The high point was seeing the Fort Herkimer Church. My children are descendants of the Palatine Germans that settled this area, who built this church, among others. Revolutionary General Nicolas Herkimer’s parents also assisted in the building of the church, and they are buried in the graveyard.

The Fort Herkimer Church is one of the oldest churches in New York State, begun in 1753. Made of stone, it served as an important fortification for area residents during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. There are over thirty gunports in the walls, and thick buttresses project from the building’s four corners.

Because of the rain, the scheduled church tour was cancelled, but a very gracious lady allowed us to look in the church when she heard I research genealogy and local history. Inside the church, it looks like any typical Colonial American church: wooden floors, wooden pews with small swinging doors, and a wooden pulpit raised up several feet. It is a plain church, not as fancy as the Dutch Reformed Church we visited in Albany. It is similar in format if not in scale and style.

After seeing the church, we wandered into the reenactment Civil War camps for a bit. There was not a lot of activity and hardly any other visitors, because of the rain. We puttered around and took this cute shot.

The kids also bought some Civil War hats (Union, of course) and a few toy rifles.

The man who plays Abraham Lincoln, a local celebrity now, was not coming, due to a previous commitment. The events schedule stated that a parade drill and cannon firing was due now, but everyone was huddled in their tents. When the rain finally receded, we asked one of the Confederate soldiers if they were going to fire off any weaponry. A bugler was called to rouse the troops out of their warm tents and onto the soggy training ground.

The captain gave us a nice speech and some background on Civil War cannons, and soldiers were ordered to fired off a shot.

Some Confederate soldiers bravely geared up and did an army drill for us, complete with firing of guns.

It was all very low-key, however, and certainly not the big hullabaloo we read about in the paper. I’d say there were only four or five other families around. When I asked about the scheduled fiddler’s jamboree, we were informed that was canceled, too. This was very disappointing, and ruined the visit for me.

We meandered the site for a while. We stood at the banks of the mighty Mohawk River. How desperately beautiful it is–how I longed to hop in a canoe and paddle away (it’s the Indian in me).

The area saw tremendous damage during the June 2006 floods. The photos below show some of the debris field. The river gushed off course and surged through the area next to the camp- I’d say it surged a good 1/4 mile from its banks here. The gashed land was filled with tree roots, limbs, old roofing shingles, plastic tarps, etc. It was a disaster.

One highlight was talking to a genuine blacksmith. He made a beautiful iron hook as he chatted about iron works, historical ore mining in the Adirondacks, and the history of smithing. The Adirondacks used to supply great quantities of iron for the country. There are large areas filled with titanium there (used for airplane sheathing and such things as mineral makeup). However, the Adirondacks mines have been closed, due to over-regulation from New York State. Mining is now predominantly in areas of the South, such as North Carolina because the ore is easily accessible. The mining businesses down there also aren’t taxed arms and legs like they are in New York.

We didn’t stay for the scheduled reenactment of the “large-scale” battle. The kids wanted to, but everything on the schedule had so far been canceled, and I really didn’t want to hang around for three more hours in the intermittent rain, waiting for an event that might not even happen. Perhaps we’d visit again, when there might be more sunshine and more activity.

The Living History Weekend, German Flatts, NY

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Peterboro invites everyone to visit and experience what life was like 150 years ago. After visiting the soldier’s camps, enjoy the music, drama, storytelling, and period craft demonstrations. Come for a day, wander through Confederate and Union camps and listen to the stories of the men and women. Watch them drill for the battle. Each afternoon, hear the sound of cannons booming and muskets cracking. The smoke of gun powder will rise as the north and south face off for a very realistic battle reenactment.

There’s a concert on Saturday, too.

This special concert program features the highly acclaimed 77th New York Regimental Balladeers and the Irish Volunteers. It will evoke the memory of those Irishmen who fought in the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies. The 77th is a nationally recognized Civil War string band, and have performed at Gettysburg, the U.S. Grant National Memorial and other historic sites around the country.

Admission is $7 for adults; $3 for ages 6-12, and free for children under 6. Parking is free, too. There’s a separate $5 admission charge for the Saturday 8 p.m. concert at the Community Center. This sounds like a blast! For more information: 315-684-9022.

Civil War Re-enactment Coming Up!

