This photo from 1875 shows the Mossell family. It is on the back of the quilt honoring Aaron Mossell.

GAINES – Today’s antique quilt and textile show at the Cobblestone Museum featured this heritage quilt honoring Aaron Mossell, the son of a slave who led the integration of Lockport city schools in 1876. That was 75 years before federal law required integration of schools.

The Mossell quilt was completed by the Kenan Center and Dale Center Quilters in 2015. The quilt hangs on display at North Park Junior High School in Lockport, but it travels for special occasions and to help tell the story of Mossell, said Nancy Smith, one of the Kenan quilters.

The quilters wanted to recognize Mossell, an early local prominent African-American, who operated a brickyard in Lockport that produced 1.5 million bricks a year. He donated the land and bricks for the A.M.E. Church on South Street in Lockport. He also owned and operated a hotel.

The quilt also highlights the achievements of his family. His son, Aaron Albert II, was the first African-American to earn a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. Another son, Nathan, was a physician who founded the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia. Charles, also Mossell’s son, was a minister and biographer who served as a missionary to Haiti.

A granddaughter, Sadie, was the first African-American attorney in Pennsylvania in 1927.

The Cobblestone Church displayed quilts and textiles today. Many of the quilts on display were from the 1880s. They are part of the museum’s collection and made a rare public appearance.

The “puff quilt” includes cotton stuffing that was raw cotton with the seeds removed. There were still pieces of the plant in the cotton, according to a information card about the quilt from the late 1800s.

Quilts and coverlets were displayed on pews and from the balcony in the historic church from 1834.

Other contemporary quilts were also on display including this one, “Tree Farm,” by Brenda Radzinski and quilted by Tara Thom.

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Show also features quilt from Lockport honoring African-American who integrated schools

Photos by Tom Rivers: Cobblestone Museum Volunteer Coordinator Sue Bonafini, left, and Museum Director Taylor Daughton are pictured with one of the quilts from the museum’s collection that will be part of a quilt and textile show on Sunday at the museum from noon to 5 p.m.

Sue Bonafini holds one of the antique quilts that will be part of a show on Sunday at the Cobblestone Museum.

GAINES – Quilts in colorful and often complicated patterns will be on display at the Cobblestone Museum on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. in an antique quilt and textile show.

At least one of the quilts tells a powerful story. It honors Aaron Mossell, an African-American businessman who spearheaded the push to integrate Lockport city schools in 1876.

That quilt was recently created by the Dale Association Quilters and the Kenan Quilters Guild in Lockport to honor Mossell.

“He’s a huge deal to Lockport,” said Sue Bonafini, the museum’s volunteer coordinator. “He’s a local hero.”

Tara Thom, owner of Town and Country Quilter in Gaines, and other local quilters will also have some of their work on display at the Cobblestone Church, 14389 Ridge Road West.

Georgia Thomas, a member of the Museum’s board of trustees, pushed to have the quilt show. The museum’s archives include many quilts and textiles from the late 1800s to the 1920s.

The museum isn’t sure how old all of the pieces are. Bonafini is hopeful some quilting experts will attend the show on Sunday and have some insights about the quilts and textiles.

The sizes and fabrics vary in the pieces. The quilts will be displayed on church pews with coverlets from the 1800s hung from the balcony.

Halloween Bash on Friday includes wine-tasting, ghostbusters and other activities

The museum on Friday (Oct. 21) is planning a Halloween Bash with Brockport State College history students. The event is open to the public and includes wine tastings, music, ice cream from a food truck, “ghoulish games,” a Halloween costume contest, pumpkin painting contest, swing dance lessons and lectures.

Dr. Paul Moyer of SUNY Brockport will discuss the happenings in Salem, Massachusetts with his “Myths of Salem Lecture.” Matthew Ballard, president and former director of the Cobblestone Museum, will highlight the stories of the criminals and court cases of Orleans County with a “lights-out” presentation of “Infamous Criminals of Orleans County.” The Ghostbusters of Rochester will also be at the Museum exploring the grounds.

For more information on the events, click here.

The Cobblestone Museum is giving the public a chance to see some of the antique quilts in its archive on Sunday.

