Search Results for: gaines basin school

Historical marker for Santa School gets a new look

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 October 2017 at 10:37 am

Photo courtesy of Melissa Ierlan

ALBION – Melissa Ierlan of Clarendon reinstalled the historical marker this morning for the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School site in Albion, at the corner of Phipps Road and Route 31.

Ierlan has repainted many of the historical markers around the county in recent years that had flaked off paint. She typically would repaint them in blue with yellow letters. For the Santa School, she decided to give it a red border, with green letters that are prominent in a white background.

Howard ran the school in Albion from 1937 until his death in 1966. Howard also established Christmas Park at the site.

Ierlan also dropped off three other repainted historical markers this morning. The Canal Corp. will reinstall them. One is for the bridge collapse where 15 people died on Sept. 28, 1859 in Albion. Another marker is near Gaines Basin Road and notes a spot that is the northernmost point on the canal. Another sign by the canal in Albion talks about the Erie Canal’s impact on the area after the waterway opened in 1825.

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Capurso thanked for leading effort to save cobblestone schoolhouse

Posted 11 May 2017 at 8:57 am

Editor:

Kudos to Al Capurso and the Orleans County Historical Association for saving the Gaines Basin cobblestone schoolhouse. Al took on a project with the same diligence he has shown throughout his life. Slowly and with focused determination he worked to reclaim this schoolhouse to its rightful stature in this county.

Yes, others helped with this project, but let’s give Al a 95 percent on this project which has now been recognized by the governor to be placed on the State and National Registry of Historic Places.

Al, Congratulations from this entire community. No one else could have done it!

Karen and Chris Watt

Gaines

New sign put at former Santa School site in Albion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 14 September 2016 at 4:17 pm

091416_santasign2

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The former Santa Claus School site in Albion, at the corner of Route 31 and Gaines Basin Road, has a new sign. Bill Downey of Downey Signs installed a replica of the sign for the school, which was run by the late Charles Howard from 1937 until his death in 1966.

Gary Kent (left), a director for the Albion Betterment Committee, and Bill Downey are pictured by the new sign that Downey installed about two weeks ago at the former Santa Claus School site in Albion.

The school property is now owned by Robin and Jill Stinson.

The Albion Betterment Committee paid for the new sign. The Betterment Committee last year also put a welcome sign on Route 98, noting Albion as home of Charles Howard and the original Santa Claus School.

The school has since moved to Midland, Mich. It continues to be named in honor of Howard, who developed many standards for how Santas should act and dress.

Downey said he had to hand-draw the letters to match the font used by Howard in the sign. Gary Kent, a director with the Albion Betterment Committee, said the Santa Claus School site remains a beloved memory for many in Albion and beyond.

He sees promoting Albion’s ties to the school and Charles Howard as a way to promote pride in the community. The Betterment Committee is also working on raising money for a bronze statue of Santa and perhaps Charles Howard in plain clothes in downtown Albion.

“This is one of the assets we have,” Kent said about the community’s ties to Santa and the school. “It can be a way of bringing back the community.”

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Gaines officially turns 200 on Feb. 14

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 February 2016 at 12:00 am

GAINES – The Town of Gaines has long marked the year 1809 as the birth of the town. That’s when several pioneer settlers started to arrive, making a new home in what was then a wilderness.

The town marked its centennial in 1909, its 150th anniversary in 1959 and a bicentennial in 2009.

However, Town Historian Al Capurso said the town didn’t officially exist until Feb. 14, 1816. That’s when the State Legislature recognized the Town of Gaines.

The first official Town Board meeting was soon after the state’s move to recognize Gaines. Capurso shared the tidbits with the Town Board on Tuesday. He noted that this Valentine’s Day will mark the town’s 200th official birthday.

Capurso shared other news with the Town Board. He is part of a committee working on the new Orleans County Heritage Festival the second weekend in September. Capurso said the event, which includes assistance from Genesee Community College, will highlight transportation, architecture, historic gems and historic cemeteries in the county.

He would like the Gaines Cemetery on Ridge Road, behind the Gaines Congregational Church, to be included on the cemetery tour. Capurso said that is the first cemetery in the county and includes two Revolutionary War soldiers.

At least one new historical marker will go up in Orleans County this year, with the Orleans County Department of History and the Orleans County Historical Association splitting the estimated $1,200 cost, Capurso said. He expects historians will vie for sites for the marker around the county. He would like one on Route 279, just south of Route 104 in honor of James Mather, one of the early Gaines settlers.

