If the Memorial Day Celebration is able to take place, I decided this year we would honor the Revolutionary War Veterans who settled this area, including Smith's Valley.
One of the more interesting aspects of our area is the old historic marker that stands on River Road marking Madison Counties 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 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.
Col.William Smith is buried inWest Hill Cemetery in Sherburne, but members of his family (sisters & brothers) owned land in Eaton. It is interesting to read the many storied by Harry Hart, and one in particular that accused Smith's brother Justice of trying to hold up deeds from purchasers.
We have many veterans buried in the area and some like Miles Standish who is buried in the Eaton Village Cemetery,
To honor these men we decided to do a talk on the Revolutionary War to open our Memorial Day
Celebration if it is possible.
Today little note is taken of a country road that wanders over hills and through dark valleys. We no longer call them “Sunday drives” since our world has become so fast-paced. Most of us have given up the back road for the two-lane highway that we can zip on our way with. If we can’t do 55 miles per hour we are in a dither. Back roads are now what we sometimes call short cuts from here to there in our daily lives. But at one time these rural routes were considered fast highways that created the communities that we in rural America live in.
These early routes were no more than paths through the great forest, some made by moccasin feet and some made by oxen and wagons, bringing settlers ever more westerly. Improvements on these roads were built as turnpikes or plank roads, and many collected a toll much like today’s New York State Thruway.
One such early highway was the great Skaneateles Turnpike, once called the Hamilton-Skaneateles Turnpike. Today, this once important east-west southern-central New York road is only denoted in a few places as the Skaneateles Turnpike with signs in the Town of Brookfield and one that was hanging by a thread in the Town of Fabius. The road that once carried people west and goods east is a mishmash of roads with different names that in some places are on the exact route, and in other places just mimic it or run near where the old turnpike once was.
Many of these roads including the Skaneateles Turnpike and the Georgetown Plank Road were such toll roads. Today they are only denoted by an occasional NYS Historic Marker such as this one on Route 26, a road which mimics a part of the Georgetown Plank Road. The Georgetown Plank Road was used to take goods and people from Georgetown to Peck's Port...once the largest port on the Chenango Canal. The Skaneateles Turnpike stretched from Richfield Springs to Marcellus. Of interest is the fact that it is the Morse family of Eaton were the main stockholders in the road. They owned 51 percent and invested $30,00 in 1810. The road never turned a real profit. It did however, bring people to Eaton and supported the family businesses that stretched from Eaton, West Eaton, Erieville, to Fabius.
I have been thinking about doing a Wednesday night lecture on the Shakers this year. The Town of Lebanon was actually settle by Shaker members who left the society to get married. They settled on land that became our current Town of Lebanon. (The Shaker settlement they left was New Lebanon.) What added to my Shaker thoughts has been the discussions about the terrible cold damp weather we have been having. I said to friends that it was possible some of it is caused by lingering smoke in the atmosphere from this past years wild fire, which reminded me of a history story! The date was May 19thin the year in 1780.....
The sun shown bright red in many places before that date and was followed on the 19th 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. The new lecture series is scheduled to begin in July, dates to be announced as we are delaying because of the weather...so stay tuned as they say!!!
Here is a video of today's work to restore the Shaker Colony of Niskayuna. Enjoy and come out to Eaton for our "Shaker Lecture:!
With all of the wrangling about immigration and the refugee problem I thought it would do us well to look to the past. Our past has been clouded by bigotry for many years, as a matter of fact because of our quotas during 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”.
This story had its immediate impact with the only refugee camp for DP’s in the United States, a camp at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY, now known as Safe Haven.
This little known piece of history is an interesting look into the policies of the United States on immigration, (especially Jewish). A time when we set tight limits on the number of immigrants allowed entering the USA, because of the war that was on.. 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 the, United States did not.
With much political pressure, Roosevelt finally in 1944 allowed 982 Holocaust survivors and political prisoners of war that were 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..
The people who were chosen met a criteria that consisted of those who had helped in the Allied War effort, had lost relatives in the Holocaust, had family in the United States or had talents that could help run the American shelter. The selection also gave preference to those who had several family members with them. The catch was that after the war they would all have to return to their homeland – they had no standing; they were only regarded as guests of the President.
The group left from Naples, Italy on the troop transport Henry Gibbons under heavy escort; the ship also carried another 1,000 wounded service men. Ruth Gibbons in her book “Haven” which was made into a TV movie, chronicled the trip and stories of these refugees. It also showed how much pressure had to be used to get just this small group of mostly “Jews” to the United States.
As the war came to a close in 1945, these immigrants who had learned English, whose children attended school in Oswego, and who had become part of the American spirit were to be shipped back; many to homes that no longer existed and to a world devastated by war.
The “Truman Directive” issued while Congress was on Christmas holiday came in time to keep these people from this. The fact was however, that they had to leave the United Sates and then return with visas. Taking the refugees to the Rainbow Bridge in Canada, and then allowing them to reenter with visas accomplished this. Of the 982, only 100 chose to return to their homeland.
Today the Safe Haven Museum at Fort Ontario welcomes visitors and through beautiful displays and video helps tell about this dark time in American history, a time when we ourselves turned our backs on not only Jewish immigrants, but also on our own American Japanese citizens.
The fort itself is trying to gain National Park status and it is my hope they succeed. The Safe Haven Museum located on its grounds is open year-round and for more information on its open times and directions go to www.oswegohaven.org.
Dreary as it has been the past few days, at least it is not
SNOWING!It is May 1however,
and so it is time to get out the information on Eaton Day! Once again our
historical group will be hosting Eaton Day in the Hamlet of Eaton and as always ...invite everyone to come and join us in our history celebration.
