Historians credit the formation of the Pioneer Association to the early Dutch pioneer, Andrew Ten Brook, who could remember most of the earliest days of the settlement of the wilderness that became Niagara County. Mr. Ten Brook proposed the formation of a historical society in the county and called for the first meeting. Unfortunately, only six citizens attended. Undaunted by the small number, Ten Brook proposed a picnic meeting be held on land he owned at Olcott. The first picnic, with 1,700 in attendance, set the tone for over a quarter century of picnics to follow. Andrew Ten Brook planned and supervised each of the picnics, with tireless energy and enthusiasm. Scarcely would one picnic conclude before plans for a bigger and better event were swirling in his head.

The second picnic in 1878 greeted over 5,000 guests, once again at the Ten Brook picnic grove in Olcott. By 1881 the attendance had grown to 12,000. The attendees and speakers at the picnics became a veritable “who’s-who” of 19th century life. Famous pioneers such as the Hon. Burt Van Horn, Hon. John E. Pound, or Hon. Lyman A. Spalding were often called upon to wax eloquent about our county’s earliest days.

At the picnic of August 8, 1887 it was decided to erect a permanent log cabin at the site in Olcott. “Ye Old Log Cabin” was used to safeguard the relics and antiquities that the Association was collecting. A brass band composed of Tuscarora Indians was one of the highlights of the meeting in 1888 and the finished log cabin was opened on that year.

The speaker at the meeting of August 16, 1899 was a man destined to become president of the United States, NY Governor Theodore Roosevelt. The attendance at the grove was recorded as 20,000 people. The picnic in 1900 welcomed a new century and also marked the day the trolley from Lockport to Olcott first went into general service. The confluence of the new millennium, the annual Pioneer Picnic and the trolley opening gave rise to great public celebration and the trolley carried 12,000 people during its first day of operation. The picnic attendance was listed that year as 25,000.

The Pioneer Association declined from its zenith in the early 1900s as the original founding members and their families met their appointment with mortality. Interest in the organization waned and eventually ceased in the mid-20th century. The organization officially dissolved in July of 1956 and turned over its collection of artifacts to the Niagara County Historical Society. The old log cabin at Olcott also fell into neglect and was eventually torn down in the early 1960s.

Douglas Farley, Director
Ann Marie Linnabery
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

The Civil War had a major impact on the lives of citizens of Niagara County. In November 1861, a local regiment was raised in Lockport. Battery M was part of the 1st Regiment New York Light Artillery and was mustered out of Rochester and sent to Washington to defend the Capitol. The Chief Bugler for this regiment was Pvt. Lorenzo Pratt of Wilson. Pratt served in the War three and a half years and lived to tell about it. He and Battery M saw action in almost every major battle including Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Peach Tree Creek, the March to the Sea, and the campaigns of the Carolinas. During the Battle of Chattanooga in November 1863, Pratt was able to capture a Confederate horse whom he named “Billy Sherman” after the famous general who had marched to the sea. Billy was a dark bay and stood 15 hands high. Pratt rode his new horse for the duration of the war and proudly brought him back to Wilson in June 1865.

Lorenzo Pratt returned to his life as a farmer on the Wilson-Burt Road. Billy became his chief workhorse as well as a much-loved friend. Every year on Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) and other patriotic holidays, Billy would be decked out in equestrian military regalia and join in the local parades. He was a favorite attraction with children and with the aging members of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic). Age caught up with Billy too, but he was still working three days before he died on September 1, 1887. It was estimated that Billy was at least thirty years old when he passed away. An Army blanket was placed over his body and an American flag over his head. A poem about Billy was read aloud and then he was buried on the farm of his beloved master, Lorenzo Pratt. For many years, the Pratt family maintained Billy’s grave and the GAR placed a flag there every Decoration Day. Gradually however, those guardians either moved or passed away. Billy’s grave was almost lost to history, until, on September 1, 1973, 86 years after his death, the Wilson Historical Society placed a boulder with a historic marker on the side of the road not far from his final resting place. The marker is located on north side of Wilson-Burt Road about a mile east of the village of Wilson. It also includes three flags, the American, the Confederate and the Tennessee state flag.

