Birthday Boy

On Sunday, we spent the day visiting with Dave and Ann in Bethlehem. David really enjoyed talking about our genealogy discoveries for the Amidon, Curtis and Walker families. Although he has lost most of his vision, he also was able to see enough of several photos when I blew them up full size on my laptop screen. Dave seem vastly improved from what we saw shortly after his stroke back in November. His speech and long-term memory seemed good, and as always he was able to talk a lot. He also was eating well. The biggest problems are his inability to walk and the tissue damage in his feet caused by diabetes. The whole process also has been extremely stressful for Ann, who definitely could use some hugs from all of us.

Tom, Laura, Kaleigh and Colton joined us for a buffet brunch at Moravian Village. We enjoyed talking with Kaleigh about her cheerleading, and with Colton about his plans to kick for the Nazarath High football team this fall before going to Penn State next year. Ian could not be there, but he is looking forward to study abroad in Spain during his next academic year at Temple. Later in the afternoon, we also got to have a nice chat with nephew Dan, who claimed he was in his Denver kitchen assisting Rebecca in making Gramidon's gingerbread cookies.

Before heading home on Monday morning, we stopped in to sing Happy Birthday to Dave on his 77th special day. It was an unexpected treat to be joined in chorus by Dave's and Mary's sister Sarah. What a nice conclusion to a great trip.We now are back in hot Winston-Salem. We miss the Adirondacks already.

Stopping in Bethlehem

Mary: Driving through the rain, yesterday, Phil and I recounted our trip back in time and our days in the Adirondacks. My friend Susan was right...I didn't want to leave, rain and all. We took the scenic route down 30 to 81 and into PA for our visit with brother David, whose name, David Curtis Amidon, now carries much more historical meaning. Kept my eye out for signs of fracking in NE PA but didn't see anything, glad to say.

We got to Bethlehem about 4 and soon went to the Moravian Village Care Facility where Dave currently resides. Diabetes is a frightful disease that leaves so little hope. It was good, though, just to hug my brother and his dear wife Annie. Dave has just undergone more surgery and now has less foot than he did before. It is exhausting to just try to keep going in the face of this adversity. The sense of humor is still there, though, and he and Annie both recognize the great fortune of their family to lend support and encouragement. I do believe that things happen for a reason and that when we are feeling at our lowest it is because we don't know just what that reason could be. Still, whatever lesson we are to learn from all this, it is a tough place to be in for David and his family. Our love is all we have to offer them, and so we do.

We're sorry we'll miss seeing Jessie, Jim and the gang, as they are off camping this weekend (HBD to Jess Bess!!) We still hope to see David and Barb and their kids sometime today, though they're off to a Sunday Church picnic and, in true Amidon fashion, seem to be the ones running the show. It will be good to see Tom and Laura and the gang, though, and to share lunch with them. Phil and I are off to visit with Dave, now, to share more about our trip to Corry and environs.

Whiteface Mountain

This morning, the clouds began to break up and patches of blue sky show overhead. It was our last day in the Adirondacks, so we decided to chance it and head for the summit of Whiteface Mountain at about 4800 feet. It was a nice drive over and clear when we got to the bottom of the road, and still clear about 3/4 of the way up. We even got a look at the summit from below. However, by the time we reached the top, the clouds were moving in. We wandered around for more than an hour hoping for an improvement, but finally packed it in. Again, we did get a good look of Lake Placid from a spot below the summit and the sun was out back at the entrance. I also kept hoping to see or hear a Bicknell's Thrush, since they breed on the mountain, but no luck with that either. Another life bird missed. Oh well! It was still fun.

After a picnic lunch and another eagle, we headed back to Saranac Lake. We stopped at a cottage where Robert Louis Stevenson spent the winter of 1887 recuperating from what he thought was tuberculosis. It probably wasn't, but he felt much better and wrote half of "Master of Ballantrae." The cottage had lots of interesting memorabilia and photographs, including Scribners artwork for his books by N.C. Wyeth. I have a couple of those books at home.


Now it was time to hit the water again. This time we tried the one-person kayaks, and that worked out well for both of us. We probably paddled a couple of miles around Lake Flower. Still no loons there or anywhere else, though, even though a nature sign in Saranac Lake says that it is common to hear them on the lake in the morning. I had to settle for 10 Common Mergansers along the river. It was another nice dinner; this time Italian again with Pina Colada and draught Saranac pale ale. What could be better?

