Battle of the Bulge, Father's Day and "Nuts!"....

Domenic J. Messere

This has been a weather nightmare for a good portion of not only our country but of Europe and beyond with floods, tornados,  rain and hail.  Down here in old Eaton we escaped the big flood by a matter of a couple of hours more of rain.  The museum is fine even though the weather has prevented my rear section roofing plans from going forward…I assure you that after falling from two roofs I have learned…

Rule 1 -”Do not roof on wet days!”

Rule 2- “Do not use wet aluminum ladders!”

So I have been working on other projects that have finally come together.

Father’s Day always bring thoughts of my dad who I worked with as a helper as a child and who worked with me when he retired as an adult.  He never really swore in mixed company using his famous “NUTS!” as the expletive if something went wrong.  He was an ‘officer and gentlemen” as the old saying goes.

He had actually been with Patton at the Battle of the Bulge time and I guess he picked up the phrase “Nuts” from General McAuliffe who was the acting commander of the 101^st Airborne at the siege of Bastogne.  The general had quite a history..he had flown in on a glider before D Day.  When asked to surrender by the Germans who had his troops surrounded,  he sent back one of the most famous WWII replies…one word…”NUTS!” Some say it was because he didn't want to be remembered for a swear word..but whatever...

Dad taught me everything about construction and electricity - I remember his saying, ”If you are going to learn to drive a car, you should know how it works and how to fix it”.  If I had and older model truck I could still do it today.    I even rebuilt an engine in the dead of winter and repaired anything I could.

His motto was...”IF YOU CAN READ AND HAVE THE TOOLS YOU CAN DO ALMOST ANYTHING!”  You can!

My favorite story was the time I bought a house in Syracuse and we had to jack up the basement in one part because of a broken beam.  I came home from a job…contracting…and dad was in the basement.  He told me to hold this timber in place and he worked the jack.  We could not lift it…the timber came loose and hit me in the head. 

After much effort and two jacks we got it sort of up there.  One day I decided to hang a shelf on the wall above the bad area and “bam” I found the reason why we had such a hard time.  A former owner had taken a chimney out in the basement and on the outside but not in the middle…. He or she had walled it off! 

P.S.   The word he used when 

the beam came loose and hit me was “Nuts”.  I said something 
different!

Eaton's Church turns 180 years old........Happy Birthday!

Today is a special day in Eaton, it is the day the current Eaton Church was dedicated on June 6^th in 1833.  Its the historic sight I see while having coffee in the morning.

At that time it was the Congregational Church, its founding members included two of the original incorporators of the Baptist Theological Seminary that became Madison University and today's Colgate University.

The step which bore the inscription still sits in front of the church, but has been broken up and can no longer be read.  But the churches history has followed that of the Eaton Hamlet and has in fact helped the history of the United States. 

In 1848 the church hosted the Congregational Society’s yearly northeast meeting at which time the Congregational Society officially adopted an anti-slavery stand.  Some information on this is in the Cornell College Library.

The church had many noteworthy pastors including its first installed minister the Reverend E D Willis, a friend of Gerrit Smith and a noted abolitionist.  I became interested in Willis because he lived in my house, a house that Allen Nelson Wood and his wife would buy on their return to Eaton.

The church’s members at that time included Allen Nelson Wood founder of the Wood, Taber & Morse Steam Engine Works and both his partners Loyal Clark Taber and Walter Morse.

Other famous Eatonites who attended services were Melville Delancey Landon and his family. Landon became a well known as both a writer and as a lecturer. Many rich and famous people attended the church during the Victorian era during what time Grover Cleveland’s brother; the Reverend William Cleveland was its pastor.

The church still today houses a historic Meneely Clock and Bell, and the churches windows which bear the names of some of Eaton’s greats... still grace its interior; an interior that sports hand turned pillars turned by Allen Wood himself.

During the Civil War the Eaton Churches banded together and held services attended by each other patrons during the week to pray for the wars end.