This year’s event is scheduled as always for May 29th,
Memorial Day Monday, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. It will be the 22nd
time the event has been held to honor Eaton’s rich history.The event also brings the Town of Eaton
together... in actuality it is like an
“Old Hometown Day”!
As always the event will feature the Huge Museum Pie Sale, raffles, rummage sale, and the usual Hot Dogs and Soda with a whole lot of history
thrown in.
The Old Town of Eaton Museum itself will be open from 1 pm until 3
pm, with its rich history on full display, much of it dating from 1797
forward!Yes, Eaton is that old... and
hence why the museum is called the “Old Town of Eaton Museum”.Just a short hop down the road from the
museum is the marker for the first clearing in Madison County dating to 1788.
The group that is putting the event on “Friends of the Old
Town of Eaton Museum,” is excited because it has recently become a federally
recognized charity, something the group has been working for a long time.
If any of the local societies or clubs would like to set up
at the event… please email backstreetmary@yahoo.com.If anyone would like to volunteer to bake or
help sell please email backstreetmary@yahoo.com
as well.
So come out and celebrate a history that started with
Revolutionary Soldiers who came to the wilderness call New York to find homes....and to found communities for their children and the future!
The Home as it was called before it burned in 1912
and was repave by the brick structure!
The weather has been really nasty this week
and sitting inside I got to thinking on a number of informational articles I had
that I could put out for the public to enjoy.As the Madison County Historian I enjoyed delving into and writing the
history of the county, if that history included information on the Town of
Eaton I was enthralled. So I include this for those who always ask about the
Old Home and Madison County’s care of the ill or less privileged....
Thanks to the Madison County Archives Project many new and interesting
tidbits of information have surfaced. It is so strange how one piece of paper
can start a ball rolling that suddenly garners information that most people
have no idea about. One such tidbit is a paper we found on the Craig Colony for
Epileptics.
The Atlantic Monthly “Review touted the new Craig’s Colony set up by
New York State, as “A New York Colony of Mercy”. The Colony was set in Sonyea,
New York, which was named by Native Americans, translated meaning “The open
spot where the sun shines in.” The area, originally settled by Shakers and sold
to New York State to be “only used for charitable purposes,” became Craig’s
Colony for Epileptics.
The original plan was to make the colony as self-sufficient as
possible and a steadfast rule was that it was to serve the “indigent,” not
private pay patients, and that it would not handle those people that had become
“insane.” The people set to the facility were from New York’s county poor
houses and almshouses, including our Madison County epileptics. Each had to
work at some form of constructive labor to benefit the colony.
One of the first obstacles was the realization that these epileptics
were totally uneducated, as epileptics at the time were considered insane or
evil and many never attended schools, but were locked up in asylums or
almshouses. Even though their seizures lasted afew minutes and then the person returned back to
normal, these people never were treated as a normal person.
So, immediately the colony set up a school for the young children that
were brought in. The adults also had to be schooled in service jobs such as
basket weaving, brick making, straw mat weaving, upholstering, woodworking,
printing, blacksmithing; useful trades that would not only serve the “Colony,”
but also be in part saleable to raise money. The women were mostly engaged in
indoor activities and in working the gardens. The “Colony” cultivated and
worked a farm of over 2,000 acres.
In the Atlantic Review article it states that in its first year
Craig’s Colony worked at a level of 50 percent self-sufficiency. The other
funding came from the State of New York, which provided $250 a year per person
for the colony, with the county such as Madison, providing $30.
Another facet of the “Colony” was its designation as a place to study
epilepsy noted in its charter was a provision to “establish a department for
scientific research.” The system managed to gather much needed information on
the disorder, it managed to train nurses and the laboratory it set up had a
complete and unique system of keeping records, records that were put into
studies and eventually, medical journals.
The Atlantic article by Sydney Brooks states that “The Craig’s Colony
is many things in one. It is a farm, a school, a laboratory, a workshop, a
hospital and an asylum; but above everything else it is a home.”
Information on New York State’s Craig’s Colony has surfaced in our march
through older documents and the research into this institution is an
interesting backwards glance into the welfare system of New York State during
the late 1880’s and 1900’s. At
that time in history epileptic people who needed help were taken care
of by the County Supervisors who were charged with setting up “Poor Houses”
that not only acted as hospitals in the rural areas and functioned as nursing
homes for the elderly or needy, but also housed epileptic people who in that
period of time were looked on with fear.
In the year 1874 the New York State Commissioner in Lunacy in a report
cited over 436 epileptics in the state who were so bad that they had to be
housed or confined in county poor houses or in some cases in jail. The person
cited to investigate the situation was William Letchworth.
After touring Europe to see other methods of care for epileptics
Letchworth wrote numerous pamphlets on the appalling conditions in New York
State. In his efforts to reform the system Dr. Frederick Peterson, a doctor in
the Harlem Valley State Hospital for the Insane, joined him. Peterson, after
touring a facility in Germany, asked for a similar colony to be built in New
York, and both men convince the Legislature in 1892 to undertake to build such
a facility. Letchworth and the head of the state Board of Charities, Oscar
Craig set about looking for a suitable location.
The site chosen was the former Sonyea Shaker Colony established in
1836. The Shaker Colony late faded as a result of fires, floods and poor
management. The State of New York eventually offered $115,000. For the land,
making promises to the Shaker Community to use it only for charitable purposes.
And so it is on January 20, 1896, that Madison County and New York’s
other counties, received formal notification, which the first named patients
from the county’s list could be sent to the new Craig Colony.
A trip to Letchworth Park and William Letchworth's Museum
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 21st
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!
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 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.
