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Military History

Rochester Abolitionist John Doy

April 20, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

American Heritage has an interesting article on John Brown associate John Doy of Rochester. Here’s an excerpt:

John Doy, a physician from Rochester, New York, heeded the call from abolitionist societies and moved to Kansas in July 1854. A full-bearded and serious-looking man, Doy helped found the town of Lawrence and built a house on its outskirts, where his wife and nine children joined him. As a bastion of free-soil sympathies, Lawrence became a target of pro-slavers, who sacked it on May 21, 1856. In retaliation, the abolitionist firebrand John Brown and his men murdered five slave owners near Pottawatomie Creek. Three months later Doy fought alongside Brown in a pitched battle at Osawatomie, 60 miles southeast of Lawrence.

Kansas became increasingly dangerous for African Americans, so on January 18, 1859, a group of Lawrence’s citizens raised money to help blacks move to safety. Brown offered to take one group north to Canada and did so without incident. Doy also volunteered to help by taking another group about 60 miles northwest to the town of Holton, the first step on the road to Iowa. His passage proved less fortunate.

Among the African Americans on Doy’s expedition were Wilson Hayes and Charles Smith, cooks at a Lawrence hotel. Doy knew that both of them were free men, although they had no papers. All the others had their “free papers,” including William Riley, who had been kidnapped once before from Lawrence but had managed to escape.

The piece offers an interesting look at one of teh many upstate New Yorkers who traveled west during the Kansas-Missouri Border War.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Abolition, Civil War, John Brown, Military History, Slavery

150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid Conference / Symposium

April 20, 2009 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

John Brown Remembered: 150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid is the title of a conference / symposium that will be held October 14 -17, 2009 at the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Speakers will include David Blight, Spencer Crew, and Paul Finkelman.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, along with other partners, is hosting this multidisciplinary academic symposium on John Brown and his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. The symposium, which will be held at the Stephen T. Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, is hoped to stimulate new and diverse academic research, scholarship, and debate.

A schedule and registration details can be found here.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Civil War, John Brown, Military History, Slavery

Rare World War II Relief Quilts Make First NY Stop

April 14, 2009 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

For the first time in New York state, a rare collection of quilts and comforters used by children, Jewish fugitives, Nazi Resistance workers, and Mennonite refugees fleeing the post-war Soviet Union who were given shelter by a Dutch Mennonite woman will be seen Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays April 24-June 28 at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County, NY.

The New York Council for the Humanities, Mennonite Heritage Association, Seaway Trail Foundation, Town of Hounsfield, National Grid and Key Bank are sponsoring “Passing on the Comfort: World War II, Quilts & The Women Who Made a Difference” that tells the story of a young Mennonite minister and his newlywed wife who participated with the Resistance movement in the Netherlands.

The professionally designed interpretive and interactive exhibit that features a rare collection of quilts and comforters made by Mennonite women in the United States and Canada; interpretive panels with historic images of wartime life in the Netherlands, and a DVD sharing the story of An and Herman Keuning-Tichelaar who sheltered people in their parsonage. In the DVD, Keuning-Tichelaar herself says, “I sorted my memories as I folded and unfolded the (few, worn) quilts telling my unspoken tales.”

Phyllis Lyndecker, president of the Mennonite Heritage Association, says, “We are always making quilts for relief efforts and this exhibit is a special opportunity to see quilts that reached their destinations and actually provided comfort and security to those in need.”

Great Lakes Seaway Trail Foundation President Teresa Mitchell says, “The Great Lakes Seaway Trail pleased to host this rare exhibit illustrating the intertwining of global history, philosophy, ethics, and religion.”

Mitchell says she expects the exhibit to attract quiltmakers, family, school and church groups, veterans, tourists and senior citizens. The quilting tradition is a popular cultural and arts heritage travel theme for the 518-mile-long byway that has clusters of Mennonite and Amish quilters in its 11 counties along the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. A 22-mile loop tour off the Great Lakes Seaway Trail in Orleans County, NY, features more than 40 traditional quilt block patterns painted on barns.

The Seaway Trail Foundation has won Upstate History Alliance and New York State Governor’s Tourism awards for its heritage programming related to historic shipwrecks. In August, the three-story, limestone Seaway Trail Discovery Center (built in 1817 as the Union Hotel) will host a presentation on the World War II refugees who found “safe haven” in Oswego, NY from 1944-1946 in Oswego, NY.

For more information on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call Seaway Trail Foundation, 315-646-1000.