Eventually, the Congregational Church became part of the Federated Churches of Eaton and then later became a Community Church under the Pastor Thomas Clark who improved not only the building, and but helped institute a fabulous AWANA program. During the time he was pastor the congregation also built a large activities build that is used today for youths to play basketball and games and to host special functions.

One of the best stories I have about the church is one that ended up involving me.  Melville Landon wrote a story on Mr. Wood and the Rev. Cleveland for one of his books. In the story Mr. Wood is hawking hymnals for sale in the back of the church while Rev. Cleveland was announcing the following weeks Baptism Service for children.  Wood only had one child and so when the minister said for the parishioners to bring their children… Mr. Wood piped up, thinking he was talking about the hymnal that “they could have as many as they wanted for 50 cents each.”

I wrote about this story for the Mid-York Weekly newspaper and the next week I received a package from Pennsylvania…it was the sermon handwritten that Rev. Cleveland delivered that day!...

History always returns to Eaton…so visit the museum soon and see the document for yourself…we are going to be open on Sundays 1-3 pm in the summer.

Here's a video of the church!

The summer like heat has made me think about Old Forge!!!

This week I have an urge to think "Summer"...must be the heat...and take a trip up the Adirondacks and Old Forge.  My brother has been remodeling his place up there and I could snap a few "going along" pictures for fun and then I could visit the Old Forge Hardware Store and wander around looking at all the stuff it contains.  After a ton of visits you can never really see everything that is in that store. 

 Of course being a history buff...on one of my trips up I did some research on the Old Forge Hardware Store and its founder...Moses A. Cohen.... and it is a really interesting story!

Moses A. Cohen was a Lithuanian immigrant who came to America to

join his brother at the young age of 16. Moses started as a pack

peddler, walking a route through the wilderness of the Adirondacks

near the Saranac River, eventually going into a retail business with his

brother David, in Bloomington, New York. As a pack peddler he was

known to carry a 100-pound pack to cabin or house, from place to

place. A friend of many, he was a successful man who knew the value

of the honesty of a merchant, something he had learned from his

father in Lithuania when they would go many miles to town and bring

back goods to sell in their neighborhood.

Eventually, bought out by his brother David, he wandered into a place

called Old Forge with a wife and an old horse with a cart of goods,

setting up a business in rented rooms. When he had enough money

he built a store. With the burgeoning retail market caused by the influx

of people to this vast scenic area and the opening of lumber mills to fill

their building needs, his store took an important place in the village as

a source for goods and supplies.

This building, built for about $10,000, burned in the 1920’s causing a

great loss to the Cohen family. Never one to give up, Moses rebuilt the

building and today, as the Old Forge Hardware, the Cohen Building

stands as a Mecca for travelers and visitors to today’s Old Forge. No

longer in the family, it is still a must see for tourists in the Old Forge

area, and it still carries anything anyone could ever need.

Cohen was an important man in Old Forge for many reasons,

becoming its first bank director, a 50-year Mason, and a founding

director of the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mt. Lake. This immigrant

pack peddler also became one of the largest landowners in the

Adirondack region. With his son, he was responsible for the building of

the Enchanted Forest, Howard Johnson’s and was a mover in getting a

ski center to Old Forge.

In 1976, to honor his father, A. Richard Cohen donated their residence

to the community so that it could act as the library and today their house is

providing services to community members and visitors - a wonderful

monument to the Cohen family that invested not only its time and

money, but its "heart" to a region that is one of the scenic wonders of

America.  

Take a drive up and enjoy the day and a visit to this historic business and look around you might see me wandering about wishing I could buy everything!.

Memorial Day Weekend ...Remembrance...and its history!

Re-enactors at the Eaton Museum

Well what a holiday weekend…the weather was unbelievable.. .Snow…Rain…Hail…wind…Frost!

