Mendon Archives - Chris Carosa

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

By Chris Carosa on July 2, 2024

Previous: John Greig Lives The American Dream

Canandaigua Hotel, not the original one that Lafayette visited, but the one that replaced it after the one once owned by William Blossom burned down in 1851. Source: History of Ontario County, New York With Illustrations, Everts, Ensign & Everts, Philadelphia, 1878, Plate X

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”

Posted in History, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Amos Read, Blossom House, Canandaigua, Canandaigua Hotel, Captain Ira Merrill, Captain James Lyon, Central Trail, Colonel William Blossom, Erie Canal, Genesee Trail, Great Genesee Road, Iroquois Confederacy, John Greig, Judge Moses Atwater, Kingsley's tavern, Lafayette, Mendon, Ontario and Genesee Turnpike, Ontario Bank, Ontario Brass Band, Rochester, Routes 5 & 20, Samuel Greenleaf, Seneca Turnpike, Western New York

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Dispelling Mendon Myths

By Chris Carosa on June 25, 2024

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”

Posted in History, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Augustus Porter, Ball Tract, Beach's Tavern, Brighton, Canandaigua, East Avenue, East Bloomfield, Ebenezer Barnard, Eleven Thousand Acre Tract, Fishers, Hamlet of Mendon, Hoard's Tavern, Honeoye Falls, Kenneth B. Keating, Kenneth Barnard Keating, Lafayette, Mendon, Mendon Hotel, Monroe County, Norton's Mills, Ontario Brass Band, Ontario County, Peter B. Porter, Phelps, Phoenix Hotel, Pittsford, R. 5, Robert F. Kennedy, Rochester, Samuel Greenleaf, Samuel Hildreth, Silas Pardee, Stagecoach, Stone Tolan House, Timothy Barnard, Township 11, Victor, Wangum Mills, West Mendon, Zebulon Norton

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Timothy Barnard, A Soldier’s Story

By Chris Carosa on June 25, 2024

Previous: Competing Memories Turn Lafayette’s Rochester Visit From History To Mystery

Siege of Yorktown (1781), by Auguste Couder (1789–1873) Rochambeau (center L), Washington (center R), Marquis de La Fayette (behind Washington, L), Marquis de Saint Simon (behind Washington, R), Duke of Lauzun (L, mounted) and Comte de Ménonville (R of Washington). Source: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“Another Revolutionary Patriot Gone.” That was the lead, buried at the very bottom of the third of seven dense columns on page two in the Tuesday, April 13, 1847, edition of the Geneva Courier. Three perfunctory sentences followed.

“Hon. TIMOTHY BARNARD, father of Hon. DANIEL D. BARNARD, the distinguished ex-member of Congress of the Albany district, died at Mendon on the 29th inst. Judge Barnard took an active part in the revolutionary struggle, and for his services he drew a pension until his death. For many years judge Barnard was associate judge of the old county of Ontario, and after Monroe county was set off; he held the same office in the latter county.”¹

That was it. That was the sum total of nearly 91 years of life.

But there was more to Timothy Barnard. He represented all that made America great; that first generation of rebels turned heroes turned pioneers turned nation-builders. In a way, Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Timothy Barnard, A Soldier’s Story”

Posted in History, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Anah Babcock Yates, Ashley Sampson, Barnstable, Battle of Yorktown, Bloomfield, Canfield Road, Connecticut Colony, Daniel D. Barnard, Ebenezer Barnard, Eleven Thousand Acre Trac, Forrest Gump, Fran h. Barnard, George Washington, Hartford, Hoard's Tavern, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Lafayette, Massachusetts Colony, Mendon, Monroe County, New York City, Ontario County, Ontario County Agricultural Society, R. 5, Revolutionary War, Roger Newberry, Sarah Williamson, Timothy Barnard, Township 11, Valentine Hill, Valley Forge, West Bloomfield Road, Yorktown

The Day Lafayette Touched Mendon

By Chris Carosa on October 3, 2023

His full name was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette. For short, he’s called the Marquis de La Fayette. If that doesn’t speak “wealth,” then what doesn’t? At least in his native France.

