Tuesday, December 6, 2011

DUGOUT CANOE IN OTSEGO LAKE 1894

Donald A. Windsor

A dugout canoe 16 feet long was pulled out of Otsego Lake during the summer of 1894 by George Rathbun of Cooperstown, according to an article in The Norwich Sun of 4 October 1894.  Thanks to Tom Knapp for finding this article.

The canoe was down 50 feet underwater and was pulled up in a seine.  It bore the marks of the blunt instrument used to dig out the hull.  The location was between Hutters Island and Mount Wellington, directly in front of Hyde Hall.  Hyde Hall is on the northern shore of Otsego Lake, just northwest of Glimmerglass State Park.

Note that the length approximates the 17 feet of our Dave Walker canoe, posting of 16 August 2011 on this blog.

==================================================

Thursday, November 17, 2011

LOCAL THISTLES

Donald A. Windsor

Four thistle species live in Chenango County.  Ranked in order of the most common to the least, they are:  Canada, Bull, Pasture, and Welted.  Note that, of the four, only the Pasture Thistle is listed as native by this authoritative reference.

Mitchell, Richard S. ; Tucker, Gordon C.  Revised Checklist of New York State Plants.  Albany, NY: New York State Museum.  1997.  400 pages.  The exact page numbers appear in [] below.
 Canada Thistle  Cirsium arvense  Alien  [242]




Bull Thistle  Cirsium vulgare  Alien  [242]

 




Pasture Thistle  Cirsium pumilum  Native  [242]







Welted Thistle  Carduus crispus  Alien  [240]






We also have Sow Thistles, which are not true thistles. 
Here is the Spiny-leaved Sowthistle  Sonchus asper  Alien  [264]




  =============================================

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Stone Pile Site Discovered in Smithville

Donald A. Windsor

A most amazing stone pile site was discovered by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) foresters, Andrew Goeller and Christopher Sprague, in August 2011.  The site is on state land, west of the Ludlow Creek, in the Town of Smithville in Chenango County, New York.

This site is about a mile from two other sites and about three miles from another.
Here are three photos taken by me on Sunday 6 November 2011.





 




On our hike Sunday 6 November 2011, we counted 17 stone piles in a zigzag line.  On our hike Sunday 13 November 2011, we counted an additional 6 piles about a quarter mile from the 17, for a total of 23 stone piles.  There may be more.  Some smaller and disheveled piles may be buried under leaves and may have been missed.   This high number ranks up with the site in Afton, which has about three dozen piles and the site in Masonville which has about two dozen.

More investigation is intended for this winter, after the hunting gun season.

===============================================

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Earliest Documentation of Tomatoes Grown in Chenango County

Donald A. Windsor

Tomatoes are native to South America, in the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.  They were introduced to Europe in the 1500s and to North America via Europe, probably in the 1700s (1, 2).  Although Hedrick claims that the Indians had been growing tomatoes (3). 

After reading Diame Hamblin's book on historical recipes from Chenango County, Made Nine Pies, I noticed that no recipes included tomatoes prior to the Civil War (1861-65) (4).  In my article, "Tomato Time", I sent out a plea for anyone with earlier documentation to notify me (5).

Dale C. Storms, former County Historian, found such a reference in the diary of Henry Van Der Lyn.  On July 11, 1839, he wrote:

"Garry put supports by the tomato's." (6).

This single sentence documents that tomatoes were growing here in Oxford in 1839.  Moreover, its matter-of-fact simplicity indicates that they may have been growing here much earlier.  Thomas Jefferson grew tomatoes in Virginia in 1781 (1).

My request still stands.  If anyone can document a date earlier than 1839, please let me know.


1.  Kline, Roger A. ; Becker, Robert F. ; Belluscio, Lynne.  Tomato.  In: The Heirloom Vegetable Garden.  Gardening in the 19th Century.  Ithaca, NY: Cornell Cooperative Extension Information Bulletin 177.  Page 24.  

2.  Mann, Charles C.  Prologue.  In:  1493. Uncovering the New World Columbus Created.  New York, NY:  Alfred A. Knopf. 2011. Pages xiii-xiv.

3.  Hedrick, Ulysses Prentiss.  [Tomatoes]  In: A History of Horticulture in America to 1860.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 1950.  Page 22.

4.  Hamblin, Diane, Editor.  "Made Nine Pies".  A Compilation of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Recipes from the Collection of the Chenango County Historical Society and Private Collections.  Norwich, NY: Chenango County Historical Society.  2004.  52 pages.   