Capurso also has been leading the effort to preserve a former cobblestone schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal. Capurso said a variance has been approved to allow the site as a meeting house for the Historical Association. Attorneys are working on getting the title for the property for the Historical Association.

In other action at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting:

The board discussed options for water accessibility for employees in the building. The Town Hall only has sinks in the two bathrooms. There isn’t a utility sink.

Town Supervisor Carol Culhane said that makes it difficult to fill a coffee pot or wash a dish.

“I think it’s unreasonable that we have something like this,” Culhane said. “We wash a dish in the bathroom sink because there is no sink.”

She thought water from the Culligan company, which would include 5-gallon jugs of water and a water cooler, would solve the problem temporarily. Culligan would charge $6.25 a month for the cooler, plus $7.99 per jug.

Town Councilman Richard DeCarlo wants to explore running a waterline in the building and creating a utility sink.

The board will look at options for either bottled water, Culligan or a waterline.

Ultimately the Town Hall needs some renovations for security and handicapped accessibility. Those changes could include a sink for the employees, Culhane said.

“But that’s down the road,” she said.

The board approved spending $2,709 to Star Electric of Pavilion to add phones and upgrade the phone system for the Town Hall, where the phones haven’t been updated in more than a decade.

Planners approve old cobblestone school as meeting house

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 December 2015 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – Volunteers have worked to save a former Cobblestone Schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road in Albion. The school was built in 1832, and may be the oldest cobblestone building in the county.

ALBION – A cobblestone building from 1832 that was used as a schoolhouse until 1944 will find new use as meeting place for the Orleans County Historical Association.

The group has worked the past year to put on a new roof and stabilize the building at 3302 Gaines Basin Rd., just north of the Erie Canal.

The 913-square-foot building hasn’t been used much since it was closed as a school in 1944. Nor had there been much upkeep of the building until this year.

Al Capurso, the Gaines town historian, pushed to save the building from collapse. The site received a new historical marker in October, and the Historical Association is trying to get it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On Thursday, the Orleans County Planning Board approved the site plan and recommended the Town of Gaines approve variances and give a permit for the Historical Association to use the building for a public/semi-public community facility.

The association needs 200 feet of frontage but the property only has 125 feet. It also needs a minimum lot size of 40,000 square feet, but only has 22,500. Planners backed the frontage variance of 75 feet, and a 17,500 square foot variance for minimum lot size.

The Historical Association didn’t create the hardships for the variances, planners said. The group should be commended “for restoring a vital piece of Orleans County history back to an active use.”

The site shouldn’t draw too much traffic. There is parking available in the back on a hard-pack surface for about 20 vehicles.

Capurso told planners on Thursday the site will be used for meetings and could be home to donated artifacts.

The Historical Association in 2016 plans to repair the floor, have the building rewired and ceiling and walls plastered. Some missing sections of cobblestones will be replaced with appropriate soft lime mortar.

In 2017, Capurso said he expects the site will receive donations for a piano, school desks, teachers desk, wood stove, tables, chairs and wall hangings.

Old cobblestone schoolhouse has new purpose and historical marker

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Al Capurso is pictured with a new historical marker that was unveiled today by the former one-room schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal. The schoolhouse was built in 1832 and is one of the oldest cobblestone buildings in the area.

It has been largely abandoned since decentralization in 1944. The marker also notes that Caroline Phipps taught at the school. She went on to be a distinguished educator and ran the Phipps Union Seminary in Albion from 1837 to 1875. That spot later became the County Clerks Building.

A swing is pictured next to the former schoolhouse.

The restoration project has been backed by the Orleans County Historical Association and includes a new roof on the building and new windows, as well as the historical marker.

Here is how the building looked last winter.

Here is how the historical site looks today.

Gary Kent led the efforts to trim some of the branches that were hanging across the building. Those branches needed to be removed for the roof work, which was completed by Young Enterprises. Mike Tower fixed the rafters.

Bill Lattin worked on the window sashes, Bob Albanese helped clean up the grounds, and many volunteers pitched in to remove junk from inside the building.

Bob Barrett of Clarendon restored the teacher’s desk and chair that remained inside the school. He even reconstructed the drawers in the desk.

Capurso, who is now the Gaines town historian, would like the site to become a meeting house and museum.

He said that Gaines once had 12 one-room schoolhouses. They were roughly located 1.5 miles apart to make access easier by the students in attendance.

The windows used to be boarded up, but now plenty of light can get inside the old schoolhouse.

