By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

MEDINA – The view in this post card shows thousands of barrels of apples stacked up along the Erie Canal dock in Medina.

The card was published by the Bickle Brothers, circa 1908. This was before the canal was enlarged here in 1911-13. Note the canal boat which is already loaded with apple barrels.

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

ALBION – This photo post card, published in the second decade of the 20^th century, shows the original administration building at the Western House of Refuge in Albion.

It was built in 1892 and demolished in the 1930s with the expansion of the New York State Training School, now the Albion Correctional Facility, which is the state’s largest prison for women inmates.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

HOLLEY – In this photo from 1914, we are looking north to the canal bridge just outside of Holley. This is now Route 237 with a more modern bridge which replaced the one in our photo a number of years ago.

In this picture, we note the dirt road with wooden guard rails on each side of the ramp. An early truck with hard rubber tires is headed down the ramp towards Holley.

To the right we see the guard gates on the canal. If you look carefully you can also see a horse and buggy on the towpath under one of the guard gates in the back, just left of the bridge.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

ALBION – A group of residents of the Orleans County House posed for this picture around 1900. The photo was taken by Frank L. Weller of Holley.

The man standing in front of the screen door and the man sitting on the railing are staff members of the County House or the “Poor House.” It was located on County House Road and was the forerunner to the Orleans County Nursing Home.

Back when this photo was taken, the residents were referred to as inmates. Many lived there for reasons other than ill-health, including just being poor.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

ALBION – This picture speaks for itself. The people seen here were members of the Orleans County Pioneer Association, which was organized June 25, 1859. It was the county’s first historical organization.

Our photo was taken on Main Street in Albion from the second floor of Geo. Hopkins’ Studio. The building with the Nicholson sign at right is currently Peter Snell Realtors at 107 North Main St.

The other two wooden buildings were torn down around 1890 with the Briggs building now located in the middle. J.H. Hallenbake’s Hardware was replaced with the Waterman building which later was damaged in a fire and then torn down. That site is now Waterman Park.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

KNOWLESVILLE – This photo from around 1900 is thought to be of a church group from Knowlesville on a picnic at Elm Park, located at the east side of Oak Orchard Creek north of Medina. It was a popular spot at the time.

To the left is a picnic gazebo with a table and benches. Behind this is a swing set with chairs which must turn around the pole from which they are suspended.

A three-story treehouse appears in the tree along the shoreline. To the right a fountain sprays into a pool.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Joe Pagan of California on Saturday addressed a group of Vietnam War veterans who gathered locally for a reunion.

Twenty years ago they reconnected for the first time since the Vietnam War. Since then, the 57th Assault Helicopter Company has made their reunions a top priority every other year.

“Everybody talks about the Band of Brothers. When we see each other, we don’t shake hands, we hug,” said Joe Pagan, a mechanic or “witch doctor” for the helicopters during the war. He was tasked with “fixing anything that breaks.”

Pagan, a resident of Riverside, Calif., was chairman of a past reunion of the 57^th in Houston. The group gathered again on Aug. 22-25, this time staying at the Clarion in Batavia.

They flew in from all over the country. Albion resident Charlie Nesbitt, a pilot with the 57^th from 1968-1969, was chairman of the group’s 11^th reunion, which was attended by 67 veterans.

They toured sites in Western New York, including Niagara Falls, the Lockport Locks, the Cobblestone Society Museum, downtown Albion, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery and the Village Inn. They also took a boat ride along the canal.

Mostly, they talked and reconnected.

“You spend the worst year of your life with these guys,” Pagan said. “You build a bond that’s no comparison.”

Pagan has been to all 11 reunions. When some members of the group wanted to have a reunion 20 years ago, they each picked a few names and tried to track down veterans through mail and phone calls. Now the group has its own web site, and that has helped veterans get back in touch with the 57^th. The group also takes out ads in military magazines, informing veterans about the reunions.

Several veterans attended the reunion for the first time from Aug. 22-25. The attendees included generals, pilots, gunners, mechanics, crew chiefs, cooks and anyone else who served in the 57^th, a group that flew special forces soldiers in and out of enemy territory.

