Marker will honor first Albion settlers

ALBION – In December 1810, William McAllister bought 368 acres in Albion, the east side of the village, from the Holland Land Company. The following year he built a log cabin where the current County Clerks’ Building stands next the county courthouse.

McAllister and his wife, known only in historical information as “Mrs. McAllister,” were Albion’s first settlers. In a few months a historical marker, with a log cabin logo, will celebrate their pioneering spirit.

The County Legislature approved the marker to be placed on the lawn in front of the Clerks’ Building, near a sidewalk and parking lot at the southwest corner of the grass.

The Capurso family in Albion is paying for the marker, which will be dedicated during a July 6 event at 1 p.m. There will be a ceremony inside the Clerks’ Building, and the dedication will include musical performances.

“It’s a historic first that has not been commemorated,” said Al Capurso of Albion. “They were the first settlers in the village and the town.”

Capurso tracked down the history about McAllister while reading about pioneer residents in Orleans County in books that were published in the mid-1800s. He also traced records in the Holland Land Company.

Capurso’s wife Chris is the daughter of the late Donna Rodden, a former Albion mayor who pushed to have several sites in the community listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.

“She was very active and interested in historic preservation and she impressed that upon me,” Capurso said.