Deliveries At All Hours!

A newspaper clipping from the Arcade Herald in 1952 was musing about the "good old days" of 1902: "Telephones were few, and far between," referring to Main Street businesses. "Stores were shy on putting in phones, claiming it would result in forcing them to make deliveries at all hours." When you compare that with Amazon developing drones to make deliveries directly to your front door, 24 / 7, those business owners of 1902 would faint in horror! 

1893 Reference Book

for Everyday Use

I found this book in the society's collection, C.Y. Moyer's The Business Manual; A Complete Guide in all Mercantile and Legal Transactions and Reference Book for Every Day Use, published by N.G. Hamilton & Co. It has everything from various types of contracts to penmanship, determining how much wallpaper needed for a room and the page I have scanned below on how to determine the capacity of a wagon-box. Very handy indeed!

 

Kids Learn About Elsie

Elementary students visit the Arcade Historical Society at the end of every school year. This year we talked to them about how "cheese built the Gibby House" - via Mr. Gibby's cheese factories - as well as two other important milk industries in Arcade, the Merrell-Soule and Borden's powdered milk plants. As we all know, there are more cows than people in Wyoming County, NY and milk products have always been a big export. Pictured here is a page from Borden's 100 year anniversary comic book for children. 

On a Ship in the Pacific

One of "Shorty" Roblee's experiences during WWII.

As a result of the historical society's annual Walking With Heroes cemetery tours held on Memorial Day weekend and the Post 374 V.F.W. 75th anniversary last year, the society has begun to compile an archive of veterans' service experiences, both to honor them and maintain their experiences as a historical record. Here is one of those remembrances.

 Anson (Shorty) Roblee served in the U.S. Marine Corps aboard the USS Bunker Hill from March 1943 to August 1945. On Mothers’ Day 1945, kamikaze planes attacked the USS Bunker Hill. As told by Shorty in an article for the Arcade Herald, “ ...I heard what everybody thought was our attack planes coming back from another strike. All at once a meatball“ (Japanese plane) “came in over the island structure, dropped a 500 pound bomb and crashed his plane into our planes at the aft end of the flight deck.  The bomb went through the flight deck, hanger deck, and blew up in the port quarter of the ship. This immediately started huge fires on the whole aft portion of the ship.” Soon a second Kamikaze dove at the ship, crashing his plane into the base of the ship’s island.  “We fought the fires and further Jap attacks for 26 hours.” Meanwhile, back at home in Arcade, his mother had a strong feeling he would be in trouble on that day, but didn’t find out about the attack until weeks later.

Confusing "Times" in 1938

May 20, 1938 Arcade newspaper had the following notice:

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Daylight saving time is again with us to confuse the unwary. Buffalo, East Aurora and Holland are on daylight saving time, while Arcade and south including Olean are on standard time. Rochester remains on standard time.  Last week Perry voted to stay on standard time, while Batavia voted in favor of daylight saving time.

1975 Overpass Construction

Mary Wertz had a photography studio in Arcade in the 70s and photographed the construction of the overpass on Route 39 between Yorkshire and Arcade in 1975. She is selling the framed prints from a GCC show she did on that project. If you are interested in buying a piece of this history, go to the link below.  

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/art/3937318298.html

1938, the view from Arcade, NY

Here in Arcade, we are in the middle of celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the Hendershott-Manness Post 374 Veterans of Foreign Wars. The post was founded in 1938 with 25 charter members. The first Post Commander was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, John Henry Connors. In addition to post history at the exhibit, we went through all the 1938 issues of the Arcade Herald to see what going on locally and also did a search for national and global news. Here is a sampling of what can be found at the exhibit:

·         Unemployment in the U.S. was 19%.

·         The minimum wage in the U.S. was 25 cents an hour.

·         Oil had just been discovered in Saudi Arabia.

·         A Duck Dinner at the Holland Willows was 35 cents on special.

·         A car “caravan” opened scenic route 39.

·         The wooden Fire Hall on Liberty Street in Arcade was torn down and the brick Fire Hall was built (the building which the VFW exhibit is in this month, July 2013).