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Jefferson County, Military History, Quilts-Textiles-Fabric-Fiber-Arts, World War Two

SUNY Stony Brook: The Worlds of Lion Gardiner

March 13, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The State University of New York at Stony Brook, in cooperation with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, will hold a conference at Stony Brook on The Worlds of Lion Gardiner, c. 1599-1663: Crossings and Boundaries on March 20-21, 2009. Military man and engineer, chronicler and diplomat, lord of a New English manor married to a Dutch woman, Gardiner led a life replete with crossings: of the English Channel to engage in Continental wars, of the Atlantic, of the lesser waters of Long Island Sound, of national, imperial, and colonial borders, of racial divides, and of the very bounds of colonial law. The many crossings in which he and his contemporaries were involved did much to create boundaries between things previously less clearly separated.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Academia, Conferences, Military History, New Netherland, SUNY Stony Brook

Underground RR Audio Tour at NY Historical Society

March 12, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New-York Historical Society is presenting an audio tour exploring the Underground Railroad during the time of the Civil War, highlighting how issues of slavery and freedom influenced national politics and the actions of Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), commander of the Union armies, and of Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), commander of the Confederate forces.

The Run for Your Life audio tour adds a layer of interpretation to the current exhibition Grant and Lee in War and Peace and can be accessed when you visit the gallery and at nyhistory.org or on iTunesU. [Read more…] about Underground RR Audio Tour at NY Historical Society

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Abolition, African American History, Civil War, Military History, Museums-Archives-Historic Sites, New York Historical Society, Slavery, Underground Railroad

400 Years of The Champlain Valley Event

February 26, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Rich Strum, Director of Interpretation and Education at Fort Ticonderoga, will offer a program entitled “Conquest, Commerce, and Culture: 400 Years of History in the Champlain Valley” at Saranac Village at Will Rogers in Saranac Lake on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

Samuel de Champlain first saw the great expanse of Lake Champlain, the Green Mountains to the east, the Adirondacks on the west in 1609. New York State, Vermont, and the Province of Quebec are commemorating the 400th anniversary of Champlain’s explorations this year through a variety of programs and events.

Strum will provide an illustrated overview of four centuries of the Champlain region’s history. He will discuss military contests for control of the vital Champlain corridor, the role the lake has played in economic growth and expansion, the lasting impact of 150 years of French dominance in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The presentation will begin at 2:00 p.m. and is offered at no charge to member sof the Adirondack Museum and children of elementary school age or younger. Free admission will be extended to all residents of Saranac Village at Will Rogers. The fee for non-members is $5.00. For additional information, please call the Education Department at (518) 352-7311, ext. 128 or visit the museum’s web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Rich Strum has been the Director of Interpretation and Education at Fort Ticonderoga since 1999. He serves as North Country Regional Coordinator for New York State History Day. He is the author of Ticonderoga: Lake Champlain Steamboat, as well as two books for young readers: Causes of the American Revolution and Henry Know: Washington’s Artilleryman. He lives in Ticonderoga, N.Y. with his wife and daughters.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: 400th, Adirondack Museum, Adirondacks, American Revolution, Fort Ticonderoga, French And Indian War, Lake Champlain, Military History

State Library Puts Military History Records Online

February 9, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In 1895, Governor Morton appointed a state historian whose duties were “to collect… edit, and prepare for publication all official records… and data, relative to the colonial wars, war of the revolution, war of 1812, Mexican war and war of the rebellion.” The New York State Library recently digitized the State historian’s 1st Annual Report (1895), 2nd Annual Report (1896) and 3rd Annual Report (1897). The 2nd Annual Report includes Volume 1 of the Colonial Muster Rolls for 1664-1760 (Appendix H); the 3rd Annual Report includes Volume II of the Colonial Muster Rolls (Appendix M), as well as an index of names contained in the Colonial Muster Rolls (pages 899-1130). The annual reports of the State Historian are among the many historical documents that the New York State Library has made freely available online. [Link]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Military History, New York State Library, Online Resources

27 Place Nominated for State, National Registers

January 8, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol Ash today accepted the recommendation of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 29 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.

A number of well-known locations that were recommended for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the Fraunces Tavern in New York City; the Spitfire gunboat wreck on Lake Champlain (Essex and Clinton Counties); the Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District (Cayuga County); the Rushmore Memorial Library (Orange County); the Cornell Steamboat Company Machine Shop Building in Kingston; and the 1932 Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid.

The New York State Board for Historic Preservation is an independent panel of experts appointed by the governor. The Board also consists of representatives from the following state organizations: Council of Parks; Council on the Arts; Department of Education; Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation. The function of the Board is to advise and provide recommendations on state and federal preservation programs, including the State and National Registers of Historic Places, to the State Historic Preservation Officer, which in New York is the State Parks Commissioner.

The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. Official recognition helps highlight that state’s heritage and can enhance local preservation efforts. The benefits of listing include eligibility for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. There are nearly 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts.

