Half-Shire Historical Society Update

The Half-Shire newsletter that went out this week is long overdue. The feature news items cover the summer through holiday events at the society. Because it has been so many months we had the sad duty to report over 24 deaths of members or friends of the society. As we went to print we received the news of the deaths of Alice Campbell Gasperini, Julia Gawronski and out secretary and founder George O. Widrig. Fuller mention of these former members will be made in the next issue.

The next issue is already being laid out, with material already on hand and a general outline. The cover story of this upcoming newsletter will feature an article on George and his life and contributions to the region.

George O. Widrig was born in May 1931 the son of James and Avis (Donovan) Widrig. His father was a railroad engineer headquartered in the bustling railroad intersection of Richland . George grew up and spent his life in the Richland , he knew everyone by name in the community throughout his nearly 80 years, and he knew their lineage also. He was educate din Richland School , a graduate of the Pulaski Academy and Central School in 1948, and he later went on to take his degree in Art Education at Oswego State .

George taught a number of years in Mexico school. Health issues periodically troubled him through his life, and he retired at a younger age and devoted himself to his research, painting, music and gardening. For many years George also took care of his mother Avis.

Avis and George, along with Avis’ cousin Floyd Kent and his daughter Marie and two others had talked throughout 1972 about forming a historical society on this end of the county. On November 15, the six met at the home of Floyd and Marie and by nights’ end Half-Shire Historical Society had been born.

Our group was founded as a sort of “secessionist movement”, the charter members all felt that the Oswego County Historical Society had not represented the east end for some time. Like the earlier secessionists of 1847 and 1852 who sought to split the county, the Half-Shire founders wanted to form an eastern historical society that would better reflect the rural heritage that differs substantially from the Oswego River valley.

Nearly 40 years later, George was one of two living, and the last of the founders to be actively engaged in our day to day affairs. Serving as Secretary, and for the past year employed by the society through Experience Works, George got the mail daily, sorted it and sent it off to either myself or the Treasurer, he worked at the Court house during winter months answering correspondence, developing research notebooks and pasting up obituaries. Even in his last months when he was in steep decline, George continued to take care of the mail and help with research.

In his capacity as society secretary George particularly excelled. His near daily notes of thanks, and letters to researchers were done in a true nineteenth century manner, with class and efficiency.

In the weeks following is death, we have broken George’s duties up and awarded them to five people. Erin Bacon was appointed the new Deputy historian for Richland Town , and will be working in George’s editing chair, reviewing all periodicals. Erma Schroeder will be taking over the obituary collection and its upkeep, Paula Sachel has taken over George’s Experience works job and works from the court house for the time being, Fay Ann Yerdon Colvin is targeted to fill in as Recording Secretary for meetings while Nancy Smith has agreed to become corresponding Secretary to handle the mail and send out notes.

This writer, who has served and worked alongside George almost daily since 1994 is at a true loss, George was always a phone call away with a research problem, and his knowledge of Richland history was unsurpassed. I have lost a very close friend and fellow historian, whom I will miss greatly for a long time.

The Society met last on April 24th and served over 35 meals. We selected a bid for masonry work to the back of the building, including the covering of long ago windows in the back. Reports were given from committees and the town representatives, and the next meeting was scheduled for Saturday May 22, at the Richland headquarters at 1pm following a noon meal. All are welcome.

In other news, Half-Shire is pleased tot learn we have been approved as an AmeriCorps work site. We should learn in the next few weeks who our summer intern will be. Interviews were started on April 30,

Half-Shire can be reached at P.O. 73, 1100 County Rte. 48 in Richland , NY 13144 . Our email is halfshire@hotmail.com and out website is at www.halfshire.com

Half-Shire Historical Society

March 26, 2010

The society will resume monthly meetings beginning on Saturday March 27. A lunch of beef stroganoff and ziti served at noon will be followed by a business meeting at 1pm.

We have a busy year ahead of us, and it is hoped that a good turnout will be present to help plan things.

We have learned of the death of several members over the past few weeks. John “JJ”DeSantis of Redfield, Nick Warchol of Osceola , Alberta Pretory of Orwell and Edward Roche of Ohio . Our sincere sympathies are extended to the families.

Our winter hours at the Barclay Court House in Pulaski are soon winding down. Thanks to Erma Schroeder for her many hours each Friday meeting with people and working on projects from the Richland historian’s second floor office there. Our Snow scholar Colin Wansink has been working through the season on scanning photos from the Pulaski Masonic Temple . Colin’s project will be wrapping up today and the reproduced photos along with companion biographies of the 100 members who were photographed during the 1891opening of the current building will be shared with the Masons and Pulaski Historical Society.

