“Overlooked Orleans” – Volume 3, Issue 27

The Erie Canal has a long and illustrious history spanning over two hundred years starting on July 4, 2017. As we hit the bicentennial of the construction of the Canal, I thought it would be fitting to write a series of articles about some of the more interesting Canal images within the Department of History’s collections.

I suspect that the passing of the July 4th anniversary will go without fanfare locally, but the eight years between the start of construction and official opening will provide many opportunities to celebrate the iconic waterway.

Dating back to 1699, the concept of constructing a waterway that would open the wilderness of New York to the rest of the world was first suggested by a French engineer named Sebastien Vauban. The radical idea remained in the minds of entrepreneurs and politicians throughout the 18th century, surfacing again after the establishment of the United States. It was not until the early 1800s that the idea became a reality under the governorship of DeWitt Clinton.

The canal, opening on October 25, 1825, represented a feat of engineering that only few could have ever imagined. Without the aid of steam equipment, men relied on hand tools and animal power to excavate the 40-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep ditch that spanned over 360 miles.

According to Cary Lattin, shipping rates for wheat dropped from $.25 per bushel to $5.00 per ton, earning Western New York the title of “The Break Basket of the World.” The old Niagara Frontier went on to produce much of the wheat consumed by the United States up until the start of the Civil War.

The massive drop in shipping costs resulted in the expansion of the canal system starting in 1835. Over the following decades, the waterway was widened to seventy feet and deepened to seven feet; entire sections were rebuilt, new locks constructed, aqueducts erected, and some sections rerouted. The newly expanded canal allowed for businessmen to operate larger packet boats, which in turn carried more tonnage from Lake Erie to the Hudson River.

This image was taken during the second expansion, which officially started in 1903 when the New York State Legislature introduced a plan to form the New York State Barge Canal. The photographer directed his camera westward looking towards Church Street in Medina. In the distance, you can see the Church Street Bridge that spanned the original canal; a packet boat is visible travelling eastbound towards Albion. Also visible are buildings that lined the “heel path,” or southern towpath of the canal, providing valuable goods and services to passing boats.

I find this image to be an outstanding reflection of the extensive knowledge of engineering required to complete the massive expansion in Orleans County during the 1910s. Guy derricks were constructed to raise stone and cement to the top of the large wooden frames assembled to form the enormous retaining walls seen along Medina’s towpath. The relative size of the workers gathered near the base of the retaining wall gives perspective to the size of the work being completed.

Although we see the presence of a steam locomotive to the left, used to draw raw materials to the job site, a team of horses is visible pulling a piece of equipment up the tracks to the right. The gentleman standing atop the embankment wearing a suit and hat appears to be a supervisor, observing the work of the men below. A thorough observation of the photograph reveals men standing at various points on the framework of the retaining wall and one man standing upon the wall’s concrete foundation, directing the guy derrick operator to move the scoop to the south. One of the workers appears to have caught the photographer out of the corner of his eye and stopped to watch him take the photograph.

The expansion, which was completed in Orleans County approximately between 1912 and 1918, widened the canal to 120 feet from 70 feet and deepened it from 7 feet to 12 feet.

The second photograph shows men working on a portion of the retaining wall closer to the terminal in Medina. The Church Street Bridge approach is visible to the left and the White Hotel is likely the most prominent and recognizable structure in the photograph.

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Volume 3, Issue 26

Dating back to the earliest years of the United States, immigration was a welcomed occurrence; the arrival of new European immigrants was believed to bring desirable traits that would strengthen American stock. Despite this early stance on a process that was of little concern to most Americans, groups surfaced with the intention of restricting or ending waves of immigration.

The emergence of the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s and 1850s brings forth a “Gangs of New York” image to the minds of many. The exact level of activity of such groups in Orleans County is uncertain, but we do know that men such as John Hull White of Albion and Elisha Whalen of Medina were aligned with these political ideas. White, a Conservative Democrat in the years when Republicans considered themselves the “Party of Lincoln,” found it impossible to win an election in our Republican-dominated county.

