The Memories, with thoughts of History, Community & the Future!

Today here in Eaton we say Eaton Day or “History Day” as we originally called it and celebrate it on Memorial Day, but for many years it followed the tradition of a “community day” every year on the 4^th of July.  Today of course, Hamilton has stolen the 4^th as their big day… but in the past it was Eaton’s Day and people came for miles to strut their stuff and catch up with the community and it people.

In those days the event even included horse racing at breakneck speeds through town and across.  The local stable was a noted hang out to “star” horses and one of its ‘overnight” guests was the incredible horse Dan Patch.  Flora Temple once graced the small paddock on what was then the Hamilton Skaneateles Turnpike, a road whose cost the Morse family of Eaton half paid for in 1811.

The Eaton Band and the Military Band beat the drums and blared martial music as the merchants (then many) put out their wares. The bandstand was located next to the place we hold Eaton Day each year on what was then the Skaneateles Turnpike today’s route 26.   The spot we set up is actually the spot where Samuel Chubbuck invented the key and sounder for SFB Morse’s Telegraph!  It is his equipment that sent the first message. Chubbuck’s father was noted for running a hotel and more than one Tavern.

The ladies aid put on supers and the lunch business thrived.  A dance and suppers were often held in the Masonic Hall, a building that is dilapidated today but still standing in town with a roof that once extended over gas pumps.

 The ladies of the churches put on meals for visitors… and their famous preachers including Grover Cleveland’s brother, and Nathaniel Kendrick… would have tried to tone down the activities. One of Eaton’s historic churches still stands with its historical marker out front. Families of the Churches would have included the famous missionaries to be, Emily Chubbuck Judson, Jonathan Wade, Andrew Bigelow Morse, and more.

Wood. Taber & Morse's new Steam Engines would be there in front of the factory...all shined up ready to impress, Melville Landon "Eli Perkins" might be up from New York or Washington to summer and relatives from far and near would return to enjoy the community they sprung from.

Gone is Davenports Store that was noted for its wares and for its owners who were loved by the population and were successful for many years.  That store is still standing is now a residence with its large white pillars on the side…. not in the front!

Paddy Miles firing not a cannon but his anvil for many years jolted the town awake.  Yes, an Anvil…. that had a hole in it where black powder was poured and a fuse lit.  Today we have Jim Monahan and his cannon crew who dress in Revolutionary War era costume and fire a real cannon on occasion.  This tradition being brought down since the majority of founding fathers served in the Revolution.

And for the holiday itself, the Eaton Cemetery is spruced up and over 200 flags grace the graves of men and women who served their country in all conflicts of the past including some that were at Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord.

Old times and memories to be sure, but pieces of history that should be celebrated, and people who should be honored for their service in this the 221^st year of the community.  In order to protect their history and the artifacts that remain… we the Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum... beg you to come out and enjoy the day. Talk to each other, eat, get involved in the raffles, bake sale, white elephant sale… join the "Friends" and support a museum that preserves the history of the area and the “Community.”

Future generations will thank you for it!

Old Town of Eaton Museum

The "Dark Day" in history, Eaton Day & White Elephant Sales & Ice cream!

Tommy at last year's Eaton Day!

The month is slipping away and the weather.... well that is another story.  As the week progressed down here in “old Eaton” it did improve but of course... that is scheduled to change to flurries of the s.... variety on Sunday night.  This always turns my head to the question of “what will the weather be like on Memorial Day Monday???”

As our small group puts the final push on to make Eaton Day special for the Town of Eaton and the community, thoughts always turn to ...”what if it rains?”  So without a doubt we are all praying to the powers-that-be for a good day.

This year's day is going to feature something new... a White Elephant Sale of sorts, which will include new and gently used items.  We have been collecting things all week that include items from large appliances to sets of china and paintings...  We all have them, you know the too good to throw away or take to the reuse bin...but stuff we want gone.  The idea is good and I think since my world is filled with “garag-ies” as I call them... it should be popular.  These folks actually share garage sale lists each week!

The other neat thing is troubadour Tommy Hoe and his guitar will be coming down to play some old “everybody knows” songs during our Ice Cream Social that starts at 1 pm. We are hoping to have some tables set up so you can sit and enjoy things as if it was the times in Eaton when the community celebrated together and looked forward to a change of pace day with the whole family. There will be hot dogs, soda, popcorn, coffee and an old-fashioned root beer float. So come on down...buy a pie or bake good...and say hi!

Someone mentioned the fires in Canada this past week and as always it set me on a “history quest”.  I knew the story but forgot the particulars but knew the date was May 19^th in the year in 1780. 

The sun shown bright red in many places before that date and was followed on the 19^th by a black cloud that settled over an area that stretched from New York to Maine.  It was so dark that candles had to be lit at noon and the darkness never stopped until the following night. Since there was no weather or news broadcasts in those days it brought many to the conclusion that the “World” was coming to an end as predicted in Biblical teachings.

One famous scene attributed to this was a story made famous in a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.  His name and the poem are called Abraham Davenport.  Davenport was legislator in Connecticut who when his colleagues wanted to adjourn a session because of the darkness exclaimed: “I am against adjournment.  The day of judgment, is either approaching or it is not, if it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment, if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.”

