It was an ordinary Saturday when seventeen-year-old Anna Schumacher asked her mother for permission to visit her father’s and sister’s graves on August 7, 1909. The young woman wanted to … Continue reading Crime Along the Genesee: Murder in the Cemetery
Part Two The first-person accounts from the diaries of officers with General Sullivan give us a front-row seat to the gruesome scenes these men found as they advanced to Little … Continue reading In the Line of Duty: Lieutenant Thomas Boyd and Sergeant Michael Parker
Part One If you’re familiar with the drive on NYS Route 39 between Perry and Geneseo, you’ll know about the Boyd-Parker Park just outside of Cuylerville on the south side … Continue reading In the Line of Duty: Lieutenant Thomas Boyd and Sergeant Michael Parker
Early in the 19th century, as villages dotted the landscape along the Genesee River and Western New York, churches sprang up, and residents organized according to Protestant doctrinal persuasions—Presbyterian, Baptist, … Continue reading Scales, Shape Notes, and Singing Schools
As history bears out, one of the greatest motives for murder begins with an extra-marital affair. This was the case in the murder of Leman Bradley Withey of Avon, New … Continue reading CRIME ALONG THE GENESEE: THE MURDER OF LEMAN BRADLEY WITHEY
For history researchers, personal letters and diaries can be treasure troves of information, not only about the person you’re researching but also about the time period in which they lived. … Continue reading The Letter Mystery
After the departure of the Johnson family from Hornby Lodge somewhere between 1844 and 1845, the owner, Colonel George Williams, bought out the remaining lease from Elisha Johnson. Williams then … Continue reading Ambition by Design: The Life of Elisha Johnson Part Two
Part One When the Genesee River Valley opened for settlement in the early 1800s, it was driven primarily by the Holland Land Company, a group of Dutch investors and banks. … Continue reading Ambition by Design: The Life of Elisha Johnson
Before Major Van Campen’s discharge from the army, he had one more significant encounter as an American soldier. In late summer of 1783, as he scouted the woodland trails in … Continue reading Moses Van Campen, Part III – Marriage, Family, & Public Service
PART TWO – Moses Van Campen could not finish the final weeks of Sullivan’s Campaign, which ended in October 1779. He was sent home to recover from “camp fever” in … Continue reading VAN CAMPEN FAMILY TRAGEDY AND PRISONER OF WAR
Along the Genesee 