An influx of Irish and German immigrants established an unfounded fear of the Catholic Church, while many of these immigrants flooded into the emerging sandstone quarries of our region, bringing with them a willingness to toil amidst dynamite and heavy stone. Shortly after came the laborers from the Norfolk region of southern England, who with pickaxe and shovel, filed into the ranks with the Irish and Germans. Minimal legislation meant no visas, no limitations, no need for connections to family already in the United States, nor guarantee of work.

The mass of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe starting in the 1860s and 1870s raised questions about the ongoing solvency of unrestricted immigration. With the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the federal government established a solid stance on the limitation of specific immigrants, prohibiting any immigration of individuals from China. Additional laws passed over the following decades created the conditions experienced at places like Ellis Island, the conditions that so many genealogists read about.

Immigrants were no longer desirable, their genetic traits more likely to diminish the hearty stock of American citizens than strengthen. These new immigrants were viewed as unwilling to assimilate, preferring to gather in ethnic communities while retaining their cultural and religious practices. Their presence developed unfounded fears of disease, leading the federal government to limit access to those “likely to become a public charge,” polygamists, sexual deviants, anarchists, radicals, and the disabled.

Agents at ports of entry would observe immigrants for physical defects, limps, poor posture, feeble natures, weakness, and abnormal body shape, many feeling as though they could learn more about an immigrant’s physical condition from a few moments of unnoticed observation than they could through detailed medical examinations. These laws created the concept of the illegal immigrant, who concealed illness and disability, or lied about political beliefs to try their luck at a better life in a country determined to keep them out; until this point, there was no illegal immigration.

I found myself reflecting on this image of my great grandparents, taken on the day of their wedding in 1919, as I prepare to travel to their hometown of Wabcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Poland. I often think of the hardships they endured. Frank Kaniecki, seated upon the table, was three years old when he arrived at Ellis Island with his parents and younger brother Paul. His mother, eight months pregnant, gave birth to a baby girl during the journey across the Atlantic, the baby dying several days later. One can imagine Frank’s father, Antoni, leading his grieving wife with two toddlers in tow through the lines of immigrants while agents observed their every move. Rose Romanski, standing with her hand on Frank’s shoulder, was only one year old when her parents brought her to America.

At the time this photograph was taken, both were celebrating their second marriage. Each lost their spouses to consumption, a condition that often ravaged the immigrant populations that labored in the quarries. Their marriage, one of necessity, ensured that the children from their previous marriages were cared for, eight in total. These families, arriving amidst the influx of new immigrants out of German-controlled Poland, found themselves fleeing ongoing pressure to destabilize the Catholic Church and suppress the Polish culture. Generally accepted within the community of Albion, Frank changed his last name from Kaniecki to Crane in the 1930s in the hopes of attracting more American customers to his grocery store in Albion’s Polonia.

As few of our ancestors would qualify for legal entry into the United States under the laws of today, we should be forever grateful that they were afforded the opportunity to start a new life in America. The resilience of our immigrant ancestors is an amazing thing.

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Volume 3, Issue 25

ALBION – On June 25, 1859, the pioneer inhabitants of Orleans County converged upon Court House Square in Albion with the purpose of establishing an historic association.

The Pioneer Association, as it was known, was formulated upon a motion made by the Almanzor Hutchinson of Gaines, which set forth the permanent appointment of officers for the organization. Robert Anderson of Gaines was selected as president, vice presidents representing the nine townships were elected including Lansing Bailey of Barre, Alexander Coon of Shelby, Jeremiah Brown of Ridgeway, Gardner Gould of Carlton, Samuel Tappan of Yates, Shubael Lewis of Clarendon, Robert Clark of Kendall, Walter Fairfield of Gaines, and Aretus Pierce of Murray, as well as Asa Sanford as secretary, and Dr. Orson Nichoson as treasurer.