Next year, Capurso said he would like to see work on the ceiling, walls and floor. He is pleased with the progress so far, and thanked the community for its support.

Today’s program included remarks from Capurso; Bill Lattin, who is retired as county historian; Matt Ballard, the current county historian; Dee Robinson, former Gaines town historian for more than 30 years; Town Supervisor Carol Culhane; and Ted Swiercznski, who attended the school and has been active in local politics for several decades. Another former student of the school, Angelina Daniels, also attended today’s celebration.

Volunteers are breathing life into former cobblestone school in Gaines

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 August 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Bill Lattin, the retired Orleans County historian, was busy on Friday at the former cobblestone schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, painting the front windows.

The schoolhouse for District No. 2 was built in 1832 and served as a school until 1944. It fell into disrepair and has been targeted for improvements by the Orleans County Historical Association.

The building has settled over the years and window frames are a little crooked. That made it tricky for Lattin to fix the windows. Fred Miller at Family Hardware in Albion cut new glass for the windows, accommodating the leaning frames.

“You have to go with the flow with these old things,” Lattin said.

The inside of the building has been largely cleared of debris and the floor swept.

Lattin said other buildings in worse shape have been saved in the county.

Gaines resident Al Capurso has been leading the reclamation effort at the former schoolhouse.

Capurso says many pioneer children in Orleans County were taught at the school, which was also used for countless town meetings.

Volunteers will be working to replace windows, repair holes in the flooring and plastering.

Capurso and the Historical Association also will erect a historical marker, highlighting the building’s use as a school from 1832 to 1944.

Capurso has photos of other cobblestone schools in the community that were torn down, including one at the corner of Riches Corner and Holley roads.

“We have lost some cobblestone school houses and we are determined not to lose this one,” he said.

Part of the front wall includes cobblestone masonry that has endured for nearly two centuries.

Capurso and the volunteers would like to have new storm windows on the building before winter, as well as a new roof and the historical marker.

Capurso would like to have the building up to code with a solid floor and electricity so it could again be used for community gatherings.

Bill Lattin points to his father’s initials, which Cary Lattin put in plaster in 1939.

Lattin said many of his relatives attended school in the building.

“My ancestors went here,” Lattin said. “I’m helping out of sentimentality.”

For more information on the project, and how to help, call Capurso at (585) 590-0763.

New York Sun editor spent childhood in Gaines

By Matthew Ballard, Orleans County Historian Posted 20 June 2015 at 12:00 am

The annals of local history are filled with the names of influential citizens who were either born here or lived here before moving beyond the political boundaries of our area to establish themselves on a much larger scale. One such man was Charles Anderson Dana, a name that few would recognize today.

This daguerreotype from the 1850s taken by Matthew Brady shows the staff of the New York Tribune. Seated left to right are George M. Snow, Bayard Taylor, Horace Greeley (once owner of the Ward House in Childs), and George Ripley. Standing left to right are William Henry Fry, Charles Anderson Dana, and Henry J. Raymond.

The son of Anderson Dana and Anna Denison, Charles A. Dana was born on Aug. 8, 1819 at Hinsdale, New Hampshire. At a young age, Charles was brought to Orleans County with his siblings where his father accepted a position as the overseer of a canal warehouse at Gaines Basin.

After several years of operating the site, Dana sought to establish himself locally on a small farm. With our knowledge of the area, it is very likely that Charles Dana received his earliest education at the Gaines Basin log schoolhouse where a young Caroline Phipps would have taught classes at the age of 14.

Unfortunately, the untimely death of Anna Dana on Sept. 7, 1828 left Anderson with four young children to care for. Anna was laid to rest at the burial ground in Gaines and the children were sent to Vermont where they were divided up amongst the living relatives. After spending time on the farm of his uncle, David Denison, Charles was sent to Buffalo where he worked at the store of another uncle, William Denison, until the business collapsed during the Panic of 1837.

With $200 in his pocket, Charles enrolled at Harvard University where he studied for two years. Upon the completion of his second year, he was forced to leave school due to poor eyesight and a lack of funds. Not soon after, an acquaintance offered Dana a position as City Editor of the New York Tribune. That acquaintance was none other than Horace Greeley, who would find his own connection to Gaines during the mid-1800s.

In 1849 Dana became a proprietor of the Tribune and was made managing editor, a position he would hold for over 10 years. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he was responsible for running the headline, “Forward to Richmond! Forward to Richmond!” which is credited with spurring Union troops forward into the Battle of Bull Run.