Tomorrow we get part way home, stopping in Bethlehem to see Dave and Ann before arriving in Winston on Monday. David is not doing that great, unfortunately. He had more surgery today, removing part of his foot. We certainly hope we can cheer him up a little with his birthday approaching at the end of the month.

Saranac Lake

It was 99 and sunny in Winston-Salem today. In Saranac Lake, it was in the 70s with rain most of the day. The drops did not deter us, although they forced us to abandon our planned trip up Whiteface Mountain. The rain tapered off a bit in late morning, so we headed out to High Falls Gorge near Whiteface. This is a deep gorge on the AuSable River and quite spectacular, as you walk through on steps and walks nailed into the cliffs. There were fascinating lichens and ferns along the cliff walls, too.

Whiteface was still socked in after the gorge, so we headed west along a back road and discovered a nice peaceful lake in the state forest. Alas, no loons as we had hoped (we still haven't seen one), but the lake was beautiful even in the clouds (see below). Then we continued on to a walking trail close to where we walked yesterday. This one had old growth pines and hemlocks, many nonblooming wildflowers on the forest floor, and several small ponds called eskers created by the glaciers 10,000 years ago.








We stopped walking just in time, as the heavens opened up with the heaviest rains of the day. Back at our motel, we drank our wine and tonics on the balcony and watched other guests go out in the kayaks in complete disregard of the rain. Looked like fun. It is supposed to clear tomorrow mornings, so we can't wait to get out and see more.

Arrival in the Adirondacks

Here we are in cool and dry Saranac Lake. It is sort of like the Blue Ridge Mountains with water, and much of it still has that 50s feel, with small motels, kids tourist traps, et al. We are staying at a motel overlooking Lake Flower on the east side of town. We arrived yesterday afternoon, and first thing we had to do was fix a tire that was leaking slowly because, as it turns out, it picked up a piece of welding metal when we drove out of the big city the other day. The rest of the day, we just took it easy, taking a short walk downtown, chilling out on the balcony and enjoying another good meal. It was the first time we have ever been served by someone older than us with a beard, though. No doubt he was the owner.

This morning, I finally dragged Mary off to find birds. We went to nearby Bloomingdale Bog, which  has walking and snowmobile trails. The potential was there for some first-ever (life) birds, but we missed on the likes of Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. However, we did hear and see some other nice species: Alder Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing, Broad-winged Hawk, Black-capped Chickadee, Purple Finch to name a few. We also saw a winter favorite in Winston-Salem, a White-throated Sparrow. We then went a short way up the road to the Paul Smith nature center, but we were too hungry to stay. We may go back another day.

Leaving for lunch had a good birding side benefit though. We made sandwiches and headed over to a picnic area on Lake Colby, just in time to see a mature Bald Eagle come in over the lake. We dipped our feet in the cool water and returned to Lake Flower for a canoe paddle. It was so peaceful and beautiful out there.

So there you are on our day so far. No dead people, but still a great time!

Jacob Amidon's Farm

We came to the Onondaga area in hopes of finding Jacob Amidon's farm, not just tombstones of he and other relatives. No one on the Internet has ever mentioned where the farm was located other than near the Navarino crossroads on U.S. 20. So, this morning, after a delicious breakfast and great conversation about both genealogy and shared experiences with Down's Syndrome children, we headed for the Onondaga County Library in the big city - Syracuse.

Once again the librarians were gracious and let us upstairs into the genealogy room before it was scheduled to open. And, once we were there, they quickly located 1848 and 1854 maps marking properties throughout the county. There it was "J. Amidon" along U.S. 20 just east of the crossroads, although the earlier map had it on the north side and the 1854 map on the south side.

Before leaving Syracuse, we stopped at the Erie Canal Museum. Although much of the canal still exists, nothing remains here. The museum still was interesting, and it seems incredible that they built the entire canal from Albany to Buffalo, plus feeder canals, aqueducts and bridges, in eight years. I know the New York Thruway took much, much longer.

In the afternoon, we drove back out to Navarino. Whichever side of the highway or both, the property now is Burrell Orchards. The oldest remaining structure is the Burrell farmhouse. It does not look old enough to be around in Jacob's time, but perhaps later Amidons lived there. The maps also showed properties owned by other family members, including Jacob's son Jacob, right next to Pine Ridge Cemetery, son-in-law Eli Anderson, and Juball Hall (see previous post). Again, no older homes remain.