Residency was a requirement for membership within the Pioneer Association; only those who resided in Western New York prior to January 1, 1826, were eligible for admittance. In 1862, those who descended from pioneers were eligible to join as junior members per an amendment to the constitution. Members signed a roll and paid an initiation fee of fifty cents, therefore agreeing to pay twenty-five cents each year after. The most interesting article within the organization’s constitution was Article VI which read, “The association, by a vote of two-thirds present at a regular meeting may expel any member for habitual intemperance or grossly immoral conduct.” It appears that during the first several years of the organization’s existence, over 275 members were enrolled, consisting of the county’s earliest settlers who broke the virgin wilderness to establish themselves in this new region.

This photograph shows the membership of the Orleans County Pioneer Association on June 19, 1869 standing on North Main Street in Albion. The building that reads “Nichoson & Paine” was a drug store that was operated by Drs. Orson Nichoson and Lemuel C. Paine; the building is currently occupied by Snell Realty. The photo was taken as part of the eleventh annual meeting of the association, called to order by the president, Lyman Bates. The Rev. Mr. Elias Bacon opened the meeting with a prayer and the constitution was recited by Bates.

At an early point in the meeting, George P. Hopkins, a local photographer, invited the group to have this photograph taken in front of his studio on Main Street. The meeting was adjourned until 1:30 p.m. and Col. N. E. Darrow led the group, accompanied by a “martial band” under the direction of Israel Shipman. After the photograph was taken, the group proceeded to the Harrington House where they enjoyed a large dinner, eventually returning to the court house for an afternoon session.

I was visited recently by Tom Taber who was seeking out an original of this particular photograph. He pointed out that this image is one of two distinctly different snapshots of the Pioneer Association, likely taken within moments of one another. As if the juxtaposed photographs were part of a “Spot the Difference” puzzle, one could make out minor adjustments to the posture and locations of various individuals in the photograph.

This visit along with a recent chat with Dale Blissett during my Memorial Day tour of Mt. Albion Cemetery spurred me to take a closer look at this impressive image. In a photograph this size, it is difficult to point out particular men or women, but we do see the familiar faces of Elias Bacon, Robert Anderson, Lyman Bates, Nicholas Darrow, Orson Nichoson, and Seymour Murdock, just to name a few. One individual, hidden within the mass of people, is David Farnham of Ridgeway, who led the choir of veteran pioneer singers at the conclusion of the meeting.

If we observe closely, we catch a glimpse of a young lad waiving his hat, as if to be noticed by the photographer. In the middle of the photograph, a man has extended his derby upon a cane, and another man in the rear holds onto a step ladder, as if he stopped to sneak into the crowd.

What this photograph does not show is that a crowd had gathered to observe this special occasion, the mass of people located along the west side of Main Street carefully cropped out by Hopkins. It is believed that the photographer would have directed his camera out of the second story window, where his studio was located, to grab this fantastic view. One can only hope that someday, a labeled version of this image will surface to tell us who these weathered faces belong to.

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 3, Issue 24

ALBION – This photograph, taken sometime around 1900, shows the New York Central Railroad crossing at Clinton Street in Albion looking east towards Main Street. The photographer is standing on the platform of the train station on Clinton Street in an attempt to showcase two important businesses in the vicinity.

On the right is the business of Morgan & Linson, started in 1887 by Benjamin Franklin Morgan who purchased the operation from Sheldon & Warner. Morgan, a son of William Pitts Morgan and native of Gaines, then brought Lyman Sewall Linson into a partnership in 1890.

Linson was an 1876 graduate of New York University who attended the University of Pennsylvania to study law before working out west in the railroad industry. His return to Albion and entrance into the partnership with Morgan likely brought a level of expertise required for shipping goods by way of rail. The pair dealt in coal, mason’s supplies (lime and cement), and produce, focusing specifically on the storage and shipment of apples and beans.