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Overlooked Orleans, Volume 2, Issue 42

This image, taken around 1910, is believed to show members of the Albion Council #1330 Knights of Columbus. Established on June 2, 1908, the organization was first led by Grand Knight Thomas A. Kirby and Deputy Grand Knight John Cleary. When this image was taken, Thomas Kirby was serving his final term as leader of the organization and was replaced by James Kennedy the following year.

This Catholic fraternal organization was first established by Fr. Michael J. McGivney at New Haven, Connecticut in 1882. During a time when Catholics were excluded from unions and other fraternal organizations, Fr. McGivney noticed a need for an alternative fraternal organization that could provide mutual benefits to members. In particular, those members with families were insured in case of death, reducing the financial burden placed on widows and orphans. By 1909, the Order consisted of over 1,300 councils with over 230,000 knights, including those members of the newly established council at Albion.

It is possible that these men participated in the May 9, 1910 3rd Degree ceremony held at Albion for Orleans County Catholics participating within councils either at Medina, Albion, or Batavia. With over 400 men present, the council conferred the degree on 65 men; the first degree ceremony since the council was established nearly two years earlier. At that time, Albion’s Council contained over 100 members with nearly one-third of its membership holding insurance through the national organization. This made Council #1330 one of the largest insurance councils in New York State.

As a Catholic fraternal organization established in the 1880s by an Irish priest, the organization as a whole remained largely Irish through the turn of the century. In a 1908 photograph of Albion’s charter membership, Frank Jablonski of Albion is the only known non-Irish member. It was not until the early 1920s that Polish Catholics found themselves in positions as officers within the organization and another 10 years before Italian Catholics served in similar capacities. William Sigismondo and Guido Monacelli were two of the first Italians to serve as officers of the council.

Seated from left to right: Unknown, James Mathews, Michael Mathews, William Hayes, Unknown, William Finn, Unknown. Standing from left to right: Martin Britton, Thomas Moffat, Unknown, Franklin Allen, Unknown, Skip Glenn, Roger Madigan, Unknown, Arthur Eggleston, Samuel Griffin, and Unknown. James Mathews, a local Democratic nominee for Orleans County Sheriff in the 1920s and long-term trustee of the council, is the only known charter member of the organization pictured here; that may explain the boutonniere.

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GAINES – Gail Johnson, the former Gail Thompson, writes her name on the chalkboard this afternoon at the Cobblestone School (District No. 5) on Ridge Road today. Many of the former students at the school have returned to add their names to the chalkboard.

Johnson attended kindergarten at the school in 1950-51. She lived down the road at her father’s dairy farm and walked back and forth to school. At recess, she simply went outside to play behind the school.

“I remember having the smallest desk,” she said.

Beginning in first grade, she was bussed to the former Waterport Elementary School.

The Cobblestone School closed after 1951-52. Johnson’s parents – Charles and Hannah Thompson – were founders of the Cobblestone Society which acquired the school in 1960 and has kept it just as it looked in the early 1950s.

The school, built in 1849, is part of a museum site that is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

Johnson is a lifetime member of the museum. This year she started volunteering at the historic site near the routes 98 and 104 intersection.

Johnson is a retired seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher at Kendall. She and her late husband, Lyle Johnson, were active in Ducks Unlimited. Mr. Johnson served as president of the state chapter. A marker at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge notes their commitment to Ducks Unlimited.

Johnson also found some of her writing samples from kindergarten and donated a sheet to the museum. She signed her name on the chalkboard in a style as if she were still a kindergartener.

Other former students are welcome to sign the board. They should call the museum at (585) 589-9013 or send an email to Director@cobblestonemuseum.org.

The classroom today looks much like it did after the school closed in 1952.

The school was built in 1849 and is part of a museum that is a National Historic Landmark.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Albion High School students once again put on the annual Ghost Walk at Mount Albion Cemetery and highlighted prominent residents in the cemetery, as well as tragic events in the community’s past, including a trolley accident on March 7, 1915 that killed four children. Sophia Zambito, left, is Mildred Skinner and Cole London is Herschel Harding, two of the kids who were killed in the trolley accident. Alfred Skinner was driving home with his three kids plus two from the Harding family after they went to Sunday school in Knowlesville.

Mr. Skinner was driving a Cole automobile when a passenger trolley came around a curve and struck the vehicle, killing Mildred and Helen Skinner, and Marion and Herschel Harding. Mr. Skinner and one of his daughters survived the accident.

