George Pullman

Volume 2, Issue 36

As many of us prepare to enjoy a few moments of vacation time this Labor Day, it is important to reflect upon the origins of the holiday.

Today, we see the first Monday in September as an official end to the summer season; a day for picnics, trips, and rest. Yet over 100 years ago, the federal holiday was established as a day to honor the American labor movement and the continued commitment of the U.S. labor force to the development of the country.

In the 1840s, a young George Pullman arrived in Albion with his father’s family and settled down in the village. Pullman’s father, James, was a prominent member of the Universalist Church in Brocton (Chautauqua County, NY) and often filled the pulpit in that vicinity in the absence of a minister.

Upon their arrival in Orleans County, the Pullmans attended the nearest Universalist society, which was located in the town of Gaines.

As a young man, George worked with his father as a cabinet maker and worked several contracts with the Erie Canal relocating warehouse buildings during various expansion projects. Upon his father’s untimely death in 1853, George took responsibility for supporting his mother and siblings by taking over the family business.

It was thanks to his work on the Canal that he was awarded several engineering contracts in Chicago where he would partner with Charles Henry Moore of Albion. During a train ride between Chicago and Western New York, Pullman realized that there was a need for clean and comfortable railroad travel.

Utilizing his experience as a cabinet maker, he experimented with compact sleeping accommodations after partnering with Benjamin Field, a New York senator and resident of Albion. The men built two prototypes, converting those railcars with moderate success. The partnership was short-lived and Field traded his interests back to George for future loans.

Pullman was an entrepreneurial and industrious man and used the money he earned in Chicago to purchase a ranch in Colorado. Along with Spafford Field of Albion, the two men were responsible for supplying western travelers with fresh teams of animals before venturing through the mountains.

In addition, some interest in mining helped expand their financial resources and the 1,600 parcel of land became known as a basecamp for prospectors in Colorado. With his new found wealth, Pullman returned to Chicago to invest his new earnings in the Pullman Palace Car Company.

As the business grew, there came a need to expand the physical production plant. Solon Spencer Beman was hired to draw up plans for this new facility and in addition, the town of “Pullman” was planned adjacent to this new factory. Although he was praised for this magnificent creation, the town became increasingly profitable at the expense of his employees.

In order to quell unrest, Pullman restricted open discussion, town meetings, and independent newspapers, the local church sat vacant due to the lack of an “approved” denomination, and private charitable organizations were banned.

This, of course, did more to create unrest rather than prevent it. Employees often remarked, “We are born in a Pullman house, fed from the Pullman shops, taught the Pullman school, catechized in the Pullman Church, and when we die we shall go to the Pullman Hell.”

As his business began to decline in the early 1890s, he began the process of cutting jobs and wages. Instead of adequately reducing rent and utilities in the town of Pullman, prices were stagnant resulting in great disgust and anger from the workers. The result was the Pullman Strike of 1894, a rather peaceful strike made violent by the intervention of President Grover Cleveland.

Despite all of this, George Pullman attended ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone of the Pullman Universalist Church at Albion the following week.

Federal intervention in the strike resulted in the deaths of 30 workers and nearly $80 million in property damage. In an effort to reconcile with organized labor forces in the United States, Cleveland pushed to designate Labor Day as a national holiday nearly a week after the conclusion of the strike.

File photo by Tom Rivers: Susan B. Anthony is depicted in this statue down the street from the Susan B. Anthony House on Madison Street in Rochester.

ROCHESTER – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced the bipartisan Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission Act (S.3073) at the National Susan B. Anthony House.

This legislation would establish a Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote.

The Commission would work with federal, state and local governments, private organizations, as well as Congress to develop and coordinate educational activities for Americans to learn about the suffrage movement.

Under this legislation, the Commission would have the ability to award grants to organizations in the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region and across the country to support programs commemorating the anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

“This legislation would help educate young people around the country about the unparalleled importance of the women’s suffrage movement in American history” said Senator Gillibrand. “The women’s suffrage movement was born in New York, and nearly a century after the 19th Amendment was passed, our state continues to be at the forefront of fighting for women’s rights, from paid family leave to equal pay for equal work. I will urge all of my colleagues in the Senate to support the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission Act, so that our nation can properly commemorate this pivotal moment in American history.”

Gillibrand also stopped at The Buffalo History Museum today to promote the initiative.

The State of New York was the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement and it hosts some of the most legendary landmarks that helped shape this monumental gain in America’s history. New York was a powerful force in the movement for equal rights for women and the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth amendment.