Following the Union defeat, Greeley suffered a nervous breakdown and Dana was forced to resign from his position in 1862.

After the war, Dana was able to raise the necessary funds from prominent Republicans in the New York City area to establish The Sun, which published its first paper on Jan. 27, 1868. Over the next several decades, The Sun became a polarizing publication focusing heavily on maladministration and the unscrupulous behavior of the nation’s biggest politicians. Dana remained in control of The Sun until his death on Oct. 17, 1897.

Group welcomes public to help save former cobblestone schoolhouse

Posted 22 May 2015 at 12:00 am

Editor:

For those interested in historic preservation, we have a wonderful opportunity to rescue, preserve and restore what could possibly be one of the oldest cobblestone structures in Orleans County.

In the 1820s there existed a log schoolhouse where pioneer children were taught on Gaines Basin Road, north of the canal. This was replaced by a cobblestone schoolhouse in 1832, which was used for the next 112 years.

Countless students passed through its door. Countless teachers dedicated themselves to the mission of child education. Countless town meetings were held there. The building still exists.

Courtesy of Al Capurso – Here is a mockup of a historical marker to go by the cobblestone schoolhouse in Gaines.

It continues to stand strong thanks to the artistry and skill of the cobblestone masons who erected it 183 years ago, and the care of the trustees all those many years. It stands as a tribute to hard-working teachers, children who struggle to learn and parents who value the importance of education.

The Orleans County Historical Association is in the process of acquiring this cobblestone treasure to protect, preserve and restore. We are also working to erect a historical roadside marker to educate passers by as to its historic value and significance.

You can help in a variety of ways. You can attend the “work bees” we will be having to replace windows, repair holes in the flooring, plastering, etc. If you have extra perennial flowers we welcome you to plant them out front of the schoolhouse next to the building. If you have extra lumber to donate we could use it.

A positive mention to your county legislator verbally or in writing would be helpful as we endeavor to dovetail with the County Department of History on this project.

We have lost too many cobblestone buildings through neglect and inaction. Here is a chance to preserve a piece of our history for future generations to enjoy and respect. There will be a meeting of Orleans County Historical Association at the Pullman Memorial Church on Wednesday, June 10, at 7 p.m.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information please call Al Capurso at 590-0763. Please join us.

Thank you,

Al Capurso
Member of Orleans County Historical Association

Founder of Santa Claus School also was a farmer

By Matthew Ballard, Orleans County Historian Posted 18 April 2015 at 12:00 am

ALBION – This photograph shows Charles W. Howard playing an unusual role; that of the secretary of the Orleans County Fair Association.

Taken sometime in the late 1910s, Charlie is shown standing on the race track of the old county fairgrounds in Albion. A number of men are lined up in the background, sitting atop the fence.

Born and raised at the family homestead on the corner of Route 31 and Gaines Basin Road, his earliest years were spent partaking in household chores and working the family farm. He was active in local agricultural societies and the Orleans County Fair Association for many years.

In 1926 Howard suffered injuries to his legs after falling from the top of a silo, 20 feet to the cement ground. After taking the plunge, he was rushed to the local hospital where it was discovered that he had broken his leg and broken bones in the other foot.

Around 10 years later, he suffered another fall, this time from atop a loaded hay wagon. After resting for four days, he returned to work performing his usual farm jobs. It was nearly three weeks later that he traveled to Rochester for x-rays, only to have the doctor exclaim, “My gosh, man, you’ve got a broken neck!” His neck was placed in a cast and he quickly returned to laboring on his farm.

Both injuries would have a lasting physical effect on Charlie. Despite this, he still went on to establish his famed Santa Claus School in 1937, operate his beloved Christmas Park, and enjoy the distinction of being one of the most adored men in the world. Howard has been an inspiration for many; a man of love, charity, and kindness – a true local legend.

Community urged to help preserve old cobblestone school

Posted 1 April 2015 at 12:00 am

Photo by Tom Rivers – This former one-room schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal, has been largely abandoned since decentralization in the mid-1940s.

Editor:

For about 110 years, from 1835 to 1843, that little cobblestone school house that sits on the west side of Gaines Basin Road, just north of the canal, served to educate the children from Gaines District #2.