5.  Windsor, Donald A.  Tomato time.  In:  Souvenirs of Yesteryear.  Exploring Chenango County, New York. Norwich, NY: Self published. 2010. Volume 3, pages 45-46. 

6.  Van Der Lyn, Henry.  11 July, 1839.  Diary.  Oxford, NY.  Volume 4, page 240.

================================================

Saturday, October 15, 2011

CONTENTS INDEX to SOUVENIRS OF YESTERYEAR Volumes 1-4

Souvenirs of Yesteryear
Exploring Chenango County, New York
Donald A. Windsor
Volumes 1-4 Combined
CONTENTS INDEX

Readers have urged me to provide a comprehensive index to all four volumes of Souvenirs of Yesteryear.  I am working on one, but in the meantime, here is an index based on the tables of contents in front of each volume.
The first number following ---  is the volume.  The number after the : is the page in that volume.

1491 ---  3: 64
A date still living in infamy ---  4: 86
A salt and battery ---  4: 41
Apple trees ---  2: 14
Apples, rescuing historic ---  3: 8
Arch, natural, local ---  2: 79
Archaeology, farmstead ---  4: 96
Archaeology, half century of local ---  4: 40
Bamboozled by an invasive alien ---  3: 46
Barn, an 1817 ---  2: 44
Barn, tallest in Chenango County? ---  1: 75
Birds, early spring ---  2: 18
Black Bridge ---  4: 34
Black Bridge, the 'other' ---  4: 46
Book, the best about Norwich ---  3: 57
Bottoms up ---  3: 95
Bowman Lake State Park ---  3: 98
Brick crosswalks, those impressive new ---  3: 31
Bridge at Ditch Road, Holmesville ---  1: 32
Brookfield Railroad ---  3: 22
Brookfield trails ---  3: 89
Bullthistle botanist blossomed in Brooklyn ---  4: 55
Bullthistle County ---  3: 37
Burned-over District ---  4: 58
Canada thistle ---  4: 18
Canal Lock 76 ---  4: 56
Canal Lock 88 ---  2: 83
Canal Lock 100 ---  4: 77
Canal water ---  4: 74
Catskill-IthacaTurnpike ---  3: 70
Caves, Indian ---1: 37
Cemetery, an ideal ---  2: 53
Central Valley Railroad ---1: 34
Cheese Factory, Prudy Robbins ---  3: 54
Chenango Forks ---  4: 25
Chenango Hotel ---  3: 80
Chenango Road, The Old ---  4: 13
Chenango to Albany ---  3: 48
Cherry tree, gnarled survivor ---  1: 13
Cheshireville Hotel---  1: 31
Christmas bird count ---  2: 8
Chronological diversity ---  4: 51
Civilian Conservation Corps camp ---  1: 15
Clark, Hiram C. ---  2: 64
Consolidating Chenango County into three towns ---  4: 85
Corner, most significant in Chenango County ---  1: 29
Cornfield, our oldest ---  3: 28
Cortland Street Pool ---  1: 27
County, the new ---  3: 4
Creamery, Fountain Head ---  3: 66
Cycle pathic bikers ---  3: 72
Daffodils, feral ---  2: 30
Dalton Road ---  2: 76
Dams, stone --- 1: 5
Dandelions ---  4: 6
Daphne,catching ---  3: 19
Dates provide bridges to the past ---  4: 65
Dendrochronology ---  3: 25
Deserts of Oxford ---  2: 5
Diaries ---  4: 11
Diaries of Henry Van Der Lyn ---  2: 81
Dug wells, stone-lined ---  3: 10
East German ---  4: 20
Eel weir in the Unadilla River ---  4: 81
Esker quester ---  2: 40
Experimental Forest Station in Smyrna ---  2: 87
Farmstead archaeology ---  4: 96
Fellow traveler ---  4: 83
Finger Lakes Trail ---  1: 95
Fireplace, an old, unique ---  2: 54
Floods, plain fill-osophy of ---  4: 60
Forest Station, Experimental, Smyrna ---  2: 87
Foundation for a lifetime ---  3: 59
Foundations, old stone --- 1: 7
Fountain Head Creamery ---  3: 66
Frenchmans Road ---  1: 21
Frenchmans Road, Noble site on ---  4: 10
Frink Tavern, chronology of  ---  2: 60
Gateway to Perrytown ---  3: 3
Genealogy for non-natives ---  1: 19
General Sullivan, ever in Chenango County? ---  4: 8
Gore, The ---  3: 96
Gorges and waterfalls ---  1: 50
Great Brook Watershed ---  3: 68
Grocery stores ---  3: 83
Grog Hollow Monster ---  3: 39
Grog Hollow Monster, scary encounter with ---  4: 100
Groundhog's Day ---  3: 6
Halfway measures ---  4: 36
Hamlets ---  4: 22
Hatch, Joel, entry into Chenango County ---  3: 11
Highest point in Chenango County ---  1: 56
Hiram C. Clark ---  2: 64
Historical preservation ---  4: 29
Hobo jungles ---  4: 49
Holmesville, Message from namesake ---  2: 89
Hope springs eternal ---  1: 23
Hosea Dimmick house ---  4: 43
House, plant your own ---  1: 85
IBM Glen ---  4: 24
Indian burial grounds? ---  4: 45
Indian mounds ---  3: 17
Inhabitants, earliest of Chenango County ---  2: 47
Iroquoia ---  4: 76
Ithaca-Catskill Turnpike ---  3: 70
