July 1991

About this Issue

Note from the Editors

Barbara Bell, the Schuyler County Historian, begins this issue with an article about Irelandville, one of the earliest settlements along the west side of Seneca Lake. Some of the old buildings remain, but transformed from stores into houses, or standing empty. Mrs. Bell lives in Irelandville and has first-hand experience with events of the recent past, as well as historical knowledge from her study of Irelandville's early times. Her property has a deed from the Ireland family.

Alfred G. Hilbert tells the story of the famed "Forbidden Trail" of the Senecas. Mr. Hilbert is staff historian for the Chemung County Historical Society. He has spoken before many groups on the history of New York State, particularly about the Indians who were here before the Europeans came into this country.

Robert Koch writes about the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794. Professor Koch who lives in Pittsford, New York, broadcasts three times a week on WXXI-FM in Rochester. He can be heard at 7:45 on Tuesday mornings, 7:15 on Thursdays, and at 9:30 on Saturday mornings.

Last month, we began a series about a group of young men camping on the east shore of Keuka Lake in the summer of 1870. We continue the selections from Will Gerity's diary of their vacationing days, complete with menus for nearly every meal they ate. Herbert Wisbey, Jr. edited Gerity's diary to make it easily readable. Professor Wisbey taught at Keuka College, Corning Community College, and at Elmira College. He spends summers at his cottage on Keuka Lake.

This month Ed Harris tells us about two of his early job experiences. Ed Harris grew up in Dundee, once called Harpending's Corners, the name of his book. He now lives in Rochester.

Our issue concludes with another chapter from Caroline Kirkland's 1839 book, A New Home. Mrs. Kirkland's book brought her acclaim and recognition by the famous writers of the time, both in this country and abroad, yet by the time of her death in 1864 her realistic and sensitive writing was losing favor to the fussy style and pretense of the Victorian writers.

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