A feature interview with: CULLIE MOWERS,

PRIEST & ORGAN RESTORER

Paulette Likoudis

Christmas is perhaps the most prominent time of year for Cullie Mowerspipe organs to raise their voices to the heavens. Although not all pipe organs are found in churches, their vital role in sacred music throughout the ages is undeniable.

COLONIAL DAMES MEMBER RECALLS SARAH TOWNSEND

 

The Winter 2005 edition of The Record featured a cover photo of an unidentified woman holding a cat. Several readers thought they recognized the woman, but there has been no positive identification.Colonial Dames

Play BallBy Paulette Likoudis

Documentation of the days when Lodi had a baseball field is hard to come by, but the memories of the players and the fans are as vivid as can be.

Fran Steverson (70) and Jim Covert (68) played ball on the Lodi town team when they were teenagers attending the Ovid Central School. The playing field was located in what is now a cornfield to the north of Alta Boyer’s home.

unknownSOFT MOMENT IN A HARD LIFE? This undated photo of an unidentified woman and her cat was among numerous photos found in a barn on the John C. Townsend farm, now the location of Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine on Rt. 414 at Upper Lake Road. Unlike most of the professionally produced, matted photos in the collection, this one was wrinkled and torn. Does anyone know who she is? (photo courtesy of Gayle Hatch) (featured on the cover of the Winter 2005 issue of The Rec

School Picnic, Summer 2004 cover of the RecordSchool’s Out! This truck was packed with students who traveled from the Caywood School to Taughannock State Park for a school picnic on June 16, 1939. The one-room 24’ x 40’ wooden schoolhouse, still standing on County Rt. 137, operated for 114 years, and was “the last of its type in South Seneca County,” according to a Geneva Times article by Elizabeth McElroy, dated June 18, 1959.

Lodi Town TruckSTATE OF THE ART 1925 – The man in this 1925 photo of a Town of Lodi truck with hoist is believed to be John T. Rallings. An early 1960s edition of the Ovid Gazette featured this photo and another of Rallings seated on the running board of a truck bought by the town in 1919. The caption states that Rallings — well-known for his photography — drove both “service vehicles” for Lodi and that he posed for the picture he took of himself with the 1919 truck. It is likely he did the same in this photo.

BACK TO SCHOOL – The 1923-24 sophomore class of the Lodi High School on W. Seneca Street was dressed in their Sunday best with hair combed neatly in place for this picture taken by photographer J.H. Kibler of Syracuse. Back row: John Wright, Ray Newkirk, Grant Newkirk. Middle row: Lynn LaM1923 Sophomore class Lodi High Schooloreaux, Mary Huff, Carrie Wiley Halsey, Alice Covert Wyckoff, Betty Voorhees Hazlett, Ben Birge, Earl Shannon.

Summer on SenecaSUMMER ON SENECA – Society member and gifted artist Floyd Covert worked from a postcard to create this painting of boathouses that once stood at the northern end of Seneca Lake near Geneva. It was given as a gift to Lodi Historical Society president Carolyn Zogg and now hangs in her home. Floyd was born in 1932 and passed away in early 2006, after a long battle with cancer. His extensive works are known for their vibrant colors and seasonal realism. (photo courtesy of Carolyn Zogg)

By Paulette Likoudis

 

As summer's haying season began, Lodi Historical Society trustee Bill Gates and his wife, Renee, did not have that activity on their to-do list this year. At their historic Long Lane Farm, the couple were preparing for a move to Virginia, loading boxes and not hay wagons.

 

For a number of years, Amish in the area have gone to the door of the Gates home, asking to buy the property if it were ever for sale. But before the for-sale sign went up, the 85-acre farm on Rt. 96A was first shown to a couple renting the historic Keady Farm in Lodi.

By Walt Gable

 

"Underground Railroad" refers to the effort of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom by escaping bondage. It was neither "underground" nor a "railroad" but rather a loosely constructed network of escape routes that originated in the upper South, intertwined throughout the North, and eventually ended in Canada. It also included escape routes from the Deep South into the western territories, Mexico and the Caribbean. Anna Scott: click to enlargeCora Scott: click to enlargeMost "freedom seekers" (fugitive slaves) began their journey unaided, either alone or in small groups, and were frequently assisted by African American and white "agents" who risked their lives and property to allow their homes or barns to be "safe houses" ("stations") en route or to physically escort or transport them (as "conductors") to their next stop. These agents usually hid or destroyed their personal journals to protect themselves and the runaways. This clandestine nature of the Underground Railroad helps to explain why today it is so difficult to learn much of the details. Evidence is unclear as to when the Underground Railroad began. One of the earliest recorded "organized" escapes may have occurred in 1786 when Quakers in Philadelphia assisted a group of refugees from Virginia to freedom. Freedom seekers had little food or clothing and normally walked at nightfall and rested/hid during the daytime. The North Star would help them follow a basically northward path. They could also look for tree moss, which grew on the north side of tree trunks.They relied on use of back roads, waterways, mountains, swamps, forests, and fields to escape. Later in their trek north, they could sometimes travel by wagon, steamship, boat, and even train. Escape sometimes entailed disguises, such as females dressed as males.Underground Railroad activity flourished during the 1840s as antislavery sentiment deepened due to the federal government's failure to settle the slavery controversy. Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 that included a stronger Fugitive Slave Law, requiring that federal and state officials as well as private citizens assist in the capture of runaway slaves. Many freedom seekers living in northern communities for years then feared for their lives.While the Civil War captured the attention of the country, Underground Railroad activity continued as thousands of enslaved African Americans deserted plantations and cities and took refuge within Union lines. Following the war, the necessity for Underground Railroad activities ceased when the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially liberated more than 4 million enslaved African Americans.(The above is an excerpt of the original column provide by Seneca County Historian Walt Gable.)

THE PETER LOTT HOUSE

By Alta E. BoyerPeter Lott house c. 1900: click to enlarge

The large Greek Revival house located at Orchard and Main Streets in Lodi has been a local landmark - historically and architecturally - since it was built in 1810. This survey of the house and its owners is based on records, personal documents and interviews with former residents. Dates are accurate, or closely estimated. This article has been written in the hope that this significant house will be rescued and made useful for the future.

Stephen Wagner: Caywood Antiques owner Stephen Wagner uses a jeweler's loupe for close examination.Feature Interview With Stephen Wagner

By Paulette Likoudis

"People buy back their childhoods, they say - anything that rings the nostalgia bell," explains Stephen Wagner, owner of Caywood Antiques. If that is the case, there is surely something to ring everyone's bell at Wagner's store of treasures. It may be the place to find that one-of-a-kind gift for the history lover on your list.