Back in the day, the town of Gaines had 12 one-room schoolhouses, roughly located 1.5 miles apart to make access easier by the students in attendance. There is good reason to believe the cobblestone building I am referring to replaced a log school house where young pioneers educators such as Nancy Bullard and Caroline Phipps taught. In fact, it is believed, Miss Phipps, beginning at the age of 14, taught there in the years of 1826-29, before enrolling for a year in the Gaines Academy closer to Gaines Village and The Ridge Road.

As you may know, Miss Phipps distinguished herself as a career educator and advanced learning for women. Her Phipps Union Seminary stood where the County Clerks Office now is from 1837 to 1875.

We in Orleans County who care about historic preservation, cobblestone architecture and the need to honor our past are mounting a grassroots effort to save and restore the 1832 cobblestone schoolhouse.

A work bee and open house is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, beginning at 10 a.m. and going to 2 p.m. Weather permitting we will be cleaning up the grounds and planting flowers.

Inside we will be sweeping the floors, taking inventory of artifacts worth saving and displaying, measuring windows that need replacing, etc. A portable sanitation facility will be available. Volunteers are encouraged to bring bottled water, brooms, work gloves, garbage bags, shovels, rakes and clippers.

Donations of photographs, desks, artifacts, wall hangers would be very much appreciated. Orleans County Historical Association is a 502c3 for tax-deductible contributions. Your treasures would be gently scanned and returned to you promptly and proper citation given the donor in whatever publication they appear.

While we work on prettying up the building, there are three solid efforts underway. An application has been made to the W.G. Pomeroy Foundation for funding ($1,250) for a historic marker to be placed out front. Also two applications are being made to the State and Federal Register of Historic Places. If you know someone who was a student there, a parent, grandparent, great grandparent or of stories to tell, please contact Al Capurso at 590-0763.

“The heritage we share is worthy of our best efforts to preserve it.”

Al Capurso
Gaines

Preservationists want to save old cobblestone school

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 March 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – This former one-room schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal, has been largely abandoned since decentralization in the mid-1940s. A Gaines resident would like to see the building be saved and preserved for years to come.

GAINES – A building that has been vacant since about World War II could get new life through the efforts of local preservationists.

Gaines resident Al Capurso is leading the effort to save, stabilize and seek resources for a former cobblestone schoolhouse on Gaines Basin Road, just north of the Erie Canal.

The Orleans County Historical Association will discuss efforts to preserve Gaines Basin District No. 2. The association meets 2 p.m. Thursday at Hoag Library. The public is welcome to attend and share ideas for the building.

“It is sitting there, just waiting for us to take care of it,” Capurso said about the building.

The schoolhouse was built in 1832. A log cabin schoolhouse preceded that structure at the site. Capurso said some of the early pioneers in the Albion and Gaines area attended the school. Caroline Phipps was one of the teachers at the log cabin. It’s where she got her start as a teacher.

She would later start a women’s academy, the Phipps Union Seminary, in Albion. That school was located where the County Clerk’s Building now stands next to the courthouse.

There is an effort to have a historical marker outside the building and also to get the site listed on the state and national registers of historic places.

Capurso would like to have a historical marker by the cobblestone building that notes the significance of the site as a school. He wants the Orleans County Historical Association, where he is a member, to apply for a grant from the Pomeroy Foundation for the marker. That foundation funded a marker in Clarendon for Hillside Cemetery last year.

Capurso has also recruited help from Melissa Ierlan and Erin Anheier, members of the Clarendon Historical Society, to help get the cobblestone schoolhouse on the state and national registers of historic places. Anheier wrote successful applications for several sites in Clarendon and in the Brockport area, helping the properties to be listed and making them eligible for tax credits for renovations and preservation efforts.

Capurso said community members will also be needed to help with some of the work to make the building usable as a possible museum, display area and meeting place, perhaps for the Orleans County Historical Association.

“Saving the building will be a longer term effort with human power,” Capurso said.

‘Haunted Holley’ shares stories of ghosts, unexplained mysteries

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2023 at 11:18 am

Raymond Santoro’s new book is a hot-seller

Photo by Tom Rivers: Raymond Santoro hold a copy of his book, “Haunted Holley – Tales of Ghosts, Miracles and Unexplained Mysteries.” The 144-page book shares some of the supernatural experiences Santoro has experienced or heard about in the Holley area.

HOLLEY – Raymond Santoro suspects everyone has had experiences with the supernatural, but they probably don’t talk about it too much.

They don’t want people to think they’re strange, or to say things that may seem contrary to their religious upbringing and views. They also might not be certain about just what they saw, or heard, or felt.