There were 15 different “ghosts” featured on the Ghost Walk. About 400 people attended the event, with proceeds going to the historic cemetery.

Riley Seielstad portrays Elizabeth Bass Cunneen (1853-1917), who was married to Irish immigrant John Cunneen, a prominent local attorney who was elected the state’s attorney general and served in 1903-04. Mr. Cunneen was a Catholic and is buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery. His wife, a Protestant, insisted on being buried at Mount Albion.

Ryan Krenning is Lansing Bailey (1787-1866), a pioneer settler in the Albion area who killed a bear. Bailey cleared his own land, and watched the area prosper after the Erie Canal opened in 1825.

Shannon Broda portrays Alice Wilson (1853-1887) who was killed by her philandering husband George, who was the only man executed in Orleans County when he was hanged outside the courthouse in 1888.

Evan Steier plays Dr. Thomas Cushing (1827-1898), a surgeon during the Civil War.

Joe Madejski is Stephen Hallock (1830-1915), who was Orleans County’s first self-made millionaire. He ran a threshing machine, and was a successful farmer with livestock. He sold oxen to P.T. Barnum.

Victor Benjovsky portrays Horace Halpin (1876-1899), a store owner who was making a delivery. He picked up a tramp seeking work in Albion, who then killed Halpin. The murderer, William Conniber, evaded authorities until he was captured in 1902 while working for a carnival in Pennsylvania.

Hannah Van Epps is Emma Reed Webster (1861-1931), who owned a grad home on North Main Street. She donated it to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The “DAR House” is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Webster also created a foundation and donated money for construction of the annex at the former Arnold Gregory Memorial Hospital in Albion.

Kaylyn Hollman plays the wife of the Honorable Elizer Kirke Hart, a congressman whose father left $50,000 to build the First Presbyterian Church in Albion. He was instrumental in Albion having illuminated street lights in 1890. He also owned Hart Island in the Thousand Islands and built an 80-room summer cottage there. (The Island was later purchased by George Boldt who built Boldt Castle.)

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Overlooked Orleans, Volume 2, Issue 39

This image shows the steamer Arundell approaching Oak Orchard Harbor around 1904 or 1905. Built by the Bell Iron Works at Buffalo in 1879, this iron hull steamer was operated along the southern coast of Lake Ontario during the summer months through 1910.

When this photograph was taken, the Arundell was owned and operated by the Cole & Holt Lines of Bay City, Michigan and was brought each spring to Lake Ontario by way of the Welland Canal. The steamer frequently carried Orleans County passengers during picnic days and pioneer events.

The company advertised “Good meals on steamer at 50 cents,” and “No dust, cool breeze and a pleasant time guaranteed” for its excursion trips across the lake. These relaxing jaunts included stops at Olcott Beach, Point Breeze, Charlotte, Sodus Point, Fairhaven, Oswego, Cape Vincent, and Clayton; the typical cost of a round trip ticket from Olcott to the Thousand Islands was $5 per person. During the earliest years of operation around the Buffalo Harbor in the 1880s, a ticket would run approximately 50 cents for gentlemen and 25 cents for women and children.

In 1904, the company operating the steamer was charged in the death of George Reed of Niles, NY, a passenger who boarded the previous year for an excursion trip to the Thousand Islands. Reed’s wife claimed that the employees and agents on board the Arundell got her husband “beastly drunk” and stowed him away in a bunk below deck. When reaching Fairhaven, the crew allegedly carried the semiconscious man to shore and left him there. At some point the man regained his composure and attempted to find his way inland but stumbled into the water and drowned. The $15,000 lawsuit did not appear to have any long-term effect on the operation of the steamer.

The steamer suffered an unfortunate accident in 1908 when she travelled too close to the shores of the St. Lawrence River and ran aground on the Fineview Shoals near Wellesley Island. She was towed to Kingston and placed in dry dock for several weeks for repairs; the accident set the company back several thousand dollars.

Shortly after this image was taken, the steamer was sold to the Crawford Transportation Company of Chicago, who used her as a ferry on Lake Michigan until she suffered a tragic fire and burned in 1911. Although her time as a transportation vessel was not over, her time as the “Queen of Lake Ontario” was complete. The Arundell was rebuilt, sold, and renamed Brewster in 1921. The steamer sank after a collision with the Sterling Lake on the James River in Virginia in 1922.