“When I was in Vietnam, this unit was my family,” said Bob Tobey, a Massachusetts native who now runs a coconut farm in Jamaica. “We watched each other’s back.”

Tobey was a pilot in Vietnam. He said the 57^th took people from all over the country, of varying backgrounds and talents, and developed a highly efficient and skilled team.

“We all worked together like clockwork,” Tobey said. “We were a group of people thrown together and it worked.”

Gary Beikirch was one of the special forces soldiers who was brought in and out of battle by the 57^th. Beikirch is one of 79 living Medal of Honor winners. He addressed the 57^th reunion on Saturday night.

Beikirch won his medal for his extreme bravery during the Seige of Dak Seang, a battle supported by aircrews from the 57^th. On April 1, 1970 a massive force of North Vietnamese attacked a camp in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Although suffering multiple wounds Beikirch continued to perform his duties and rescued numerous American and indigenous personnel. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor on October 15, 1973.

Beikirch returned to Rochester and worked 33 years as a middle school counselor.

“I’ve had a lot of years of life because you had my back over and over again,” Beikirch told the 57^th veterans.

He repeated a message he often shared with middle schoolers about the importance of having goals and a vision for the future. He told the veterans they still have a lot to give.

“There is much more for us to do as men who have fought,” he told the group.

ALBION – Dick Pilon of Albion recently found a newspaper clipping from Aug. 2, 1953, that showed a photo of Albion area Boy Scouts preparing to leave for the Scout Jamboree in California. Pilon was among the contingent that embarked on the journey.

The group includes from left: James Fisher, Erling Maine, William Allen, Charles Derwick, Paul Canham, Fred Daniels, Richard Pilon, Arnold Ford, Marvin Sayles and George LaMont.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

POINT BREEZE – The post card view seen here was taken in the 1930s at Point Breeze in the town of Carlton. To the left we notice Robert Taylor’s Boat Livery, Bait – Fishing Tackle and Fish Market Shanty.

To the right is Dad Parmelee’s Shanty for boat rental and bait. In the background is the Oak Orchard Harbor. The Parmelee Business was located where the present  boat launch is today just west of the Black North restaurant.

This postcard was sold through the H.P. Hawks Rexall Drug Store in Albion.

By Bill Lattin
Orleans County Historian

ALBION – The image on this color post card shows the Bert Olney Canning Company Plant in Albion from the first decade of the 20^th Century. The factory was located off East Avenue along the NYC Railroad.

In our photo we see long conveyors extending into the yard. This was the pea vinery part of the plant. Hence there are heaps of pea vines waiting to be put on the conveyors to go into the plant for processing. The back of the postcard indicates it was mailed July 23, 1909.

Press release

Veterans of the 57^th Assault Helicopter Company will be visiting local sites this weekend as part of their 11^th national reunion.

Unit veterans are traveling from all over the United States and countries around the world. While at the reunion they will tour Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal locks at Lockport, Leonard Oakes winery in Medina, the Cobblestone Museum at Childs and Albion’s Historic Downtown and Courthouse Square districts.

Author David Bellavia, a Lyndonville native, will speak to the Vietnam veterans on Friday. Bellavia, who now lives in Batavia, is the winner of the Silver Star for his bravery during the war in Iraq.

The reunion is chaired by Charlie Nesbitt, a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Nesbitt is a former state assemblyman.

Known by the call sign “Gladiator” or “Cougar” (gunships), the unit was based during the Vietnam War in Kontum, Pleiku and Ankhe in the Central Highlands of that Southeast Asian battleground. Aircrews from the 57^th flew the iconic UH1 “Huey” helicopter in support of the U.S. Army’s 4^th Division and 5^th Special Forces as well as various ARVN units in the mountainous northern II Corps, Laos and Cambodia during the war.

Years after the war ended, the 57^th AHC  was revealed to be a key player in the then classified super-secret Special Forces clandestine missions that occurred in enemy-occupied Laos. Unit helicopter crews inserted highly skilled teams into enemy areas and often were called on to extract teams under fire in the extremely remote jungles of Laos.

Gladiators and Cougars also supported the 4^th Division during some of the most difficult battles of the war, including the Battle of Dak To and the fight at Hill 19 in the mountainous extreme western jungles of Vietnam.