This bill provides the opportunity for New York to be recognized as an instrumental part in the struggle for women’s suffrage by providing grant funding for programs and activities that commemorate the efforts of the movement and the role of New Yorkers who promoted the core values of our democracy.

Senator Gillibrand is joined by U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission Act.

Photos by Tom Rivers: These statues of Marmaduke and his creator Brad Anderson were unveiled on July 2 in Brocton, a community in Chautauqua County where Anderson grew up.

BROCTON – For 61 years artist Brad Anderson shared stories of a Great Dane, 20,000 comic strips in all of Marmaduke. At its peak, Marmaduke appeared in more than 600 newspapers in 20 countries.

Anderson was 91 when he died on Aug. 30, 2015. Many of his friends and admirers in his hometown already had been working on a bronze statue of Anderson and Marmaduke when Anderson died. It took four years of fund-raising and planning to make the project a reality.

The statues of Marmaduke and Anderson were unveiled over the July 4th weekend in Brocton, a small village in Chautauqua County in the Town of Portland.

Charles Krauth and his wife Barbara are on the Brad Anderson Recognition Committee that has pushed for the statue.

The group was able to accept tax-deductible funds through the Brocton Portland Development Corporation. It also had an online Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $30,000.

The group is continuing to sell memorial bricks, and many people are buying them in memory of beloved pets.

“It takes a lot of time and everything costs money,” Mr. Krauth told me on Saturday.

The statues are about 5 miles from my mother’s house. While visiting her this past weekend, I went to check out Marmaduke. Krauth happened to drive by when I was at the statue, which was built on donated land next to the Portland Town Hall. He stopped to chat about the project.

Charles and Barbara Krauth are pleased to see the statues of Marmaduke and Brad Anderson in their community.

Krauth said having the Brocton Portland Development Corporation was a key in getting the project going. That group was a conduit for people to donate tax-deductible money.

Krauth said the fund-raising was slow in the beginning, but the Kickstarter campaign made a big difference. However, there was a lot of pressure because the community needed to raise 100 percent of its $30,000 goal through Kickstarter. It wouldn’t be able to collect on the donations unless it reached the goal. It raised $31,470. (Click here to see the Marmaduke Kickstarter.)

Nearby Westfield has two bronze statues – Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell. The community put those up to honor the girl who wrote the letter to Lincoln, urging him to grow a beard. Grace grew up in Albion but lived in Westfield briefly. (Albion has a historical marker for Grace Befell by her home on West State Street.) She mailed the letter from Westfield and that’s where she met Lincoln on his inaugural journey by train. He stopped at Westfield to see her. The statues were created by Westfield native, Don Sottile, who has a studio in Penn Yan.

Marmaduke is poised and ready to play in the statue created by Don Sottile.

Sottile was hired to create Marmaduke and Anderson in Brocton. Sottile met with Anderson before he died when Anderson was in town for a class reunion in 2012.

Sottile shows Anderson sitting at his art board with Marmaduke giving him a playful nudge. The Great Dane has a ball in his mouth, ready to play fetch.

Krauth said the statues have been an attraction the past two months.

“People stop by all the time,” he said.

The group looked at putting Marmaduke in the downtown area, but Krauth said the committee didn’t think there was enough room.

The Town Board made land by the Town Hall available. Krauth said people park by the Town Hall and go see the statues. The site isn’t quite done. Krauth said memorial bricks, many with dog prints in honor of beloved pets, are being set around the base.

Many people have bought memorial bricks at the Marmaduke-Brad Anderson site.

He and his wife said they are grateful they joined the committee and worked on the project.

“I’m retired,” he said. “I wanted to do something good for the community.”

Anderson, who served in World War II with the Navy, lived in Montgomery, Texas. He was interviewed in 1999 by The Dallas Morning News. Anderson told the newspaper he didn’t want to give Marmaduke a human personality.

“He’s not a talking dog,” Mr. Anderson told the newspaper. “He doesn’t have a balloon above his head, he doesn’t walk on his hind legs. He walks and does things a real dog would do.”

Anderson was happy to chronicle the amusing antics of an awkward but lovable dog.

“I wanted a dog that doesn’t know it’s a big dog, because big dogs don’t realize how large they are,” Anderson said in the 1999 interview. “They want to sit in your lap.”