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Overlooked Orleans, Volume 2, Issue 38

This image shows the interior of the Albion Post Office located near the intersection of East Bank and Platt streets.

From left to right we see Frank Tripp, Leon Gilbert, Postmaster Daniel Hanley, an unknown gentleman, and Charles Patton. Note the image of Teddy Roosevelt hanging to the right; we also see scales situated on the back table used for weighing packages. Both Tripp and the gentleman standing in the background are wearing sleeves used to protect their shirts from wet pen ink.

During the earliest years of the U.S. Postal Service, the position of postmaster was one that was fueled by cronyism and serves as one of the finest examples of the patronage system. Many recommendations for local postmasters came from area congressmen who sought to appoint members of their affiliated party in exchange for political favors. For this reason, turnover for the position of postmaster was just as frequent as the state and national election cycles.

According to local papers, Albion experienced a taste of the patronage system when Robert Titus Coan was appointed to the position of postmaster in the early part of the 20^th century. It was believed that his placement in the position stemmed largely from the recommendation of fellow Republican Congressman James S. Wadsworth to then President William McKinley. Dating back to his appointment in 1898, the Orleans Republican noted, “The [Orleans] American certifies that R. Titus Coan is fit for the office of postmaster. How condescending!”

Several years later, the paper noted that Coan was simply a “tattler” and a “messenger boy” for Wadsworth who would be incapable of receiving ten votes if put up for election. Cries for his resignation came shortly after when Washington authorities prepared to push for his replacement due to charges of corruption and “pernicious political activity.” It was alleged that Coan encouraged the addition of mail clerks to the post office in place of acquiring machinery that would reduce operating costs and increase efficiency.

This particular image of the post office was taken around 1933 or 1934. We know that Daniel Hanley was appointed to replace Amelia Bartlett who occupied the post after the death of her husband Chester in August of 1933. The following year Leon Gilbert was transferred to the Knowlesville Post Office. Hanley was a former postmaster who lost his position when the Democrats lost control of the White House; he was also the former mayor of Albion.

In 1938 the new post office building was erected at Main and State streets at a cost of $52,000. The building replaced two homes once owned by village president Alexis Ward and local banker Alexander Stewart. Installed within the building was a hidden passageway that allowed for federal postal inspectors and the local postmaster to observe workers sorting mail. The superstitious Hanley, still postmaster at the time, placed pennies in all of the desk drawers for good luck before opening the building for the first time.

It was thanks to legislation passed by Presidents William Taft and Franklin D. Roosevelt that reduced corruption and brought an end to the role of the postmaster in the political patronage system.

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Provided photo: Co-authors Larry Barnes and Ruth Andes have written a book about GCC’s first 50 years.

Press Release, GCC

BATAVIA – Back in the early days of Genesee Community College, faculty members Larry D. Barnes and Ruth E. Andes helped develop and expand the ever-growing curriculum, occasionally communicating through the “Pony Express” as summer travel plans would interrupt their work flow.

From many a phone booth, psychology instructor Barnes would call sociology instructor Andes and tell her which U. S. Post Office she should mail academic materials so he could pick up their work-in-progress as he travelled throughout the country on his summer vacation.

As co-authors of the just published “Genesee Community College: The First 50 Years,” Barnes and Andes remark how drastically different their communication efforts are today compared to their earliest team efforts of the 1970s. From mailing to emailing, calling to Skyping, communication has changed through the years, not unlike the ways of educating students, which is captured in their new book just released under the Campus History Series of Arcadia Publishing.

The pair of old friends and faculty emeriti have nearly 100 years of combined service to the college and when asked to write a book about GCC, they could hardly refuse.

“We consider ourselves lucky to be a part of the college since the very beginning,” Barnes said. “It’s a privilege to work with Ruth again, and be able to combine our collective memory to tell the story of GCC, and illustrate its long-standing benefit to the community. From the old days of Valu Tech to becoming one of the country’s finest community colleges, we have been honored to be part of GCC’s fabled history and now we are honored to tell its story through our new book.”

Barnes and Andes will formally present their book to the public on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. in the Conable Technology Building, room T102 during Fall Fest – Cougar Weekend at GCC’s Batavia campus.