Joe Road, Lincklaen ---  1: 44
Joel Hatch's entry into Chenango County ---  3: 11
John Lincklaen's journey from Oxford to Cazenovia ---  2: 28
John Lincklaen's trek north ---  2: 38
Jordan Spreader ---  4: 93
Junk, old rusty ---  3: 82
Kettlehole bogs ---  3: 35
Kings Settlement road, the old  ---  2: 10
Kopac Pond ---  1: 76
Lakes, largest in Chenango County ---  2: 1
Lazyville, living in had its Merritts ---  4: 1
Line of Property ---  3: 55
Low-Down Wagon Works ---  4: 79
Main, gas, Remembering the ---  1: 47
Manhole covers, personalized ---  4: 32
Maps, database for old ---  1: 83
McDonough Sulfur Springs ---  2: 33
McMoran Knife Factory ---  2: 59
Message from the namesake of Holmesville ---  2: 89
Mill at Plymouth Reservoir ---  1: 17
Montgomery's wards ---  2: 31
Monumental disappointment ---  3: 61
Noble site on Frenchmans Road ---  4: 10
Norwich-Guilford Road, the old  ---  2: 6
Not through a car window ---  4: 63
Notch up on West Hill ---  3: 1
Nuts to New York ---  3: 76
Octagonal silos ---  4: 15
Old & Weary ---  2: 26
Old road between Woods Corners and South New Berlin ---  4: 98
Oneida River ---  3: 78
Otselic Creek became the Otselic River ---  3: 41
Outhouses ---  2: 20
Parallel lines in the river bottom ---  3: 52
Passenger pigeons ---  3: 43
Peak, highest in each town ---  4: 28
Penguin Peak ---  1: 78
Perrytown ---  1: 25
Perrytown, Gateway to ---  3: 3
Perrytown, in Columbus ---  2: 23
Pettis Slope - Pre-World War II ---  2: 3
Pettis Slope monument ---  1: 88
Pharsalia Schoolhouse Number 8 ---  3: 62
Pink Hill, Pitcher ---  1: 39
Plain fill-osophy of floods ---  4: 60
Plank Roads ---  1: 52
Plasterville ---  4: 88
Pool, swimming, Cortland Street ---  1: 27
Population histories of the towns ---  2: 69
Population history of Chenango County ---  2: 67
Post office , oldest in Chenango County ---  4: 31
Pre-World War II boyhood ---  4: 53
Preston Hollow ---  3: 23
Preston's bicentennial ---  3: 87
Prudy Robbins Cheese Factory ---  3: 54
Puckerville Corners ---  1: 42
Puckerville Pullers, ringleader of  ---  2: 56
Quarry, abandoned ---  1: 9
Quarry, Grandfather's ---  1: 41
Racetrack bridge ---  2: 36
Railroad triumphs over canal ---  4: 70
Raking suckers ---  3: 85
Roundhouse hub? ---  1: 11
Ruins, old, the beauty of ---  1: 73
Sailor's monument ---  2: 71
Sanford Tool Factory ---  1: 61
Sangerfield River ---  3: 91
Sawmill, steam, remains of ---  3: 15
Scary encounter with the Grog Hollow Monster ---  4: 100
Schoolhouse Number 8, Pharsalia ---  3: 62
Schoolhouse reunion, one-room ---  1: 65
Schoolhouses, Old ---  1: 54
Settlement spacings ---  4: 38
Shingle Street ---  2: 51
Sidney walking trail ---  4: 68
Silos, octagonal ---  4: 15
Skinner Hill ---  4: 16
Sneaking smokes behind the warehouse ---  2: 46
Solstice, winter ---  2: 85
Spoonful of Velvet ice cream ---  2: 62
Stealth tourism ---  4: 94
Steam sawmill, remains of ---  3: 15
Stone piles of Chenango County ---  1: 1
Stone piles, the mysterious ---  2: 12
Stone walls, reading ---  1: 80
Street signs ---  4: 47
Suckers, raking ---  3: 85
Sugarbush, an old  ---  2: 24
Sulfur Springs revisited ---  2: 41
Sulfur Springs, McDonough ---  2: 33
Sulphur Springs revisited again ---  2: 49
Swamps ---  2: 66
Take it with you. You really can ---  2: 34
The 'Z' word ---  4: 66
The significance of an early trail ---  2: 43
Three score and ten ---  2: 21
Tied to the Great Depression ---  1: 48
Tinker Ridge Road ---  3: 14
Tomato time ---  3: 45
Tornadoes in Chenango ---  1: 68
Tourism, stealth ---  4: 94
Town boundary markers ---  1: 58
Town centers ---  2: 77
Toxic waste dumps ---  2: 74
Tulip trees ---  3: 29
Turnpike, Ithaca-Catskill ---  3: 70
Turntable, railroad junction, East Guilford ---  3: 20
Twenty Towns, original  ---  3: 93
Unadilla River --- 1: 3
Unadilla River, eel weir in ---  4: 81
Uncle Dan's church ---  3: 33
Upperville Falls ---  4: 61
Van Der Lyn, Henry, diaries of ---  2: 81
Velvet ice cream, spoonful of ---  2: 62
Vermont Sufferers ---  4: 4
Wall of Water ---  4: 2
Waterfalls and Gorges ---  1: 50
Wells, dug,  stone-lined ---  3: 10
What do we know? ---  2: 16
Whaupaunaucau State Forest ---  1: 91
Where are we? ---  1: 70
Where do you live? ---  3: 74
White Rock ---  4: 71
White snakeroot ---  3: 50
White Store Falls ---  4: 73
Who lived here and when? ---  4: 91