Douglas Farley, Director
Ann Marie Linnabery
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

Their first vessel was the Chicora, an Indian word meaning “The Pretty Flower.” The ship was a large steel side-wheel steamer, 230 feet long and 52 feet wide. The first officer placed in command of this popular vessel was Captain Thomas Harbottle, described as a popular man as well as a clever and experienced sailor. The Chicora worked the route by itself for ten years, until 1888, when the Cibola, a paddle-steamship, was placed in service upon the same route.

Construction of the Cibola (“Land of the Buffalo”) was begun on May 24, 1887. The ship was designed for stability and speed. The hull was divided into five compartments with water tight bulkheads. The engines had two cylinders with a stroke of 5 feet 6 inches. The interior cabins were finished in solid mahogany and electric lights were used throughout. The dining room and main cabin were decorated with cut glass and “opalescent globes.” A brass chandelier hung above the stairway with “jeweled openings and clusters of lights.” The Cibola met a tragic fate and burned while lying in port at Lewiston, July 15th, 1895. Tragically, one life was lost, that of the third engineer, William Hammond.

Also at the end of the 1880s, a small steamer known as the Ongiara (“Thundering Water,”) joined the fleet on the Niagara River, plying a short route from Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada to Lewiston on the American side. The Ongiara worked this round-robin route and connected with steamers from Toronto.

The next ship in the Niagara Navigation fleet was the Chippewa, which made her first trip on July 26, 1893. The ship was named after a famous man-of-war on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 (which took the name of the famous Indian chief). Like the Cibola, the Chippewa was a floating palace. Written accounts stated, “her appointments, machinery and general finish (are) as nearly as possible approaching perfection.” The Chippewa was 311 ft. in length with a side-wheel similar to the plan of the Hudson River steamers. The ship’s main cabin was 192 ft. long and there were four large state rooms in birch, oak and mahogany.

The arrival of the twentieth century ushered in great changes in the way people traveled. The automobile, with its speedy short hops, made steamship travel obsolete for all but very long oceanic trips. People were not interested in spending a day traveling by steamship, when the same distance could be traveled in a couple of hours in one’s own car. “The Chevrolet” became everyman’s “luxury vessel,” bringing an end to the opulent era of Niagara Navigation Company steamships.

Douglas Farley, Director
Ann Marie Linnabery
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

The Great Gorge Route had some better luck when it linked up with a similar railroad operating on the Canadian side of the river, the Niagara Falls Park and River Railway. The combined route was a circular “belt line.” The belt line made it possible for streetcars to journey along the top of the Canadian side of the Niagara Gorge, the bottom of the American side, and crossing the Niagara River on the Upper Steel Arch Bridge and the Queenston-Lewiston Suspension Bridge. Great Gorge RouteThis line was very successful as millions of visitors traveled the route in a 30-year span. Over a half-million passengers each year marveled at the scenic vistas afforded by travel along the Great Gorge Route. Even after the opening day accident, the route was not immune to mishaps caused by its sheer rock walls and proximity to the swirling whirlpool. An ice avalanche killed a conductor and injured eight passengers in 1907. Several other tragedies befell the line in subsequent years and the railway was shut down on the Canadian side in 1932. The Gorge Route on the American side ended on September 17, 1935 when 5,000 tons of rock broke free from the Gorge wall and crashed onto the tracks.

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

Their first vessel was the Chicora, an Indian word meaning “The Pretty Flower.” The ship was a large steel side-wheel steamer, 230 feet long and 52 feet wide. The first officer placed in command of this popular vessel was Captain Thomas Harbottle, described as a popular man as well as a clever and experienced sailor. The Chicora worked the route by itself for ten years, until 1888, when the Cibola, a paddle-steamship, was placed in service upon the same route.

