This month’s story is a personal one and part of my maternal grandmother’s family history, dating back almost 100 years to the time of the Great Depression. It’s a story … Continue reading The Noted Musicians of Castile
This month’s story is a personal one and part of my maternal grandmother’s family history, dating back almost 100 years to the time of the Great Depression. It’s a story … Continue reading The Noted Musicians of Castile
Just mentioning the word “stagecoach” likely conjures up images of vintage western movies featuring desperate gangs of robbers holding up passengers, or a high-speed chase across the desert with Indians … Continue reading Riding the Stagecoach Along the Genesee
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
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
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
The Castile Sanitarium, which drove the economy of the Village of Castile for more than 60 years, hosted a long line of remarkable women over its storied history. Besides Frances … Continue reading Letters, Conversation, and Flowers – The Life and Legacy of Frances Bennett Callaway
Marcena Sherman Ricker, M.D. was one of four well-known women doctors from the Castile area leading the way in the care of women and children in the late 1800s. Dr. … Continue reading Marcena Sherman Ricker, M.D. Personal Physician to Susan B. Anthony
One of William P. Letchworth’s final requests was for his longtime secretary, librarian, and executive assistant, Caroline Bishop, to become the first superintendent of Letchworth State Park, which was honored … Continue reading Caroline Bishop, Letchworth State Park’s First Superintendent
One of the Genesee Country’s finest artists grew up just outside the Village of Perry on Suckerbrook Road. If you take a drive out that way, you’ll find a historical … Continue reading Lemuel M. Wiles, Genesee Country Artist
Tucked along the shady banks of Wolf Creek in the village of Castile were the homes of two pairs of sisters—Annie and Jennie Myers and Frances and Jane Judson. Extraordinarily, … Continue reading Brush Strokes from the Past