The site for Marmaduke and Brad Anderson is still under construction with the memorial bricks being installed at the base. The bricks have been popular for people wanting to honor their beloved pets.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Orleans County Historian Matt Ballard leads a tour of Mount Albion Cemetery on Sunday evening. Ballard is pictured at the grave of Lorenzo Burrows, who established a bank in Albion, served as the county treasurer and was the state’s comptroller from 1856 to 1857. He also ran unsuccessfully for governor. About 40 people attended the tour on Sunday.

ALBION – The first-ever Orleans County Heritage Festival is less than two weeks away – Sept. 9-11. The festival will focus on four themes – Agriculture, Transportation, Historic Gems and Historic Cemeteries.

One of the four themes emphasized this year is Historic Cemeteries. Participating cemeteries include: Beechwood and Greenwood in Kendall, Boxwood in Medina, Hillside in Holley, Mt. Albion and Union Cemetery at Watt Farms – both in Albion.

Beechwood Cemetery on Woodchuck Alley in Kendall was established in 1828.

Cemeteries are a rich source of local history and culture, if people take the time to appreciate them, said Derek Maxfield, a history professor at Genesee Community College and one of the chief organizers of the Heritage Festival.  The cemetery art contained on the many grave stones contain information about families, military service and values.  The symbols and iconography give us a window into the culture of the time, he said.

Several of the participating cemeteries this year will give people the opportunity to learn more about these wonderful outdoor museums, Maxfield.

At Boxwood Cemetery in Medina, Village Historian Todd Bensley will lead tours on Saturday (Sept. 10) and Sunday (Sept. 11) beginning at noon and 2 p.m. There is no admission charge.

Mt. Albion will also feature cemetery tours led by former Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin.  Tours will be led on Saturday (Sept. 10) from 3 to 5 p.m. and will begin every half hour from the chapel. There is no admission charge.

The chapel at Hillside Cemetery in Holley/Clarendon will be open for tours on Sept. 10. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

At Hillside Cemetery in Holley visitors can take a self-guided tour on Sept. 10 of the remarkable Gothic Revival chapel built in 1894 and cemetery from 9 to 11 a.m. – beginning from the chapel, and/or go on a “Ghost Walk” in the evening.

Established in 1866, the cemetery has a split personality.  The older section of the cemetery reflects the romantic era of antebellum America and Guilded Age of the late 19th century. The newer section reflects the Lawn Cemetery style of the twentieth century.

The Clarendon Historical Society began raising money a few years ago in an effort to preserve the beautiful chapel at Hillside Cemetery.

The “Ghost Walk” on Saturday (Sept. 10) will benefit the restoration fund.  Walks will begin from the chapel at 7 and 8 p.m.  Admission is $10 per person.  Among the fascinating “ghosts” will be Carl Akeley, the famed taxidermist, who will be portrayed by Tom Rivers, editor of the Orleans Hub. Also featured will be Francis Cole, who was a POW for 29 months during World War II, and Jewell Buckman who had the distinction of being the first local soldier killed in World War I.

The cemeteries in Kendall, Beechwood and Greenwood will feature self-guided tours from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday (Sept. 10) as will Union Cemetery at Watt Farms in Albion.  A brochure will be available at the Watt Farms Market which will highlight the graves of veterans of the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

Folks interested in American death ways will want to check out events and exhibits at Genesee Community College’s Albion campus center.  “Death, Mourning and Justice in Orleans County” will feature a recreated wake in a Victorian parlor.  A beautiful glass casket from the late 19th century will be on display.

Matt Ballard stops at the Pullman family grave at Mount Albion on Sunday. James Lewis Pullman, father of sleeping car magnate George Pullman, is buried at Albion’s historic cemetery.

There will also be two public lectures at the Albion campus: at 11 a.m. Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone will speak on famous crimes and murders. Lattin, the retired historian, at noon will talk about Victorian memorials featuring human hair. There is no admission charge for any GCC events or exhibits.

Visitors who wish to take advantage of the great opportunities afforded by the Heritage Festival should begin by procuring a festival brochure, which is available at all participating organizations and from GCC campus centers in Albion and Medina.  A list of participating organizations is available at the festival website (click here).

Once the brochure is in hand, participants are encouraged to visit at least three locations to be eligible for prizes. As guests visit each location, they will be provided with a colored ribbon. Once they collect three ribbons of any color, they are eligible for a collectable button featuring artwork that reflects the four themes.

They also become eligible for a drawing for prizes. For more information about the Orleans County Heritage Festival go to orleansnyheritage.com or contact Derek Maxfield at ddmaxfield@genesee.edu.

