Monthly Archives: December 2020

Steuben County Congress(men)

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This started out as a not especially important research project – figuring out how many of our Representatives in Washington had hailed from Steuben County. It tuned out to be trickier than I’d expected, but also became more interesting as I “met” these men (all white males, so far).
Steuben County, created in 1796 when George Washington was still president, will be 225 years old in March. And in that time, there have been 117 Congressional elections. Rural Steuben has always been in multi-county Congressional districts, but for almost half of its history, that district has been represented by someone actually FROM Steuben – of 116 terms, 53 (46%) were filled by Steubeners.
Sterling Cole served the longest – 11 terms – before resigning to become the first Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Amo Houghton (nine terms) comes next for longevity, followed by Charles W. Gillet. Gillet’s six terms were unusual for the 19th century – he was the only one until Sterling to serve more than two terms, and most served only one.
Being a Representative was sort of an honor, but not much more. The salary was low, and expenses included uncomfortable trips to southern, swampy Washington at least once a year, plus boarding while there. Since there was almost no federal construction, “pork barrel” projects were undreamed of, and appointments were limited to a few service academy cadets, and maybe a say on a few postmasterships. Most members probably took the job out of a sense of obligation, either to the community or to their party.
Assuming Tom Reed serves out his full upcoming term, he will edge Mr. Gillet out of third place. