The holiday spirit and sounds of Christmas at Lorenzo will once again be filling the air in Cazenovia this year beginning on Friday, December 10 from 7-9 pm for Christmas by Candlelight, and run through Saturday and Sunday, December 11 and 12 from 1-4 pm each afternoon.  Horse-drawn sleigh rides (weather dependent) by Lamplit Farms will be available throughout the three-day program, and round-trip rides to the Rippleton Schoolhouse will also be featured during Sunday hours when 19th C crafts, refreshments and live music will be presented in this c. 1814 setting.    
With generous program support from The Friends of Lorenzo--and the artistry of volunteer decorators--the neoclassical mansion will be abounding in festive decorations throughout. And in the spirit of giving, more than 25 volunteer docents will be assisting staff with tours and Father Christmas will once again greet patrons and invite them to enjoy spirited refreshment and decorations. A favorite among visitors, wassail will be served in the kitchen each day, and an array of holiday sweets from local restaurants will also be offered. Another special feature of Christmas at Lorenzo this year will include the opportunity to purchase vintage-style photographs of patrons by Victorian Whispers during Saturday and Sunday hours. Proceeds from the sale of distinctive gifts and seasonal items from the Lorenzo gift shop will help to support future programs and projects at Lorenzo.
Friday evening’s Christmas by Candlelight will feature the Belle Aire Handbell Trio ringing in the holidays; the John Rohde Jazz Trio will delight visitors with American holiday standards on Saturday; and the Bells and Motley Consort will offer the sounds of a “Merry Olde Christmas” on Sunday. A modest admission price is charged for a holiday visit to Lorenzo. By advance reservation, groups of 12 or more will also be welcomed for guided tours during available weekdays. For more information about Christmas at Lorenzo from December 10-12, or advance registration tours during December, please call (315) 655-3200 or visit www.lorenzoNY.org
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This past weekend, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum and the Smithfield Community Association hosted a three-day event in Peterboro, NY commemorating the 175th Anniversary of the Inaugural Meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society.  Over the course of the festivities, two leaders of the American abolitionist movement, Lewis Tappan and Theodore Dwight Weld, were inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame.  Ribbon cutting ceremonies also celebrated the selection of two sites in Peterboro, the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the Smithfield Community Center, as New York State Heritage New York Underground Railroad Trail Sites.

Other commemorative events included a dramatic re-creation of the Utica Riots and the Inaugural Meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society, written and directed by Hugh C. Humphreys; the annual dinner of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, which preceded the induction ceremonies of Tappan and Weld and included a keynote address by Dr. Milton C. Sernett, professor emeritus of History at Syracuse University and a noted authority on the antislavery movement in upstate New York, and a ribbon cutting ceremony that included Civil War Reenactors and members of the Smithfield Community Association dressed in full period dress, and speeches by local and state officials and politicians.

The Saturday afternoon lecture by Milton C. Sernett, “North Star Shining: New York State’s Freedom Trail – An Illustrated Journey along the Underground Railroad,” was presented as a Speaker in the Humanities event underwritten by the New York Council for the Humanities.  Dr. Sernett’s lecture, which included a PowerPoint presentation of photographs and illustrations, summarized the historiography of the Underground Railroad from early works like William Stills’ The Underground Rail Road (1872) and Wilbur Henry Siebert’s 1898 study, The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom, to recent works like Fergus M. Bordewich’s Bound for Canaan (2006). The heart of Dr. Sernett’s presentation outlined the efforts of a small number of professional and local historians to reconstruct the history of the Underground Railroad in upstate New York, and bring to light the efforts of the many heroic New York State citizens who conducted runaway slaves north to Canada and freedom.
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The Canastota Canal Town Corporation located at 110 Canal St. Canastota, NY, is very excited about the latest addition of a Watson Wagon to the extensive collection of items already displayed.  Watson Wagons were manufactured in Canastota in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.  The wagon purchased from a private party in Meadville, PA, is temporarily stored at Kime¹s Do It Best Hardware and has generated quite a lot of interest from customers as they visit the store.