In traditionally egalitarian America, we know him simply as “Lafayette.” Coming from a family with a strong military tradition, he came to the New World in 1777 at the age of 19. Seeing the American Revolution as a noble cause, he joined the patriots and was immediately commissioned as a major general.

The title reflected more a sign of respect than of actual duty, for he was given no troops to command. Lafayette understood in America, one isn’t born to status, one must earn it.

And earn it, he did. He received his red badge of courage at the Battle of Brandywine. There, though wounded, he led an orderly retreat. His brave actions in the Battle of Rhode Island Continue Reading “The Day Lafayette Touched Mendon”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged American Revolution, Amo Kreiger, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Rhode Island, Ben Franklin, Buffalo, Canandaigua, Continental Army, Cornwallis, Daniel Barnard, Erie Canal, Freemason, Geneva, George Washington, Judge Timothy Barnard, Lafayette, Marian Powell, mason, Mendon, Mendon Hotel, Monroe County, Rochester, Yorktown

The History Of Local Historians

By Chris Carosa on September 12, 2023

James Sullivan, New York State Historian (1916-1922), source: New York State Archives

“The love of one’s locality and a commendable pride in its achievements lie at the basis of true patriotism. It is difficult, nevertheless, to love something about which you know nothing. One who knows the history of the place in which he is living is far more likely to venerate it than he who is entirely ignorant of its story. To preserve this history is the function of the local historian.”

Those words belong to James Sullivan, New York State Historian. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle published them (as part of a bigger article penned by Sullivan) on page 17 of the Sunday, March 26, 1922 edition of the paper.

Sullivan used the piece to explain the nature and purpose of a relatively new law. It was passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by New York Governor Al Smith on April 11, 1919. Technically Section 57.07 of the New York State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, it’s known more familiarly as “Local Government Historian Law” or simply the “Local Historian” Law.

The first paragraph of the law states “A local historian shall be appointed, as provided in Continue Reading “The History Of Local Historians”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Amo T. Kreiger, David K. Maloney, Honeoye Falls, James Sullivan, Local Historian, Marian Powell, Mendon, Mendon Historical Society, New York State, The Anaconda Standard, World War I

Ode To An Iconic Public Servant

By Chris Carosa on April 25, 2023

Jeanne

I don’t remember the first time I met Jeanne Loberg, but I remember how I felt. She immediately struck me as the new kid on the block. What did that make me? The newer kid on the block.

This may sound ironic, but her knowledge and wisdom overshadowed all that “new kid” stuff. She was “new” because she hadn’t lived in Mendon her whole life. I was new because I had just moved into town. And because I wasn’t yet thirty years old. Despite my obvious youth and inexperience, she took it upon herself Continue Reading “Ode To An Iconic Public Servant”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Bill Fletcher, Carl Foss, cell tower, Chris Holliday, Chuck Meisenzahl, Empire State Pipeline, Environmental Conservation Board, Jack Leckie, Jeanne Loberg, Jeanne Loberg Park, Lehigh Valley Trail, Lucy Parsons, Mendon, Mendon Foundation, Mendon Planning Board, Mendon Station Park, Mendon Town Board, New York State Public Service Commission, Paul Kehoe, RG&E, Rochester Junction Park, Rochester Telephone, Route 64, Thruway, Zoning Board

Thoughts On Trains, Natural Gas, And The Interstate Highway System

By Chris Carosa on April 11, 2023

It was a lonely vigil.

And by “vigil” I mean Easter Vigil on Saturday night.

And by “lonely” I mean I was by myself, all alone in a church I never went to before. Betsy was staying with her recovering father and Peter was not feeling well.

