View from the back street
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Covid is Still with us in 2023
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
A History of A Christmas Past!
Christmastime, refugees story, history, Fort Ontario and the American participation in WWII.

we acted selfishly in forcing our Allies and friends to take in refugees but failed to do it ourselves. Here is a local story on history that you can learn about today and part of it took place at Christmastime.
One of the least known Christmas time stories from history happened on December 22, 1945, when the then President Truman issued his “Truman Directive” executive order. This order finally allowed the United States to fill immigration quotas with what were then labeled as DP’s, “displaced persons”.
Friday, December 16, 2022
A Special Christmas Wish for You!
For All My Friends & My Favorite Christmas Poem
Once again on the week behore Christmas I find myself lost amid old memories, problems of the present... and the dificulties of living in this (at the very moment) place in history where in seconds news is flashed, reflashed, disected and rehashed within the blink of an eye.
So.. I decided to try and go back to a much nicer time, a time when life was simple and the holidays were something to look forward to...times to remember in your heart with joy! Here is a repost from last year...but some things to think about. I question...are we living in better times???
I painted the above picture for a Christmas card in 1995 and wrote the poem to go with it. The story came from discussions with the old members of our little community group who shared their remembrances of "Christmas Past".
They are all dead now... but like on old clock I have turned my mind back to that year and leave the poem to you as my Christmas blog and my hope for a quiet and warmer future built on love...not hate....on families....not presents and shopping...and on love for your neighbor!
Going to Grandma’s for Christmas
Thursday, December 1, 2022
KEEP CALM...If You Can!

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Picture I took on a trip to London of Churchill's statue with Big Ben in Background |
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Eaton Museum Opening = Memorial Day Monday
The Old Town of Eaton Museum will open on Memorial Day Monday this year for the first time in two years. The outbreak of Covid caused many of the small museums to close their doors, which of course causes many problems including gather funding for operational purposes. The Old Town Museum was no exception.
Memorial Day Monday in Eaton has always been our main event and honors the historic roots of Eaton and its many Revolutionary Soldiers, founders, Civil War Veterans and all veterans.
The land mass itself was purchased from Col. William Smith, husband of Abigail Adams Smith (President Adams daughter). The area now Eaton and Lebanon were the first settlements and clearing of what is now Madison County. One of the more interesting aspects of our area is the old historic marker that stands on River Road marking Madison County’s early settlement history. The marker lies just below the Old Town of Eaton Museum and lists the first clearing in what is now Madison County.. 1788...The Bark Hut.
If one takes the time to pick threw Mrs. Hammond's History of Madison County you will note many stories on our early founding including where men forged into what was still considered" Indian country," and upon arrival made a rudimentary hut to stay in. This area actually formed what was eventually a set of log homes that stretched from Lebanon to Eaton then dubbed "Log City".
Most of these men and those that came later were veteran's of the Revolutionary War and some had followed Col. William Smith to his land patent set up and built by Joshua Smith (not a relative) who served under him. Joshua was sent by Col. Smith to find him the best tract of land in the area...which Joshua did, and where upon he built a bark hut.These actual squatters were indeed our first settlers and ironically today over two hundred years latter, many of these families names still live on here.
The area dubbed “Log City” was also considered Masonic settlement as many Members of the Masonic order. Today many stone buildings on River Road once called Water Street, reflect that including the building that houses the Old Town of Eaton Museum dated to before 1800.
Some of the earliest settlers of Revolutionary War era include notables Major Sinclair who purchased the land owned by Col Leland, now with a historical marker for the Dunbar Farm. Sinclair kept a tavern and stable on that property for travelers.
Others include Jonathan Bates who came to Eaton and purchase land just below the Old Town of Eaton Museum, his grave on the side of the road is marked today with a large bronze plaque on a boulder. Bates had served with the well known Patriot Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys.
Others include Benjamin Morse brother of Joseph Morse, Major Elisha Haden, Nicholas Byer who had been a member of Burgoyne’s Hessians, Simeon Chubbuck, grandfather of Emily Chubbuck and many more. To choose one to honor was hard.
So I decided to go back in the history of our military men and choose a known historic name, Myles Standish. Yes, Myles Standish.
