New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Onondaga County

Thurlow Weed, Stephen Van Rensselaer III and the Disputed Election of 1824

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A Young Thurlow Weed (2)Thurlow Weed was born on November 15, 1797, the son of Joel and Mary (Elis) Weed, in Cairo, Greene County, NY where his grandfather settled after the Revolutionary War. His father was a farmer who was apparently hard working but never prosperous, occasionally spending time in jail for debt.

In 1799, the family moved to Catskill where young Weed received a small amount of schooling. His first job was pumping a blacksmith’s bellows while the blacksmith formed heated iron. He made six cents per day. At nine, he got a job as a cabin boy on a Hudson River sloop. [Read more…] about Thurlow Weed, Stephen Van Rensselaer III and the Disputed Election of 1824

Volunteers Improve Trails at Morgan Hill State Forest

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Morgan Hill State ForestRecently, volunteers from the bike group CNY D.I.R.T. worked together at Morgan Hill State Forest in southern Onondaga and northern Cortland counties to build an additional 1.3 miles of single-track multiple-use trail. The forest now hosts 10.8 miles of designated multiple-use trail, with another 4+ miles planned in the next few years. [Read more…] about Volunteers Improve Trails at Morgan Hill State Forest

Wheelchair Downhill Pioneer Louis’s Twists and Turns

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Louis in the paperA planned escape? An outing to visit family and friends? Or just for fun?

One spring day in 1937, Louis must have decided it was a time for a change of scenery and maybe the opportunity to get back to city life and family he once lived with.

But to travel off of Onondaga Hill, there are several ways. Unfortunately, all down hill. [Read more…] about Wheelchair Downhill Pioneer Louis’s Twists and Turns

Remembering Onondaga’s Split Rock Explosion

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split rockAs Rich Miller remembers, it was sometime around 1984 that a colleague at the bank where he worked first mentioned Onondaga’s Split Rock Explosion of July 2, 1918.

This was not the first time that Rich’s interest was piqued by the Split Rock Explosion. He had read former newspaper columnist Dick Case’s columns on that event, but this was the first time someone offered to take Rich up to explore Split Rock.

Over thirty years later, his research has lead him to write a four volume series about Split Rock – before, during and after the explosion that changed the lives of the people who worked there and the communities nearby. [Read more…] about Remembering Onondaga’s Split Rock Explosion

Onondaga Historians Marking Split Rock Explosion

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split rock explosionThat particular summer’s day, July 2, 1918, began, or more like continued, like all the days before it as the munitions manufacturing facility at Split Rock in Onondaga was an around the clock operation.

The owners of the site, Semet-Solvay (better known to most as Solvay Process) knew the importance of this plant as it supported WWI efforts, at first filling the demands of the European powers – England, France and Italy – before the entrance of the United States into the war and its’ need for the products manufactured at Split Rock. This plant produced a variety of products important to the fight against Germany, such as T.N.T., picric acid, poison gas, and smokeless powder (gunpowder for shells). [Read more…] about Onondaga Historians Marking Split Rock Explosion

Aerial Photos: New York Rural History From Above

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aerial photograph centered in Syracuse Onondaga County New York 1938Aerial photos can be helpful research tools for historians. Google Earth, which provides access to a vast collection of aerial photography stretching back 20 years, is just a sampling of the many aerial photos that have been made since French balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as “Nadar,” took a photo over Paris, France in 1858.

Much of New York Sate was photographed with the camera pointing straight down, an oblique presentation that is less useful to some historians. An effort to capture all of New York in an orthophotographic perspective (corrected to a uniform scale) started in 1936 with a contract to C.S. Robinson of Ithaca, NY. These images are particularly valuable resources for historians of all stripes. [Read more…] about Aerial Photos: New York Rural History From Above

Manlius, Madison County, and Abolitionists Talk Planned

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Seceder Cover JPEGAfter six years of research Alethea “Lee” Connolly has published her book on “forgotten trailblazers” in early 19th Century Central New York. Connolly will present her research on her book The Seceders: Religious Conviction & the Abolitionist Movement in the Town of Manlius, 1834-1844 at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134.

As Barbara S. Rivette, Manlius Town Historian, states “The network of families and church affiliations involved in The Seceders spread through Canastota, Clockville, and Peterboro.” Seceders, like early Manlius settler Elijah Bailey, “believed the church had veered off the simple path of Bible religion into pride and folly.” [Read more…] about Manlius, Madison County, and Abolitionists Talk Planned

New Photo History of Bridgeport, NY

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Bridgeport Ny historyDiscussing the importance of the history of Bridgeport, NY, is the newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series. The book titled Bridgeport from local author Judy Barrett boasts a collection of more than 200 archival images.

“Bridgeport is still a hamlet, which is another factor in the continuance of the uniqueness of our community,” writes author Judy Barrett. In her new book, Barrett celebrates the history of this unique hamlet, which lies in both the towns of Cicero, in Onondaga County, and Sullivan, in Madison County. It is divided only by Chittenango Creek, which was the main attraction for settlement in the early years. [Read more…] about New Photo History of Bridgeport, NY

New Book Features Early Onondaga Co. Abolitionism

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SecedersAfter six years research, retired genealogist, one-time teacher, and journalist Alethea “Lee” Connolly has published The Seceders: Religious Conviction & the Abolitionist Movement in the Town of Manlius, 1834-1844 (2013). The book makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the very early abolitionist movement in Onondaga County, and its interactions with similar movements in Madison, Cayuga, and Oneida counties.

Motivated by deep religious values of justice and human dignity, the men and women covered in this book defied local resistance and social pressures. They refused to be silenced in their anti-slavery beliefs. Town of Manlius Historian, Barbara S. Rivette, has called the book “an amazing feat of research.” [Read more…] about New Book Features Early Onondaga Co. Abolitionism

Women’s Rights: The Matilda Joslyn Gage Home

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3-GageHouseIt’s helpful to know about the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in advance or you might miss it when driving through Fayetteville, NY (Onondaga County) – even though it’s strategically located on the main street.

Fayetteville is a small upstate town in the “cradle” of New York’s women’s rights movement, centrally located for those activists who worked with Gage and others while seeking radical social change in the years before and after the Civil War. [Read more…] about Women’s Rights: The Matilda Joslyn Gage Home