Santoro has compiled a book about some of his experiences, and those that his Holley friends and neighbors have shared. The result is a 144-page book: “Haunted Holley – Tales of Ghosts, Miracles and Unexplained Mysteries.”

“I wanted to write this so people would know that if these things happen to you, you shouldn’t feel afraid or embarrassed,” Santoro said. “I wanted people to know you’re not alone.”

Provided photos: Raymond Santoro holds a copy of his book during an event Oct. 18 at the Hillside Cemetery Chapel.

He has sold about 400 copies of the book already in the first two weeks it has been out. He signed copies on Saturday at the Murray-Holley Historical Society from noon until 3 p.m. He had a book talk on Oct. 18 at the Hillside Cemetery Chapel and sold about 100 copies for $10 each.

Santoro will give a talk “Tales of Ghosts and Unexplained Mysteries” and sign copies of his book at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse, 3286 Gaines Basin Rd.

Santoro, 64, is retired from the U.S. Postal Service. He splits time between Holley and Arizona. He has written books about his family, including a 30-year project, “From Italy to the United States – The Santoro Family,” which came out in 2019.

“Haunted Holley” is his first book for the general public. Santoro said it has people talking, and sharing some of their own experiences with ghosts or some supernatural force.

He has received the most comments about an anecdote with his childhood friend, Paul Rocco. It was December 1974, and Santoro was using a Ouija board with some of his buddies. They asked the board who would be the next person to die in Holley. The board spelled out Paul Rocco, and said he would die by strangulation. Paul was only 12 at the time.

A few days later, Santoro heard the sirens in Holley. Paul was out using a snowblowing and his long scarf got caught in the machine. It pulled the scarf tight around his neck. He was choking and turned blue. The ambulance crew was able to be revive him and Rocco went on to be a music star, playing guitar with the Chesterfield Kings. Rocco would die at age 47 from liver complications.

Santoro, a founding member of the Murray-Holley Historical Society in 1985, has spoken with many people in Holley and he concludes many of the homes are not necessarily “haunted” but “occupied” by ghosts and a supernatural presence.

People tell him about doors that open and close mysteriously, including one at a home on West Albion Street that not only shut, but was bolted mysteriously, with the owners locked out and needing the police for help to get inside. Santoro said the residents in the home reported seeing an apparition of a scary man upstairs “dressed funny.” Other times an unplugged microwave came on, prompting the owner to throw it outside.

“My key take away from this collection of experiences is there is definitely an afterlife,” Santoro writes in the conclusion of the book. “I know some of these stories may be in direct conflict with the Good Book, but I can say with absolute certainty that earthly death does not necessarily mean the end.”

A good-size crowd turned out for Santoro’s book-signing and talk on Oct. 18 at the Hillside Cemetery Chapel. He will be signing copies of the book at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse.

Santoro believes there are ghosts that are harmless, and others that are more sinister. He said people need to be wary about inviting in an evil presence.

“There is some form of continuation beyond this reality, and I will leave it to the philosophers and clerics to debate and hammer out the specifics of what that may be,” Santoro concluded.

The book is available at the Author’s Note bookstore in Medina, Cobblestone Museum in Gaines, Clarendon Town Hall, Community Free Library in Holley, and the Murray-Holley Historical Society.

Canal program shines light on life of a hoggee

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2023 at 11:37 am

Children walked with mules pulling boats in canal’s boom days

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Graham Kirby, 10, of Albion served as a hoggee on Saturday in a boat captained by Veronica Morgan of Albion.

Morgan put together a program, “I was a hoggee on the Erie Canal.” She wanted to spotlight the role of hoggees, who were children who walked with mules that pulled boats on the canal.

The Orleans County Historical Association assisted Morgan with the event that included activities at the Gaines Basin cobblestone schoolhouse as well as the boat rides from the canal, going from near the Gaines Basin Road bridge to near the lift bridge in Eagle Harbor.

Graham Kirby looks to the boat captain to see if he is needed for any task. The hoggees would get the captain food and be sent for other chores on the boat when they weren’t outside walking with mules.

Bill Lattin, retired Orleans County historian, was in the canal boat and shared stories and history of the canal in Gaines and Eagle Harbor during the 40-minute boat ride. Lattin is also Graham Kirby’s grandfather.

Lattin said Eagle Harbor is largely a “ghost town” now compared to the 1800s and early 1900s when it had its own grocery store, and other merchants who were coopers and blacksmiths.

Eagle Harbor also had the third golf course in the United States, a 6-hole course north of the canal that operated from 1898 to about 1940.