A new computer was purchased and donated the society in January. The computer will be kept primarily at the Court House and used for scanning projects. The need for a new computer has been part of the delay in our quarterly newsletter which is now several months behind.

Society President Shawn Doyle and Trustee Charlene Cole participated in a Historians’ roundtable on Saturday March 20, in DeWitt. The event was organized by the Central New York Genealogical Society which is presided over by our Vice President Greg Monette.

Half-Shire can be contacted at halfshire@hotmail.com or P.O. 73, Richland , NY 13144

Dear Friends and Trustees of Half-Shire,
The first meeting of the year will be Saturday March 27, at the hall in Richland. We anticipate to serve a beef Stroganoff dinner with garlic bread and tossed salad. A Pan of ziti will also be on the side.
This has been a mild winter, and the building came through well with no leaks or issues. We do hope to continue the work in completing the Snow room cosmetics in 2010 and also do some cosmetic work in the main hall likely between April and May meetings when it is warmer. The meeting schedule for the year will be as follows, following along the last Saturday of every month with a couple exceptions:

April 24
May 22 (an exception due to holiday wkd)
June 19 (fair set up at Fairgrounds)
July 31
Aug 28
Sept 25
Oct 30
Nov 27---Pulaski Court House, Concert

All meetings will be at the Richland facility unless otherwise stated

November 24, 2009

Half-Shire Historical Society will be hosting our annual Christmas Harp recital at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse on Saturday December 5, 2009 from 1-3 pm
Kelsey Munz, an accomplished harpist from Osceola New York will play a selection of Christmas music for this free concert. This years event will be held in memory of the late Pearl Flagg Bontomaise, a member of the society who recently passed away.
Refreshments will be served. Contact Shawn Doyle at 298-3620 for more information

There will be a short meeting of the society at noon in the Court room prior to the event.

Half-Shire Historical Society News June 19, 2009 (Photo--inside of St. Mary's of Mt. Carmel, Florence, NY courtesy of the St. Mary's committee)

On Saturday June 13, a handful of historians met at the Oswego County Fairgrounds to set up exhibits and discuss the upcoming fair. Representatives from Mexico , Volney, New Haven , Sandy Creek , Pulaski, and Richland joined Half-Shire members to review plans for the 5-day annual event which begins on the evening of June 30.

This year Shawn Doyle and Greg Monette of Half-Shire will be Superintending Heritage Hall, and will be joined by representatives from most of the communities in Oswego County . The building is expected to be quite full, and diverse. Among the available categories for entry are the three separate scarecrow contests (best-dressed, unique and scariest) with prizes ranging from $3-$10 along with ribbons. On behalf of the Oswego County Genealogical Society Doyle and Monette are also organizing the 2^nd annual family photo wall. This unique exhibit will cover wall space of 20’ by 15’ and will be situated in what is known as the red sitting room. Interested people who have a framed antique photo of ancestors past are encouraged to bring them to Heritage Hall before the fair for inclusion. Prizes for best photo will also be awarded, entry deadline is June 28, Contact Shawn Doyle at 298-3620 or SPDinPUL@hotmail.com to save a space.

Renown youth harpist Kelsey Munz of Osceola is planning to perform on a yet to be determined date in Heritage hall, our own Florence Gardner of Albion is also expected to play patriotic anthems on July 4, on her keyboard. Spinning, chair caning, weaving, tatting and crochet work will also be demonstrated by very capable experts. At 10am and 7pm daily historians will conduct “roundtable discussions” on topics of interest. Coffee and iced tea will be available as well as very comfortable furniture to relax in while taking a break in the hall.

In other news: more fantastic photos have arrived via email from the St. Mary’s of Mt. Carmel restoration project. The inside of the church has been completely painted and the images are astounding! A light “Irish Green” was selected for the walls, accented by both a darker green trim and a crisp New England white ceiling. We eagerly await an opportunity to visit this historic Irish landmark in the hamlet of Florence .

Our second week at the Pulaski Farmers’ Market proved both profitable and busy. A small exhibit on Half-Shire region railroads prepared by Glenna Gorski in 2006 was displayed. Many interested people took time to thumb through the large notebook as well as study the detailed map prepared by Dick and Glenna. On Friday the 19^th some of our recently completed scrapbooks from the digitalization project will be on display (weather permitting), On June 26^th we will have some select yearbooks from Pulaski and Sandy Creek out for review in the park as we mark “Alumni weekend”. The Pulaski market has musical entertainment lined up each weekend all summer long---and best of all its free to attend!

