New York Almanack

News and Views from the Empire State

Oneida County

The Battle of Oriskany and Herkimer’s Militia Virtual Lecture

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Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany, August 6 1777 by Frederick Coffay YohnThe Oneida County History Center has announced a virtual lunchtime lecture with Alexis Albright, curator of the Oriskany Museum, who will look at the Battle of Oriskany, General Nicholas Herkimer and the Tryon County Militia.

The  Battle of Oriskany was one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. Loyalists and several hundred Native American allies ambushed an Patriot military party attempting to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix. [Read more…] about The Battle of Oriskany and Herkimer’s Militia Virtual Lecture

State Acquires Northern NY Lands

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DEC St Lawrence County AcquisitionsNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the acquisition of several parcels totaling 662 acres in St. Lawrence, Oneida, and Lewis counties.

The parcels are expected to enhance public access to a variety of recreational opportunities, including hiking, fishing, snowmobiling, and hunting, as well as protect wetlands and forests in the region. [Read more…] about State Acquires Northern NY Lands

A Visit To The Deansboro, Oneida Co, CCC Camp

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Deansboro CCC Camp flag pole and three buildingsDuring the Great Depression of the 1930s the federal government started numerous programs to provide jobs. One, based on an earlier New York State program established by then Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The CCC employed about 3.5 million young men nationwide, with about 210,00 of them at 116 camps across New York State. The camps, for men only, were supervised by the U.S. Army and the Soil Conservation Commission. [Read more…] about A Visit To The Deansboro, Oneida Co, CCC Camp

Grover Cleveland’s Indiscretion, Oneida Co Connections

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Grover Cleveland - Another Voice for Cleveland September 1884 Library of CongressPresident Grover Cleveland spent some years in Clinton, Oneida County, NY, as a boy, while his father Rev. Richard Cleveland and his family lived at 26 Utica Street (the house was marked by the Clinton Historical Society in 1968).

Rev. Cleveland had arrived there in 1850 to take a position as Secretary of the American Home Missionary Society. The job required a lot of traveling which eventually took its toll on Rev. Cleveland’s health. [Read more…] about Grover Cleveland’s Indiscretion, Oneida Co Connections

New Interim Director at Oneida Co History Center

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oneida county history center logoThe Oneida County History Center has announced that Elizabeth Tantillo has been recruited to serve as their interim executive director. She brings years of management and non-profit experience that will aid the History Center during its transition to the next permanent executive director. [Read more…] about New Interim Director at Oneida Co History Center

Frank Johnson’s Story: An Enslaved Man’s Experiences

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NY Hospital 1640Sometime around 1797, a baby boy of African descent was born in Oneida County. He didn’t live a very long life, yet his experiences reveal much about the institution of slavery in New York State.

All we know for certain about Frank Johnson’s birthdate is that it preceded the passage of the 1799 Gradual Emancipation Act, thereby making him a “slave for life,” as he was called by the man who owned him according to the law. That man, Alexander Bryan Johnson, born in England in 1786, followed his father to Utica, New York arriving in 1801. There he became an important man, involved with the merchandising business, banking, writing, and gaining recognition as a public intellectual. There is still a park named after him in Utica. [Read more…] about Frank Johnson’s Story: An Enslaved Man’s Experiences