We also did some more grave searching. At the South Onondaga Cemetery, we found tombstones for Jacob's sons, Samuel and Henry, plus several other Amidons. And checking once again at Pine Ridge, we found Jacob's brother, Joseph, with a Veteran's plate for "The Lexington Alarm." Joseph died in 1810, making his grave one of the oldest in the cemetery. The cemetery presented a little mystery with Shuball Hall, spouse of Jacob's sister Sarah. We found a marker for their son George but also a marker for a wife of Shuball named Patta or Patti. Sarah lived until 1841, although she died in Orange County, New York. Perhaps they were divorced?

Mary: Traveling through the graveyards in 94 degree weather today was challenging, to say the least. But the beauty of this place, and the acreage that once belonged to Jacob and Hannah Amidon was so peaceful, the serenity made it worth the effort. I am so glad we made this journey and closed the gap in our genealogical saga. In 2003, we traveled west to Connecticut, 1637 to 1764.....now we've gone East from Corry PA, going back from 1910 to 1764, completing the circle. Most satisfying!
   
This evening we found another great restaurant in "Skinnyattles." This one was an Italian place in a former garage built by the Halls 200 years ago. Would you believe, not even I could finish my dinner!

That concludes the genealogy part of our trip. Now it is off to the Saranac Lake Inn until Saturday.

In Search of Jacob

Most of Sunday was devoted to travel from the Corry area to the Onondaga Valley about five hours away near Syracuse. On our way out, however, we stopped back in Clymer to see if we could look at the interior of the Methodist Church where Leonard Amidon was a founding member in the early 1820s. Here it is, complete with Daniel in the lion’s den set up for Sunday School.

We took the more scenic route to Onondaga, riding along I-86 through Allegheny State Park and the Seneca Reservation, then along Keuka Lake where we stopped for a picnic lunch, and over to Geneva at the top of Seneca Lake before finding our B & B in Skaneateles. Locals pronounce it skinnyattles.

We are in the Onondaga area to try to connect with Jacob Amidon, who was the father of Leonard.  Jacob and Hannah Pool Amidon moved from Connecticut to Navarino in 1804, shortly after others from their home town of Ashford had negotiated an early salt  treaty with the Onondagas – different than the S.A.L.T. treaty with the Russians 250 years later. What we discovered was that Jacob’sister preceded him to Navarino. An historic marker for Navarino says the community was started by Shubal Hall from Connecticut. Sarah was Mrs. Hall.

So, we did not tarry long at the B & B before heading off to Pine Ridge Cemetery in search of Jacob and the burial plots of more than two dozen other Amidons. The cemetery is located on U.S. 20 between Navarino and South Onondaga.  A grave for Jacob Amidon lies close to the front of the cemetery. However, it was that of Leonard’s brother Jacob and not his father. Systematically, we worked our way back through the tombstones, finding other siblings – William, Lucinda, Ruth.

Finally, in the middle of the old section under a tall pine were the graves of Jacob  “Amadon” and his wife Hannah.  On Hannah’s marker, you can barely make out her name today, but Jacob’s remains clear. At the bottom, is the following inscription:

“He has gone to a mansion of rest
From a region of sorrow and pain
To the glorious land of the blest
Where he can never suffer again.”

It sounds as if his last years may not have been healthy, happy ones.

Mary: So what is it like wandering around graveyards? You get to think about America's history, of course, and the resilience of our ancestors, who faced so much adversity. It is hard not to think of the brevity of life, as well, and to wonder if any of us leave a lasting legacy. Before too long, you are thinking about your own demise, but in a philosophical way. In the David Curtis Cemetery in Columbus, I found the perfect message I'd like on my stone and relayed my request to Phil: Lucretia Curtis, wife of Seymour Curtis was so remembered: "To know her was to love her To name her was to praise" When I suggested Phil thus mark my tombstone he said "tombstone?" Maybe he'll just (wisely and understandably) push me off a cliff somewhere. On his stone, I would put: "Patient, Longsuffering Philip D. Dickinson He didn't kill her!"
After the cemetery, we had a wonderful seafood dinner by the lake in Skinnyattles and then walked along the lakeside and past the 19th century mansions on Genesee St.  Both the food quality and the prosperity differ markedly from the Corry area.

Hello Columbus

In 1822, Capt. David Curtis, surveyor and land agent for the Holland Land Company, arrived in Columbus, Pennsylvania with a group of young men to build a new settlement. This early land developer was great-great-great grandfather to Mary and her siblings. The house he built in 1832 still stands and is still inhabited by a Curtis on the land of the old Curtis Dairy. While viewing the house, we stopped and talked with an 18-year-old Curtis who lives nest door.

