How about a little Madison County Fair History..some fun facts!

Picture by Gwen Lacell

It is getting close to Fair time again and stories of the Madison County Fair abound among the older residents of rural Madison County’s southern hills. The once well-known fair, called in the 1930s and 40s the “ Biggest Little Fair in New York State” attracted crowds estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 people. Today our modern cars, fast-paced life-style and our yearn for all that’s electronic, has left our rural roots behind. America it seems has become beautiful color pictures and oh so much nostalgic talk to a generation of text messagers and computer “geeks." But all that said, it has been a joy to read through the stories of the Madison County Fair’s past glory.

In the early fairs wrestling was the fair’s highlight of physical endeavors and the wresters were well remembered including some that made it into the Professional Wrestlers Hall of Fame. One such lad was John Bonica who worked the fairs as a wrestler in the summer to pay his way through college. (Later he became a famous Doctor.)

The best remembered story about John is the one telling how he pulled the famous Professor George Keller out of a ring of wild cats and helped resuscitate him. The story account actually came from an article in the Saturday Evening Post of November 6th, 1943 recounted in the book “Brookfield’s Pride” written by the Brookfield High School class of 2007. The story is about legendary wild animal trainer Professor George Keller. Keller is remembered as the only trainer who was able to put many varieties of wild cats into a ring together.

Keller started his career as a young man growing up in a town like so many American towns that welcomed the circus every year. After seeing the wild animal act, George went home and got the children of his neighborhood to dress up like wild cats so he could tame them. This included clipping a few pet cats to look like the “real thing”. One year while he was at college, one of his old friend “buddies” sent him a wild young cat in a box and told him to train it, and he did!

Keller as part of his wild animal act always put his head into a lion’s mouth. The lion would close his mouth around Keller’s head with Keller’s neck between his fangs and on the count of ten, Keller would tap the lion’s mouth and the cat would open it. Well on this rain day in Brookfield the cat did not open his mouth. In the article title “I’m scared All of the Time,” Keller recounts waking up to the voices of Bonica and firemen who dragged him out of the ring and resuscitated him. Keller had suffocated, and when he went limp was drop like a dead mouse by the lion. Keller was considered dead for three minutes before being finally resuscitated by the firemen, regained his composure and called for the cat to come back into the cage and redid the stunt, this time the cat opened his mouth.

In the “Brookfield’s Pride” book, Hobie Morris recounts interviewing Keller who said he had to do this, or the lion would have thought him afraid, though Keller never performed that trick again.

For the 2014 Fair schedule, or more information on the Madison County Fair one of the oldest in America go to the Madison County Fair Facebook Page!

A Special Celebration at the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center set for this week!

From June 19-21, 2014, the Safe Haven Museum & Education Center and the Jewish Motorcycle Alliance will celebrate the 70th reunion of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego.

The event will feature a special celebration that is free to the public on Friday, as well as free bus tours of important sites and free tours of Fort Ontario on Friday and Saturday. Many other activities are planned including speakers like Irving Schlad a former refugee of the camp and a memorial dedication to Dr. William Schum, the centers first President. 

We here in CNY seldom have an opportunity to learn information on the Holocaust first hand unless it is part of our family’s history, nor do we take the time to consider its implications in a way that perhaps could change how our children behave in adulthood.  We do however have a great resource if we wish to have a ‘hands-on” learning lesson… that resource is the Safe Haven Museum in Oswego.

The museum does not dwell on the horrors of the Holocaust…  though it is there, what it does is focus on is the USA and our response to the displacement of people as each of the WWII concentration camps were liberated by our troops.  The short 37-minute documentary actually allows children who lived through the Holocaust tell their story in a humanistic and sometimes humorous way…  they having been dropped from the horrors of war into a Displaced Person Camp at Fort Ontario.  It also gives us hope as they explain the kindness of the Oswego people and its children. 

This little known piece of history is also an interesting look into the policies of the United States on immigration, at a time when we set tight limits on the number of immigrants allowed to enter. The fact remained that as the Allied Forces swept through Europe and Nazi Concentration Camps were liberated, the many people who lived through the horrific experience had no place to go. Though countries all over the world took in DP’s (displaced persons) the United States did not.

With much political pressure, Roosevelt in 1944 allowed 982 Holocaust survivors and political prisoners of war who had been liberated or displaced to come the United States as his “Guests”. Interior Secretary Harold Ickes sent Ruth Gruber an assistant to escort these refugees to the United States and to record their stories, which she wrote about in her book “Haven”.

For more information on the event go to the website http://www.safehavenmuseum.com

Uncas, Last of the Mohegans, Mahicans, Brothertown and our local history!

With all the rain this week I was unable to finish a video that I have planned to do on Samson Occum's graveyard at Occum Grove. As the Madison County Historian I got to meet one of the Mahican historian's who was researching the different families that migrated to Brothertown and although many think that the Brothertown and Stockbridge tribes just signed the paper to sell the land without duress before their move to Wisconsin... this is something I sincerely doubt considering the atmosphere and hatred of the era of "Indian Relocation to reservation in the West".  We may never know.  But locally the move occurred after the death of Samson Occum their leader.

Samson Occum was an unusual man… he was said to be a direct descendant of the great Chief Uncas of the Mohegan’s.  (There were a number of Uncas leaders… a fictitious one was put in as a character in James Fennimore Cooper’s “Last of the Mohegan’s”.)

Occum studied at the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock’s “Latin Theology” school and was able to read English and Hebrew. After graduation Samson became an ordained Presbyterian minister and teacher to the Pequot’s of Montauk, New York.

In 1851 his former teacher Rev. Wheelock…asked Occum to travel abroad to raise money for a charity school he was founding for the schooling of Native American children in Christian white ways. 

