History, Natural History & the Arts
In 1775, as the American Revolution had begun, Baron von Steuben joined the fight against the British with the assistance of then ambassador to France Benjamin Franklin.
Appalled by the state of the Revolutionary army, Steuben began teaching soldiers military drills, tactics, and discipline based on Prussian techniques. [Read more…] about Baron von Steuben’s Oneida County Estate
The Holland Land Company is known for its role in settling the western part of upstate New York by acquiring land grants and selling off lots to prospective settlers in the early nineteenth century. Yet its activities in the last decade of the eighteenth century were of a different nature, as the stories of Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen show.
In the last decade of the eighteenth century, two young Dutchmen, Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen, traveled through the densely forested lands of Upstate New York. They eventually identified locations fit for the founding of the new villages of Oldenbarneveld (now Barneveld in Oneida County) and DeRuyter (in Madison County). [Read more…] about When Two Dutchmen Tried To Create A Maple Sugar Industry
In 1947 the citizens of Cazenovia in Madison County mounted a campaign to have the proposed hall of fame or shrine honoring American players of “football” located in their community.
Supporters at the village, town, county, and state levels joined in the effort to bring the hall of fame to Cazenovia. Assemblyman Wheeler Milmoe who represented Madison County introduced Resolution No. 154 in Albany in support of Cazenovia’s claim to fame. Gov. Thomas Dewey also voiced strong support for the idea. There were other places in the nation politicking for having the “football” hall of fame located in their communities. [Read more…] about Cazenovia, The Origins of Soccer & The National “Football” Hall of Fame
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
The new book The Bear Tree and Other Stories from Cazenovia’s History (USYRC, 2021) by Erica Barnes and Jason Emerson looks at the historic lakeside village of Cazenovia, Madison County, in the scenic Finger Lakes region, one of the jewels of Central New York. [Read more…] about New Book Reveals Inaccurately Told & Long-Forgotten Cazenovia Tales
The newly incorporated Cazenovia Heritage organization has announced its plans for “A Remembrance of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Cazenovia Convention” to be held on Saturday, August 21st, at the Cummings Theatre in Cazenovia, Madison County, NY. [Read more…] about 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention Being Remembered
In his 1891 memoir, Rev. W.W. Crane recalled growing up in the town of Nelson, on a farm three miles east of the village of Cazenovia, New York. He attended school at Jackson’s Corners, a half-mile east, where he “fell in” with an African American boy he called “black Jerry.”
Crane remembered Jerry, “though very meek and innocent, was so taunted, on account of his color, that he went to the brook and tried to wash off the black, and while his tears fell like rain drops on the water, he pushed his hand to the bottom and brought the sand and tried to scour off the black.” The two became intimate friends, and Crane learned that Jerry’s father had a been a soldier in the Revolutionary War and General George Washington’s cook. [Read more…] about Plymouth Freeman: American Revolution Veteran, Former Slave
Final preparations are underway for the celebration of the 160th anniversary of the Cazenovia Fugitive Slave Law Convention. An interpretive plaque, to be installed for year-round public view at 9 Sullivan Street (home of the Cherry Valley Apartments) will be unveiled on the afternoon of Friday, August 20th—and an evening celebration performance will then be held at the Cazenovia College Catherine Cummings Theatre on Lincklaen Street.
An extremely rare daguerreotype (shown here) in the collection of the Madison County Historical Society, Oneida, provides the central backdrop for the 160th anniversary events.
Taken by Cazenovia photographer Ezra Greenleaf Weld on the second day of the Convention, which was held at the Sullivan Street location on August 22, 1850, several prominent local and national figures appear in the photograph, including: Peterboro abolitionist and Convention organizer Gerrit Smith; famed escaped slave and orator Frederick Douglass; and Mary and Emily Edmonson, escaped slaves who had been recaptured aboard the ill-fated flight of the “Pearl.” More than 2000 people, including as many as 50 fugitive slaves, attended what many historians believe was the nation’s largest anti-slavery protest.
In tribute to the many individuals who risked much to support the cause of abolitionism at the 1850 Cazenovia Convention, a magical evening, in word and song, will take place at the Catherine Cummings Theatre at 7:30 pm and will be hosted by master of ceremonies Honorable Hugh Humphreys. Frederick Douglass (portrayed by the nationally-acclaimed actor Fred Morsell) will be the guest orator for the evening, and music of the period will be provided by featured vocalist Max Smith and the vocal sounds of Elizabeth Bouk, Moana Fogg and Lowell Lingo, Jr. The evening program will be followed by a reception at the Theatre. The plaque unveiling will take place earlier that day at 4 pm on Sullivan Street.
With generous support from Patti and Sparky Christakos; Cazenovia College; the Upstate Institute of Colgate University; the Gorman Foundation; the Madison County Historical Society; the National Abolition Hall of Fame; and many other charitable donors, both the unveiling and evening presentation are free, and the public is encouraged to attend.
For more information on the commemorative events to be held on Friday, August 20th, please contact Commemorative Committee member Sarah Webster at 655-8632.