·         The Niagara Falls View Bridge between the U.S. and Canada fell into the gorge after being weakened by ice jams.

·         Sportsmen “up in arms” over the new Cummings Bill proposing that all firearms be registered.

·         Superman comic book number 1 debuts.

·         Inventions: xerographic print, ballpoint pen, nylon, Teflon

·         German Troops invade Austria - anchluss (the event the Sound of Music is based on).

·         Arcade votes to centralize the schools – 26 schools (local one room school houses and the Arcade Academy) to form Arcade Central School.

·         Animated Disney movie “Snow White” is shown in local theaters.

·         Arcade remained on Standard Time while areas north (Buffalo, Holland, East Aurora) switched to Daylight Savings Time.

·         The Arcade Congregational Church celebrated their 125th anniversary – which means in 2013, they are celebrating their 200^th!

 

See the VFW Anniversary page on our website, www.arcadehistorical.org for dates and times of the exhibit. 

Bell Isle Candy Shop

It's funny how things align. We had a phone call a few weeks ago from a gentleman whose grandfather was Charles Bellisle, the owner of the Bell Isle Candy Store in Arcade circa the 1940s. The grandson was calling to say he had a bottle from Arcade Bottling Works to donate to us and he went on to tell me about his grandfather and the candy store. Well, it just so happened, the same day, the Arcade Herald had an article by AHS member Kay Dunn about the good 'ol days when people bought locally. There was a whole section on the Bell Isle Candy Shop, which the teenagers called the Candy Kitchen. I scanned the article and emailed it to the grandson who now lives in a less snowy region of the country. He was tickled to get it. I was happy to send it. We like to reunite people, objects and memories here while we share our rural history.

The Old School Building

On December 6 and 7 the Gibby House of the Arcade Historical Society entertained 541 children and 76 adults from the Arcade Elementary School. It was their annual visit to see the holiday decorations, the two Christmas trees decorated by 3rd and 4th graders and the exhibit of toys - this year, toys from 1962.

Even with all of that to look at, the item that brought the most "awwwws" and "wows" was a photo of their school circa 1920. The taller white portion of the buildng was the original "Arcade Academy" opened in 1863. The brick addition to the left was built in 1900. Both buildings were torn down for a new school in 1927. The other item in the photo that impressed them was the cannon (one of two) that sat on the front lawn.

 

A scale model of the cannon was shown to the children too. The cannon are no longer in front of the school, as they were sold for scrap during the WWII scrap drive. Mr. Gibby made the model cannon and mounted it to a piece of wood that came from the Arcade Academy bell tower so that we would never forget them.

 

Also in this photo are two people - we know not who - sitting on top of the bell tower! The Congregational Church is barely visible in the background.

Why China?

Are you still wondering why Arcade was originally known as “China?” One theory was revealed at the June 3 worship service at the United Church of Christ, Congregational. It was the title of  several hymn tunes from the early 1800s, and one version of “China” was sung at the service. It is a known fact that nearby Sardinia is named for the hymn tunes “Sardinia,” so it is reasonable to assume that is how China, NY came to be as well. Arcade Town and Village Historian Jeff Mason found the music and brought it to the congregation. The Society is making a DVD of the song so you can hear it at the Gibby House.

 

Here are the words to one version of the hymn tune "China" (there was more than one titled "China."):

 

Let God the Father and the Son,

And Spirit be adored,

Where there are works to make him known,

Or saints to love the Lord.

 

Early, my God, without delay,

I haste to seek thy face;

My thirsty spirit faints away,

Without thy cheering grace.

 

Not life itself, with all its joys,

Can please my soul so well;

Or raise so high my cheerful voice,

As thy forgiving love.

 

Thus till my last expiring day,

I'll bless my God and King;

Thus will I lift my hands to pray,

And tune my lips to sing. 

 

Was it the First Quad Cane Ever Made?