On this tour of England, Occum and a co-speaker raised over 12,000 pounds for Wheelock and preached 300 plus speeches (sermons – appeals) to an audience that was most likely in awe of a Native American preacher and speaker. *King George himself donated 200 of these pounds.

While Occum was out of the country however… the money he raised was being used by Wheelock to start what would become Dartmouth College, a school that catered to children of white families with some money.  (Wheelock had also failed to take care of Occum’s wife and children… something that was part of the agreement he made with Wheelock before leaving.)

So with his son-in-law Joseph Johnson, Occum then set out to found his own tribe of Christian Indians from the New England area, they became known as Brothertowns.  The Brothertowns settled on a parcel of property given to them by the Christian Oneida’s of Kanowanhole, the land lying in today’s Town of Marshall. 

This piece was just outside of Rev. Samuel Kirkland’s parcel now called Clinton. (Kirkland)  Ironically Kirkland said that he too was going to found a college where the White and Native Americans could learn together.  That college became today’s Hamilton College and up until recent years that school had not graduated one Native American.

Occum’s home is marked by and NYS Historic marker near Deansboro and Samson Occum is buried in the Occum Grove Cemetery on Bougusville Hill Road. His obituary was carried in many Newspapers and the Rev. Samuel Kirkland delivered his funeral sermon.  Some of Occum’s papers rest today at Dartmouth College. 

The chief of the Christian Oneida’s that supported the colonies in the Revolutionary War and great friend of Kirkland’s who gave land  and promoted the college for co-education of Native Americans and whites...(Skenandoah) is buried with Kirkland at the Hamilton College Cemetery.

Hamilton College was also the birthplace of Elihu Root and and tour of the green and cemetery are a great way to enjoy a hot afternoon and a way to step back into "Hisoty"!

Brothertown a forgotten part of our CNY History and local history!

There is so much history in this little CNY area I live in …but it seems time and time again only the glitzy, money pushed, history sites make it to our attention.

Take for instance the existence of a peace-seeking town where people could interact as brothers working together to form a new community and a better life after many struggles.

No it isn’t a commune with religious fanatics or gun totting radicals… it is a place called Brothertown.  Yes Brothertown. 

This town like every other Native American site has been pushed out of our local history.  Brothertown was located around the area we call Deansboro today.

The population of it was made up of a number of New England tribes that had been marginalized (our new modern term) as the white man took over American soil.  Pequots, Mahegans, Mohegans, Narragansetts,  and more. (Yes Uncas’ Mohegans)

The idea was the brainchild of leaders like Joseph Johnson and then organized and realized by Samson Occum.  Both Native Americans who had attended the school of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, both Christian converts.  Samson Occom became the first Native American to have his works published and was considered a fabulous public speaker which can be attested to by the amount of money he raised in England for Rev. Wheelock’s cause… of educating Native Americans in Christian white culture. The money raised eventually helped Wheelock form Dartmouth College, which like our own Hamilton College pandered to white societies children.

Started on a tract of land given to them by the Oneida Nation prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the community never came into being until after the Revolution.  Then the group in the 1830’s was pushed out to Wisconsin.  A few remained or returned thanks to the help of Quaker missionaries… but the site itself now is just another American community called Deansboro, and roads like Bougusville Hill Road are nothing but back roads where a NYS Historic Marker denotes an abandon cemetery or two… and nothing more.

Samson Occum was a special man we should know about in our local history.  More to follow.

Deansboro today!

Caregivers, the elderly, cancer, Right to Die and DEPRESSION.

I picked up the Sunday Syracuse paper on line this morning and went to an article on families taking care of the elderly, their troubles, their sorrow and most importantly the depression that many of them suffer.

I can relate to that article.. 5 years after the fact…I am still in a state of depression. 

My story started with my father who could no longer able to do what he had to do and who died (at home except for a few weeks) to my mother who was a burden on him… He passed his bourdon to me.  Then my best friend of 37 years in Eaton was dying of Cancer…she needed help.

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Since I was running between Eaton and Solvay plus Doctors visits in Syracuse and Syracuse to Eaton every day for a number of years …then not sleeping… trying to listen for my mother’s calls…I became depressed.  It was like a nightmare you could not escape from. I finally had to put mom in a nursing home.  If you think that can relieve the stress think again.

The care facility was terrible…luckily mom had her mind…some of the workers were nice…but most were underpaid, overworked and working with a mental problem and its drugs… proved to be a horrible experience.  Once they overdosed her so bad by changing her medicine she was out of control until I took control. 

Mom died in January and then my friend died in April at home …where again nights had become long. 

It was over I thought….no…it was just beginning.

I am still trying to find my way back to a happy life or to one that seems normal or worthwhile.

Luckily my parents had enough money for me to hire some wonderful young aids while I was in my daily travels back and forth…and both had good doctors care…. but to “honor your mother and father” is a Commandment that takes a large measure of your life away from you.  Ironically the same struggle, if done well, that they suffered through bringing you up as a child.

As I reflect on this article and our caregiving system at present I feel we have lost a basic element…the large family…all in one place or area…no spread out.  Now we assume that with our lives we can’t return home to our parents to care for them…time and money constraints.

However leaving their care to a system that is overloaded is not a good answer either.

In my depression I have thought about ending all the thoughts and trouble and awful tiredness behind…but I like so many continue on…one thing is for sure…we are living too long!

Health care has become an enabler to unhappiness and poverty of both the people and of the system.  The cost of care is ridiculous... to relieve the family of burden it cost almost everything you have.  Cancer care costs are outrageous. 

I think we should live our days to the fullest while we have them and then be able to go out much like the old Indians who left and wandered into a field or were carried to a field where they chose to die, leaving nothing but a good memory behind.  Those that fight "right to die" should look down the road to their end and think again!