Newsletter - Cortland County Historical Society

THE BULLETIN
Cortland County Historical Society
Mindy’s Musings
Volume 7, Issue 2
May 2014
Inside this issue:
President’s Corner
2
From the McGraw
Historical Society
3
Attic Treasure Sale
3
Those Who Served
4
Membership Renewal 4
What was the Reason 5
Port Watson Never
Became a Reality
I love visiting the zoo. For years, I have watched the
tigers and snow leopards at Rosamond Gifford Zoo in
Syracuse grow from baby to adult. (I have the photographs to prove it!) At the zoo, I find myself relaxing,
enjoying the fresh air, and becoming one with my
surroundings. As a museum person, I like to think of
zoos as museums with a living, breathing, and eating
collection. Zoos make me happy.
September 8, 2011, First day
the baby tigers were on
display at Rosamond Gifford
Zoo
So do museums and now I know why. Recently, I read
a blog post from the American Alliance of Museums describing their many
benefits. We all know museums boost local economies through employment and
tourism. It turns out; museums are also good for the individual’s well-being. A
Norwegian University for Science and Technology study cited on the blog found
that museum visits decrease anxiety and lower the risk of depression. Other
studies have found that museums decrease feelings of loneliness, reduce stress,
and have the same boost to one’s well-being as receiving a pay raise. This has
been my experience at zoos and museums.
Special points of interest:
• Check out the insert for
upcoming special events.
• Reminder: August 5, bus
trip to Glimmerglass
Opera House to see “An
American Tragedy”.
• A Dollhouse Holiday will
be back, contact Tabitha
if you have a Dollhouse
you are interested in
loaning for the show.
As friends of the Cortland County Historical Society, you are well aware of the
benefits of supporting your museum and research center. So, the next time you
have friends or family visiting from out of town, give them a healthy alternative
by bringing them for a tour of the Suggett House
Museum. It will make you both feel great!
If you want to read more about the benefits of museums, you can read the entire post here: https://
www.freelancersunion.org/blog/2014/03/26/
museums-good-for-you-happier-community/.
October 1, 2012, How they
October 1, 2012 Just over 1 year grew!
later
Page 2
The Bulletin
President’s Corner
“Have you ever wondered…..?”
By Edmund A. Hart
Have you ever wondered what a relative, one who had died before you were born and one
that you had been told you looked like, was really like? I have.
Central Fire Station
The building is 100
this year!
My Uncle Edmund Graham, my namesake, was that relative for me. Edmund, my mother’s
older brother, was killed in a train-car collision between Groton and Moravia when he was
19. Mom was 14 and their younger brother, Don, was 11. As you can imagine, it was
devastating for the family, especially for my Grandfather and Grandmother Graham. Ed had
been a good student, a popular 4-H Club member and an excellent young farmer by virtue of
having grown up working side by side with Grandpa Graham on their South Cortland farm. By
the way, the new Walmart superstore and the hillside behind it are now what was once a
large portion of the farm’s grazing and crop land. The house and barn were across the road
on the west side of route 281.
I am fortunate that I have received a number of family photos, articles and verbal accounts
about Uncle Edmund from my mother, Helen Hart. They have been important to me in trying
to imagine what his personality might have been like and what kind of relationship I might
have had with him.
Because of this history I’ve been drawn to looking deeper into my family genealogy on both
sides as well as that of the family history on my children’s maternal side. It is amazing what
the digital age and an inexpensive computer now allows us to discover with relative ease
(pun intended). In a single fascinating find, I discovered that one individual, who I had never
heard spoken of before, had been a resident of the Elmira Reformatory. At the date of the
census that listed him there as a resident he was married and would have been 20 years old.
My point to all of this, a snippet of family genealogy, is that it’s easy to do and it is very
rewarding. There are do’s and don’ts to follow so as not to get off on the wrong family
“track” but the process is easy to pick up on and there is help to be had. At the Cortland
County Historical Society’s Kellogg Memorial Research Center there is research assistance
available to get you started. There is no need to feel obligated to anything if you would just
like to stop in to check out the center and perhaps get some information. For instance, a
membership comes with free assisted research time. Believe me, that alone is a really great
deal!
Besides genealogy we have records on Cortland County real estate, businesses and
industries, the civil war, famous residents, books by past and present day local authors and
much, much more.
Working Too is available
for purchase.