During the Aug. 22-25 reunion, the group of veterans will be staying at the Clarion hotel in Batavia.

By Bill Lattin, Orleans County Historian

This photo, perhaps dating to the second decade of the 20^th Century, has recently been given to the Cobblestone Society Museum by Robin Stelmach. Only partial information was written on the back, which includes: “Watson Farm on Million Dollar Highway – Milton Johnson.” The man at the far right with an X by his head is probably Johnson.

These men are engaged in sorting apples and putting them in barrels for shipping. The top of each barrel was faced with larger apples to make for an attractive appearance when the head was popped off.

A sorting rack is seen here in the middle while the man to the left shows off a bushel of large apples sorted out for facing.

BARKER – The Orleans Hub wrote about the 30-Mile Point Lighthouse last week, making the bold claim the lighthouse in Barker may be the best one on the south shore of Lake Ontario.

A reader, Gary Breuilly of Greene, NY, sent this historic photograph of the lighthouse. A Sunday School class from an Adventist Church in Jeddo had a picnic at the lighthouse in 1907.

The photograph was taken by a well-known local photographer at the time, W.C. Eaton of Jeddo. Breuilly has a collection of Eaton photos, which include many Orleans County scenes. One of the people pictured at the lighthouse is Eaton’s son, Chester.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Lansing Bailey received a veteran flag marker by his grave in Mount Albion Cemetery on Saturday. Bailey fought in the War of 1812. Bailey and six other members of his family all had white carnations placed on their graves on Saturday.

A group pauses for a prayer during a brief ceremony on Saturday at the grave of Lansing Bailey, an early Orleans County resident who fought in the War of 1812.

ALBION – The pioneer residents of Orleans County had it rough, needing to clear trees and build everything from scratch with little help along the way. Many succumbed to illness or witnessed the early deaths of loved ones.

Lansing Bailey was among the first to settle in Albion, arriving in 1811 with his younger brother Joel. In November 1811, Lansing and his brother walked here in five days from Whitestown in Oneida County to locate land on which to build a cabin, make a clearing and begin life in the new frontier, said Al Capurso, who researched Bailey’s life. The brothers purchased 250 acres from the Holland Land Company on Nov. 11, 1811.

Joel died of a fever on August 10, 1813. While plans were underway for his burial, Lansing’s wife Loda became ill from the same fever and died on Aug. 15, leaving three children, including 3 month-old twins born in the Bailey cabin in May 1813.

During those difficult years, Bailey also heeded the call to defend the United States, serving in the War of 1812. His service records indicate he was in Crosby’s Regiment. As a private he marched on to Buffalo/Lewiston and saw combat against the British Army, Capurso said. Bailey also aided Bathshua Brown in repel a squad of British soldiers who came up the Oak Orchard River in Carlton, Capurso said.

The Orleans County Honor Guard was part of the ceremony honoring Lansing Bailey.

Bailey lived until 1865. He is buried in Mount Albion Cemetery on the west side near the road leading up to the tower.

On Saturday, Capurso and Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin led a service where Bailey received a veteran’s marker at his grave. The bronze marker notes that Bailey was a War of 1812 vet. Capurso polished the marker to give it a shine.

“Anyone who serves their country should be honored with a marker so people can appreciate their sacrifice and pay their respects,” Capurso said. “He was definitely an honorable man.”

The Honor Guard from the American Legion attended the service and fired a 21-gun salute.

“He was a veteran from 1812, who helped make our country what it is today,” said Jim Cox, a member of Legion. “This being the 200^th anniversary of the war, it’s an honor to come and do this.”

Bailey is the second Albion veteran honored with a grave marker recently for service in the War of 1812. Last year Moses Bacon had a marker placed by his grave at the Union Cemetery on Route 98 by Watt Farms Country Market. The Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Daughters of the War of 1812 put the marker on the grave for Bacon.

“These people sacrificed a great deal being the original settlers,” Lattin said. “They came here into a dense forest and then on top of that we had a war.”

Al Capurso, left, researched the life of Lansing Bailey and secured a bronze War of 1812 veteran marker for his grave. County Historian Bill Lattin spoke a service at Bailey’s grave on Saturday.