Morgan & Linson constructed additional coal sheds at this facility in 1900, which included the implementation of an elevator used to lift coal for storage in bins located on the upper floors of the building. Coal was then dropped down chutes and into wagons for delivery to homes throughout the area. Morgan’s death at New York City in 1909 following a lengthy illness led to the eventual dissolution of the partnership. In 1917, Guy Merrill, Platt LaMont, and Elbert Rowley formed the Morgan & Linson Cold Storage Company, Inc., taking over the property and operating the business; Linson retained partial interest in the company.

Around 1941 this building was devastated by a fire during a period of time in which the Atlantic Commission Company was leasing the facility to store onions. Workmen backed a cart into a kerosene stove, knocking it into a coal bin, which started a small fire. The flames were quickly extinguished and the men returned to work unloading a freight car outside. The flames reignited and the alarm was sounded. 50,000 bushels of onions were destroyed but thankfully the brick cold storage building and office was saved from obliteration. Eight firemen were stationed at the facility overnight to quell any flames that started up.

To the left is the Albion House, one of Albion’s larger hotels along with the Orleans House and Exchange Hotel. The photograph shows five young children seated on the front steps and two men seated on the corner of building adjacent to a sign that reads “Reed & Allen, American Rochester Beer;” likely the entrance to the bar. Attached to the tree out front is a sign that reads “Livery.” Like many hotels in the area, hackney cabs (horse drawn taxis) were offered to pick up or drop off visitors at various stops in Albion. The barn that housed the horses at the Albion House was sold in 1922 to Albert Foote, who relocated the building to his farm in Barre.

One other interesting item in this photograph is the small shed located along the railroad tracks; another is visible in the distance located along Main Street. These flagman’s shanties were an essential feature at railroad crossings. Approximately eight feet across and constructed in a hexagonal shape, the buildings contained a small coal burning stove, a bench seat, and a small stock of coal located under the bench. Men would sit inside of these shanties for eight hours each shift, three each day, exiting the building to stop road traffic as trains were crossing. Although the job seemed simple, it was frequently dangerous as flagmen were responsible for observing road and rail traffic simultaneously. In 1926, Thomas Coffey was struck and killed by a train while working as the flagman at this crossing. Negligence or lack of awareness was harmful, if not fatal.

An interesting news story appeared in papers throughout Western New York in 1908. Morgan & Linson’s office cat went missing and it was feared by the owners that the cat had climbed into a boxcar, only to be carried off to some far-off place. A telegram was sent immediately to Cincinnati, the next stop for the produce that was being shipped. Soon after the telegram was sent, a response was received notifying the owners that the tabby was found within one of the boxcars having survived eight days without food or water. To make the story more remarkable, the cat was returned to Albion by express train that same day.

I’m not sure what is more interesting, the fact that the cat was rapidly returned to Albion, or that this was considered “news” at the time!

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 3, Issue 23

This postcard, sent February 27, 1912 to Mrs. D. C. Hopkins of Batavia, shows the Greek Revival house constructed for Alexis Ward in 1841. The postcard also shows the home of Alexander Stewart to the left. At the time this photograph was taken, the Buffalo, Lockport, and Rochester Trolley was in operation as the tracks are visible running through the center of State Street.

Alexis Ward was born at Addison, Vermont on May 18, 1802. His parents relocated to Cayuga County, New York when he was a very young boy and he attended the local schools in that vicinity before studying law at Auburn. He arrived at Albion in 1824, one year after his admittance to the bar, and was appointed Justice of the Peace shortly thereafter.

Ward was quite the “mover and shaker” in early Albion, playing an instrumental role in securing the charter for the Bank of Orleans, serving as the president of that institution for a number of years. As Caroline Phipps Achilles worked to open the Phipps Union Seminary in the early 1830s, Ward was an ardent supporter of that effort and the efforts to open the Albion Academy, always seeing the value in higher education.

He understood the value of the railroad, lobbying for the construction of the Rochester, Lockport, and Niagara Falls Railroad, which brought about the start of the Suspension Bridge Company in 1855. Numerous residents of Orleans County became charter stockholders in that venture, including John Proctor and William Swan, which brought considerable wealth to Albion.