Our first stop of the day was at the nearby David Curtis Cemetery in Columbus, where many of the Curtis and Walker families are buried, including David and the parents of Mary Melissa Walker, Cecil Walker and Eloine Curtis. Also there are Cecil's parents and grandparents. The sewing chest and table that we have at one time was in the home of Cecil's parents, William and Mary Maria DeLong Walker. Here are the tombstones of Cecil and Eloine Walker and of Thomas Dewey and Amelia Walker.

Our interest in finding the landholdings of the Walker and Curtis ancestors led us to the county historical museum in Warren. We had about an hour to do some power genealogy before the museum closed, but found some valuable information. As we were going through books, Lucy at the museum dropped a photo of the house in front of Mary and asked if this would help. It certainly did, as the real structure was easy to compare a little later. We also were able to view an 1878 landholdings map of Columbus that pinpointed the Curtis property, as well as that of David Simmons. David was the father of Eugene Amidon's wife Sarah and thus great-great grandfather of Mary. We checked out that location, but there was no current development in the area except a couple of fairly new homes.

Our museum research also revealed that David, his wife and other ancestors were buried in a second cemetery in Columbus. We had some initial trouble locating Westlawn Cemetery but then discovered that it was on a map we had. There, we found gravesites of several of the Simmons and Dewey families. Besides David and his wife Elmina, also there were 3-times great grandparents John and Maria Dewey. We did not have as much luck with finding signs of the Walkers in Bear Lake, a very small community north of Columbus. We saw an old house and a sawmill that probably have family ties, but the place mostly in a ghost town.  Finally, you may recall a photo of Walkers and Curtises on a picnic - we and Dave and Ann have copies. The photo probably was taken at a place over the New York line called Panama Rocks, but this usually excellent navigator made a wrong turn and we never got there before it closed.

It was wonderful to see Corry, Clymer and Columbus as places that were so important in the family history. However, it was sad to see how far Corry and Columbus have declined from their hay days. Corry has much work to do, if it is going to get back on its feet and be a viable community. We are more optimistic about Clymer. The Amish coming in are young, energetic and money earners. Corry needs somehow to bring in that young energy, too.

Tomorrow, it is on to the next generation back, Jacob and Hannah Amidon. They moved from Willington, Connecticut to Onondaga, New York, in 1864. Onondaga County now is home to more Amidons than any other place in the world.

Corry and Clymer

What a productive day of meeting dead people with wonderful help from a couple of the living! The morning was dark and misty, but that did not deter us from getting out early. First we found the home of Eugene and Sarah Amidon at 126 E. South St. in Corry, and it is in fine shape. Eugene was the master mechanic at the tannery and, as we later found out, directed the construction of all  tannery buildings other than the original. Unfortunately, much of those were lost in a huge fire in the 1940s - our B&B hostess showed us pictures.

Since the library and historical museum were not open, we then headed to Corry's Pine Grove Cemetery. The woman at the office was able to point us in the correct directions with her 3 x 5 card database (no MacPro here). Most of the Corry Amidons are buried here, not only Eugene and Sarah, but also Eugene's parents and Mary's grandparents, David and Melissa (familiar names?). Here is there stone after we did a little cleaning.

Although the Corry Historical Museum is open only on weekends, Loretta Morton responded to our phone call and opened up just for us. She handed us a treasure trove of newspaper clippings about all Amidons and Walkers in the area, so we quickly moved over to the photocopier. The clippings included not only weddings and obits, but also things like Grandpa Amidon's Eagle Scout trip to England and Eugene's near brush with a freight train. She also handed us a letter from a Karen Page looking for information about the Amidons. It turns out she is a descendant of David Amidon's sister Gertrude and, what's more, lives in Winston-Salem. Small world. Of course, we will look her up after we get home.

People were just as nice in Clymer, six miles to the north in New York. Clymer was the home of Leonard Amidon, father of John Smith Amidon and grandfather of Eugene. Unlike depressed Corry, Clymer seems to be rebounding as a farming village thanks to an influx of Amish over the past 36 years. They have bought the farms, cleaned them up and have opened other businesses like woodworking. Once again, the historical museum opened up just for us. Sue Rhenberger gave us all the plot information for the Clymer Cemetery, and showed us a pen and ink drawing of birds and  done by George Jacob Amidon. He was a brother of John Smith Amidon of Corry, and became a Professor of Penmanship. Then Sue drove us out to the site of the Amidon farm at the south end of town. We returned to town to explore the cemetery finding many more Amidon graves including those of Leonard and his first wife Esther. Here is Leonard's Methodist Church, dating from the 1820s.