Please help the community celebrate this magnificent addition by joining us on Halloween Sunday, Oct. 31st for coffee, cider and donuts from 1:00-3:00 PM at 500 South Main St. in Canastota.  There will be opportunities to ask questions and to take pictures with children on or near the wagon with its team of mules.  Also, if children of any age under 100 would like, they can bring their own wagon for others to observe.
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In 1998 the Governor of New York created Heritage NY Trails to increase recognition of New York State’s rich history and to boost heritage tourism. The second trail, the NYS Underground Railroad Trail, developed in three stages: designation, site development, and site interpretation. 26 sites became part of the UGRR Trail. At 11:00 a.m. Sunday, October 24 two sites on the trail will celebrate the completion of the three stages with people and agencies who assisted the accomplishments.  Cordell Reaves, Historic Preservation Program Analyst, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, will describe the Underground Railroad Project. Following a presentation of the colors by the 12th U.S. Infantry Co. A (Reenactors), Steve Joeckel, President of the Smithfield Community Association, and Rick Bargabos, Town of Smithfield Supervisor, will welcome those in attendance to Peterboro and the special occasion. John Reinhardt, Board of Madison County Supervisors, and Matthew Urtz, Madison County Historian, will describe the county’s role and value of the project. Assemblyman Bill Magee and Senator Dave Valesky will present a legislative citation for the eventful weekend. Ivy Biswas, representing the Central New York Community Foundation, will describe the PACE grant received by the Smithfield Community Association. Max Smith, a Steward of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will sing songs of patriotism, slavery, and freedom.  After the symbolic ribbon cutting, CNY Bounty will provide refreshments from local producers.
Following the ribbon cutting there will be open houses and tour. The exhibits at the Smithfield Community Center will remain open hosted by members of the Cabinet of Freedom for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. Stewards at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will be at The Lodge / Visitor Center, The Barn, and The Land Office. Beth Spokowsky, President of the Peterboro Area Museum, will conduct a tour of the Gerrit Smith Estate at 1:00 p.m. and Norm Dann, Gerrit Smith biographer, will conduct a tour at 2:00.  Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian, will also host the Peterboro Area Museum until 4:00 p.m.
The public is encouraged to attend – and to wear mid 19th Century clothing if inclined. All events, programs, exhibit, and refreshments are free.
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The Oneida Community Mansion House invites the public to the opening of “Oneida Community Women in the Material World” from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, October 22.

  The exhibit, curated by Tony Wonderley, OCMH Curator of Collections and Interpretation, features objects expressive of those who created or used them.  On display are products of communal needlework including children's apparel and a reform dress, the probable precursor of the Bloomer costume worn by early advocates of Women's Rights.  The quilting materials include a quilt (the "Second Best") not seen for many years.  Also on view are artifacts of two silk thread industries: "machine twist," thread for sewing machines made by factory employees and thread for hand-sewing made by Community women in their home, the Mansion House.  There are several examples of miniature bureaus, the Oneida Community's distinctive cabinet furniture made to hold a woman's personal belongings.

The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the building houses a museum with permanent and changing exhibitions, residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  Guided tours are available Wed. through Sat., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. for a nominal fee.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org. 



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October 22, 1835 may be the date that determined that Central New York would become the epicenter of 19th Century abolition activities.  When a Utica mob forced abolitionists to leave that city in order to organize a state anti-slavery organization, Peterboro became, not only the 1835 “capital city” of New York abolition, but a haven for freedom seekers and abolitionists dueto the galvanizing of Gerrit Smith’s commitment to immediate abolition.
In commemoration of that historic event 175 years ago, retired Madison County Judge and playwright laureate Hugh C. Humphreys has written a dramatic re-creation of two days in late October 1835 recounting the violent Utica mobs that forced state abolitionists to move their inaugural meeting to Peterboro.  With Morrisville-Eaton Central School elementary teacher Carrie Martin as production manager, the dramatic readings will be staged at the Smithfield Community Center in the upstairs assembly hall. Owned by the Town of Smithfield, the Community Center has been renovated upstairs with grants from the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and a legislative grant from Assemblyman Bill Magee. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum exhibits and offices are located in this restored area.
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On Sunday, October 10 from 1-3 pm, the Madison County Historical Society will mark the opening of the exhibit titled,  "Education in Madison County: one room schoolhouses, academies, and seminaries,” by hosting a presentation by Mary Jeanne Bialas. Mary Jeanne will will take us back in time of slate boards and the three R's. 

