JCP
04-04-2006, 11:43 PM
Meeting Minutes* from the Guilford Historical Society
Date: Monday, April 3rd, 2006
Historian’s Report: (Tom) GHS has received the official deed to the Roots Corners School House.
GHS has received a grant of $500 from The Chenango County Council of the Arts to finance the multi-media presentation “Murder in the Adirondacks, a lecture” to be given by Craig Brandon, author of
Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited.
The presentation is part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the murder of Grace Brown, of Otselic, by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. This event was the basis of Theodore Dreiser’s novel An American Tragedy which was subsequently made into two movies in 1931 and 1951. The Craig Brandon presentation will be given Sunday, September 17, 2006 at the Chenango County Museum in Norwich.
Tom is continuing to work on the history of Rockwell’s Mills and the associated family. Information has been coming in from a variety of sources. Learnings will be reported at a future meeting.
Roots Corners’ Schoolhouse Committee: (Ken) A picture of the schoolhouse has still not been found. As a result of a news article written about the schoolhouse, Ken was contacted by Don Paukett of Greene who indicated that he had found a Bible from about 1860 when tearing an old house down. Mentioned in the information found in the Bible was the fact that the man who owned it had at one time been a teacher in the Roots Corners’ Schoolhouse. Efforts are currently ongoing to obtain a copy of the transcription of the Bible information.
Technology Committee: Scott reported that he has been transferring to current format a set of interview tapes done with persons associated with the story of Grace Brown. The interviews contain some information which may possibly be unavailable anywhere else, and it’s hoped that collection will be put to good use.
Presentation “The Ax Murder of Sarah Fitch:” Several members of GHS (Wilma, Tom, Pat, Sharon) presented various aspects of the story of the murder of Sarah Mead Fitch by John P. Hall in December 1874 in Guilford Center. Meeting attendees also participated in the presentation by taking roles of the various witnesses who testified at the sanity trial of John P. Hall, reading actual testimony from the transcript of the 1875 trial.
*These notes have been edited.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30. Minutes submitted by Sharon Donahe.
Work on the History of Rockwell Mills has uncovered new information related to the families and mill sites.
Caption 1: Newly uncovered photo of the woollen mill of Rockwell Mills.
Caption 2: The crowd at the 4/3/06 meeting, one of the largest the GHS has ever had!
Next month's meeting will feature the Diary's of Orra Parker-the first station agent's son at Parker Station which is full of mystery, sorrow, money, and intrigue as we find a way to read between the lines.
For more information on what you've missed or if you're interesting in getting involved with this very active Historical Society, contact
Tom and Wilma Gray, Guilford Historical Society, P. O. Box 201, Guilford, NY 13780
tgray@mkl.com
Date: Monday, April 3rd, 2006
Historian’s Report: (Tom) GHS has received the official deed to the Roots Corners School House.
GHS has received a grant of $500 from The Chenango County Council of the Arts to finance the multi-media presentation “Murder in the Adirondacks, a lecture” to be given by Craig Brandon, author of
Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited.
The presentation is part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the murder of Grace Brown, of Otselic, by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. This event was the basis of Theodore Dreiser’s novel An American Tragedy which was subsequently made into two movies in 1931 and 1951. The Craig Brandon presentation will be given Sunday, September 17, 2006 at the Chenango County Museum in Norwich.
Tom is continuing to work on the history of Rockwell’s Mills and the associated family. Information has been coming in from a variety of sources. Learnings will be reported at a future meeting.
Roots Corners’ Schoolhouse Committee: (Ken) A picture of the schoolhouse has still not been found. As a result of a news article written about the schoolhouse, Ken was contacted by Don Paukett of Greene who indicated that he had found a Bible from about 1860 when tearing an old house down. Mentioned in the information found in the Bible was the fact that the man who owned it had at one time been a teacher in the Roots Corners’ Schoolhouse. Efforts are currently ongoing to obtain a copy of the transcription of the Bible information.
Technology Committee: Scott reported that he has been transferring to current format a set of interview tapes done with persons associated with the story of Grace Brown. The interviews contain some information which may possibly be unavailable anywhere else, and it’s hoped that collection will be put to good use.
Presentation “The Ax Murder of Sarah Fitch:” Several members of GHS (Wilma, Tom, Pat, Sharon) presented various aspects of the story of the murder of Sarah Mead Fitch by John P. Hall in December 1874 in Guilford Center. Meeting attendees also participated in the presentation by taking roles of the various witnesses who testified at the sanity trial of John P. Hall, reading actual testimony from the transcript of the 1875 trial.
*These notes have been edited.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30. Minutes submitted by Sharon Donahe.
Work on the History of Rockwell Mills has uncovered new information related to the families and mill sites.
Caption 1: Newly uncovered photo of the woollen mill of Rockwell Mills.
Caption 2: The crowd at the 4/3/06 meeting, one of the largest the GHS has ever had!
Next month's meeting will feature the Diary's of Orra Parker-the first station agent's son at Parker Station which is full of mystery, sorrow, money, and intrigue as we find a way to read between the lines.
For more information on what you've missed or if you're interesting in getting involved with this very active Historical Society, contact
Tom and Wilma Gray, Guilford Historical Society, P. O. Box 201, Guilford, NY 13780
tgray@mkl.com