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Well, here’s a weird thing I have for you this week. Hair wreaths! Yes, hair wreaths! I’d never, ever heard of them until we saw them at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie, NY. I guess they were all the rage in the mid-1800s, especially during the Civil War era. In an era when women recycled everything from ear wax (for chapped lips, ewww) to used vinegar (to treat blackheads and oily skin), they even recycled their own hair!

Hair was meticulously reserved from the brush after brushing one’s hair. Grandma’s silvery white whispers of hair, Aunt Sally’s redheaded curls, and Mother’s long brunette strands were curled around a hot pencil-shaped iron. The curly locks were then stitched or tied together in a wreath-like shape. Some added ribbons, or extra-curly or braided hair as garnish. The ladies hung the decorative wreaths in their parlors!

I have since seen several such hair wreaths in the various homes we have visited, including one in the parlor of a historical home at the Erie Canal Village in Rome, the Old Stone Fort as I mentioned, Fort Ontario in Oswego, and the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse.

Photo Hunters: Hanging

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Fort Ontario sits on the southern side of Oswego, and hugs the shoreline of Lake Ontario. It’s a truly exquisite scene, with the sea of blue water at our feet and the sea of blue sky at our heads, and the green lawn glimmering below. We found a parking space and got out to explore the shoreline a little. Through a few small beaten paths, we could walk right down to the edge of the lake and explore the rocky craggs. The kids stuffed their pockets with the smooth, water-weathered rocks.

Oh, I could have stood there forever and watched the cool waves. Sailboats glided across the lake, and fishing trawler cranes dangled over the horizon. To the north, we could see the nuclear power plant stack.

(I once had someone from North Korea visit this blog post, searching for nuclear power plants in the United States. Can you believe it?!)

A small cemetery was nearby. Also of great interest was a large wooden cross, with a sign that read “In Hoc Signe Vincent.” It is similar to what Constantine saw before his great victory at the Milvian Bridge in AD 312.

After these things, we entered the fort. Fort Ontario has a very long history.

Since 1755 Fort Ontario has been rebuilt, regarrisoned, and changed hands several times. Immediately following the Civil War, Fort Ontario began a period of decreased activity and improvements and additions ceased. The fort found new life between 1903 and 1905 when the United States expanded the post as part of the army’s reorganization. By 1941 approximately 125 buildings stood at the site. Between 1944 and 1946 Fort Ontario was used as an emergency refugee center for victims of the Holocaust. In 1946 the fort was transferred to the State of New York.

Here’s a photo from Wikipedia, an aerial view of the fort:

We drew close and ventured in. There is an admission charge for entering.

Most of the buildings and grounds were set up for the Civil War period. There were an assortment of documents, uniforms, pictures, and some weaponry dating to this era. Very little referred to the Revolutionary days.

Inside most of the buildings were lots of primitive wooden tables and chairs, some Civil War-era papers and little else. Booooring.

One building was more interesting, as the ladies had lived in it and brightened the drab rooms with lively curtains and furnishings. Women do have a way of making a house nice.

I took a shot of a beautifully stenciled window blind. These are lovely, aren’t they? They must have required a ton of labor. Today, I am glad for my modern roller shades.

Here’s one of those hair wreaths I mentioned that I saw at the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie. What curious objects!

Behind one of the outbuildings, there was a narrow brick passageway that was fun to explore. If you look closely at an enlarged shot of this photo, you can see my son’s eyes glowing in the dark. The camera flash must have reflected off his retinas at the right angle. It looks so creepy!

After exploring the four outbuildings in the Fort, we thought we had finished our tour. Lo and behold, we discovered some doors in the ground. This newly found exploratory was the best part of our visit!

There was nothing down there except empty cavernous hallways and rooms. But my kids loved it. They had bought toy guns at the gift shop and found extreme fun running around and “shooting” enemies from the gun ports in the walls.

Soldiers had built these underground rooms during the Civil War days. The walls were made of very thick stone. Tiny stalactites were forming on the ceilings of some rooms. It was refreshingly cool down here. It must be heavenly here during the sweltering days of summer.

Back outside, I tried to soak as much as I could of the Lake again. Big berms surround the Fort. This makes for fantastic exploration– we ran up and down the berms and enjoyed the gorgeous views.

You could sit on the benches or the grass and just soak in the great big blue sky and drink up the great big blue water. It reminded me of that lovely hymn:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

It was a wonderful visit. The fort, for all its thrilling history, took full advantage of its location by the lake. If you go, go on a sunny day and let the great big sky knock your socks off.

Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY

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