The History of the Guilford Historical Society

presented at

The GHS Annual Dinner on Oct. 16, 2004

by

Thomas Gray - Guilford Town Historian

Welcome The members of the Bainbridge Historical Society

The members of the Sidney Historical Assoc.

The Unadilla Historical Assoc.

Historian Charles Decker - Afton Historical Society And the members of the GHS

One thing I have learned in my lifetime is that I grow by listening and sharing. Today is our birthday and tonight we celebrate the 6th birthday of the GHS. For the past two days I have been reading through the minutes, agendas and financial reports of our society (see our binders). This idea of sharing appeared over and over as I read. I think this is the secret of our success and the hope for our future as a society. A town=s history does not lie in a vacuum bounded by a surveyor=s markers. To understand the history of where you live, you have to go to other towns. Tonight, we thank those historians and members of historical groups in the towns that are here tonight and other towns such as Coventry, Greene, Unadilla, Gilbertsville and Norwich, who have shared and helped us in our search for our history.

Let me begin tonight by summarizing the important times and events that transpired in the six years of our society=s history. I hope this will give you an idea of how we grew and where it will lead us.

It was the spring of 1998 at a meeting of the Guilford Community Group at the Klee House Community Center that the thought of a historical society first began. I was chairing that April meeting and was sharing ideas about how we could help our community grow. One of those ideas was a historical society. Others that night discussed and became interested in such a new community group. Two more meetings in May and June focused on such a society with reference to funding, grants, state requirements and membership. It was decided that the first meeting of the Guilford Historical Society would be on Sept. 15, 1998. We had 13 people show up at that meeting which was impressive. The following month elections were held for officers.

Our first officers were:

President - Gertrude Pierce Boyd

Vice President - Steve Booth and Fran Seaman

Secretary and Treasurer - Tony Mangini and Jacquee Mason

Also at that meeting were Al Doyle, Clara Wahlberg, Tina Pabst, Earl Callahan, Bob Seaman and Louise Butcher. These members were elected to the Board of Trustees. We discussed a membership drive, a newsletter, a brochure; membership fees and setting up an account with SFCU. Subsequent meetings worked on following up on that. One thing I remember most about our meetings was not the business but the sharing of history by those who attended. People wanted history not just bake sales.

Our first social was at the Klee House on Feb. 6, 1999. Author Nelson Tiffany presented on the history of the Revolutionary War Veterans of Chenango County focusing on those from Guilford. Over 30 people showed up and some became members.

Meetings after Feb. covered again much of the business needed for us to continue such as funding, chartering and future functions. On Memorial Day in 1999 we had another social at the Klee House showing some displays that had been created and our first display case made by Tony Mangini. It was at the May meeting that year that Barbara Mangini replaced her husband Tony as secretary after his sudden death. We still miss him and thank Barbara for taking his place.

As summer arrived we were excited about finding more information on the angel that hung on the Pillars in Guilford Center. We also worked on locating the cemeteries of Guilford with Tina Pabst leading us on. Our weekly "Cemetery Club@ was started. Little did we know then that many years would pass before it would be completed. Our monthly meetings covered so many topics such as the Odd Fellows of Guilford; the Guilford meteorite of 1833; Coffin Man; the process of obtaining a NYS charter and even a bake sale that we had. Guilford Community Day in July saw us raffling off a quilt that Gertie had especially made for us. This helped us increase our treasury so that we could purchase more items to sell such as our Guilford crocks. The town board was supportive of us and funded us to help in publishing books on the history of Guilford. And by the end of 1999 we had over 1000 people visit the new Guilford website that was created and our membership grew to 23.

The year 2000 saw our first collections of scrapbooks and artifacts being donated - the old town hall sign; old GFD helmets to name a few. In the winter of 2002 we mailed out our first newsletter published by Jacquee Mason. Our Feb. Social at the Klee House had Marianne Greenfield present on the gravestone carver, Coffin Man. We ran out of chairs for that one with about 50 people attending. In March we were pleased to receive our Preliminary Charter as a recognized NYS Historical Society. We also joined the Association of Gravestone Studies and continued working on the history of the Angel Inn and its angel. The Chenango Wood Carvers joined us and agreed to create the first replica of the Archangel Gabriel that hung in the portico of the Angel Inn for almost 150 years. In the spring of 2000 Tina helped Jessie Constable work on her Girl Scout project to restore Cornell cemetery. Shelton Kinney showed us old photos of the O& W RR and the Summit Depot. Scanning these, thanks to Jacquee, lead us to digitize more of our information. The Guilford Fire Department donated our first computer and Francine Bauer donated our copier. Some of the historic topics covered at meetings in 2000 included:

Humphrey=s Trestle and the O& W Railroad

Early Settlers of Guilford - The Mersereau Brothers

Civil War veterans of Guilford

Cemetery preservation and the location of Guilford=s cemeteries and their condition.

