I’ve written in Part 1 and Part 2 about our visit to the Madison County Historical Society, housed in an 1849 historic home in Oneida, NY. The place is phenomenal! It’s like walking back in time, to the early 1850s. Most of the house has been updated and restored, and contains a lot of treasures and everyday articles of home life of a pre-Civil War, prosperous American family.

We’d seen the downstairs and were headed to the less formal upstairs. On display up here were many curiosities and personal effects. There are several enormous glass cabinets in the hallway, filled with dozens and dozens of stuffed birds. The hallway was too dark for a photo– how I wish I could have snapped one! The displays were spectacular. In one of them stood a huge stuffed bald eagle, trapped at Lewis Point (by Oneida Lake). This pufferfish (is it?) was displayed at the top of the cabinet.

Another cabinet was filled with cigars, cigar boxes, and cigar-smoking accessories. The man of the house was very fond of Napoloeon brand cigars. It’s interesting to note that the people who occupied this house were old enough to have lived while Napoleon was still alive (Napoleon died in 1821).