Check us out! You’ll become fascinated….and perhaps your family historian.
$20.00
Have a great Spring!
President Ed
Volume 7, Issue 2
Page 3
From the McGraw Historical Society
The McGraw Historical Society's Local History Room will reopen on Saturday
May 17, 10 am- noon after being closed for the winter. The room will also be
open on Tuesdays, 2-4 pm along with Saturdays through November 8. Visitors
are invited to see displays of photographs, postcards, toys, dishes, McGraw Box
Company silverware boxes, scrapbooks and other artifacts relating to the
history of our village. A portable post office stand circa 1875, and a drum,
which may date back to the early 1800s, have been donated and are on
display.
History Room in McGraw
Programs for June-Nov. are being planned and will be posted on our website
mcgrawhistoricalsociety.com. and in our May newsletter.
The Local History Room is located at the rear entrance to the Lamont Memorial
Free Library and is handicap accessible. We welcome visitors!
Display at the McGraw
Historical Society
Attic Treasures Sale
Our fundraising committee is busy preparing for the annual Attic Treasures Sale (formerly known as the
Pale Pachyderm Sale). While we have collected items over the year, we are always looking for more items.
So when the spring cleaning bug hits you, feel free to drop by Cortland County Historical Society with
items that you wish to donate to our sale. All we ask is that you do not bring in textbooks, clothing, or
cookbooks! Donations are accepted year round, and are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
The sale will be this fall, an exact date will be announced in the August Newsletter!
151 HELP WANTED
VOLUNTEERS
Cortland County Historical Society
is looking for volunteers for various
tasks around the historical society.
If you are interested, please contact
Tabitha at (607)756-6071.
Two of our Jacob Impson Coverlets on
loan at The History Center of
Tompkins County as part of their
Historic Coverlets Unwrapped exhibit.
Page 4
The Bulletin
Those Who Served
The Publications committee is actively seeking stories of Cortland County Veterans to include in our upcoming publication “Those Who Served”. This will be
the fifth volume in our Remembers Series and we depend upon the submissions
of local residents to make this book a tribute to those who have served.
A guide is available with questions to get you thinking and direct your writing at
CCHS, stop by 25 Homer Avenue, or e-mail us at info@cortlandhistory.com and
we will be glad to forward one on.
Our 2015 calendar will also feature Those Who Served, so any pictures that you
have to contribute should be brought by, and we can scan them for immediate
return.
Membership Renewal
Thank you to our new and renewing
members!
Leonard and Linda Cohen
Sandra Attleson
James and Michele Ball
Ed and Kathy Beardsley
G. Fred Beaudry III
Charles B. Bernheim
Jeremy Boylan
Karin Burgess
James Carrington
Jean Caughey
Mary Louise Congdon
Elaine M. Contento
Barbara Corlis
James Cornwall
Mark Curran
Patricia Davis
James and Jan Dempsey
Maria Dillingham Purcell
Yvonne Divak
Mary Donovan
Jean Edwards
C. Ashley and Beverly Ellefson
Suzanne Etherington
Barbara Ferris
Robert and Jean Fryer
Tom and Toni Gallagher
Doyle Glover
Elsie Gutchess
William J. Haight
Nancy Hansen
Lewis and Judy Heath
Rhoda Jones
Margarette Kabanuk
Mary Ann Kane
Robert D'Addario and Ms. Kate
O'Connell
Patrick Kiernan
Kent and Sharon Klanderman
Lynne Lash
Erling Maine
Thomas and Lynn Meldrim
Pamela Poulin
Judith Pribula
Leonard and Eleanor Ralston
Don and Carol Reed
Robert and Norma Rhodes
Norma Riley
Patti Riotto
Kate Rodgers
Barbara Ryan
Merton Sarvay
Frances Shearer
Charlotte Smith Sheldon
Richard Sickmon
C. Jane Snell
Sharon Stevans
Randi Storch
Martin Sweeney
William Tei
Philip and Diane Tennant
Rosemary Theisz
Dorothy Troike
Deborah Van Auken
Ronald and Wilma Van Dee
Mrs. Brian and Teresa Wallace and
Family
Russell Wanish
Malcolm and Margaret Watrous
Dennis and Amy Wells
Harry J. Weston
Kevin and Carrie Whitney
Kenneth and JoAnn Wickman
Paul and Elizabeth Yesawich
Volume 7, Issue 2
Page 5
What Was the Reason Port Watson Never Became a Reality? By Nancy Garvey
Many local residents have heard of Elkanah Watson and know that he was connected to the name of Port Watson, but who was
this man? It is also often stated he owned land in Cortland but never lived here. He is described in many historical accounts as a
promoter but he was much more than that, if one connects this descriptor with one who advocates causes to enhance personal
wealth. It would seem that Elkanah Watson was a visionary and enthusiastic participant in the newly independent United States of
America and embraced the opportunities that he imagined were available to the willing who would explore, observe, record,
visualize and work on the possibilities of developing the new nation.
