December 1991

About this Issue

Note from the Editors

Our issue begins with two stories about Christmas. The first is Christmas in 19th Century Rochester by Robert Koch. Professor Koch tells about everyday winter-time life and holiday festivities in Rochester's early years. You can hear Robert Koch 3 times a week on WXXI radio. He broadcasts arts and cultural interviews Tuesday mornings at 7:45 and Thursday mornings at 7:15 on a series he began 15 years ago titled The Best is Yet. For the last four years he has presented talks on history at 9:30 on Saturday mornings.

Our second Christmas story is No Pocket from the December 1876 issue of St. Nicholas magazine written by Sarah Winter Kellogg.

John McMath recalls the day in 1897 when the trolley line between Penn Yan and Branchport opened. He didn't go to school that day but rode his bicycle to Branchport for the celebration. In a contest there he caught a greased pig and then had the problem of getting him home to Penn Yan and explaining to his parents how he came to get his pig.

Robert McNamara presents the second installment of his account of the Irish Brigade and Edmund O'Dwyer. Rev. McNamara lives in Rochester. He is the author of many published articles and books, including the social history of St. Mary's parish in Corning, A Century of Grace.

Ed Harris give us another real-life episode from the years when he lived with his young family in East Rochester and worked at Despatch Shops. Ed has a marvelous memory for names and incidents.

We conclude this issue with another chapter from Caroline Kirkland's A New Home. This time Mrs. Kirkland describes a political personality of her time.

The Crooked Lake Review is now distributed to all the libraries in the Pioneer Library System, which covers Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, and Wyoming counties, and all of the libraries in the Southern Tier Library System, which covers Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, and Yates counties.

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