The well-respected Ward was elected as the first president of the Village of Albion after its incorporation in 1828 and received an honorary A.M. degree (Artium Magister, or Master of Arts degree) from Middlebury College in 1836. Around the time his house was constructed, Ward was appointed to a two-man committee along with Lorenzo Burrows, charged with the task of locating a suitable location for a new cemetery. That site, now Mt. Albion Cemetery, was formally dedicated on September 7, 1843 on land purchased from Jacob Annis and Lyman Patterson.

On November 7, 1854, Ward was elected to the New York State Assembly to represent Orleans County for the 78th New York State Legislature. Unfortunately, he died on November 28th before he could take office. A special election was held on December 28, 1854 to fill his vacancy; Elisha Whalen, a merchant from Medina on the Know-Nothing ticket, served one term in office in Ward’s place.

This beautiful home, once located on the southwest corner of Main and State streets was demolished in 1936 to make way for the new Post Office. That building was constructed at a cost of $52,699.00 in the Colonial Revival style.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Doug Farley, director of the Cobblestone Museum in the Gaines hamlet of Childs, is pictured in the gallery with mid to late 19^th century paintings by folk art or naïve painters.

The museum is showing an exhibit of “Sunday Painters” featuring about 50 works by amateur artists. The display includes one work by a professional artist and attendees will be asked to guess which one was painted by a pro.

The First Friday reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Cobblestone Church on Route 104, near the Route 98 intersection.

Bill Lattin, the retired museum director, will present a talk at 7 p.m. on many of the pieces of art. Farley will share about some of the new things happening at the Cobblestone Museum.

Some of the paintings in the exhibit include:

Moonlight on a Winter Pond

Oil on artist board c. 1905

Artist unknown

Loaned by Rene Schasel

The Old Distillery at Oak Orchard

1890

Fannie McCracken of Albion

Loaned by Lattin

Winter Landscape

Ogee frame & mirror 1845

Painted over in oil  1890

Artist unknown

Snow on the Roof, Fire in the Stove

Oil on Artist Board c. 1914

Artist unknown

For more on the museum, click here.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

CHILDS –Cobblestone Museum volunteer Ken Capurso, left, President Jim Bonafini, center, and maintenance employee Bob Albanese work on an old outhouse from 1830 at the Cobblestone Museum. They are pictured on May 13, the first of several workbees to preserve the building.

The outhouse was originally built in about 1830. The outhouse, behind the Cobblestone Universalist Church, is the oldest structure at the museum. The church is next in line at 1834.

The old outhouse was derisively referred to as the “blue tarp building” by museum volunteers and staff. The blue tarp helped with the leaking roof and a rotting side wall.

But the museum felt it made a bad first impression, especially with the church hosting several weddings a year.

The Cobblestone team tore off the leaking roof and gave it new supports and a roof.

Jim Bonafini holds an original nail from the building. (The outhouse will likely be used for storage when the project is complete.)

Ken Capurso measures the length of the boards on the roof.

The cobblestone buildings at the museum get a lot of the attention – as they should – but the museum also includes six outhouses. One of the outhouses at the museum was used by Rufus Bullock and his family. Bullock grew up in Albion and went on to be the governor of Georgia during Reconstruction after the Civil War.

The new roof is on and the blue tarp is off, but there is still work to do on the outhouse.

The building is back is an oil house that was used for the original lighthouse at Point Breeze.

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 3, Issue 22

ALBION – This photograph, taken around 1920, shows the dining room of the Orleans Hotel located on the southwest corner of East Bank and Platt streets.

After the Platt House burned in the early, Charles A. Harrington constructed this building in 1862/3 and operated it as a hotel. The business was originally known as the Orleans House, but records seem to indicate that the name changed to the Orleans Hotel in the 1890s when Anson R. Dunshee took ownership of the building.