Elkanah Watson was born in 1736 in Plymouth Massachusetts and died in Port Kent, New York on Lake Champlain in 1842. He
traveled widely in Europe transporting and delivering documents to such notables as Benjamin Franklin. He explored the interior
of the country including the interior of New York State (the interior of New York was at that time everything west of Albany). He
was a meticulous diarist who recorded in detail his observations which included maps, who he saw and who he met as well as his
impressions of those encounters. His letters were extensive and included such notable individuals John Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Philip Schuyler, Robert Fulton and Robert Morris. His travels in Europe had exposed him to the utilitarian purposes which canals
can be implemented for. He saw the possibilities for trade and transport if the rivers of this country could be made navigable to
the “interior”. His meticulous observations and recordings included the locations of obstructions such as rocks and other
impediments to navigation. He met and discussed with George Washington the prospect of opening the rivers of Virginia to such
activities2. He was not a politician, never ran for office, and avoided political party activity with one exception. Watson explored
the Mohawk valley extensively beginning in 1788, he was accompanied by some members of the first families of Albany (Jeremiah
Van Rensselaer, Stephen N. Bayard and General Philip Van Cortlandt) he eventually wrote a History of the Western Canals in
1820, 30 years after the expedition. Watson’s original report was circulated in 1792 among the prominent citizens of Albany and
articles were submitted to the newspapers in and around the capital extolling the benefits of the construction of the canal from
Albany to Lake Ontario and was supported by Governor George Clinton. A bill was introduced into the State legislation to
remove obstructions to western navigation and northern navigation. “Goldsbrow Banyer, Esq., and Elkanah Watson were
appointed by the directors to explore, lay out, and direct the prosecution of the western canals”. 2 Subsequent disagreement with
the Director of the canal company General Schuyler and diminishment of the pivotal role played initially in promoting and
planning the canal precipitated Watson not being reappointed to the commission. Soon after this Elkanah Watson purchased a
farm and moved to Port Kent on Lake Champlain in 1807.Prior to 1800 Watson handled 17,000 acres in Onondaga County
alone, most of which were purchases of the military tract. There are records in Cortland County of 48 separate sales, ranging from
$100.00 to $800.00. Elkanah Watson planned a port at the confluence of the two branches of the Tioughnioga as the most desirable location. He had land surveyed for streets and house lots North to South, first to eighth, and East to West with four named
streets Nott, Tillotson, Washington and Pennsylvania, with two additional streets added later, Jenkins and Cherry. In the center of
the village where a bridge crossed the west branch a space was reserved for a square. Access to the south and to Cooperstown was
the plan for major transport routes. He also owned property in the present towns of Cincinnatus, Cuyler, Homer, Marathon,
Preble, Scott, Solon, Taylor, and Truxton. By 1805 Watson had sold 30 lots and assigned another 66 to his agent Henry L. Seward,
at the price of $60.00 to $80.00 for 15 acres.
He showed two merino sheep on the town green to his neighbors who were fascinated. This initiative in turn gave impetus
eventually to a nationwide movement toward community information exchange of agrarian advances and techniques. Finally Watson is credited with being the father of County Fairs throughout the State of New York and the entire nation. He was the catalyst
in the formation of Agricultural Societies throughout the country.2
Elkanah Watson a man of boundless imagination and energy who had no desire to politically control the developments which he
so skillfully nurtured and who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the prospects of promoting commerce and information in the newly
formed nation.2
References
1.Bobbe’, D, (1962) DeWitt Clinton.Port Washingon, L.I. N.Y. : Ira J. Friedman, Inc.
2. Flick, H.M. (1958) Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of
Political Science, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
3. Watson, W. C. Ed. (1856) Men and Times of the Revolution; Memoirs Elkanah Watson. New York: Dana and Company,
Publishers.
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