==========================================

Thursday, September 29, 2011

STONE PILES IN CHENANGO COUNTY

Donald A. Windsor

My article,

Windsor, D.A.  Stone piles in Chenango County. 
Archives of the SciAesthetics Institute 2000 December; 1(2): 33-50.

does not seem to be online anymore.  I would put it online, but it is too long for a blog and I do not know how else.  So, let me announce that paper copies are available from me at the break-even cost of $4.00, which includes shipping.

Send orders, with payment, to:
Donald A. Windsor
PO Box 604
Norwich NY 13815

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

POSTMASTERS IN CHENANGO COUNTY 1798-1998

Donald A. Windsor

This blog posting continues the one on 19 August 2011 on the Post Offices in Chenango County.  It draws upon the same information packet obtained from the United State Postal Service Historian in 1998.

Here is a list of the number of postmasters for each of the 79 post offices.

Post Office            Established  
                              Discontinued 
                                     Years Operating
                                           Town
                           Postmasters
Afton                     28    1819   -      179   Afton       
Ayreshire                1    1854   1863     9   Afton
Bainbridge            32    1807   -      191   Bainbridge
Beaver Meadow     2       1848   1852     4   Otselic
                       16 (18)  1871   1967    96   Otselic
Bennettsville         11    1838   1903    65   Bainbridge
Bettsburgh              3    1808   1838    30   Afton
Bonney                   1    1898   1915    17   Smyrna
Brisben                24    1838   1985    47   Greene
Chenango Lake     3    1887   1913    26   New Berlin
Cheshireville         1    1851   1864    13   Oxford
Church Hollow  2       1854   1859     5   Coventry
                          1 (3) 1889   1889     0   Coventry
Columbus            19    1805   1901    96   Columbus
Coventry              21    1815   1923     8   Coventry
Coventryville       18    1828   1922    94   Coventry
East Bainbridge    2    1837   1841     7   Bainbridge
East German         9    1901   1901     0   German
East Guilford       13    1841   1920    79   Guilford
East McDonough   9    1837   1910    73   McDonough
East Pharsalia      23    1830   -      168   Pharsalia
Genegantslet          4    1820   1861    41   Greene
German                26    1827   1912    85   German
Greene                  33    1807   -      191   Greene
Guilford                23    1820   -      178   Guilford
Guilford Centre    16    1841   1915    74   Guilford
Haynes                   4    1891   1911    30   Oxford
Holmesville           17    1872   1991   119   New Berlin
Irelands Mills         3    1872   1913    41   Smyrna
Kings Settlement  10    1834   1876    42   North Norwich
Kirk                        1    1891   1915    24   Plymouth
Landers                  1    1898   1901     3   Afton
Lincklaen              24    1827   1956   129   Lincklaen
Linchlaen Center  10    1877   1918    41   Lincklaen
Mariposa                7    1887   1940    53   Lincklaen
McDonough          20    1825   -      173   McDonough
Mount Upton        34    1815   -      183   Guilford
New Berlin           32    1811   -      187   New Berlin
New Berlin Center 6    1830   1903    73   New Berlin
Nineveh Junction  15    1892   1954    62   Afton
North Guilford  3      1848   1855     7   Guilford
                          1  (4) 1862   1870     8   Guilford
North Lincklaen    6    1849   1872    23   Lincklaen
North Norwich    38    1811   -      187   North Norwich
North Pharsalia  10    1856   1943    87   Pharsalia