July 2000 Community Day saw us having a display inside the Klee house of our collections. In Oct we had our first Annual Dinner at the Pillars (Angel Inn) with displays of our collections and a presentation by Don Windsor on the mysterious Stone Piles of Chenango County. It was also in Oct that we discovered the location of the wooded Archangel Gabriel at the Museum of Folk Art in NYC.

 

As winter arrived in 2001 we had out Feb. Social at the Methodist Church with Rob Grassi of Hanford Mills presenting on the History of Old Mills. Already we had a newsletter for our members that now grew to 47; worked on our 501C3 and since 1998 conducted historical hikes in the spring and fall of each year working with the Chenango Land Trust and BOCES Adult Ed. Program.

In May of 2001 we were granted our 501C3 as a tax-exempt organization. Community Day in July we were in the Klee house with our displays and a video presentation of the History of our Guilford Angel. Our fall meetings centered on planning for the Oct. angel celebration at the Angel Inn in Guilford Center. This would also be our Annual dinner for the year. Over 200 people attended the Oct celebration that was advertised in all the local media thanks to Wilma. By far it was one of the biggest events he had ever undertaken. In Nov we had completed a grant to support the traveling display of the angel replica in Chenango County. We also looked at how we would document our cemeteries.

One of the lost pieces of history in Guilford is that of the hamlet of Yaleville. In Jan. 2002 we began to investigate it. This would lead us into understanding and researching family genealogy. We were notified in Feb that we received $2500 grant for the traveling display of the replica of the Guilford Center Angel. Our Feb. Social was again well attended with a presentation by Shelly Mc Fee on the Chenango Canal. In the spring of 2002 we attended the Council of the Arts grant ceremony in Norwich and was surprised to receive the first Francis Perlman Award for the most outstanding decentralization grant. April 2002 had us giving a walking tour of Guilford for 2nd and 3rd graders from B-G Elementary School and at the April meeting Wilma presented our first family history - the Hovey Family of South Hill. Our collections of scrapbooks and photos kept coming in as residents became more interested in helping us. Tina uncovered the old records of Guilford Center cemetery association that gave us information dating back to the early 1800's. The Mersereau history was now in two binders and a new view of the early settlers of Guilford surfaced. Our first book - The History of the Angel Inn and the Archangel Gabriel of Guilford Center was printed and 200 copies were now available through our grant. The GHS had its first copyrighted book.

On Memorial Day 2002 Gertrude Pierce Boyd, our president presented the Citizen of the Year Award and we had our social at the Klee House following the parade. The summer of 2002 saw us planning for Community Day where we would show off a 1900 quilt we received from Arlene Russ. We also digitizing more of our photos; set up a file system for our collections - thanks to Fran and Bob Seaman and Wilma began to work on collecting and putting together volumes of obituary books with the help of our members. Gertie planned our first float for the Chenango County Fair parade in Aug. and we won first prize. Our summer newsletter was mailed out to members with Wilma now taking over the publication.

The first cemetery to be documented was Gospel Hill Cemetery that was completed in the end of the summer of 2002. By the fall of 2002 we were documenting the largest cemetery in Guilford - Maplewood in Mt Upton. With our members help this became a reality. The society received a grant from P&G in the fall to publish 100 copies of my book, The Road to Whispering Stones - a book on the early history of Guilford as related to its cemeteries. The Oct. Annual dinner was held at the Guilford Methodist Church with a special presentation on the Civil War by Steve Booth with songs by George Noble. Abe Lincoln even showed up to give his comments on Mr. Booth.

It was in Nov.2002 that our town supervisor, Al Doyle, wondered about the old horse- drawn grater that was now on display in front of the town hall. Little did we know that this would lead to discussions at meeting on the history of the town barns and later the history of the roads of Guilford. Our meetings also covered our future goals for the society; work on the Winsor family history by Wilma; Tina=s dedicated efforts working on the restoration of Guilford Center cemetery and plans for our Feb social. At our Oct.2002 election the following officers were elected:

President - Gertrude Pierce Boyd

Vice President - Steve Booth

Treasurer - Francine Bauer

Secretary - Tina Pabst

Curators - Fran & Bob Seaman

The beginning of 2003 saw the release of my book, The Road to Whispering Stones; Tina=s cemetery plans to document Sunset Hill cemetery; the completion of the Maplewood cemetery database and work on the Chenango County audits of Guilford from the early 1800's. Our Feb. Social was a presentation by author, John Taibi, on the O&W railroad in Guilford. Over 120 attended and we were outgrowing the Methodist Church. One of these days we might need a conference center. By this time our membership had grown to over 100 thanks to the membership drive of our dedicated treasurer, Francine Bauer.

