clarence historical society 2012 spring newsletter
DESCRIPTION
Clarence Historical Society 2012 Spring NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Spring 2012 Editor – Julianna Fiddler Woite
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May 8th
2012 – This month’s meeting will be held at the Clarence Nature Center on
Sheridan Drive where Jim Marshall and Ken Schnobrich will be presenting
July 10th
2012 – The History of Steel Plants in WNY - presented by Michael Malyak
August 2nd 2012 - Annual summer picnic, 6pm - 10pm
Sept 11th
2012 - Denise Reichard, a local actress will be playing a historical figure
Nov 13th
2012 - David Ruch & Canal Street String Band will provide
“Music from the War of 1812”
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Conestoga Wagon Project: Any members wishing to help place the canvas top on the Conestoga Wagon should
come to the Museum on Saturday, May 5, at 10 AM. This should take no more than
one hour to two hours. No special equipment is needed.
Mark Your Calendars:
The Historical Society's annual Summer picnic will be held at Glenwood Park, 8355
Greiner Road on Thursday, August 2nd
, between 6 and 10 p.m. [Contact Donna
Wanamaker at 741-9726 for details and to register to attend]. There is no fee.
Genealogy Services: We have Genealogy services at the Gerber Library in the Hollow. The former library
is open on Wednesdays from 10-2 pm. Contact Mae Coppola at the Center for
details. �
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Reminiscence of an Old Settler
-As appeared in an early issue of the Clarence Bee
According to the best of my knowledge and belief, I first saw daylight in the nineteenth
century, in the month of December, 1813, in the central part of New York.
In the early spring of 1818, I emigrated with my parents to the Holland Land Purchase
which was at the time considered way out west. We first stopped where the village of Lancaster
is now located and remained there for one year.
In the meantime, father purchased a piece of wild land in the Town of Clarence (now the
Town of Lancaster) where he cleared a small piece and put up a small house into which we
moved in the spring of 1819, right in the woods.
Western New York was at the
time (with few exceptions) one unbroken
wilderness, covered with a heavy growth
of forest trees and inhabited by Indians,
bears, wolves, deer, wild cats, foxes,
porcupines and various other animals.
The timber was principally oak,
hickory, white wood or poplar ash, had
and soft maple, birch, beech, pine,
hemlock, etc.
A few people had preceded us
and had made small clearings. Soon after our arrival, families from different parts came and
settled not far from us so we had neighbors within half a mile. Well do I remember hearing
wolves howling around our house in their nightly visits while seeking something to devour.
Men, and sometimes women, in attempting to go from one settlement to another would get
bewildered, lose their way and have to stay in the woods all night with the wild beast as
company.
The hardy husbandman had to clear his lands of the heavy timber with which they were
all covered before they could raise anything on-which to live.
What a typical cabin would have looked like in early
pioneer days in Clarence.
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After they would get a few acres of the timber cut down and cut into suitable lengths,
they would make a logging bee, invite their scattered neighbors, and when they had drawn the
logs into suitable places with oxen, they would roll them into huge heaps to be burned. Thus
there have been millions of cords of good timber and wood burned simply to get it off the land.
During the log-rolling hours, there was plenty of good whiskey and at the close of the day a
sumptuous supper was spread consisting of roast pig, pumpkin pie, and other necessary viands.
Actually these logging bees were a luxury to those people who had so few community pleasures.
In those days common schools in this country were few and far between. My first
schooling I remember was acquired in a barn. School teachers in those days earned the small
pittance which was paid them. Male teachers would get from twelve to fifteen dollars per month
of twenty four days of school and board around with those who sent children to school. Females
would get from one
dollar to one dollar and a
quarter per week and get
their board paid for in
the same way. Lady
teachers were required
to understand the
marking of the letters of
the alphabet and figures
on canvas with a kind of
thread known as floss.
Many of the larger girls
would go to school armed with a piece of canvas and spend a part of their time learning the art of
marking. Them too, teachers were compelled to write all the copies for those who wrote, and
make or mend quill pens until about 1840 or 1845 when metal pens became general.
In those days, boys and girls were required on meeting and elderly person on their way to
or from school, an obeisance, but now out young ladies and gentlemen are not required to
reverence anybody, not even their parents.
Buffalo in those early days was only a small hamlet having been burned by the British
and Indians in 1813 who only left a house or two standing.
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**As part of a new series, The Ransom Note will highlight one of Clarence’s historically
designated homes in each edition. Currently there are 16 homes that have received this
prestigious designation – so that should keep us buy for a while!**
The Landow Log Cabin
Presently located on the property
of the Clarence Historical Society,
the Landow Log Cabin enjoys a
rich and prestigious history.
Originally located on Goodrich
Road, this circa 1825 cabin was
constructed by Levi Goodrich who
was born in Massachusetts in 1774.
The Goodrich family settled in
Clarence in 1815 and remained in
the area for over 20 years. While
in Clarence, Levi worked as a land surveyor, laying out many of Clarence's most traveled roads,
including the one that bears his name.
The cabin's name derives from its last residents, Mr. & Mrs. Gustave Landow. The Landow
family were prominent members of the German settlement in North Clarence and incorporated
this cabin into their large family farm. The Landow cabin proudly remained on the east side of
Goodrich Road, north of Lapp Road for 165 years. In 1990 the cabin was relocated to its present
site and restored to original form.
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10 pounds of flour
8 pounds of butter
4 pounds of sugar
29 eggs
3 pints of yeast
1 1/2 pints of new milk
cinnamon, nutmeg and a few cloves
YIELDS 40-50 servings!!
Taken from a 1795 manuscript by Mrs. Dalrymple of Salem Massachutes
Provided by POLITICS & POTROAST
NOTE: Early recipes only listed ingredients,
not directions. The cook was supposed to
know what to do!
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New Clarence Book Underway!
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Picturing History
Out for a walk: Look at how empty Main Street was in 1917! Jewett Hoffman (left) and
Charles Landel (right) were able to pose with Dorothy Landel (back), Eunice Landel and
Howard Hoffman (in wagon) right in the center of the road. It seems like this stretch of Main
Street was light on houses and traffic!
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October 8th
, 1878
While Buell Utley was driving into the Hunt’s Corners Churchyard last Sunday, his
horses suddenly took fright and ran down the road in front of Norton Hunt’s residence where
they ran against a stone hitching post, broke the tongue and whiffletrees, and then ran down Salt
Road to Grarret Bratt Hunt’s house. Here they turned into the barnyard and were caught. Mr.
Utley and daughter were thrown out when the vehicle collided with the hitching post. Mr. Utley
was bruised very badly and his daughter broke one wrist and dislocated the other. Dr. Lapp of
Clarence was summoned immediately and took care of the injured.
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