North Pitcher      31    1824   -      174   Pitcher
Norwich              35    1805   -      193   Norwich
Otselic                 25    1813   -      185   Otselic
Otselic Center      6    1872   1910    38   Otselic
Oxford                22    1798   -      200   Oxford
Oxfordville           1    1833   1839     6   ?
Page Brook          8    1875   1905    30   Greene
Pharsalia            15    1812   1919   107   Pharsalia
Pitcher               29    1841   -      157   Pitcher
Pitcher Springs  18    1827   1920    93   Pitcher
Plasterville           2    1892   1903    11   North Norwich
Plymouth            32    1811   -      187   Plymouth
Preston               19    1821   1915    94   Preston
Read                     3    1891   1903    12   Greene
Robinsons Mill     1    1833   1834     1   Guilford
Rockdale       2       1829   1841    12   Guilford
                   11  (13) 1849   1954   105   Guilford
Rockwells Mills   5    1874   1934    60   Guilford
Sherburne         39    1800   -      198   Sherburne
Sherburne Four   5    1870   1934    58   Sherburne
Smithville Flats 32    1823   -      175   Smithville
Smyrna             26    1809   -      189   Smyrna
South New Berlin 25    1822   -      176   New Berlin
South Otselic    21    1830   -      168   Otselic
South Oxford    14    1828   1915    87   Oxford
South Pitcher      2    1854   1858     4   Pitcher
South Plymout  14    1848   -      150   Plymouth
Spees Spa           2    1834   1837     3   McDonough
Stanbro              2    1883   1896    13   Otselic
Tallette               2    1884   1905    21   Columbus
Trestle               2    1893   1903    10   ?Oxford?Guilford?
Tyner                 2    1881   1901    20   Smithville
Upperville          3    1898   1915    17   Smyrna
West Bainbridge 8    1846   1903    57   Bainbridge
White Store      14    1822   1905    83   Norwich
Wilkins Creek     1    1834   1838     4   ?
Willowvale          1    1892   1892     0   ?
Yaleville              1    1863   1870     7   Guilford

Our 79 post offices had a total of 1064 postmasters, for an average of 13.5 postmasters each.  However, this distribution is skewed, so the correct parameter is the median.  The typical (median) post office had 10 postmasters.

The top three were:  Sherburne with 39 postmasters, North Norwich with 38, and Norwich with 35.  Ten post offices had only 1 postmaster each; 8 had 2 postmasters each, and 6 had 3 each.

Post offices that operated the longest had the greatest oppotunities to have more postmasters.  However, some postmasters held on to their positions longer than others.  For example, Oxford operated for 200 years, but it had just 22 postmasters.

The complete list naming every person who held the position of postmaster for every post office will be given to the Chenango County Historian's Office.

I hope that other historians will use this information to write more detailed studies, such as finding the exact locations of the post offices and will present complete lists of the postmasters' names plus some biographical coverage.

===============================================================

Friday, August 19, 2011

Post Offices in Chenango County

Donald A. Windsor

Chenango County had 79 post offices during its first two centuries, 1798 through 1998, according to the United States Postal Service Historian.  All but one, East German, were established in the 1800s.  In the 1900s, 63 persisted.  As of 1998, the date of the USPS report, 21 post offices were still operating.  As of now, according to usps.com, 18 August 2011, 20 still operate; Otselic was discontinued.  Some more may be closing soon.


Here is a list of the 79 post offices.