Fresh on the coattails of the 18th Amendment, the United States was “enjoying” the consequences of Prohibition when this photograph was taken. Other interior photographs of the Orleans Hotel show a bar void of liquor bottles and barstools. It is no surprise, perhaps, that in 1922 the Orleans Hotel was one of six local businesses raided by Sheriff Scott Porter under the suspicion of selling illegal intoxicating liquor.

The manager of the hotel, Herbert S. Field, pleaded not guilty on a charge of “having maintained a common nuisance” where intoxicating liquor was sold in violation of the state. Bartender Sylvester Bragg was also charged in connection with the illegal sale of liquor; he pleaded not guilty to selling alcohol to Egbert Delano.

A typical stay at the Orleans Hotel would run a guest $2.00 to $2.50 per night and the building became a popular location for political conventions, reunions, business dinners, and parties for groups throughout Orleans County.

On March 8, 1920, President William Howard Taft stayed at the Orleans Hotel while visiting Albion as a guest of the Chamber of Commerce. At the time, Taft was a faculty member at Yale Law School, one year before his selection as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

On March 15, 1923 Anson Dunshee committed suicide in his home on Ingersoll Street by slitting his throat with a razor. The hotel closed its doors immediately following the tragedy and Albion remained practically void of hotel accommodations until William Lysitt leased the McMann Hotel on Main Street. Florida Dunshee, Anson’s widow, would later lease the Orleans Hotel to J. J. Collins.

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“Overlooked Orleans” – Vol. 3, Issue 21

ALBION – One of the oldest images of downtown Albion, this photograph shows a busy street scene at the intersection of Batavia Street and Canal Street (now North Main and East Bank). Per an 1857 map of the Village of Albion, the block at the intersection was owned by Willis P. Collins, a grain dealer from Connecticut.

As a self-sustaining community, businesses filled the first, second, and third stories of these buildings, providing residents with convenient options for obtaining essential goods and services.

On the first floor of the “Old Empire Block” was the store of W. Cole and Robert Sheldon, who operated a clothing business along with Martin Rawson and Fitch Collins. The appearance of signage hanging above the second floor windows shows the dentist office of Dr. J.S. Northrup. On the third floor, as indicated by the high-hanging signs, was the headquarters for the Orleans American, which was operated by David S. Bruner.

Moving further north along Main Street was the drug store of Drs. Orson Nichoson and Lemuel C. Paine, two local pioneer physicians; Snell Realty currently occupies this building. Also visible are stores belonging to William Close, a local shoemaker, and Jacob Hallenbake, a hardware merchant. Slightly visible is the iconic “Gothic Hall,” owned by grocer and baker Andrew Wall, as well as the large block owned by Roswell Smith Burrows.

The Empire Block burned on December 18, 1868, the cause of the fire being an ember from a stove within the store of Cole & Sheldon.

The conflagration left a total loss as follows:

Mr. Densmore, on building, $11,000 with $6,000 insurance

Cole & Sheldon, on goods, $12,000 with $6,000 insurance

Martin Rawson, on goods, $5,000 with no insurance

Orleans American, $6,000 with $2,500 insurance

John Bradshaw, hatter, on goods, $3,000 with no insurance

J.S. Northrup, $1,000 with no insurance

Fred Butler, tailor, on goods, $1,000 with no insurance

Collins Hill, owner of a nearby building, $3,000 with no insurance

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Photos courtesy of Stacey Kirby

BROCKPORT – A new 40-foot-long mural was unveiled last Thursday in Brockport on the railroad overpass on Route 19.

Albion native Stacey Kirby created the mural, which was a project pushed by the village and Walk! Bike! Brockport!

“They were very interested in creating a gateway into the Village of Brockport,” Kirby said. “I think it’s very effective.”

The mural was unveiled to kick off Brockport’s fifth annual “Low Bridge High Water” festival to celebrate the start of a new canal season.

Kirby created scenes showing the canal from yesteryear.

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