During the nomination process, the State Board submits recommendations to the State Historic Preservation Officer. The properties may be listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register by the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, DC. The State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, jointly administer the national register program.

For more information about the New York State Board for Historic Preservation and the State and National Register programs as well as a complete list of the properties recommended in June, contact the Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau at (518) 237-8643, or visit the state parks web site at www.nysparks.com.

The recommended properties listed by county:

Albany County

1. St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands – the property was acquired in 1867 to accommodate the Albany Dioceses, it is the largest Catholic cemetery in the region.

Cattaraugus County

2. Beardsley / Oliver House, Olean – constructed c. 1890.

Cayuga County

3. Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District, Sherwood – a collection of 24+ buildings and sites associated with numerous social reform movements during the mid- to late 19th century, including abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, women’s rights and education.

Chemung County

4. Jacob Lowman House, Lowman – the farm was acquired in 1792 to Jacob Lowman (1769-1840), early settler, trader, farmer and founder of the hamlet of Lowman.

Cortland County

5. Cortland Free Library, Cortland – early 20th century library building.

Delaware County

6. Rock Valley School, Rock Valley – the one room school building was constructed in 1885 to meet the needs of a substantial population increase.

Dutchess County

7. Pulver – Bird House, Stanfordville – built in 1839 for Stanford farmer Henry Pulver by builder Nathanial Lockwood, Jr., a well known carpenter/builder active in the Hudson Valley.

Erie County

8. Concordia Cemetery, Buffalo – founded in 1859 as a collaborative effort by three German Lutheran churches and represents important aspects of Buffalo’s heritage of German immigration.

9. Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo – built between 1884 and 1886, Trinity Episcopal Church is the second oldest Episcopal congregation in the city.

Essex and Clinton Counties

10. Spitfire, gunboat wreck, Lake Champlain – the shipwreck site represents the last intact vessel of Benedict Arnold’s Revolutionary War fleet from the Battle of Valcour Island and has remained untouched at the bottom of Lake Champlain since 1776.

Essex County

11. 1932 Olympic Bobsled Run, Lake Placid/North Elba – the bobsled run at Mt. Van Hovenberg was one of the prime construction projects for the 1932 Winter Olympics and the first and only one and one half mile long bob run ever designed and built for Olympic competition.

Fulton County

12. Knox Mansion, Johnstown – built in 1898 for the prominent manufacturer Charles P. Knox (Knox Gelatin Company).

Herkimer County

13. South Ann Street – Mill Street Historic District, Little Falls – constructed between 1827 and 1911, the district represents industrial and commercial development that occurred in Little Falls adjacent to the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.

14. General Walter Martin House, Martinsburg – constructed in 1805 as the residence of financier, substantial landowner and civic leader General Walter Martin.

Monroe County

15. East Main Street Armory, Rochester – built in 1904-07 to house a local unit of the New York State National Guard.

New York County

16. Fraunces Tavern – constructed in 1719 and converted to a tavern in 1763 it was here that General George Washington gave his famous farewell speech to his officers on December 4, 1783. The building is a pioneering example of an early preservation movement and restoration project that used the most sophisticated techniques available at the time.

Onondaga County

17. Hotel Syracuse, Syracuse – the hotel was designed by George B. Post & Sons, one of the leading hotel designers of the day; ground was broken for the hotel in 1922 and it opened on August 16, 1924.

Ontario County

18. Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House, Geneva – built in 1888 and equipped with a 9.5″ refracting telescope crafted by the Warner & Swasey Company of Ohio, it is a rare surviving example of a private, mid-size professional observatory.

19. Farmers’ and Merchants’ Bank, Geneva – built ca. 1914-1915, example of early 20th century commercial architecture in Geneva.

Orange County

20. Rushmore Memorial Library, Highland Mills (Town of Woodbury) – constructed in 1923-24 as the first public library in the town of Woodbury and financed by New York City attorney Charles E. Rushmore, recognized for his work in the Black Hill of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was named after him in 1930.

21. Woodlawn Farm, Slate Hill – the earliest section of the house dates to c. 1790-1810 and was subsequently expanded and updated during the course of the 19th century.

Schenectady County

22. Enlarged Double Lock No. 23, Old Erie Canal, Rotterdam – constructed in 1841-1842, associated with the transportation history of the Old Erie Canal.

Steuben County

23. Hammondsport Union Free School, Hammondsport – the earliest section of the building was built as a private secondary school in 1858, converted to a public union school in 1875 and was expanded by three additions over the next 38 years.

Suffolk County

24. Jamesport Meeting House, Jamesport – the history of the meeting house dates to 1731, the building dates from 1859 when the original meeting house was rebuilt and served one of the first religious groups established in the town of Riverhead.

