massive houses set back on green and level lawns, had been the symbol of South Main.

“But East and West Avenues are now part of a brick-paved pike, called the Million Dollar Highway, and where the Swan house had stood serene in the assurance of its redbrick towers lay a wide cement covered yard decorated only by the garish protuberances of a gasoline station.”

He was dismayed to find that the Bruner house across the street, an elegant, dark-green house with piazzas, bay window and cupola, had disappeared. It had been his home, the center of his hometown memories. Only the foundations remained, and they seemed pathetically small for the building that had rested on them.

As he walked down South Main Street, he saw that the remaining mansions were no longer family homes: the Dye house was a funeral home, the Taylor house was a cafeteria. The Wage house was gone and its big barn, which had once sheltered the first horseless carriage in town, was a restaurant and night club known as Marti’s.

He realized that the era and cultural patterns he had grown up with were gone, they had died along with the big houses. He believed that the town had lived through a crisis, but, at that postwar juncture, he was optimistic for its future.

He returned to Orleans County on at least one other occasion – in May 1959 when he spoke in Lyndonville for the benefit of the Yates Community Library. A presentation on his Yarns and Folktales will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Schoolhouse at 3286 Gaines Basin Rd., Albion.