Monday turned out to be a celebration for some to just get out of the house.  To those who turned out for the different parades and celebrations you are to be congratulated.  Memorial Day definitely has its sad and happy moments. In Eaton we celebrated and remembered our Revolutionary War Veteran's.

Dick Leland with Col. Joshua
 Leland's Revolutionary War
Sword! 

The stories on the original start of Memorial Day are numerous but in New York State we think it is Waterloo.

Many younger people do not realize that May 30th was the original Decoration Day, which became today’s Memorial Day. Now set on the 4th Monday in May, its history is forever linked to Waterloo, New York, a village that on May 5th, 1866, closed its doors to business to allow its citizens to put flowers and flags on the graves of its Civil War dead.

The town’s local druggist Henry C. Wells put the idea forth originally and Civil War General John B. Murray, who picked up the idea a year later, joined with him to make the original celebration a reality. The village held ceremonies with a somber march to the cemetery while martial music played and in Waterloo, it became a yearly tradition.

By 1868 the observance was recognized by General Logan the Commander-and-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic and was moved to May 30th.

This tradition perpetuated itself until the day was officially made a National Day of Remembrance for all those that fought and died for the United States, and today more than ever before it has become a community day that brings people together to watch parades, attend official cemetery ceremonies to remember our soldiers, and to reflect on all that is good in America.

For Waterloo, the history of the day is enshrined in the Memorial Day Museum on Waterloo’s Main Street. The museum contains information on the first Memorial Day and much information on the men who worked tirelessly to make it a National Holiday of importance and a yearly reminder of the great price we have paid through the years to not only keep our nation as one, but to keep it FREE!

The Museum..an Event...History...and TROUBLE!

This has been another wild week of weather...unbelievable it was 33 this morning!!!  I am still trying to get caught up for our big museum opening.  Sure hope Monday is nice…

After fighting with my poor old PC I gave up and transferred the documentary I was working on to the Apple and from there it blossomed into more trouble. 

Everyone thinks that the country is quiet…ha!  I had to try and get up at 2 in the morning to record the voice over for the documentary on Leland and believe me every so often I still heard a truck rumble through town and of course, into my voice over.  Then my little video camera took a turn for the worse…rule 1 - never take your video camera on to Fourth Lake in a Kayak.   But all and all.. the documentary is together without a studio (which I need terribly) and without using my large camera in a space that is too small and…fighting the fact that sound travels for miles…and farther.

I then called the group together to set up the canopy frame that had been twisted into a pretzel by the storm that dropped a tree on the museum and had punched a hole in the roof.  It took three people exerting all their weight to bend that thing into submission.  Then the poles that hold it up had to be shortened to eliminate the bent ends….Now you say flimsy metal right?  Wrong!  It is 11/2 inch steel pipe.  Luckily I have a plumber on Front Street who came over and in a few minutes eliminated the problem.

Then on to the big problem….it is 33 degrees outside and they are predicting cold nights like this for the weekend!  So tomorrow it is get propane and set it up to heat building in the morning of our big “Event”!

Humorously… the person who is supposed to bring the ice for the event emailed that maybe she should bring hot coffee and tea!  Also  said, “Who do you think is going to want “Ice cream”!  Hmm….

Lastly but more importantly, since the tree also took out my electric service for the second time and I have not reconnected because of money…the generator won’t start!  So as a sidelight….generator repair 101!

Well there is one thing for certain …we are going to celebrate history!  And even though the historian who has only had 3 hours of sleep a night for two weeks is sleepy…the Revolutionary re-enactors will wake her up when their cannon fires the first volley of “Remembrance” behind the museum on Monday!

So come out and help us celebrate a Museum Opening, Revolutionary War Veteran’s and one of our founding father’s here in Eaton…Col. William Leland whose sword will be in the museum to liven things up!

Eaton’s Old Town Museum is located on River Road in Eaton, NY.  For more information visit www.historystarproductions.com.

A sword of a different color….an event…a deed….and a museum!