Post Office            Established  
                                        Discontinued 
                                                  Years Operating
                                                           Town

Afton                     1819   -         179   Afton
Ayreshire              1854   1863     9   Afton
Bainbridge            1807   -         191   Bainbridge
Beaver Meadow    1848   1852     4   Otselic
                              1871   1967    96   Otselic
Bennettsville          1838   1903   65   Bainbridge
Bettsburgh             1808   1838    30   Afton
Bonney                   1898   1915    17   Smyrna
Brisben                  1838   1985    47   Greene
Chenango Lake     1887   1913    26   New Berlin
Cheshireville         1851   1864    13   Oxford
Church Hollow     1854   1859      5   Coventry
                              1889   1889      0   Coventry
Columbus              1805   1901    96   Columbus
Coventry               1815   1923     8   Coventry
Coventryville        1828   1922    94   Coventry
East Bainbridge   1837   1841      7   Bainbridge
East German        1901   1901      0   German
East Guilford        1841   1920    79   Guilford
East McDonough   1837   1910   73   McDonough
East Pharsalia      1830   -          168   Pharsalia
Genegantslet        1820   1861    41   Greene
German                1827   1912    85   German
Greene                 1807   -          191   Greene
Guilford               1820   -          178   Guilford
Guilford Centre  1841   1915      74   Guilford
Haynes                1891   1911     30   Oxford
Holmesville         1872   1991   119   New Berlin
Irelands Mills      1872   1913     41   Smyrna
Kings Settlement 1834   1876     42   North Norwich
Kirk                     1891   1915     24   Plymouth
Landers               1898   1901       3   Afton
Lincklaen            1827   1956   129   Lincklaen
Linchlaen Center 1877   1918    41   Lincklaen
Mariposa            1887   1940     53   Lincklaen
McDonough        1825   -          173   McDonough
Mount Upton      1815   -          183   Guilford
New Berlin         1811   -          187   New Berlin
New Berlin Center1830   1903  73   New Berlin
Nineveh Junction 1892   1954    62   Afton
North Guilford   1848   1855       7   Guilford
                           1862   1870       8   Guilford
North Lincklaen  1849   1872    23   Lincklaen
North Norwich    1811   -         187   North Norwich
North Pharsalia  1856   1943    87   Pharsalia
North Pitcher      1824   -         174   Pitcher
Norwich              1805   -         193   Norwich
Otselic                 1813   -         185   Otselic
Otselic Center     1872   1910    38   Otselic
Oxford                 1798   -         200   Oxford
Oxfordville          1833   1839     6   ?
Page Brook         1875   1905    30   Greene
Pharsalia             1812   1919  107   Pharsalia
Pitcher                 1841   -         157   Pitcher
Pitcher Springs    1827   1920    93   Pitcher
Plasterville           1892   1903    11   North Norwich
Plymouth              1811   -         187   Plymouth
Preston                1821   1915     94   Preston
Read                    1891   1903     12   Greene
Robinsons Mill   1833   1834        1   Guilford
Rockdale            1829   1841      12   Guilford
                           1849   1954     105   Guilford
Rockwells Mills  1874   1934      60   Guilford
Sherburne          1800   -           198   Sherburne
Sherburne Four  1870   1934      58   Sherburne
Smithville Flats   1823   -          175   Smithville
Smyrna               1809   -          189   Smyrna
South New Berlin 1822   -        176   New Berlin
South Otselic      1830   -          168   Otselic
South Oxford     1828   1915      87   Oxford
South Pitcher     1854   1858       4   Pitcher
South Plymouth  1848   -          150   Plymouth
Spees Spa           1834   1837       3   McDonough
Stanbro               1883   1896    13   Otselic
Tallette               1884   1905     21   Columbus
Trestle                1893   1903    10   ?Oxford?Guilford?
Tyner                  1881   1901    20   Smithville
Upperville           1898   1915    17   Smyrna
West Bainbridge 1846   1903    57   Bainbridge
White Store         1822   1905    83   Norwich
Wilkins Creek      1834   1838     4   ?
Willowvale           1892   1892     0   ?
Yaleville               1863   1870     7   Guilford

Our oldest post office is Oxford (200 years), with Sherburne second (198 years), and Norwich third (193 years).  The Town with the most post offices is Guilford with 9.  Next with 5 each are:  Afton and Otselic.  With 4 each are:  Bainbridge, Greene, and Pitcher.

Of the 79 post offices, 4 were discontinued and later reestablished; therefore there were 83 durations.  The median duration from establishment to discontinuance is the 42nd value when the 83 durations are ranked.  The median is 58 years.  That is, the typical post office operated for a little over a half-century, the equivalent of 2 generations.

Most of the 79 post offices, 51 (65%), were established prior to 1850.

