ONTARIO & YATES & SENECA

ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET

The early days of three New York counties, Ontario, Yates and Seneca, and their various towns and townships are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this NEW 35 Page Booklet, reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1841 edition of Historical Collections of the State of New York by John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, and New York, a Guide to the Empire State, a WPA project.
The spiral-bound booklet, sold exclusively on eBay, is one-sided on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. A clear vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.
The communities mentioned (alphabetized by first letter only) include: Bristol, Bearysville, Bridgeport, Barrington, Benton, Branchport, Bayleytown, Canadice, Canoga, Canandaigua, Clifton Springs, Covert, Coonsville, Dublin, Dundee, East Bloomfield, Eddyville, Fayette, Farmersville, Farmington, Gorham, Geneva, Hopewell, Hopewell Center, Hopeton, Hoytes, Italy, Jerusalem, Junius, Lakemont, Lodi, Manchester, Mendon, Middlesex, Milo, Naples, North Romulus, Ovid, Orleans, Penn Yan, Potter, Port Gibson, Phelps, Pitts Flats, Romulus, Romulusville, Richmond, Richmond Centre, Seneca, Seneca Falls, Starkey, Shortsville, Tyre, Victor, Varick, Vienna, Wayland, West Fayette, West Richmond, Waterloo and Yatesville.
Among the many and diverse topics in the booklet are: Jemina Wilkinson, self-styled "Universal Friend" and founder of a religious sect; the Ontario Female Seminary and the Canandaigua Academy; Geneva College, Red Jacket's Speech and Indian Negotiations; Pioneer Fortitude; a Traveler's Description of Geneva in 1800; Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragette Movement in Seneca Falls; World's Largest Horse; the Patriarch Elm, the Balm of Gilead Tree, the Naples Tree and the Scythe Tree; Hobart College; William Smith College for Women, Bare Hill, sacred to the Seneca; Oliver Phelps, land speculator; the flight of Red Wing; the Brigham Young house; Ebenezer Horton, the Ontario Hermit; the World's Largest Sauerkraut Factory; and many other interesting bits of history and trivia.
The booklet has no index, but some of the names and surnames mentioned are: Henry Howe, Oliver Phelps, Thomas Morris, Gorham, Judge Atwater, Greig, Capt. Pills, Gideon Granger, Nathaniel Gorham, Capt. Williamson, Powell, Colt, Johnstone, Hllet, Rees, Bogart, Beekman, Horatio Jones, Lawrence Van Clief, Col. Mynderse, James Bennet, Col. John Harris, Elisha Williams, R. Swift, Abraham Waggener, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, Clarence H. Van Wickle, James Wyburn Johnson, Robert Selden Rose Jr., Boody, Capt. Charles Williamson, Pierre Paris Irving, Dr. Benjamin Hall, Bishop Henry Hobart, Dr. John Towler, W. B. Douglas, Myndert Wemp, Samuel Kirkland, Dr. William R. Brooks, William Walker, William Wood, John Canfield Spencer, General Peter B. Porter, Fideon Granger, Dr. Edson Carr, Herman Chapin, Roswell Humphrey, Charles Garrett, Glenn Curtiss, Casey Baldwin, John McCurdy, Carl Carmer, D. Dana Luther, Father Jean Pierron, Timothy Ryan, Peter Whitmer, and "The Great Shadow," a Mohawk chief.
ILLUSTRATIONS depict the Jemina Wilkinson House, a view of Penn Yan, a view of Seneca Falls showing one of the locks, the Courthouse in Waterloo, central Canandaigua, and the Canandaigua Academy.
The Howe/Barber history covers the development of this area until about 1841, while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glimpse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities. There's also a small map of the area from a 1948 booklet printed by the New York Telephone Company.