25. Brewster House, East Setauket – with a portion dating from c. 1665 and acquired that year by the Reverend Nathaniel Brewster, the first ordained minister in Setauket, the house is the oldest extant house in the town of Brookhaven.

Ulster County

26. Cornell Steamboat Company Machine Shop Building, Kingston – the machine shop was built about 1901 by the Cornell Steamboat Company to accommodate maritime industrial transportation between the Erie Canal and New York City along the Hudson River.

Washington County

27. Town – Hollister Farm, North Granville – first developed by noted educator, author and Freemason Salem Town (1779-1864) and sold to Captain Isaac Hollister in 1833.

Westchester County

28. Hadden – Margolis House, Harrison – the house preserves architectural characteristics that spans three centuries (c. 1750-1930) associated with growth and patterns of settlement in Westchester County.

Wyoming County

29. First Universalist Church of Portageville, Portageville – built in late 1841, the church served as a meeting house.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Abolition, Architecture, Historic Preservation, Military History, OPRHP, Political History, Transportation

Exhibition: NY Civil War Chattanooga Battle Flags

December 30, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol Ash has announced the opening of the “Chattanooga Colors” exhibition commemorating the 145th anniversary of the Civil War battles of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The flag exhibit will be on view in the New York State Capitol in Albany through September 2009.

“Chattanooga Colors” is the ninth installment in the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project Capitol exhibition series, which highlights the ongoing collaboration between the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Division of Military and Naval Affairs to preserve and properly store the state’s 1,900 battle flags. Many of the 850 Civil War flags in the state’s battle flag collection incurred damage in battle. At the end of the war, the flags were furled on their staffs and placed in glass cases in the Capitol. Nearly a century and a half of poor storage subjected the flags to the harmful effects of humidity, light, gravity, and temperature variance.

The exhibit showcases six battle flags carried by volunteer regiments from throughout the State of New York that served during the battles for Chattanooga, Tennessee, and includes a small Unites States flag made by a group of women in eastern Tennessee who concealed the banner in a tea pot to prevent its capture by the Confederates. Flags carried by the 60th Infantry, 136th Infantry, 137th Infantry, 143rd Infantry, 154th Infantry and Battery I, 1st Artillery are included in the exhibit. Over 3,700 citizen soldiers followed their colors to faraway battles in Tennessee.

Each flag within “Chattanooga Colors” has been conserved and prepared for exhibition at State Parks’ Peebles Island Resource Center as part of the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project. Since 2000, the Flag Project has conserved and properly stored over 500 flags carried into battle by New York State regiments. The New York State Military Museum in the Saratoga Springs Armory is the permanent home of New York’s battle flag collection.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albany County, Civil War, Military History, new York State Military Museum

NARA Civil War Records Now Available in NYC

December 22, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Northeast Region’s New York City office announces the receipt of over 1,400 volumes of Civil War records previously held in Washington, DC. These volumes document arrested deserters, men enrolled for the draft, enlisted volunteers, and compiled statistics on the physical condition of recruits and military casualties for New York and New Jersey.

Record Group 110: Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War) will provide significant insight into the Civil War era for historians and for genealogists alike. The records cover New York (1861-1868) and New Jersey (1861-1868) and are arranged by draft board. The New York volumes consist of records from 31 districts, records for several state mustering points, and records of the Park and Broome Barracks of lower Manhattan. The New Jersey volumes consist of records from 5 districts, staff offices, and the Draft Rendezvous Station at Trenton.

While the detail within the records varies from district to district, they can be simply described as lists, reports, ledgers, and correspondence. Specifically, these records may include Registers of Enlistments, Substitutes, and Deserters; Descriptive Lists of Men Ordered To Report for Duty; Registers of Exemptions; Letters Regarding Medical Examinations of Draftees; and Letters Regarding Service. These series will include both those that served and those that didn’t serve in the military. Information about the individuals may include names, ages, occupations, physical and mental characteristics, birthplaces, and family relationships. Additionally, essential information concerning freedmen and the New York Draft Riots are included in several series.

The National Archives welcomes the general public, historians, genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and students to research these essential documents of our past. While the microfilm and online resources are available at all times, researchers are requested to make an appointment to use the original documents of Record Group 110.

The National Archives is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:30 pm, and the first Saturday of each month 8:30 to 4 pm (computer and microfilm research only). The National Archives and Records Administration – New York office is located at 201 Varick Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY, 10014.


More from the National Archives:

Record Group 110: Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War) from The National Archives Guide to Federal Records

Military Resources at the National Archives: Civil War

Civil War Draft Records: Exemptions and Enrollments by Michael T. Meier, from the National Archives magazine Prologue

National Archives Reference Information Paper: Draft Records (Civil War and after)

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Civil War, Military History, National Archives, Online Resources

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