Tomorrow, we head for Warren County next door to find Walkers and Curtises from Mary Melissa's side of the family.

Grandparents' Home

We arrived in Corry at 5:15 after a 9 1/2 hour trip, including torrential rains in the Pittsburgh area. Our map indicated that we crossed the Ohio, but we sure did not see it - no drought here. At the PA welcome center on I-79, there is a memorial to 37 Robena miners who died 462 feet below the rest area in 1962. There also are memorabilia such as hats, lanterns and tools contributed by families of some of the deceased.

In Corry, we are staying at the Victoria on Main B&B. As it turns out, this was the house of Mr. Howard of the Howard Tannery, where Euguene Curtis Amidon worked as a carpenter and mechanic. Some of the tannery building still exists across the street, at least for awhile since it is falling apart. Eugene was Mary's great-grandfather, so you figure out his relationship to you, if any. Some of the family residences have been replaced, but one original appears to be 116 Franklin St. This was the home of Cecil and Eloine Walker, and where Mary Melissa Walker grew up. We will return under brighter skies to take a photo. More research and dead-people touring to come.

Corry has seen better days. In the 1800s, it was an industrial railroad town with oil and iron works and several tanneries. It was hit hard by the early-2008 recession, though. We drove 20 miles to find a so-so restaurant that was recommended as much better than those in town.

Mary:  My thoughts are that this town was More Grandma's Lititz-up! It is smaller than Lititz by about half but it is not hard to imagine Grandma and Grandpa growing up here. Pennsylvania roots abound! Uncle Dave says our family came here in 1950 but I mostly remember going to Corning NY on that trip, where we saw glass blowers and I ran back and forth in the back seat, no doubt stepping on siblings' toes!

Picking Up the Trail

On July 19, Mary and I will begin a road trip back along The Amidon Trail, beginning with Erie and Warren Counties in northwestern Pennsylvania, then across the border to neighboring Chautauqua County in New York, and then to the Onondaga Valley near Syracuse, New York. The journey will take us back along the path traveled by her Amidon ancestors over several generations. And, we will include some of her Walker ancestors for good measure.

We already know the names and dates for most of Mary's ancestral family, but we are seeking to get a small glimpse into their communities. Of course, cemetery plots will be part of our itinerary. However, we also want to get an idea of where Mary's ancestors actually lived and to discover what homes may still be standing. From Google Earth photos, it is clear that some homes have been replaced over the decades, but we may still be able to experience some of what their communities were like. Aside from residences in Erie County, census data has not disclosed precise property locations. So, visits to local libraries or court houses also may on the schedule.
 
Mary's paternal grandparents grew up in Corry, Pennsylvania, a small town in Erie County. David Eugene Amidon was one of three children of Eugene Curtis and Sarah (Simmons) Amidon. His spouse, Mary Melissa Walker, after whom Mary is named, was one of two sisters born to Cecil and Alice Eloine (Curtis)Walker, who grew up in the Bear Lake area of nearby Columbus Township in Warren County but then traveled just a few miles to establish a family home in Corry.

Eugene's parents were John Smith and Charlotte (Curtis) Amidon. John Smith grew up in nearby Clymer, New York, just across the state border in Chautauqua County. His parents, Leonard and Esther (Smith) Amidon had a farm in Clymer. Cecil Walker's parents, William and Mary (DeLong) Walker lived in Bear Lake, where William was a lumber dealer. It was Mary DeLong's brother, Albert, who built the sewing chest that was handed down to Mary and now sits in our home in North Carolina. After Albert died in the Civil War, the chest was at the family home in Bear Lake before traveling to Lititz and Winston-Salem.

Traveling back one more generation, our trip will take us to Navarino, near Syracuse. In 1804, Jacob Amidon journeyed as a pioneer to the Onondaga Valley from Ashford, Connecticut. Only a few years earlier, other men from Ashford had reached the home of the Onondaga tribe and negotiated rights to mine the local salt deposits. The salt trade was a major factor behind construction of the Erie Canal. In Navarino, Jacob and his wife, Hannah (Pool) Amidon raised Leonard and several other children.