CELORON – A bronze statue of Lucille Ball graces a park in Celoron, Ball’s hometown near Jamestown. The statue was unveiled on Aug. 6 after much controversy and international ridicule for the first statue of the First Lady of Comedy, a work of art that became known as “Scary Lucy.”

I saw the statue on Saturday evening. It definitely has the “wow effect” and drew a crowd of people with cameras. One group was from Rochester.

I grew up in Chautauqua County and was home Saturday for my cousin’s wedding. (I missed the Steampunk Festival on Saturday at Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.)

But I had to see Lucy. My 10-year-old daughter is named Lucy and seeing the new statue was a fun ending to an eventful day back home.

I’m also on the committee in Albion that wants to have a Santa statue in honor of Charles Howard, the man who started a Santa Claus School and who portrayed Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parades for nearly 20 years. Howard died 50 years ago, but the Santa School continues in his name in Midland, Mich.

I think a Santa statue could be a draw for Albion. After seeing the Lucy statue in tiny Celoron, I’m more convinced a Santa statue would be a fitting tribute for Howard and an attraction for Albion. (A group in Medina also is working on a bronze statue of a World War I soldier that would go outside the former Armory, now the YMCA on Pearl Street.)

Carolyn Palmer was hired to create the new sculpture of Ball, picked out of 60 proposals for the project.

The statue was unveiled to much hoopla on Aug. 6, which would have been Ball’s 105th birthday.

Scary Lucy became an international subject of scorn.

Mark & Jetta Wilson wanted to recognize Celoron’s most famous daughter in 2009. A bronze statue was commissioned. It was a horrible depiction. Four years ago a public movement began to replace Scary Lucy (right) with a better tribute of Ball.

The money was initially slow in coming in, but a Massachusetts car dealer and numerous anonymous donors stepped forward.

Palmer watched and rewatched episodes of I Love Lucy, the groundbreaking sitcom that made Ball a TV star in the 1950s. Palmer sought to capture Ball’s movements and a sense of the ’50s era.

“I not only wanted to portray the playful, animated and spontaneous Lucy, but also the glamorous icon,” Palmer told Richard Gonzales of NPR. “I just hope that all the Lucy fans are pleased and that Lucille Ball herself would have enjoyed this image of her.”

“Scary Lucy” was sculpted by artist Dave Poulin. This statue depicts Ball holding a bottle of the fictional nutrition elixir Vitameatavegamin from the 1952 “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Does a TV Commercial.”

This bronze figure has been compared to a menacing zombie. A Facebook group, “We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue” formed to push for the new likeness of Lucy.

Poulin publicly apologized for his “most unsettling sculpture” in an April 2015 letter to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I take full responsibility for ‘Scary Lucy,’ though by no means was that my intent or did I wish to disparage in any way the memories of the iconic Lucy image,” Poulin wrote in the letter.

Many people of all ages are stopping to have their picture taken with the new statue of Lucy.

Celoron has kept Scary Lucy at the Lucille Ball Memorial Park. It’s the first statue that greets you. Scary Lucy is an attraction, and is rumored to be destined for the new Comedy Hall of Fame in Jamestown.

Scary Lucy is freaky. It is a sharp contrast to the new Lucy. Having the old statue near the new one shows how graceful the new one is of Lucy.

The Lucy statue includes the nice touch of having her standing on a replica of her Hollywood star.

After the statue was unveiled to much fanfare on Aug. 6, the crowd assembled sang the theme song to “I Love Lucy” and “Happy Birthday” to Lucy.

The site has stayed popular for people seeking selfies with one of the most famous women of the 20th Century.

Volume 2, Issue 35

ALBION – On October 11, 1870, Ezra Titus Coan started his career as a private banker when he established “Coan’s Bank” in Albion.

The establishment was fairly successful and in 1884 relocated to the Burrows Block to occupy the space previously inhabited by the First National Bank. That institution collapsed earlier that year when Albert S. Warner absconded with the bank’s assets. Of course, that is a different story for another time.

This picture shows the interior of Citizens National Bank, the name given to the organization after it was reorganized on July 8, 1895. Seated right is Robert Titus Coan, son of Heman Coan of Lyndonville.

At the time this photograph was taken, Coan was the president of the bank, having succeeded his uncle following his death in 1900. Robert is handling bank documents while seated at his desk; a copy of the Orleans Republican newspaper also sits on the desk. Seated to the left is Charles Royce Sawyer, the bank’s cashier at the time.