The public is cordially invited to attend the new exhibition and program on October 10 free of charge. Mary Jeanne's program will start promptly at 1 pm, so don't be late. Viewing of the exhibit will follow the program. Remarks on the exhibit will be made by Sandy Wilsey, member of the society’s collection committee. The society is asking patrons attending to donate a school item that will be given to the district schools to disburse among those students in need of school supplies. Refreshments will be served. For more information call 315-363-4136, or 315-361-9735, or stop by the Madison County Historical Society at 435 Main Street in Oneida.
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On October 21, 1835, an angry crowd surrounded the Bleecker Street Second Presbyterian Church in Utica NY. Inside over six hundred brave abolitionists had gathered to organize an anti-slavery society and to join others throughout the North to demand the end of slavery in the United States. Soon after the convention began, a dozen men broke into the church, marched down the aisle and commanded the meeting to adjourn. The shouts of the mob outside the church supported Beardsley’s threats. Gerrit Smith rose from the pews and promised that the abolitionists could meet peacefully the next day in Peterboro. Through the night 400 undaunted abolition delegates ignored the dangers and braved the mobs to get to Peterboro the next day where they were welcomed with safety and breakfast by local residents. And that day, October 22, 1835, at 11:00 a.m. the abolitionists met in the Peterboro Presbyterian Church and formed the New York State Anti-Slavery Society.
October 22-24, 2010 Peterboro will once again welcome people to the Presbyterian Church which is now the Smithfield Community Center. In that building, on Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m., retired Madison County Judge Hugh C. Humphreys, assisted by Carrie Martin, will direct a dramatic re-creation of the Utica riots and the inaugural meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. All are encouraged to travel to Peterboro in the spirit of 1835 to the free program.
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“Come put on a clean shirt and come along with us. We have begun the grandest revolution the world has ever seen: and if we do not die, we mean to see that revolution accomplished, and our land free from the tread and fetter of the slave.”
So said James Caleb Jackson to people he passed as he and 99 other abolitionists walked from Canastota to Peterboro in the night of October 21, 1835 to escape the Utica mobs preventing an anti-slavery assembly. 600 delegates at the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church were ousted by threats of violence and made their way by foot, horse, carriage, and boat to get to Peterboro the next day to form the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. Jackson described the activity at the Gerrit Smith home in Peterboro that night in preparation for the arrival of delegates in the morning: They spent the night “mixing bread, grinding coffee, paring apples for pies, baking rolls and providing the other necessaries of hospitality.”
Peterboro invites all to “Come put on a clean shirt” and join in the commemoration of that October 22, 1835 event during the weekend of October 22 – 24 when Peterboro will once again welcome people to the Presbyterian Church which is now the Smithfield Community Center. In that building, on Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m., retired Madison County Judge Hugh C. Humphreys, assisted by Carrie Martin, will direct a dramatic re-creation of the Utica riots and the inaugural meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. Program and refreshments are free.
At 11:00 on Sunday, October 24 at that historic building, citizens and dignitaries will convene for the official opening of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the Smithfield Community Center as two of the twenty-six sites on the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Exhibits at both sites will be open after the ribbon cutting. CNY Bounty will provide local refreshments. The program, exhibits and refreshments are free.
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Susan B. Anthony will be the keynote speaker at the In the Kitchen Tea at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, September 26 at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro NY when, once again, the Smithfield Community Center is turned into a lovely tea room. The occasion is catered by The Copper Turret of Morrisville with special menu considerations of Miller’s 1875 In the Kitchen cookbook  The annual tea celebrates Elizabeth Smith Miller, her birthday, the creation of her trouser outfit, and the 19th C. women’s reform movement. Attendees are encouraged to wear mid-19th Century styles – especially bloomers.
This year the tea welcomes Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights colleague and friend of Miller and her cousin Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Anthony was a visitor to the Gerrit Smith Estate in Peterboro in the 1800s. Barbara Blaisdell of Rochester NY will portray Anthony, as she has done at the Women’s Rights National Park in Seneca Falls and at the Susan B. Anthony house in Rochester.
Special tea themed charms will be available for auction to support the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark. The highest bidder will receive a silver bracelet, a matching set of earrings, and the first pick on the charm board.
Reservations for the third annual Elizabeth Smith Miller In the Kitchen Tea can be made online at www.inthekichentea.com. The website for the tea has information on Elizabeth Smith Miller, past events, and a link to PayPal for reservations. Seating for the tea is limited, and reserved on a first-come first-served basis. Forty dollar reservations are due by September 17.
The tea for Miller is one of a series of programs provided by the Stewards for the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark during 2010 and partially supported by a PACE grant from the Central New York Community Foundation. The Estate is on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and the Heritage NY Underground Railroad Trail as part of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. For a hard copy invitation, send mailing address to info@inthekitchentea.com or to Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, P.O. Box 6, Peterboro NY 13134. Checks payable to Smithfield Community Association / GSENHL. For more information contact 315-546-5583. For a complete listing of programs, contact  SmithfieldCommunityAssociation@centralny.twcbc.com, 315-684-1058, and www.sca-peterboro.com

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