Construction of the Cibola (“Land of the Buffalo”) was begun on May 24, 1887. The ship was designed for stability and speed. The hull was divided into five compartments with water tight bulkheads. The engines had two cylinders with a stroke of 5 feet 6 inches. The interior cabins were finished in solid mahogany and electric lights were used throughout. The dining room and main cabin were decorated with cut glass and “opalescent globes.” A brass chandelier hung above the stairway with “jeweled openings and clusters of lights.” The Cibola met a tragic fate and burned while lying in port at Lewiston, July 15th, 1895. Tragically, one life was lost, that of the third engineer, William Hammond.

Also at the end of the 1880s, a small steamer known as the Ongiara (“Thundering Water,”) joined the fleet on the Niagara River, plying a short route from Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada to Lewiston on the American side. The Ongiara worked this round-robin route and connected with steamers from Toronto.

The next ship in the Niagara Navigation fleet was the Chippewa, which made her first trip on July 26, 1893. The ship was named after a famous man-of-war on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 (which took the name of the famous Indian chief). Like the Cibola, the Chippewa was a floating palace. Written accounts stated, “her appointments, machinery and general finish (are) as nearly as possible approaching perfection.” The Chippewa was 311 ft. in length with a side-wheel similar to the plan of the Hudson River steamers. The ship’s main cabin was 192 ft. long and there were four large state rooms in birch, oak and mahogany.

The arrival of the twentieth century ushered in great changes in the way people traveled. The automobile, with its speedy short hops, made steamship travel obsolete for all but very long oceanic trips. People were not interested in spending a day traveling by steamship, when the same distance could be traveled in a couple of hours in one’s own car. “The Chevrolet” became everyman’s “luxury vessel,” bringing an end to the opulent era of Niagara Navigation Company steamships.

Douglas Farley, Director
Ann Marie Linnabery
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org

During WWII, metal and sugar were scare so the company had to cut back its production of new gumball machines and candy gumballs. Instead, the business turned its production over to making war products as a sub-contractor of Harrison Radiator. Following the war, Ford Mason began a fundraising and distribution program whereby charitable organizations could set up and maintain his gumball machines in return for a portion of the proceeds. This arrangement turned out to be the key to success for his company. The business prospered throughout the 1940s and soon needed to expand to a larger building than the former First Congregational Church built in 1857. Also, food inspectors were adamant about the need for a different facility for the business, as the old building did not meet modern standards for a food processing plant. In 1960, Ford Gum relocated to Akron, New York in a former food processing facility, where the company continues today. Ford Gum is still one of the largest producers of gumballs in the United States with over 500,000 round gumball machines in operation, sitting on counters or standing on pipe pedestals in businesses from coast to coast.

Charles Penney was a fan of local businesses and collecting artifacts that tell their stories was his mission. The Penney Gallery is pleased to display some of the early Ford Gum vending equipment.

Caverno received his own education at Dartmouth College and first began to impact education in Niagara County as the Principal of the old Lewiston Academy. After two years there, he moved to Lockport and began to study law. In 1846, he conceived the idea of a new school system that would expand upon the common school education of the day to provide a complete academic education available to all students. In his plan, the existing seven common school districts would be united to form secondary districts, with a new central school, the Lockport Union School, to teach higher education. The resulting configuration provided for seven primary schools, three secondaries and the Union School. The control of the system was to be vested in a Board of Education who would supervise all of the schools. The board would be composed of 12 trustees, one for each of the seven primary districts and five for the Union School.