They will share a short synopsis of each of the nine chapters covering the college’s 50-year history, and also introduce a few amusing stories not covered in the book. Additionally, they will invite members of the audience to share memories, and finally they will autograph books during a post-presentation reception with refreshments in the south lobby of the Conable Technology Building.

The event is free and books will be available for purchase for $21.99. Copies can also be purchased online through Amazon and at local bookstores, including the GCC Bookstore.

Founded in 1966, GCC is the product of a grassroots movement that culminated in a public referendum supporting the creation of a community college. Today, the College boasts a population of approximately 6,500 students, more than 60 programs of study and seven campus locations in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming Counties. Barnes and Andes served on the faculty from approximately 1968 to 2014, participating and actively supporting the growth of GCC from its earliest years to the present. Together, they share the dynamic achievements of GCC through 128 pages and more than 200 photographs, alongside their first-hand experience of collectively teaching more than 16,000 students.

“Genesee Community College: The First 50 Years” is just one of the many ways to celebrate the College’s special milestone 50th Anniversary during the Fall Fest – Cougar Weekend, scheduled for September 23 – 24, 2016.

To see a schedule of GCC’s 50th Anniversary events, click here to go to the specially established anniversary website.

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Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – There are many impressionists and re-enactors from U.S. history at GCC in Medina today as part of the inaugural Orleans County Heritage Festival.

This group, includes, from left: Tom Schobert of West Seneca, an Alamo defender from 1836; Mark Houseman of Medina, a colonial militia ranger from the French and Indian War from 1756-1763; John Della Penna of Batavia, a member of the militia in the War of 1812; John Snyder of Lancaster, portraying Sir William Johnson (Indian agent for the British Empire during French and Indian War); and Tom Faith of Elma, a British ranger in the French and Indian War.

They are pictured with weaponry and leather leggings, moccasins, provisions, powder horns and other artifacts. “The public doesn’t realize the hotbed of history sitting here in Western New York,” Snyder said.

Snyder’s replica powder horn includes a map of WNY that details sites visited by a soldier, which would help in case he got lost. Snyder made the powder horn as a replica or what one would have looked like about 250 years ago.

Raymond Ball of West Seneca portrays a member of the Corps of Engineers who served in the Mexican-American War in 1846-1848. Ball said his father is descended from a unit that served in that war.

“This is a very overlooked part of American history,” Ball said. “There was a huge land grab and the war established the U.S. Army as a force to be reckoned with.”

Gary Costello of Buffalo is James Madison, the fourth U.S. president who served during the War of 1812. Costello first portrayed Madison in 2012 at 200th anniversary observance of the War of 1812, which included action in Buffalo.

Melinda Grube is in costume as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, sharing stories of the leader of the suffrage movement from Seneca Falls.

David Kreutz of Depew is a prominent Abraham Lincoln impersonator. He is pictured with his “Penny Car,” which includes a vinyl wrap of Lincoln. Kreutz’s license plate reads “HNST ABE.” He has travelled 150,000 miles in his Lincoln car, attending events all over the country. Kreutz said the car functions as “a roving schoolhouse.”

Sam Maryjanowski of Medina, front, and Steven Burley of Barker are dressed as German soldiers from World War I.

Andy Tripp, a Niagara University student, portrays a Russian soldier from World War I. He is digging a rifle pit to hide in. He said the pits where a way to avoid gunfire.

Caleb Avery of Lockport is dressed as a Union solider in the Civil War during 1864. Avery said he was part of the 78th NY, which included infantry from the Buffalo area. Avery is working on an impression of a World War II soldier. Many of the other participants are Civil War re-enactors who have developed other characters from different eras of U.S. history, Avery said.

Ed Brodbeck, left, of Cheektowaga is Gen. Ulysses Grant. Jay Black, right, of Batavia portrays a provost marshal. Black brought along a collection of weapons that were used in the Civil War for people to look over.

GCC professors Tracy Ford (an undertaker), left, and Matt Pettit (an embalmer) are part of Victorian mourning display at GCC in Albion. A doll represents a child. Many children never reached adulthood during the 1800s, victims to disease, sickness and other ailments.

District Attorney Joe Cardone drew a packed house for his discussion on famous crimes and murders in Orleans County.

In addition to the activities at the GCC campus centers today, 29 sites in Orleans County are available for tours. Click here to see the schedule for the Heritage Festival.