Eerie Echoes Today of Daniel Shays, the Forgotten Patriot Who Sparked the Constitution

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Daniel ShaysDid you know that we have a heroic Revolutionary War veteran buried right here in our own backyard? Well, not precisely our backyard, but close enough to call it that.

His heroism, however, isn’t limited to fighting against the British. He took the ideals espoused by the Founding Fathers to heart. So much so that he felt it was his duty to promote those ideals at great personal sacrifice. In fact, the reason he died in Livingston County is that he was chased out of Massachusetts. He knew his family would be safe here in America’s First Frontier.

Without Daniel Shays, America might not have its Constitution. The story behind his plight so worried George Washington that America’s future first president came out of retirement and agreed to preside over the Constitutional Convention.

What follows is an excerpt from a chapter in my book, 50 Hidden Gems of Greater Western New York (Pandamensional Solutions, 2012), that reveals the true story behind this Revolutionary War veteran. It may have happened more than two centuries ago, but as you read the events, don’t be surprised if it seems this could happen (and maybe has happened) even today…Continue Reading “Eerie Echoes Today of Daniel Shays, the Forgotten Patriot Who Sparked the Constitution”

Lafayette In The The Spring

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LafayetteNo, that is not a typo. It’s a reference to a classic optical illusion. You probably have seen it—a triangle that contains three lines. The first line is “Paris.” The second line is “in the.” The last line is “the Spring.” People will often read it as “Paris in the Spring,” not the correct “Paris in the the Spring.”

I know, I know … This thought immediately pops into your head: “But it’s obvious that the word ‘the’ is repeated.”

And you wouldn’t be wrong.

Until you look at the picture of the triangle with the words in it.

Why is that?

Believe it or not, there’s a scientific explanation for this. It comes from vision science, and it’s called a “saccade.” This term refers to what happens when both eyes move simultaneously in Continue Reading “Lafayette In The The Spring”

The Joy Of ‘Mission Accomplished’ (With A Lafayette Bonus At The End)

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Includes never before published chapters. What are they? Click here to buy your copy now.

The wild whirlwind wound down last week to a satisfying conclusion. The following column reveals the inside story of what really happened over the last eight months.

Okay, truth be told, it all started ten months ago. I was in the middle of producing a series of “The Greater Western New York Minute” and decided I needed to beef up my studio hardware and upgrade my software. That took a little longer than expected, making it difficult to continue production of those sixty second vignettes.

Well, there’s no such thing as a void in my life. There are merely a never-ending series of windows of opportunity forever opening and closing. It seems like when one window closes, I find another window opening. It happens all the time.

Does that make me special?

No.

Actually, this same situation exists for you, too. You have to look for it, but it’s there. Always.

Do you want to know the secret to discovering these open windows of opportunity? It’s Continue Reading “The Joy Of ‘Mission Accomplished’ (With A Lafayette Bonus At The End)”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Through Seneca Falls, East Cayuga Then A Masonic Welcome And A Final Adieu In Auburn

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Previous: Bigotry Cannot Defeat A Good And Honorable Man

In Auburn, Lafayette met at “Hudson’s Hotel” a.k.a. Western Exchange Hotel Genesee St. Image circa 1840. From the collection of the Cayuga Museum of History and Art, Auburn, NY

As early as May 12th, 1825, the Village of Auburn expected Lafayette to travel through their growing community. Seventeen men, including two future governors of New York State were appointed to a committee charged with the purpose of preparing for the visit of the French general and American hero. They were “to make suitable arrangements for the occasion; and that they be requested to communicate the doings of this meeting, to the proper military officers, the masonick order, and the surviving revolutionary officers and soldiers, inviting them to co-operate with the citizens of the village, in the proposed expressions of publick attention, to the venerable ‘Guest of our Nation,’ and its early defender.”1

A few days later, on May 16th, the officers of the militia met at Strong’s tavern. Led by Brigadier General Henry R. Brinkerhoff, they, too, formed a committee to prepare for Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Through Seneca Falls, East Cayuga Then A Masonic Welcome And A Final Adieu In Auburn”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Bigotry Cannot Defeat A Good And Honorable Man

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Previous: Wowed Waterloo Overcomes Tragedy To Welcome Hero

Dirck. C. Lansing, after his coal black hair turned white with age. Source: Adams, John Quincy, A History of Auburn Theological Seminary, 1818-1918, Auburn Seminary Press, Auburn, 1918

Why are people so mean? What prompts them to violate the rules of decorum just to get a dig in? How many good men do we lose because of this?

It turns out the Era of Good Feelings was less universal than we think. Or, rather, within those good feelings lay dormant seeds of discord that only needed time, and a good trigger, to flower into tension and, unfortunately, eventually into conflict.

But let’s not go there yet. Let’s harken back to the source of the unity that the Era of Good Feelings recalled.

While the Revolutionary War can be aptly described as a civil war, its aftermath brought harmony through the commonality of men who served in its victory. Not only did they share the wounds of war, but they also shared within the fellowship of it.