Only I wasn’t alone. Parishioners packed St. James (aptly named because it’s in the City of Continue Reading “Thoughts On Trains, Natural Gas, And The Interstate Highway System”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1956, 1960s, Car and Driver, church, Class One, Easter, Eisenhower Interstate System, electric, Fredonia, hydro, Jamestown, John D. Rockefeller, Kathy Hochul, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Mass, Mendon, national defense, National Fuel Gas, national security, New York State, nuclear, power, public safety, rail, Railserve, renewable, Schuyler County, solar, St. James, Standard Oil, Vigil, Western New York, William Hart, wind

How Ice On The Rocks Reveals Our Destiny (Part I)

By Chris Carosa on June 7, 2022

They bent the course of mighty rivers. They carved and scraped, forever leaving their imprint on the land we call home. But they did more than merely shape our local geography. They have guided us through the centuries.

And still do today.

The paths we take without thinking, the things we see every day, the very property upon which we build our homes, these all seem somewhat random events that accumulate over the course of our lives. But they, in fact, map the very destiny of our lives.

It supports our every move. It carries our weight without complaint. It provides the Continue Reading “How Ice On The Rocks Reveals Our Destiny (Part I)”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Acaian Orogeny, Avalonia, Baltica, Catskill Delta, Devonian Period, EurAmerica, George McIntosh, Hudson Valley, Iapetus, Laurentia, Mendon, North America, Paleozoic, Pangea, Rochester, shale, South Pole, Western New York

Remembering Mike Francesco: A Community Builder

By Chris Carosa on September 28, 2021

As I sat in the pews of St. Catherine’s last Friday morning, I couldn’t help but admire the courage and clarity of Andrew Boyce and Conner Boillat as they described and honored the very full life of Mike Francesco.

Mike touched the lives of many in our little neck of the woods, even those who may have never known him. He, together with his late son Michael, Jr., conceived and built what has become the hamlet of Mendon’s community cornerstone.

For almost four decades, I was one of those who was blessed to have experienced the wonder of Mike. While I can’t pretend to offer more than his family, I can share memories – and, more importantly, the context of those memories – that affirm their stories from a non-family perspective.

I met Mike and Rose in the mid-1980s shortly after I moved back to Mendon in the house I Continue Reading “Remembering Mike Francesco: A Community Builder”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrew Boyce, Assembly Drive, Carosa & Son, Chili, Conner Boillat, Dixon Woods, fieldstone, Gates Chili, Karla Boyce, Kenneth P. Carosa, Kenny, Mendon, Mendon Republican Committee, Mendon Square, Mike Francesco, Rose Francesco, Rotary Club, St. Catherine's Church

The Story of Abraham Parrish, Mendon’s First Tavern Keeper (Part I)

By Chris Carosa on April 6, 2021

Wyoming Forts A-Fort Durkee, B-Fort Wyoming or Wilkesbarre, C-Fort Ogden, D-Kingston Village, E-Forty Fort, G-battleground, H-Fort Jenkins, I-Monocasy Island, J-Pittstown stockades, G-Queen Esther’s Rock Source: Lossing, Benson, The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Harper & Brothers, Publishers, January 7, 1859, p. 353

In many ways, the life of Abraham Parrish wasn’t that different from any other person participating in the formative decades of the grand American Experiment.

In other ways, he lived a unique life that exposed him at an early age to the rarified frontier air that existed when Western New York emerged from its dense terra incognita forest. He witnessed firsthand nearly all the major personalities of our region and saw how they forged this thickly wooded region into an industrious civilization.

But let’s not get too far ahead…

Zebulon Parish represents a typical American story. He was born on February 12, 1726 in Windham, a town in the eastern half of the Colony of Connecticut between Hartford and the Rhode Island border. He not only shares a birthday with Abraham Lincoln, he shares something else – his descendants were active in the abolition movement.

There was a very good reason Zebulon’s family joined the fight against slavery – his grandfather, John Wattles, came to America as a slave.

Our story, therefore, begins in Scotland…Continue Reading “The Story of Abraham Parrish, Mendon’s First Tavern Keeper (Part I)”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abraham Parrish, Battle of Worcester, Charles I, Charles II, Iroquois, John Butler, John Wattles, Mary Wattell, Mendon, Old King, Sakayenguaraghton, Scotland, Seneca, Westmoreland, Wilkesbarre, Wintermoot, Wyoming County, Wyoming Massacre, Zebulon Parish