Lattin shared how Gaines has the northernmost point of the canal, endured a big flood in 1927 when there was a breach on the waterway. The section also has a widewaters east of Eagle Harbor where boats could turn around. The widewaters was especially needed in the early days of the canal when it was only 40 feet wide and difficult for boats to change directions.

Arthur Barnes does a pen and ink drawing of the a log cabin behind the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse on Saturday.

The schoolhouse was open for people to relax and tour on Saturday. The school was built in 1832 and is among the oldest cobblestone structures in the region.

It served as a school until 1942. Bill Lattin said there used to be 144 schools in the county. After decentralization, the number of school districts dropped to five.

Veronica Morgan captains the boat. She steered it about 65 miles from Macedon for the event on Saturday.

She wants to offer the hoggee program again in 2025, on the 200^th anniversary of the Erie Canal and also Orleans County.

Morgan works as a lift bridge operator in Brockport.

The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council supported the hoggee program on Saturday, covering the cost for the boat rides and other entertainers.

The boat approaches the lift bridge in Eagle Harbor. The boat rides on Saturday were for about 40 minutes, from Gaines Basin to Eagle Harbor and then back.

Graham Kirby sounds a horn, which hoggees did to let the lift bridge operator know a boat was approaching. The horn is in the schoolhouse’s collection of artifacts.

Landmark Society honors Bill Lattin, Cobblestone Museum for stewardship of historic sites

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 December 2021 at 8:07 pm

Fancher Memorial restoration also recognized by preservation organization

Photos by Tom Rivers: Bill Lattin, in this photo from August 2015, paints the trim on a window of the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse, a former one-room schoolhouse he helped to save from the brink of ruin.

ROCHESTER – The Landmark Society of Western New York is honoring Bill Lattin for a lifetime achievement award for his decades of work preserving numerous local sites, and his efforts to highlight local history.

The Landmark Society also will present a stewardship award to the Cobblestone Museum for its 60 years as a caretaker of properties that are a National Historic Landmark.

The Town of Murray also is receiving a special citation for its effort to restore the Fancher War Memorial on Route 31 in Fancher, a monument to 10 soldiers killed in World War II.

The awards will be presented during a virtual ceremony on Dec. 12.

Bill Lattin – Jean France Special Achievement Award

Lattin will receive the Jean France Special Achievement Award which recognizes “accomplishments that have occurred over a lengthy period of time.”

Lattin has been a caretaker and storyteller of Orleans County history for the past 50 years. He is officially retired as Orleans County historian and Cobblestone Museum director. He served in those roles for 35 years. (He retired from the museum in 2010 and from the county on Dec. 31, 2014.)

But he remains an active force in preserving important local sites and documenting history.

“Bill has advocated for local history for over six decades, through countless tours and publications,” the Landmark Society said. “The foremost authority on all aspects of Orleans County history, Bill continues his involvement with preservation and museum programming, lifetime commitments for this accomplished community activist.”

Bill Lattin welcomes visitors to the Vagg House on Nov. 7, 2020 following the Cobblestone Museum’s annual meeting. Lattin led the transformation of the Vagg House, at the corner of routes 98 and 104, into a home decorated in the 1920s and ’30s. Lattin spearheaded the restoration of many of the sites on the museum’s campus in the past 40 years.

After the Cobblestone Museum acquired the Vagg House at the corner of routes 98 and 104 last year, Lattin led the efforts to curate the former home of blacksmith Joe Vagg and his wife Nellie, who was active in the temperance movement. The house is filled with antiques and is decorated the in a 1920s, ’30s theme, with many of the early electrical appliances. Lattin even built an outhouse for the site to help it match the others on the museum’s grounds.

The Vagg House is a new “jewel” in the Cobblestone Museum’s crown, said Doug Farley, the museum’s current director. The house can be used for small gatherings of less than 30 people, such as meetings, rehearsal parties or teas, and other museum events.

In 2020, Lattin also helped relocate a log cabin built by Boy Scouts in 1930. It went from an Albion backyard to behind a cobblestone school built in 1832 on Gaines Basin Road. Lattin has been a key worker on saving that school in recent years. He has handyman skills and deep connections to rally the community to a cause. That school and the log cabin are recent examples. But that mission started long ago. He was a key leader of the Save the Tower committee that raised $30,000 in the mid-1970s for the Civil War Memorial at Mount Albion Cemetery. Lattin has given new life to many local structures.