It was in the spring of 2003 that we began planning for our first Genealogy Fair in July. On Community Day the downstairs room of the Methodist Church was filled with copies of photos that had been collected; digitized and now printed for the public to view. Wilma and Sharon chaired the committee and with the help of our members was able to show off our town=s family histories. More than 120 visitors attended that day. Our meetings attendance increased as we focused more on having a presentation at each meeting and keeping our business to a minimum.

Topics at meetings included:

The cave on the top of Mt Upton

The Winsor Family

Indian History of the Unadilla Valley

In the summer of 2003 we met each Tues at the town hall to sort the 48 boxes of town records that were found in the attic. Records dating back to the 1860's were uncovered. We felt like the history detectives. In Aug. thanks to Gertie, we designed the second historical society float for the Chenango County Fair parade. We won first prize again.

Our Oct. 2003Annual Dinner was at the Guilford Center Presbyterian Church followed by a presentation by historians Tom Gray and Catherine Pierce on The Spies who Help Save America - The Mersereau Family. Our meetings continued with presentations into 2004. Wilma discussed a plan for a Christmas ornament tree that would enable us to collect funds to help restore some of the broken gravestones in Guilford Center cemetery. Pat McElligott worked on and was instrumental is placing Guilford Center Presbyterian Church on the state and national historic register. What a plus for Guilford. It was Feb. and our social was at Guilford Center Presbyterian Church. At the social our historical society set up displays downstairs and had a presentation by author, Eileen Patch, on the Civil War letters of Sarah Englis.

The spring of 2004 we had our first archeology BOCES course instructed my one of our members, Pat McElligott and another course by author, John Taibi, on the O&W railroad in Guilford. Pat also became our next author with his fascinating book, From Glenagore To Guilford - Irish Destiny on the O&W. This was followed by Tina=s touching book on cemetery epitaphs, Meet Me in Heaven. Our society was spreading the word on our history not only to the residents of Guilford but much further. Memorial Day saw Gertie presenting the Citizen of the year award at the ceremony at the park followed by a social at the Klee house.

In the summer of 2004 members of the historical society documented Guilford Center cemetery; a database was produced and a history of the cemetery was written. We continued our documenting into the fall finishing up Yale, Yaleville, Cooper and Morgan cemeteries. Databases are now being compiled for each. Our monthly meetings had presentations on the Fitch murder; the Belden abortion case; the Oakley family history and the Ginny Lind disaster. For Guilford Community Day in July we had our first Archeology Fair at the Methodist Church with collections from Guilford and surrounding towns. With Gertie=s planning, members of the GHS and interested residents worked on setting up what we believe was the best Community Days in the history of Guilford.

In August Gertie planned and with the help of our members our third float for the Chenango County Fair parade. At the beginning of Sept. we were able to copy the records of Rockdale Community Church. We now have most of the records of the churches of Guilford -a valuable reference. It is now Oct. and we plan to complete the application for our NYS Absolute Charter; completed a grant application to restore Guilford Center Cemetery; completed an application to place the cemetery on the Historic Register; and now relax at our Annual Dinner tonight.

We welcome tonight our new GHS officers and wish them the best as they lead us into the future of our society:

President - Gertrude Pierce Boyd

Vice President - Ken Carney

Secretary - Sharon Donahe

Treasurer - Francine Bauer

Curators - John & Jo Ann Warner

We have so many wonderful memories of what is possible in a historical society. Before I close tonight I want to thank all those dedicated members that have helped with researching our history such as: Phyllis Ostrander, Norma Palmer, Tina Pabst, Rita Teehan, Sharon Donahe, Pat Mc Elligott, Gary Darling and our distant but close member in San Diego, Jim Carney. Let us also not forgot those who work backstage setting up and moving displays, etc. Without them our events would not be possible. A special thanks to Jacquee Mason, Steve Booth, Fan and Bob Seaman, Carl Olson, Ed Pabst, Ken & Kathy Carney, Harris Manwarring and our new members John and Jo Ann Warner. And without publicity few would know what we do - thank you Wilma.

I like to thank all of you and I hope our history always stays alive.

Thomas Gray

Guilford Town Historian

Oct. 16, 2004