In August the Society was given a wooden Quad Cane made by Vernon Gibby circa the late 1960s or early 70s. Vernon made it for his wife Marjorie’s sister Mae (Witherel) Ball. Mae’s granddaughter, Carole (Lyons) Mess  brought the cane to the Gibby House to donate to the AHS collection. Carole commented on how useful it was for Mae Ball and we wondered if Vernon’s quad cane was the first one ever made! Googling revealed a patent issued in 1978. Does anyone else know when the first quad cane was produced commercially?

 

Join us "Walking With Heroes"

A tour of Arcade Rural Cemetery with veterans, Saturday May 26, 2012.

When Memorial Day had its origins as “Decoration Day” after the Civil War, it was a day to decorate the graves of soldiers who had died during the war. With the passage of time, it has become a day to honor all deceased veterans.

             On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, May 26, members of Hendershott-Manness Post 374, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Hugh Lynch Post 737, American Legion, and the VFW Auxiliary, will take part in a new event we are calling “Walking With Heroes” to honor many of the veterans buried in Arcade Rural Cemetery. The living veterans and Auxiliary members will be standing or seated near the graves of deceased veterans from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. They’ll welcome the opportunity to talk with visitors about the war in which “their” veteran served, and in many cases they’ll be able to discuss the military experiences of the deceased veteran.

In addition to the event in the cemetery, the Arcade Historical Society will have an exhibit at the Gibby House with additional information about all veterans buried in Arcade’s three cemeteries (32 at St. Mary’s in East Arcade, 107 at Sts. Peter and Paul, and 179 at Arcade Rural). The Gibby House at 331 West Main Street, Arcade, NY 14009, will be open 2-4 p.m. on Saturday May 26 as well.

When visiting the cemetery, please park your vehicle at the cemetery entrances on Park Street or Prospect Street. AHS volunteers will be there to assist you with directions. We ask that handicapped and elderly visitors be driven to the top of the hill in the cemetery to discharge their passengers. Remember, this is a picturesque, old, rural cemetery which is hilly and has woodchuck holes, so walk carefully.

The event will go on rain or shine.

50th Anniversary of the Arcade & Attica Railroad this summer

The Arcade Historical Society and Friends of the A&A are working together to put on an exhibit for the A&A's 50th Anniversary. August 4, 1962 was the first public passenger trip for the railroad and within the first 17 days they had 1700 passengers - and that figure doesn't include all the children that rode!

The exhibit will include train photographs, postcards, old newspaper stories, train artifacts, as well as photographs and memorabilia of 1962. It is interesting going through the old photographs and seeing how ""dressed up" everyone is - women and girls in dresses, boys and men in suits. Times have changed a great deal.

We are planning on opening the exhibit July 26 and it will run for the three weekends following that date. The exhibit will be held in the old brick Arcade Fire Hall on Liberty Street. Stay tuned for details to come.

Brazilian Balm Update

Inquiry: an antique bottle circa 1900s with this info: Brazilian Balm - manfactured by B.F. Jackson in Arcade, N.Y.

A quick look in our AHS obit file found one Rev. Benjamin F. Jackson, born in Franklinville, NY in 1834. He attended school in Arcade (his parents had a farm outside of town) and died in Arcade in 1920 - living here the last ten+ years of his life. His last occupation was as a businessman in the proprietary medicine trade.


Previously he spent time in South Carolina after the Civil War working with freed slaves and helping to divide up plantations during the reconstruction. A sermon delivered by Rev. B.F. Jackson was found in the archives at the research library of the Congregational Church in Boston, MA. Rev. Jackson gave the sermon in the Plymouth Congregational Church of Charleston, SC on November 28, 1867; it was a Thanksgiving Sermon, preached to a congregation of freedmen.We also obtained copies of pages from Bleser's "Promised Land", a history of the SC Land Commission, a body set up to purchase lands for subdivision and sale to freedmen and others, and has references to B.F. Jackson as a Surveyor of the Commission.

