Herkimer County Historical Society

THE END OF AN ERA. It certainly feels like it as I make my last post for the Historical Society. As many of you know, Sue is retiring at the end of the year after 38 years. It's been 30 years for me as her trusty "sidekick" - we even dressed up as Batman and Robin at one of the Celebrity Breakfasts. Sue has been very good about letting me take the reign on many ideas and only rolled her eyes a couple of times when I said "I Have An Idea!" A Weekend at Gelston Castle, three co...llaborations with Ilion Little Theatre on plays based on notable murder cases, four pictorial history books and one historical murders book, an archeological dig search for Fort Dayton, the Stanley Theatre concert with "America," Celebrity Breakfasts and Roasts, "Herkimer County History Minute" videos, "Haunted Historic 4 Corners," and so much more. What an incredible experience it has been and one thing I learned firsthand - History Is Fun! I've met so many lovely people who share the same feeling! Today is my last day as the Historical Society moves in a new direction. Take care, everyone, and be safe and well! <3 Caryl Hopson See more

Good Monday Morning! To start your week off, here's a Crossword Puzzle on some more Memorable People who lived in Herkimer County - there are so many! Enjoy your week - sunshine is ahead - and stay safe and well!

HALLOWEEN PHOTO OF THE DAY - A CURSED HOUSE. Another showplace of Herkimer once upon a time, this two-story brick house on West German Street was built about 1859 by George W. Pine (1820-1908) for his Indian bride Lucy de Ferriere. There is a legend that was told - Lucy, on her death bed, warned her husband never to marry again and laid a curse on him if he should fail to heed her warning. His wife of 12 years died on June 22, 1855 at the age of 36. George threw himself into... the local politics, becoming its president in 1856-58 and helping develop the village with new streets, homes and businesses along the Hydraulic Canal. He took a time to go out west by stagecoach in the early 1860s and wrote a book "Beyond The West." And yes, he did remarry in 1872 to Caroline Jackson. The only reference we found about that legend is from a Paul Draheim article on the history of the home. He notes that Mrs. Pine was only part Indian, her father being Colonel de Ferriere. We can only find a notice of her death in the "Herkimer Democrat" in 1855. George lived to the age of 88 and his wife Caroline (Carrie), who was a widower herself (previously married to Dr. Charles Benjamin of Cold Brook), died in 1904. Did Lucy's curse follow him through his life after his marriage to Carrie? We'll never know. It's certainly a beautiful home with an interesting history - and we don't think that's a curse at all.

The photograph was posted the other day on FB. We were wondering the connection to Shoemaker and the rest of the photographs of unidentified people. Through extensive research I found the answer. John H. Nelson lived at 221 East Smith Street, Herkimer, his daughter Annis (that is her correct name) married Lucius Shoemaker who was the grandson of Christian Shoemaker 1799-1887 and Gertrude Charity Snell Shoemaker 1809-1890. They are the ones that buried at Fort Herkimer Church Cemetery.

Join in this evening to learn more about the "Herkimer 9" Project in Herkimer live on Facebook at 7:29 p.m. We'll be there!

LET'S PLAY DRESS UP! On November 19, 1909, the children in the Herkimer Reformed Church dressed up for a "Tom Thumb Wedding." All the parts from the "grave minister to the society bud were impersonated by little folks," according to the Ilion Citizen. The cast was as follows: Bride, Marion Field; groom, Marhlon Snell; mother, Florence Conklin; father, Andrew Boardman; best man, John Davis; maid of honor, Fernabelle Brandow; bridesmaids, Margaret Crandall, Azalea Peck, Marion... Morris, Dorcas Reed; ushers, Lambert Anderson, Frank Tinker, Charles Crandall, francis Adams; clergyman, Walter Wood; guests, Myrtle Peterson, Lillian Shippengrover, Emily Hane, Reba Potter, Gretchen Haller, Marion Bodenstein, Aileen Ray, Maria Huffert, Merton Wood, George Longstaff, Owen Judson, Raymond Bodenstein, Maynard Morris, Dowell Slocum, Mildred Bodenstine, Evans, Hunt, Zintsmeister, Margaret Piper, Marion Piper. Miss Marion Haller, pianist and Charlotte Tinker, violinist, composed the orchestra. A Tom Thumb wedding or miniature wedding is a pageant where children act out the marriage ceremony. They were popular in the early 1900s, inspired by the 1863 wedding of General Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton), a dwarf in P. T. Barnum’s circus, and Lavinia Warren.