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The Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee announces plans for the 20th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend to be held on June 9 and 10, 2012. The annual event coincides with the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War commemorated throughout the nation. Peterboro had a pivotal role in the ignition of the Civil War because of Gerrit Smith, who was an influential leader in anti-slavery efforts – a movement that led to the Civil War. Smith’s support of John Brown caused a direct ignition of the Civil War.

For two decades the Peterboro encampment has demonstrated many aspects of military and civilian life in the mid-1800s. In recent years exhibits and programs on abolition and the Underground Railroad have been added. The committee plans to develop more programs in 2012 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

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A great day for golf here in Madison County.  Weather today looks like it is headed for the low to mid 80's.  Summertime is such a nice reward for our sometimes brutal winters.  There are a few links and stories out there this morning to share with you, so without further ado, here we go:

A good story and some nice video of the Peterboro Civil War Weekend (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
The Madison County Courier is celebrating local business this week (Madison County Courier)
The Barnwell County, SC paper has a blurb about local residents who attended Oz-Stravaganza! in Chittenango (The People Sentinel)
I Love NY wants to know what your summer vacation plans are (I Love NY Facebook Page)
The Chittenango Rotary will be hosting a Brazilian Dinner (Madison County Courier)
Boxing Hall of Famer Larry Holmes will get his diploma (The Morning Call)
Plans continue for 40th annual antique show (Auction Central News)
The Red House will be performing Shakespeare in the park Sunday in Cazenovia. (syracuse.com)

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A golf foursome with Karl Slover.
We going to try a little something new at the blog this summer.  With so many great events, and so many news stories out there, we are going to open the week with a link dump of all sorts of information.  This may happen once a week, it may happen every day, but we will start with today.  A lot of great links in the great big internet involving Madison County today from this past weekend.  Enjoy!
Oz-Stravaganza! takes over Chittenango (Syracuse Post Standard)
Mike Tyson Set to be inducted to Boxing Hall of Fame (NY Daily News)
Civil War Commemorations Come to Madison County (Syracuse Post Standard)
Bouckville Show to Last One Week (Utica Observer Dispatch)
Fiber Fair this Weekend (Syracuse Post Standard)
Children Channel Wizard of Oz (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
Fiber Fair in Bouckville (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
Reenactments Commemorate Civil War (syracuse.com)
Stallone and his Induction to the Boxing Hall (examiner.com)
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In its nineteenth year of bringing the mid-19th Century to life for a weekend, this year the annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend adds programs that observe the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. At noon on Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, Jack Baylis as Abraham Lincoln shares the new president’s situation in 1861. An exhibit on the U.S. Sanitary Commission, which formed in 1861, will be on display both days of the weekend.  Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. the 77th NY Regimental Balladeers present a concert of Civil War Sesquicentennial history in song and verse, The Spirit of the Sixties: Answering Lincoln’s Call.” The Balladeers also provide programs at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm on Saturday.

On both days of the weekend event, Bill Mayers demonstrates Civil War Medicine at 11:30 am at the Union Medical camp, Matthew Urtz presents on Gerrit Smith, John Brown and the Secret Six at noon, Privates Rawlins and Whitford march children through military drills at 12:30 pm, Town Historian Donna Burdick and Peterboro Area Museum President Beth Spokowsky guide a walking tour of Peterboro at 12:30 pm, sutler Terry Jordan demonstrates the latest 1860s fashions at the Barrancas Mercantile, and the Confederate and Union troops skirmish at 2:00 pm.

Sunday, June 12 opens with a military church service.  At 1 and 3 o’clock the Irish Volunteers play Civil War tunes.  The mystery of a famous painting of John Brown is unraveled by Warren Broderick at 1 pm on Sunday.
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In 1857 an obscure portrait painter named Louis Ransom opened a studio on busy Genesee Street in downtown Utica.  Three years later Ransom would stun his friends and others from Central New York when he completed his life-sized and life-like depiction of John Brown being led to the gallows. Warren F. Broderick, Archivist Emeritus New York State Archives, will present an illustrated program on Ransom and his famous painting at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 12 at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY during the 19th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend.

The landmark depiction of Brown on the Charlestown court house steps became the favorite image of Brown among abolitionists, in part because of Ransom’s controversial inclusion of Brown “kissing the Negro baby.”  The painting’s history following its completion was most noteworthy.  Its brief exhibition by P.T. Barnum in New York City in 1863 led in part to the onset of the infamous draft riots.  The scene on the court house steps in 1859 is now known primarily from two lithographed versions of this painting created by the firm of Currier and Ives.  The monumental painting itself received shabby treatment from Oberlin College and is believed to have been destroyed.
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1861 marked the beginning of the American Civil War. The 19th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee plans to include programs that reflect the 150th anniversary of that conflict. Among the plans in the works: President Lincoln will share his thoughts and feelings upon his March 4 inauguration, a relative of Edmund Ruffin (the man who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter) will share that history, and the Saturday evening concert will include references to 1861. The annual event will be held in Peterboro Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, 2011.

Peterboro Civil War Weekend is an educational and fundraising event sponsored by the Town of Smithfield, the Smithfield Community Association, and private donors. Proceeds from the event support the preservation and promotion of the heritage of the Town of Smithfield. During the event Peterboro relives the period of the mid 1800s when the hamlet held national recognition because of Gerrit Smith’s Underground Railroad station, the visitations of famous abolitionists, and the connection with John Brown that sparked the War Between the States. Peterboro sites are on the Heritage NY Underground Railroad Trail and on the National Park Service Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Trail. Saturday June 11 hours for the event are 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, June 12 from 10 am to 4 pm.  Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for ages 6 – 12, and free for children under 6. Admission to the to the special Civil War concert at 8 p.m. may be paid at the door.  Parking is free. For more information contact 315-684-9022 and www.sca-peterboro.org

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