The Earlville post office is not listed here, because it was originally in Madison County, as per the 1863 Atlas.

I do not know where these post offices were:  Oxfordville, Trestle, Wilkins Creek, and Willowvale.

I want to thank Bob Bliven for giving me his packet of post office history.  A complete list of the postmasters for each of the above post offices is a major part of this packet.  The packet will be given to the Chenango County Historian's Office.

For my other comments on post offices, see these articles and the references they cite.

The Cheshireville Hotel.  Souvenirs of Yesteryear Volume 1, page 31.

Where do you live?   Souvenirs of Yesteryear Volume 3, pages 74-76.

The oldest post office in Chenango County.   Souvenirs of Yesteryear Volume 4, pages 31-32.

===============================================================================


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain in Otselic

Donald A. Windsor

A Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) was found blooming in the Town of Otselic on 7 August 2011.  This orchid was growing on the Finger Lakes Trail in the Pharsalia Wildlife Management Area between Clarence Church and Stage roads on a slope.  It had at least 3 smaller plants next to it.  Here is a photo taken by John Carhart.



I have recorded this orchid in Afton on 19 October 2000 and in Guilford on 24 July 2003.  The one in Afton was on private property near the Melondy State Forest.  Two in Guilford, in the South Hill State Forest, were blooming and had 2 smaller plants nearby.  So I now have this orchid species in 3 towns.

In 2001, I published a review of the orchids in each town.  I intend to update it this winter.


Windsor, Donald A.  Orchids of Chenango County.  Chenango County Historian's Journal 2001 July-December; 2(3-4): 14,20.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Oldest Wood in Chenango County

Donald A. Windsor

The oldest piece of wood that has ever been reported from Chenango County is 25,000 years old.  It was recovered from glacial till 300 feet below the surface in the City of Norwich.

Tom Knapp provided me with this article, quoted verbatim.

The Norwich Sun 1914 May 6.

Anon.  Fine artesian well with heavy flow.  The Norwich Knitting Company have just had completed at their factory an artesian well which overflows its outlet pipe and supplies 1042 gallons of water each hour.
W. W. Butts, an Oxford contractor, has been engaged in drilling the well and went to a depth of 362 feet before he struck the stratum of gravel and coarse grained rock which contained this abundance of water.
A particular feature in the drilling of the well was the finding of a piece of partially petrified wood 300 feet beneath the surface, which apparently was locust, and was so heavy that it sank when placed in water.
The water continues to flow from the top of the pipe but a pump will soon be placed there and the water put to use as soon as its constant flow can be determined.  The water has a temperature of 50 degrees and is pure and sweet.

The Woodfordian Advance of the Wisconsin Glacier covered what is now Chenango County around 22,000 years ago (Titus, page 21).  It melted about 16,000 years ago (Cadwell, page 72).

My field observations lead me to suspect that the Chenango River flowed through the area that is now the City of Norwich as a multibraided stream, meandering back and forth between West Hill and East Hill.  Under this valley is a glacial gouge that is from 200 to 400 feet deep and filled with glacial till, rocks, stones, gravel, sand, and mud (Cadwell, page 95).

Water wells are routinely dug over 200 feet deep.  The well for the Chenango Ice Cream Company, makers of Velvet Ice Cream, plant, between Berry and Waite streets, was 285 feet deep (Windsor).  The Knitting Mill site is about a half-mile from the Ice Cream site. 

I suspect that the newspaper reporter in the article quoted above merely assumed the wood was locust because it lasted so long.  He may not have known that any wood underwater tends to be preserved.  It is wet wood in air that rots.

It is very unlikely that this piece of wood is really the oldest.  There must be many more pieces, even intact trees, that were bulldozed by the advancing glacier.  This particular piece is merely the oldest that has been reported in a document so far.

My thanks to Tom Knapp for finding it!



       References cited:

Cadwell, Donald Herbert.  Late Wisconsonian Deglaciation Chronology of the Chenango River Valley and Vicinity, New York.  Binghamton, NY: State University of New York at Binghamton.  PhD Dissertation.  1972. 102 pages.

Titus, Robert.  The Catskills in the Ice Age.  Fleischmanns, NY: Purple Mountain Press.  1996.  124 pages.

Windsor, Donald A.  A spoonful of Velvet Ice Cream.  In: Souvenirs of Yesteryear.  Exploring Chenango County, New York.  Norwich, NY: Self-published.  Volume 2, pages 62-64.