Mr. Standish was a direct lineal descendant of his illustrious namesake, Captain Miles Standish of the Mayflower, one of the most distinguished of the colonists who landed upon Plymouth Rock in 1620.
Captain Standish had been hired as the military protection for the early colony, and in true military fashion Miles Jr. was a soldier as well.
Corporal Myles Standish was born in 1748 at Duxbury, Plymouth County Massachusetts, moving to Eaton where he died on July 22, 1818 at the age of 70.
Myles Standish, Naomi Standish, and Daniel Standish were members of the Second Baptist Church of Eaton, and appear in the US Census of Eaton, Madison County.
Myles, was always called Myles by all who knew him, and took up the farm once owned by Adin Brown near Pierceville, living there for many years. Standish was an energetic businessman who invested in the Skaneateles Turnpike, and he built and kept the first old turnpike gate, which stood in the early years opposite the famous Alderbrook gristmill. It is so interesting to see both national and local history meld seamlessly together this way.
So for a day full of History please join the Museum for its opening on Memorial Day Monday, May 30th from 11 to 4 pm. Refreshments will be served and all are invited to travel back in time to our historic roots to honor our Veteran’s and our history.
Saturday, March 5, 2022
We indeed live in perilous times. Listening to history as a historian I would warn of the repeat failures of our thinking. We were isolationist before both World Wars until we could no long stay out of them. It was not a great strategy. We did not believe we would ever be attached until we were bombed on December 7th...a Day that we remember will live in Infamy.
Let nights nuclear scare might have become another such day!
I think we should look at this from the standpoint of cancer therapy...you can choose to cut the tip of a finger off if the cancer is there...or remove the finger before the cancer spreads to the whole hand.
Through many years this cancer has spread...much like in WWII...until we had to cut it out. We cannot let this cancer spread.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
History, Eaton's Memorial Day, Colorful Characters
I realize that I have been tardy in getting some new history blogs out...but I have also been struggling along trying to beat cancer. Yes, modern medicine may be able to cure you, but the side effects of the drugs effect every part of your body...including your ability to think and write.
This week has been good for my brain and while watching the TV about the rising "White Nationalism" and Civil War era legislation with voter suppression .. I was reminded of an old story about Eaton. The story actually revolves around the house next to the museum on River Road, the road that was once called Water Street. The building is one of the oldest in town and was owned during the period before and after the Civil War by the Leach family. It is "Henry" I believe who served in the Confederate Army while the rest of the town for the most part was pro North.
Small towns in those days stuck together in a more cohesive way than today I guess... and after the War had passed, it is said that on all holidays and during parades old Mr. Leach would don his Confederate uniform and march in the parade with the many members of the GAR. Both sides it is noted paraded up and down the streets with pride. As a matter of fact... it wrote Mr. Leach into history and he has become part of the "Tales told of Old Eaton"... ones that you can enjoy.
Curiously, when redoing the museum we held a very large opening day celebration... and Chris Staudt with whom I bought the building and refurbished it to become the museum for Eaton... invited friends and family down for the occasion.
Chris' dad came down and toured...after the crowd had gone home and as he was leaving, he looked up at the American flag flying over the door, he glanced across the yard to the Leach house and said... "You really need a Confederate Flg flying here also". To this day I wonder if old Mr. Leach was around giving us a hint of his past... could be I guess.... after all it was Memorial Day!
The concept of Eaton Day arose from Eaton's traditional 4th July Celebration which has been taken over by Hamilton today. In "the Old Days" it was a celebration of honoring the dead warriors, remembering the past and enjoying community, today Eaton's little history group has tried to keep that spirit alive on Memorial Day Monday by holding the museum open from 1-3 pm.
For this coming Memorial Day Monday, I hope everyone will come out and visit what has become the Old Town of Eaton Museum currently owned and run by the not- for- profit museum group Old Town Folks. Of great interest... a new group has formed to help support it...Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum.
The group has officially become a recognized charity so all donations to it are are tax deductible. The museum is open on the First and Third Sunday's of the year until October and we are currently seeking Docents who will help, or anyone interested in giving a hand.
You can contact backstreetmary@ yahoo.com for more information.
Attached is a video I did for last years Memorial Day honoring the many Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Eaton Village Cemetery.