Barbra looking sword over!

So many things to do before we open the Eaton Old Town Museum here in Eaton on Memorial Day Monday!  I have been wondering how to tie all the loose ends down with the weather as bad as it has been.  The other night it was 21 degrees …last night it warmed up to 29...whoopi doo…and the WIND!

The little documentary I was working on for the special day ground to a halt and I have had to redo in a different format…but of course that means changing it entirely as one is PC and the other is Apple…but the good news is Col. Joshua Leland’s Revolutionary War sword has arrived!

The old sword is not some glamorous shiny thing… it is a real...used sword!  The Col. was in the Revolutionary War as and Ensign under the Commission of George Washington, and the sword has been handed down to the eldest son from the Colonel’s death to today!  How cool is that.  The current owner is Richard Leland of Malta, New York, who is a friend and supporter of the museum.  Here a thank you to Fran Van Slyke for picking it up and delivering it!

Step to Col. Smith's Farm house in Smith's Valley

The Leland story actually starts with Col. William S. Smith who served under Washington and married Abigail “Nabby” Adams (President John Adams daughter) and lived in “Smith’s Valley.  Joshua purchased the property, which became Eaton from him, and the original document is framed at the Madison County Clerk’s Office.  The document on sheepskin has been preserved and has a back-story of its own.  This deed is dated July 2, 1795, and was recorded by Albert F. Devitt, Madison County clerk, July 2, 1926, just 131 years after it was dated!

But back to the “sword”.  The Col. it is said used to also help drill troops that were the early Militia here.  Most people don’t realize the local Militia’s were active at the time since the War of 1812 was pending and people were still required to form to protect and serve..the Col. died in 1816.  Of interest to me was that our wonderful Madison County Records Manager - Kevin Orr has found some information for the museum that confirms my belief that Smith famiy members lived in the Eaton side…John Adams Smith and his wife Ann are listed in deeds for Eaton, among others.

Well that all adds up to more stories and more information for the mseum…which will be opening to the public and telling its story on Monday…Memorial Day..the old fashioned way with new fangled video (I hope) and a good time for all…please come!

Here's a video on Leland & the Ponds that bear his name!

A Mother, a slave, and a speaker for human rights - Sojourner Truth!

I was on Facebook today and found a quote posted with picture of a woman I greatly admired when I was much younger. 

The Quote

Her name was Isabelle Baumfree, born in 1797, into slavery, right here in the State of New York.   Yes, New York …and as a young person I found that hard to believe because of course, the south is where the slaves were.

Isabella spoke Dutch since a New York Dutch family owned her… (Dutch...that blew my mind as a kid) She was eventually sold with sheep for $100 and started her family by being forced to marry a man she did not love.  The man she loved was unfortunately, was a slave who belong to another slave owner and if they had children - they would have been his owner’s property. 

In her own biography she tells of the terrible beatings she received, being sold, of her poor children being sold and of finally being promised her freedom in 1826 for an amount of work.  When her owner reneged on the deal, she ran away with her young child Sophia and found refuge with a man and wife who paid the $20 for work she supposedly still owned her former owner. (New York laws for abolition took effect on July 4, 1827)

When she learned that her 5 years old son Peter (she had to leave behind) had been illegally sold south, she took the issue to court. This case was one of the first in which a black woman challenged a white man in a United States court, and she won.

She says the “Spirit” came to her one day and she decided to go out and preach for abolition and women’s rights - among many other issues.  The name she took would become well known in American history…she chose Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth became a great public speaker and became friends with all of the luminaries of abolition from Wendell Phillips to William Lloyd Garrison.  She met Presidents... and she vigorously spoke for Women’s Rights - especially for black women after black men were given the vote and so much more.  Reading some of her quotes today is totally enjoyable since she spoke the “Truth”-plainly and out front! (Maybe why I am so outspoken some times.)

"Truth is powerful, and it prevails."

                                                                                

   – Sojourner Truth