===============================================================================

Monday, August 1, 2011

Queen Anne's Lace

Donald A. Windsor

Many umbels of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) have a maroon central floret.  Legend has it that when Queen Anne was tatting her lace, she pricked her regal finger and a drop of royal blood forever stained her eponymous lace.

Cute story, but the biological reason for that maroon floret has often puzzled me.  It does not seem to be genetic, because umbels on different stems from the same root may or may not have maroon florets. 

On Sunday 24 July 2011, I noticed an umbel with two maroon florets.  As I bent over to get a closer look, one flew away.  "Aha!", I exclaimed, in a Eureka moment.  Perhaps the maroon floret is a decoy for attracting pollinators.

The two photos below are of 2 separate umbels on two different plants.




Do those umbels without maroon florets attract these flies?  Sure, but I did not conduct a statistical study.  Do umbels with maroon florets produce more seeds?  Do the pollinators differ throughout the day?  These types of questions require a serious scientific study, which I do not have time to do.  Nevertheless, I will look at Queen Anne's Lace in a whole different way from now on. 

============================================

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Hiking to Explore Chenango County

Donald A. Windsor   

   The best way to explore Chenango County is on foot, not through a car window (1).  A good way to travel on foot is to hike with us in the FLT-Bullthistle Hiking Club.



   We founded this club in July 2004.  Since then I have been leading hikes in Chenango County at least once a week.  So, in the 7 years that our club has been operating, I have led at least 350 hikes.  We covered a lot of the county!

   My hikes are every Sunday morning throughout the year.  We usually go around 5 miles, but sometimes as much as 8.  We meet in the city parking lot behind HoJo/Denny's in Norwich at 08:00.  We depart promptly at 08:05.

   Chenango County has 21 towns.  Each week we usually hike in a different town.  Those towns with the most State land are our favorites.  Pharsalia, German, and McDonough get most of our mileage.

   We stop and look at old foundations, stone fences, wildflowers, birds, fungi, and anything else that we find interesting.

   Join us if you can, and if you are capable of walking 5 miles.  Contact me at windsorda@yahoo.com

1.  Windsor, DA  Not through a car window.  Souvenirs of Yesteryear.  Exploring Chenango County, New York.  Volume 4.  2010.  Pages 63-65.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

City of Norwich Centennial and Bicentennial

City of Norwich Centennial and Bicentennial

Donald A. Windsor

In 2014 we will be marking the 100th anniversary of Norwich as a City. 

In 2016 we will be marking the 200th anniversary of Norwich as a Village.

I am writing an article about the pre- and early history of the area that became the City of Norwich, from its earliest inhabitants, around 5000 BC, up to the incorporation of Norwich as a village in 1816.  Norwich was first settled by Euro-Americans in the 1790s. 

My hope is that other folks interested in local history will also write articles, so that we can publish a book.  If you are interested, please contact me.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Canada Lily in Oxford

Donald A. Windsor

A few vigorous plants of the uncommon red version of Canada Lily Lilium canadense were blooming along the railroad tracks in Oxford on 26-28 June 2011.  Some are taller than I am, over 6 feet.  The flowers hang down and the petals are recurved, but not back far enough to touch the bell, as they are in Turk's Cap Lily L. superbum.  No green is inside the bell, ruling out the Turk's Cap and the Michigan lily L. michiganense.

Although the colors and shape of the flowers may seem similar the Canada Lily is easily distinguished from the Tiger Lily L. tigrinum and the Day-Lily Hemerocallis fulva by its leaves.

My only previous encounter with the Canada Lily was on 11 July 2006 on the Adams Farm property of the Rogers Center in Sherburne.


Sunday, June 12, 2011

Tarbell Farms in Smithville

Donald A. Windsor

I recently gave two public presentations about the Tarbell Farms in the Town of Smithville.  The first was at the Chenango County Historical Society's meeting on April 21 in the Baptist Church in Norwich.  I then led a field trip to the site on Saturday April 23.  The second presentation was in the Town of McDonough at the library.   Below are 3 photos of the Tarbell ruins taken on April 15, 2011.

 The parged concrete stantions.

 The northeast pedestal for the water tower.

The concrete apron for the barn south of Route 41.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Even Magnificent Old Rusty Junk Is Not Safe

    My article on this magnificent hopper for sorting stones appears in Volume 3 of my series, Souvenirs of Yesteryear.  Exploring Chenango County, New York.  2010, pages 82-83.  It was photographed on 27 January 2006.



    On 14 August 2008, it was gone.  I presume that it was sold as scrap.  Alas, all that remains are the concrete pedestals that once supported this magnificent piece of old rusty junk.