No better manifestation of the fraternity of commonness was the proliferation of Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Bigotry Cannot Defeat A Good And Honorable Man”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Wowed Waterloo Overcomes Tragedy To Welcome Hero

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Previous: The Great Central Trail Becomes The State Road

Waterloo Hotel became the Madison House before being converting into Twin Brothers’ Yeast Cake factory (pictured here). The factory burned down in 1877. Source: Becker, John E., A History of the Village of Waterloo, Waterloo Library and Historical Society, Waterloo, NY 1949, p. 81

The party began early in Waterloo on the morning of Wednesday, June 8, 1825. It was like a festive holiday. A great anticipation thrilled the small village and those visitors who had come to town for the special occasion about to unfold. Revolutionary War hero and valiant icon of freedom, the Marquis de Lafayette was about to visit.

Excitement filled the air. And cannon smoke.

There was no way to contain the enthusiasm. Several villagers expressed this feeling by gathering at Earl’s tavern, as the Waterloo Hotel had been known. Ab Falling built the three-story brick structure in 1817. Located in the center of its west side, the main entrance faced the public square. The upper floor had a ballroom and a Masonic Hall.1

That same year, Junius Lodge No. 291, F.&A.M. received its charter from the Grand Lodge of New York on June 5. The growing lodge began meeting at the Waterloo Hotel on July 1, 1819. By 1825, only one of the original petitioners—Dr. Jesse Fifield, Treasurer—held a leadership position.2

Captain Jehiel P. Parsons was a member of Junius Lodge No. 291.3 He wasn’t among the citizens celebrating at Earl’s tavern. Instead, he chose to have breakfast across the street at the Mill. The partiers at the tavern would show their delight for the joyous day by Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Wowed Waterloo Overcomes Tragedy To Welcome Hero”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Pomp, Circumstance, Before Lunch In Geneva

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Previous: How Commonality Saved Captain Williamson And Western New York

Geneva a generation after Lafayette’s visit. Source: Barber, John W., and Howe, Henry, Historical collections of the state of New York, S. Tuttle, New York 1842, p. 52

General Lafayette rose the morning of Wednesday, June 8, 1825, shortly after sunrise. At 7 o’clock that morning, the French entourage bid John Greig adieu. They climbed aboard their waiting carriage and a military escort led them onto the old Genesee Road (and then the Seneca Turnpike). About ten miles down the road, at Ball’s tavern, they’d meet the committee from Geneva and transfer their precious cargo to them.1

For the good citizens of Geneva, the largest settlement in the Greater Western New York region, Lafayette was a long time coming. A couple of weeks before, the village appointed a committee of eleven upstanding men to invite the Nation’s Guest to visit their fair village. They drafted a letter dated May 28, 1825, for that purpose. Appealing to his sense of Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Pomp, Circumstance, Before Lunch In Geneva”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Canandaigua Anxiously Waits Before Jubilation And An Elegant Supper

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Previous: John Greig Lives The American Dream

Blossom Hotel as it appeared at the time of Lafayette’s visit. Source: From the collection of the Ontario County Historical Society

The young boy was no different from anyone else in the town of Canandaigua. Anxious, fretting, full of anticipation, on the morning of Tuesday, June 7, 1825, they all waited for the word they knew was coming but feared it might not.

Located on the northern tip of the lake that bears its name, Canandaigua housed the first land office in Western New York. This former Seneca stronghold sat on the old Genesee Trail, or Central Trail, that cut through the heart of the Iroquois Confederacy. Today we know it as Routes 5 & 20. Back then it had various names, from the Great Genesee Road to the Seneca Turnpike to the Ontario and Genesee Turnpike. Whatever you called it, it was the road everyone heading east or west traveled on.

Lafayette would soon be one of those travelers.

Or would he?Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Canandaigua Anxiously Waits Before Jubilation And An Elegant Supper”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: John Greig Lives The American Dream

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Previous: Dispelling Mendon Myths

Portrait of John Greig. Source: Milliken, Charles F., A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People, Lewis Historical Co. Vol I, New York, 1911, p.225

The sun rose on Tuesday, June 7, 1825, signaling the start of a new day. For John Greig, it would prove among the most momentous days of his life—so far. It would prove anyone can attain their American dream.

By that morning, Greig had lived a tad more than a quarter of a century in his adopted home country. Born in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland on August 6, 1779,1 he immigrated to the United States in 1797 after attending the Edinburgh High School.2 Only eighteen when he sailed to America, no doubt like many his age, Greig sought to make his mark.

He certainly did.

But not immediately.

Greig spent his first few months living in New York City before moving to Albany. He relocated to Canandaigua in April 1800. It’s likely this move Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: John Greig Lives The American Dream”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Dispelling Mendon Myths

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Previous: Timothy Barnard, A Soldier’s Story

Lafayette’s probable path from Rochester to Canandaigua, 1840 Map of New York State by Henry S. Tanner. Source: oldmapsonline.org

By 1825, the road from Rochester to Canandaigua was a well-travelled road. Samuel Hildreth saw to that, although he didn’t live long enough to see it first-hand.

Hildreth might be considered a first generation Western New Yorker. He was born on March 20, 1778, in what would become the town of Phelps in Ontario County. His parents had moved there from New Hampshire.1 He moved to Pittsford in November 1814. There, he quickly established himself as a mover and shaker. He ran a store, rented to others, and operated a tavern. More important, he set up the Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Dispelling Mendon Myths”

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