In 1847, after conferring with educational experts across the state, Caverno drafted the Union School Act which was later passed by the NYS legislature and became the model for free public school districts all across the country. One hallmark of his plan stated that any student who could not contribute financially towards their education would still be allowed to attend with the cost of their education to be covered through a general tax upon the citizens of the region. Caverno served as the first President of the Board of Education and work commenced on the “new” Union School with completion in the spring of 1848. Caverno donated a great deal of time to the school system, to the point where most would recognize that he served as an unpaid superintendent of schools. Following in his footsteps, other notable champions of education followed, such as Belva McNall Lockwood, Emmett Belknap, Hon. John E. Pound and Miss Charlotte Cross.

In 1891, Messrs. William Norman and Spalding Evans took over a business operated by Alexander Pound and renamed the business Norman & Evans. The business was described in 1891 as such, “The plant is a large commodious one operated by water power, and the firm also furnishes power, by cable, to several other manufacturing concerns located in the immediate vicinity. The firm manufactures engines, derricks, ditching machinery and steam merry-go-rounds, which of late years have become so popular in all parts of the United States, as well as in many foreign lands.”

The merry-go-rounds were “up to 40 feet in diameter and contained 25 life-like ponies, which had a galloping motion, two chariots, and two carriages each with two double seats, which gives a varied seating capacity for 55 people at once. These machines were supplied to purchasers on easy terms, with engine and all the necessary paraphernalia, including tent, complete and ready for immediate operation. The “Lockport Daily Journal” describes the success of the merry-go-round business in their July 11, 1891 edition. “The first steam riding gallery ever built in the city was highlighted Thursday evening on the grounds of the Pound Manufacturing Company near the foot of the locks. Loaded to its fullest capacity with many people, the machine rotated with that even motion of the stationary seats, and the rocking movement of the horses, which is so much desired. Conspicuous among its many excellent features is the fine workmanship displayed on the wood and iron work. A neat canvas tent encloses the affair, while outside; a small upright engine rapidly turns the endless cable which revolves the gallery. It is a nice outfit to be sure, but it comes high, something like $2,600.”

Another article described the profit potential enjoyed by the purchases of these merry-go-rounds. “These machines are veritable gold mines, when properly managed. To our knowledge, one of them has taken in, in one day, $562, and at a two-week run at a summer resort, has earned $2850 net, over all expenses.” Not bad for a $2,600 investment.

Like Norman & Evans, Charles Rand Penney operated his business proximate to the Erie Canal. Dr. Penney enjoyed his view from the upper stories of the Bewley Building, where he housed his amazing collection of artifacts for many years. The Penney Gallery which now displays many of Penney’s collecting treasures has many artifacts, paintings and pictures that clearly display Penney’s fondness for “Clinton’s Ditch.”

If You Go: The Penney Gallery is a great place to explore Niagara County’s past. The Fall/Winter hours of operation are 10 am to 3 pm Thursday through Saturday. Please bring your family at 11 a.m. on Sat. Dec. 22 when we will continue our new movie series with “WNY: From A-Z.”

Many of the stores and businesses in the area kept their buildings open for the firemen to come in and warm themselves. The Light, Heat and Power Company building assisted in this way as did the Kresge Store. The Salvation Army and many of the businesses in the area provided hot coffee and sandwiches for the firemen. Fire fighting continued all night into Sunday morning. The Lockport Light, Heat and Power Company connected searchlights on adjoining buildings to supplement the lights on the fire trucks. One searchlight was on the third floor of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank on Main and Locust Streets and another searchlight was placed on the Flatiron building across Market Street.

The fire at the Hodge Opera House, the second major fire at that site, ended the reign of this once grand building. The advent of moving pictures had largely reduced the popularity of live stage shows and the Hodge Opera House removed its third floor theater in 1914 and utilized the space for additional office rentals. Even without a theatrical stage, the building continued to be called the Opera House until the fire of 1928 ended the building’s usage completely. However, the next tenant on the scene, the Bewley Building, was constructed utilizing the existing back wall from the Hodge Opera House, in effect continuing a treasured legacy in Lockport that began in 1871.

Douglas Farley, Director
Ann Marie Linnabery
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com