New information was revealed in an obituary from a 1917 Wyoming County Herald newspaper which led to our discovery of the exact address where B.F. Jackson and his wife lived: it is now numbered 436  West Main Street. He married Myra (Waldo) Hitchcock in 1909; daughter of a well known local pioneer family. Also found in the 1917 newspaper were advertisements for Brazilian Balm, sold at the local (Cottrill's) pharmacy. We are hoping to eventually find out where he produced this "proprietary medicene" in Arcade.

THE MYSTERIES OF HORACE JONES

This blog relates to an earlier one, "Sophronia" (November). I published the Horace Jones inquiry in the AHS newsletter and a member contacted me - being a descendant of Horace! Through this descendant I have learned there were, in fact, two Horace Jones living in the area and both had mothers named Sophronia, but these women were not the same person.

It seems unlikely nowadays, since "Horace" and "Sophronia" are odd names to us, but it is not an uncommon occurance in genealogical research. Families and ethnic groups or nationalities often use certain names over and over again, making it hard to follow the family lines.

Our "insider" was able to tell us that the two Horace's were not directly related. Horace W.B. Jones, son of Milon, served in the Civil War, as did his father. After coming home, Horace married Elizabeth Whitney, widow of Carlton Whitney. All three are buried in Arcade Rural Cemetery, Elizabeth in between Horace and Carlton.

Both Horace and Carlton died under clouded cricumstances. A local newspaper article from January 1900 printed that Horace fell off a bridge and into a freezing Cattaraugus Creek on January 24, 1900. Some say he was drunk and fell in, but those who knew him said he was a teetotaler and never drank a day in his life. Carlton's fate also had a watery end. He had enlisted for the Civil War on December 3, 1861, but died in Buffalo on April 9, 1862. His body was found floating in the canal; his head severed from his body. Carlton's information was found in the NYS Military Museum and Veteran Research Center's roster of Civil War infantry soldiers.

Sophronia Mystery

The latest Mystery came in my e-mail inbox - and was posted as a comment to an earlier blog:
An individual is researching Horace Jones - starting with a photograph circa 1860s. Here are the questions that came up: "When I researched Horace Jones, I found that there were two living in China / Arcade, both born in 1840. I am wondering if you have any information as to whether the two families are linked in some way?
Horace W. Jones, born in 1840 to Levi and Sophoronia Jones, with brothers elisha, Farley, William Henry, Luther and Elliott.
Horace W. D. Jones, born in 1840 to Milon and Sophorna Jones, with sister Mary and family boarder Orissa Casey or Crary
Horace Jones was a surprisingly popular name, but I find it more remarkable that a small town would have two with such unusual names of their mothers."
Here at the Society, I looked into what information I could find and my results are:
I only have 3 obits in my file that relate to this inquiry.


1. Luther Jones, died in 1925 (no birthdate given in obit). He was stated as being the son of Levi and Sophronia Hatfield Jones.

2. Francis Marion Jones (May 23, 1860-April 28,1939), better known as Manie Jones, son of Levi and Sophronie Jones, "one of a large pioneer family of this section." He married Clara Bridenbaker in October 1885, they had two children, Plin and Hazel.

3. Horace Jones, 1840-Jan. 24, 1900. This one was not an official obit, but an article, titled "Horace Jones Killed." He fell from a bridge at night into the icy waters below. He was apparently intoxicated, which was very unusual for him, no one ever recalled seeing him intoxicated before. He was last seen at the post office at 6:30 p.m. and then seen staggering in the street. Ice had to be broken in Cattaraugus Creek in order to drag it to find his body. No mention of parentage and no wife's name given in the article.

What I would surmise is that there was only one marriage of Levi & Sophronia and that "Milon" was perhaps Levi's middle name, or his formal name - similar to how Francis Marion was shortened to "Manie." Sophronia's name ending in an "e" or an "a" in these newspaper accounts I would put down to typo issues.

If any readers have other informaton, please feel free to post it here. Thanks for reading and sending in inquiries!