The Shakers of then Niskayuna (Waterveliet) Colony were seeking new converts to their religion and were out proselytizing when the event occurred and received a record number of converts because of it.

Many years later (recently) the cause was confirmed to be massive forest fires in Ontario, Canada.  College researchers examining the scar damage on the growth rings of trees attributed the “Dark Day” to a fire in today's Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario.

Here is a video of today's work to restore the Shaker Colony of Niskayuna. Enjoy and come out to Eaton for our special “Day”!

Mother's Day, Memorial Day Monday, White Roses & Pope Francis!

Its been a busy week here in Eaton as we are finalizing plans for our upcoming “History Day” on Memorial Day Monday…now called Eaton Day.  As an added side to the event we have decided to hold a “White Elephant” type of sale with new and used items in an attempt to bolster the sales on the day that raises money for the upkeep of the Old Town of Eaton Museum.  We decided to call it a “White Sale" of sorts.

With that in my mind, this morning while looking through Facebook, I saw a white rose picture put up by someone to honor their mother on “Mother’s Day!”  It reminded me of a very interesting history story on Pope Francis. 

Pope Francis has a special devotion to Saint Therese who said that when she got to heaven she would shower white rose petals down as a sign of her intercession when prayed to.  So the white rose is a sign to him, a sign from heaven.

When he was in Buenos Aries he had to solve a number of important problems and says he would pray to Saint Therese. “Whenever I have a problem,” Bergoglio explained  “I ask the saint not to solve it, but to take it into her hands and to help me accept it and I almost always receive a white rose as a sign.”

Saint Therese... who is one of the most popular of the Saints of the Catholic Church, is often referred to as the “Little Flower.” Her approach to having a spiritual life was both simple and practical.  Pope Pius the X called her "the greatest saint of modern times”.

The Pope’s belief in the saint is pulled from a quote of hers before her untimely death at the age of 24, Saint Therese said,  “A soul inflamed with love can not remain inactive...  If only you knew what I plan to do when I’m in heaven … I will spend my days in heaven by doing good on earth.”  

Most recently it was reported that before World Youth Day the Pope prayed to her for her intercession…. and that randomly, while taking a walk through the Vatican garden he was handed a white rose by a gardener working there.  Pope Francs took this rose to be a sign that she was interceding on his behalf... especially since in 1927 Pope Pius the XI had made Saint Therese the Patroness of the Gardens of Vatican City.

So in 2014 to honor both the Saint and Pope Francis, Croix Dominique and Jacques Ranchon, horticulturists from Bourg-Argenal in the Loire region, developed the new white rose and asked permission to name it Pope Francis.  They also donated 50 of the plants to the Vatican garden, one bloom of which was given to the Pope in his walk.

Isn’t history fun! 

Be sure to join us for our special White Elephant Sale on Memorial Day Monday and for all you Mother’s….Happy Mother’s Day!

Here is a the story of the Saint!

Eaton History Day better known as Eaton Day, Memorial Day and Me!

It is May and as I do every year I work on the upcoming Memorial Day Monday Eaton Day event.  As usual I try to put into words the importance of a "Community Day"... yet trying to word it to entice even those not from the immediate community to come out and join their neighbors.  I have put on 20 of these, give or take a year.  So with that in mind I invite you to circle Memorial Day Monday, May 30th, on the calendar and come to our town and see what "rural small town America" still has going for it.   So with that thought in mind....... 

Tommy Hoe playing at last years event!

On Memorial Day Monday, May 30th, the Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum will be hosting the 21^st Annual “Eaton Day”. 

The day, which is held in the Hamlet of Eaton on Route 26, is an opportunity for the Town of Eaton residents past and present to enjoy history, memories and good homemade bake goods with special activities thrown it!

The theme of this years event is "Preserving the Past for the Future" a statement that is a perfect description of the importance of the Old Town of Eaton Museum that is proud of the many artifacts and stories that are preserved within its 200 plus year walls.

The Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum hold “Eaton Day” in an effort to raise money for the upkeep the museum building and to put on and fund the event each year.  The mission of the group being to responsibly sustain the museum building and contents as a significant evolving repository of local history and artifacts through fund raising, tours, and celebrations of which “Eaton Day” each year is an important part.

The group feels it is important for the citizens of the Town of Eaton to recognize that the artifacts housed within the walls of the Eaton Museum, those heirlooms that may come to us in the future and those people, both living and dead who form the tapestry of our community are, in fact, our inheritance.  Also, by engaging the community, on Eaton Day, they hope to protect the Town’s shared heritage and leave a legacy for the future and the future of the Old Town of Eaton Museum.  

The “Day”, that  features, a huge bake and pie sale, tours of the museum, food, crafts & rummage tables, basket raffles, as well as entertainment and history, with its theme of Preserving the Past for the Future, is a perfect explanation of the museum’s goals.  Eaton Day starts at 9am and goes to 4pm, with special presentations starting after the parade, which this year is in Morrisville.

Come join the Eaton Community for an old fashioned day of fun and community pride, Eaton Day!

Some clips from the past!