Cobblestone Society and Museum – Stewardship Ward

The Cobblestone Museum will be honored with a stewardship award for its care of a campus that is a National Historic Landmark and includes this church that was built in 1834.

The Cobblestone Society and Museum will be presented the Stewardship Award for its efforts preserving and maintaining three cobblestone buildings – a church, a home and a school – on Route 104, and for saving other sites in the museum campus, including outhouses, a former town hall, harness shop, print shop and voting booth and other important community artifacts.

Kevin Breiner, a mason from Brockport, works on one of 14 new concrete piers underneath Farmers Hall at the Cobblestone Museum, in this photo from August 2019. The building was previously the Kendall Town Hall. It was taken apart and reassembled in 1978 at the Cobblestone Museum on Route 98. It’s one of several recent repair projects at the museum.

The Stewardship Award recognizes an individual or organization that has provided continued care of and commitment to the preservation of an architecturally and/or historically significant public property over a period of years.

“For 60 years, this organization has focused on the history and architecture of this iconic type of stone masonry,” the Landmark Society said. “Highlighted by one of the largest cobblestone churches in North America, their multiple-building campus is the only designated National Historic Landmark in Orleans County. The museum maintains an extensive archives, as well as the on-going Cobblestone Info Base, with data on all known cobblestone buildings in the U.S. and Canada.”

The museum recently announced it is working to acquire the 1834 “Brick House,” a stately red brick home with six fireplaces. The museum wants to put on an addition to make the site a visitor’s center with new modern bathrooms and meeting space for up to 100 people at the intersection of routes 98 and 104. The museum has raised more than $400,000 out of a $750,000 goal for the initiative.

The site would be an Orleans County welcome center and would promote businesses and other tourism sites in the county.

Fancher War Memorial – Special Citation

The Fancher Memorial was rededicated on Aug. 14. Richard Christopher of Albion places a commemorative wreath by the monument in Fancher. Richard is the son John Christopher, who was killed on November 26, 1943 when the transport ship carrying his unit was struck by a German glider bomb and sunk off the coast of Algeria. He was laid to rest at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunis, Tunisia. John’s brother Joseph also was killed during the war. Another pair of brothers from the Fancher community – Leonard and Martin Licursi – also died in the war.

The Landmark Society picked the restoration of the Fancher War Memorial for a Special Citation. The monument at the “Fancher Curve” on Route 31 honors 10 local soldiers who were killed in World War II.

The memorial is a four-faced clock in a stone monument made of local sandstone. It gradually deteriorated over 72 years.

The crumbling mortar was chipped out and replaced with new matching green mortar. New movements for the clocks and new electrical service were installed. The flag pole was painted. New sandstone pavers were added as a walkway on the north side of the property.

Neal Muscarella, a mason from Albion, chips away old and loose mortar on May 27 on the Fancher Clock, a World War II Memorial at the curve on Route 31 on the east side on Murray. Muscarella put in new mortar, matching the original color green. He said this is the only sandstone structure that he has seen with green mortar.

And a new bronze plaque was mounted on the north side near the flagpole. The original plaque remains, but it is on the west side facing the guardrails and wasn’t in an easy-to-see location for most people to know the true purpose of the monument.

“The restoration of this unique World War II memorial was achieved via a remarkable partnership of town government, local historical society and a former Fancher resident/philanthropist,” the Landmark Society said. “With repairs completed by local craftsmen, the Medina stone tower, with clock, was re-dedicated this year, exactly 72 years after its original dedication in 1949.”

Local mason Neal Muscarella replaced the mortar, matching it to the original green. Dan Mawn put in new electric.

The Fancher community built the memorial out of local Medina sandstone as a tribute to 10 local soldiers who died in World War II. Those soldiers include John Christopher, Joseph Christopher, Cosmo Coccitti, John Kettle, Jr., Leonard Licursi, Martin Licursi, Richard Merritt, Camille Nenni, Floyd Valentine and Richard Vendetta.

About 200 people attended the rededication ceremony on Aug. 14, including family of some of the soldiers honored with the monument.

Town Supervisor Joe Sidonio said it should be clearer now that the site isn’t a municipal clock, but is a war memorial dedicated to local soldiers who died serving the country.

The project was funded with a donation from Fred Fiorito, a former local resident who now lives in the New York City area. He would typically home a few times each year to see family, including his brother Ted Fiorito. Fred noticed the memorial gradually deteriorate and wanted it to be a fitting tribute to the 10 soldiers.