HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 Town Historian Annual ReportLouise Bement
49 Myers Road
Lansing, NY 14882
2017 Historian’s Report
Time again to report on the fascinating life of a Town Historian.
As in other years I have written the eight page quarterly Lansing Historical Newsletter. This is a time consuming,
but fascinating thing to do. I am always looking for interesting tidbits of Lansing’s history to include in the
newsletter.
Speaking of fascinating tidbits of history, because this was the Bi -Centennial year for Lansing (as well as Tompkins
County), I wrote a short paragraph each week for inclusion in the on-line newspaper, “The Lansing Star”. The editor
of the paper said that this was a very popular feature, which was a nice compliment for me. I started the year with an
interview at the WHCU radio station about our bi-centennial history.
As president of the Lansing Historical Association I preside over our five board meetings and the fall and spring
public programs. With two other board members I am at the archival building Saturday mornings from 10:00 till
12:00 in case someone wants to stop in to do research. Fannie Welch, Kathy LaLonde and I work in the archives
while we wait for anyone to arrive. Very few people show up and I am much more liable to be at the archives by
appointment with interested researchers.
Peter Kopp came to find out more about his Federalist house on Breed Road. This is a very typical 1820’s Federalist
and he wants to repair and restore it in a proper manner. I told him to talk to Peter Larson who had restored his
Greek Revival on Van Ostrand Road.
I did research on the Miller name for Moses Miller, but did not have much luck with that one.
The Lansing Community Library was doing a Traveling Exhibit about Women in local history with the other
libraries in the county. They asked me to write about three women and I chose Betsy Barber, Alice Bristol, and
Elizabeth Whitlock as three contrasting women in Lansing’s history.
Betsy was a non-descript girl in her twenties who lived on Jerry Smith Road in 1852, and wrote in her diary a bout
helping a fugitive slave on his way to freedom.
Alice Bristol was a force to be reckoned with who lived in Ludlowville from the mid 1800’s to the 1930’s. She
wrote our earliest history of the town of Lansing, focusing mostly on Ludlowville. She sued Will Barr for breach of
promise when he broke their engagement. She took this money and opened a fancy finishing school for girls in
Washington, DC. She closed the school when the depression of 1929 made a school such as that unaffordable.
Elizabeth Whitlock was better known in our town as the Witch of Syrian Hill. She was of a criminal mind and
scared people when she chased them with a gun. She also burned down people’s barns and attempted to burn their
houses if she felt they “done her wrong’. She was arrested, but for some reason never served her term in jail. She
just disappeared and perhaps the town was glad to see her go.
I gave a talk at the Lansing/Rotary Club. This is a small group which meets at a room in Kendal. I have spoken to
them before. We always have a goodtime.
I worked on several projects that the Municipal Historians are doing.
In March I did a program with Ron Ostman and Harry Littel at The History Center. They were reviewing a book
they had published about the wood and lumber busi ness in the northern tier of Pennsylvania where I had grown up.
I went to a meeting about the replacing of the Viaduct across Salmon Creek. I gave the presenters some historic
information about when the bridge was built in 1930. They were very pleased to get the information that we had in
our archives.
Debbie Smith came from Utah to do research about the Myers/Mack families.
In May Carol Becker from the Covenant Love School in Dryden taught her first and second grade class in our one -
room schoolhouse. I opened the school and talked to the children about our school history. Caro l comes every other
year in May to teach the whole day in our school. The building is too small for Lansing size classes.
Mike Long, Connie Wilcox and I met several times about using our historic farm pictures to make beautiful posters
for the Agriculture Day. I gave a talk on the Agriculture Day.
In the fall I did a “Walk&Talk” in Ludlowville. Historic Ithaca had arranged for talks like these around the county.
About 50 people attended my “Walk&Talk”.
I met several times with a woman about the Ozmun family history.
In July Fannie Welch, Kathy LaLonde, and I held an exhibit at the North Cabin during the Lansing Lions Fourth of
July Bar-B-Que. We had posters of Portland Point, International Salt, The Rock Salt Mine, and the Shortline
Railroad as well as other displays.
Wrote Kris Wetmore about the history of Simon Alexander that she had requested. I worked with Ella and Gerry
Holden on their family history.
In August two young women from Rochester came to learn about the land across the road from the Ball Fields. They
were working for a company in Rochester.
The Richards from Ladoga Point came to look up history of Myers and Ladoga. I researched the history of the
Ithaca-Auburn RR for a lady from Ovid.
In September I spent eight hours of a cold, windy day presiding over a table of historic items at the Lansing Bi -
centennial carnival.
I gave a talk at our one-room schoolhouse for the Lansing Lions Club. When one gives a talk to the Lansing Lions,
they give you a very good meal!
I gave a talk on our 23 one-room district schools at the Lansing Historical Association Fall Meeting.
In October Nancy Garrett from Frederick, Maryland came to do research on the Tichenor name.
In November I wrote a 275 word essay about the Hamlet of Myers for a project that Bruce Estes is doing. I will be
writing about the hamlets of North Lansing and Ludlowville also.
I attended the Red Bridge Ribbon Cutting ceremony and gave a short talk on the histo ry of the bridge.