On November 22, 1911, the bank reached $1,000,000 in deposits, an accomplishment that was noted in papers throughout Western New York. The bank remained in operation until the early 1930s when it closed. The institution’s assets were liquidated in 1937 and the building eventually sold to Arnold Pilon and Carl Rowe when it was converted to a grocery store, becoming Dale’s Supermarket.

Robert Coan, the nephew of E. Titus Coan, was active in the banking industry throughout Western New York, serving as a director of the Genesee Valley Trust Company in Rochester. Before the bank was reestablished as Citizens National Bank, he served as Orleans County Treasurer from 1891 to 1894, treasurer of the Albion Cold Storage Company, and was postmaster at Albion for several years around the turn of the century.

Royce Sawyer was also actively engaged in local civic organizations and banking interests. He served as a director for both the Albion Cold Storage Company as well as Growers’ Cold Storage at Waterport, and was a director of the Niagara Suspension Bridge Company.

Sawyer also served two terms as Orleans County Treasurer and was treasurer of Mt. Albion Cemetery. An active member of the local fire department, he was largely responsible for mechanizing the Albion Fire Department and was an active member of the Western New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association.

While returning from a convention of the Republican Party, Sawyer was involved in an automobile accident. Although shaken up, he only suffered minor injuries and returned home to rest. Roughly two weeks later, he suffered a serious heart attack while working at the bank. He returned home on S. Main Street, but never recovered and died shortly after.

Royce Sawyer was the great grandfather of Michael Sawyer who recently passed away August 18, 2016. I had the pleasure of meeting Mike on several occasions to discuss his interests in supporting historical organizations in Orleans County. His father, John, was an ardent supporter of establishing a museum locally to share the rich history of his family’s home. Mike carried on his father’s legacy and interests by continuing that discussion. It’s clear that the passion and desire to better Orleans County was deeply rooted in his lineage; our community suffered a great loss with his passing.

The Department of History will host its final tour of Mt. Albion Cemetery this Sunday, starting at 6 p.m. at the cemetery chapel. I want to thank all of those who have shown an interest in the tours this season; from the preliminary headcounts we have seen roughly 200 people over three tours which is a monumental accomplishment. This week’s tour will focus around the Soldier’s & Sailor’s Monument and feature some of area’s more prominent and well-known politicians, businessmen, and educators.

File photos by Tom Rivers – The Rochester Area Community Foundation approved a $23,000 grant to the Cobblestone Museum that will restore windows on the Cobblestone Church that was built in 1834.

GAINES – The Cobblestone Museum is getting a much-needed boost to tackle preservation projects at the museum, a National Historic Landmark on routes 104 and 98.

The Rochester Area Community Foundation notified the museum today that it will be receiving a $23,000 grant towards restoring windows on the Cobblestone Church, and repointing on the historic building, as well as work on the next-door Ward House, which was built around 1840. The stairs on the house have been crumbling and will be fixed with the grant funds.

Sue Starkweather Miller, a member of the museum’s board of directors, shared the news today with the Orleans County Legislature. She thanked Orleans County Legislature Chairman David Callard for submitting a letter backing the grant application.

The Cobblestone Church on Route 104 has become popular for weddings.

Starkweather Miller and Diane Palmer, another board member, went over recent efforts by the museum to promote the county’s role in World War I, as well as lecture series, art exhibits with wine tastings, opening the church for seven weddings this year, and other outreach efforts, including participation in the upcoming Heritage Festival from Sept. 9-11.

Palmer said the museum really should be considered an Orleans treasure, with important buildings and collections from around the county at the museum grounds.

Starkweather Miller said the museum runs on a bare-bones budget with a part-time director and part-time volunteer coordinator. The museum could use some support from the county. The museum used to be included in the county budget, but was removed about a decade ago.

“We’re perceived as a group that is well off, and we’re not,” Starkweather Miller told county legislators today.

With more funding, the museum could better market itself and tap into the heritage tourism movement, she said. She would like to see the museum team up with other National Historic Landmarks to develop a trail of the important sites, such as the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester.

Courtesy of Cobblestone Museum – A grant will help pay to repoint the stairs at the Ward House, a home built around 1840 on Route 104 next to the Cobblestone Church.

There are about 2,500 National Historic Landmarks in the country, including about 250 in New York State. The Cobblestone Museum is the only site with such lofty historic status in Orleans County.

“Heritage tourism is big,” Starkweather Miller. “It’s a very real movement.”

Callard urged the museum’s leaders to fill out a funding request form. The request would then go through the budget process. The Legislature typically approves the budget in late November-early December.