Brazilian Balm Advertisement Text

The AHS is researching "Brazilian Balm" a proprietary medicine made by one B.F. Jackson and placed in bottles with "Brazilian Balm / B.F. Jackson & Co. / Arcade, N.Y." in raised lettering. Here is the text from a print advertisement circa early 1900s:
"A Rememdy Discovered That Greatly Mitigates Its Severity--Also Prevents All Dangerous After Effects.
     A rememdy has been discovered that makes measles so light that you hardly know the children are sick. This is Brazilian Balm. It keeps the fever down, makes the little ones comfortable and shortens the course by one half. It is the greatest blessing ever discovered. It has been used in thousands of casesand never lost a case in measles, chickenpox or scarlet fever. It is pleasing to take and the children like it. Give 5 drops every hour. If the throat is sore or swollen, warm some Balm and rub on often; also around the ears. It penetrates and kills the micrococci. If the ears are affected fill them with the warm Balm. It always prevents all after bad results as deasfness, chronic coughs, and constitutional weakness, which are the chief dangers in this disease. No other medicine is needed. Brazilian Balm being a complete rememdy in this disease. A 50c or $1.00 bottle will be sufficient in almost any case.
                                                          B.F. JACKSON & CO.
                                                                     Mfg. Chemists,
                                                                     Indianapolis, Ind."

We were confused by the "Indianapolis, Ind." on this advertisement as the bottle has the Arcade, N.Y. imprint. But we are confident this is the samemanufacturer.

Our research continues into B.F. Jackson - see the "History Detective" section of the Historical Society's website for more news - http://www.arcadehistoricalsociety.org/.

Housekeeping Never had "Good Old Days"

       The Arcade Historical Society’s new exhibit, “Spring Cleaning,” displays housekeeping tools used in the early to mid-1900s – early vacuum cleaners, washboards, rug beaters, irons (made of iron), to name a few. These made housework a never ending, back breaking chore repeated on a daily basis.
       One of the vacuum cleaners in the exhibit seems more like a piece of exercise equipment - a plunger vacuum manually operated by pumping the wooden handles, sort of like a bellows. It was only usable on smooth floors and given the poor results for the effort exerted, we are fortunate that inventors kept at it to give us a better vacuum cleaner.
       Other interesting facts were found to display with the objects. Did you know that the first portable vacuum cleaner (1905) weighed in at 100 pounds? That doesn’t sound very portable to me. And the inventor of what ended up being Hoover vacuums never reaped those benefits. James Murray Spangler sold the patent for his vacuum cleaner to his wife’s cousin, William Henry Hoover. And, as we like to say, the rest is history.
       Come to the AHS and see what you missed if you were born after 1950. Those that remember these tools of torture, come by and share your stories with us at 331 West Main Street or enter your comments here on the blog. Hours at the Gibby House are Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment.

- Sue Andrews,
AHS Operations Manager

1897 - A Very Fine Talking Machine

One of our reguar visitors at AHS was doing some microfilm research and came across this amusing news item:

Local news in the September 17, 1897 Arcade Herald: "James Teller has purchased a very fine talking machine." This was under the newspaper's Sandusky column. The talking machine was a device that played wax cylinder recordings. I did a google search and found a list of some of the popular songs of 1896-1897 from the Kansas City Talking Machine Company catalog:
Put Me Off At Buffalo
And The Parrot Said--
Pat Malone Forgot He Was Dead
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
Take Your Clothes and Go
On The Banks Of The Wabash, Far Away
What Do You Think of Hoolihan?
Take Back Your Gold
Mr. Johnson, Turn Me Loose
Just Tell Them You Saw Me
The Blow Near Killed Father

The only song I recognize - having survived the test of time - is "Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight".

- Sue Andrews
AHS Operations Manager

"Mystery Solved"

In response to the AHS' first blog, an inquiry came in regarding a building - was the building still standing, and what is the address. Another reader commented and then I did some research as well. See the comments under  the 2009 blog post"Welcome to the Arcade Historical Society's Blog" to follow the query and the results.

We invite you to join the conversation with questions, or, by helping to provide answers. Consider this our own "wiki" site, if you will.

- Sue Andrews
Operations Manager at the Arcade Historical Society