The Maplelawn Cemetery of Dugway is preparing to construct a new drop-chain style fence along the front of its property line. Bill Sheeley, Tom Burke and Ed Bennett have been marking the site out in preparation. Thanks go out to New York State Engineer Jamie Tompkins of Redfield who took time on his way into work on June 10, to meet with the fence committee to review the right of way rules. Maplelawn cemetery has many old pioneers at rest in its grounds, and their locations are additionally backed up by a detailed map on the wall of the vault painstakingly prepared a few years back by former Trustee Jack Steinfeld. This map is critical to genealogists, and lists unmarked graves as well as the marked locations. The recent work at Maplelawn is able to be undertaken thanks to a generous legacy left by the late Barb Walter of Dugway.

Half-Shire Vice President Greg Monette has recently updated the county-wide data base on War of 1812 veterans. This first of its kind database is being edited and will appear on the Oswego County tourism website soon. New information has doubled the number of men we have been able to prove as veterans of the forgotten “second war of American Independence”. The front line for our region was Lake Ontario where the British North American capital was located in Kingston Ontario . George Widrig is working on a good-sized display that will incorporate Monette’s work as well as a detailed map of the region in 1813. This display will be at the Oswego County Fair and other venues throughout the year.

On June 9, Lorraine Twp. Historian Arlene Moore and her son Tom visited Half-Shire and donated a tremendously valuable collection of family photos that relate to our region. George Widrig and Erma Schroeder spent time finding information for the Moores and had a delightful morning. Arlene edited a book on Lorraine written by her late husband that we still have available for sale. “The Huddle” is a detailed account of the history of Lorraine and well worth the price of $20.

Half-Shire’s Richland research facility is open four days a week—Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9-1pm and Fridays 9-4 pm. We are also pleased to schedule any other appointments. Our faculty is located in the former Richland hamlet school, 1100 County Rte. 48, Richland , ( PO 73) or on the web at www.halfshire.com.

halfshire@hotmail.com

Half-Shire Historical Society

December19, 200

The annual Christmas harp recital at the H. Douglas Barclay Court House in

Pulaski featuring Osceola’s Kelsey Munz was rescheduled from December 7^th to the 14^th due to weather. Seventeen people enjoyed the program on the 14^th that varied from Christmas favorites to Patriotic music. Kelsey had set the program up to honor World War II era veterans and families for the 7^th, and explained the period significance of each song.

The program began with all standing and singing the Star Spangled Banner, and ended with God Bless America . A set of five religious carols was also played with audience accompaniment. This was a very nice concert enjoyed by all, and like last year there were many remarks about how suited the historic court room is to harp music. One young couple present asked Kelsey to play at their wedding next year.

The Half-Shire weekly hours continue each Friday at the Court House office of the Richland Historian.

Last week a Richard Cooper spent considerable time with us examining his family tree. Richard is a fifth great-grandson of two area revolutionary War vets, Simeon Trumbull and James Campbell. We are indebted to Millie Reid for working with us last week over the phone to tie in some missing links on Coopers Campbell family line. Marie Parsons also worked with us from Florida via the internet.

Completion of the 2009 calendar has been a top priority. It is expected to be done by Christmas and can be delivered by Shawn Doyle within the area by placing a call. The 13-month calendar features bridges of the Half-Shire region and is available for $7 in person or $9 by mail. The Half-Shire newsletter is running very late, and is nearly ready to go out with raffle tickets that are due by February.

Over a week ago we learned of the sudden passing of longtime member and friend Pauline “Polly” Carner from Boylston. Polly was the mother of trustee Rita Rombach and member Patricia Eberle of Camillus. Born October 2, 1917 in Clayton , NY the daughter of George & Laura (Elliot) Plato, she had lived in Boylston over 50 years. Polly was a delightful woman, who attended most all of our meetings, and during research days could be found quietly crocheting in the sitting area. Our sincere condolences go out to her family.

We have just received a new shipment of Richland Cemetery volume II books from Julie Litts Robst. This book is the volume that details South Richland Cemetery internments. Obituaries are included for most all people, which in itself was an amazing feat. The nearly 400 page book sells fro $40 or $3 by mail and is still a bargain for its content.

Half-Shire can be reached at P.O. 73, Richland , NY 13144 . Our web site is found at www.halfshire.com.

Our winter quarters are located at the H. Barclay Court House in Pulaski where we keep hours in the 2^nd floor annex from 12-4pm on Fridays.

Photos---Kelsey Munz at her harp and a view of the audience.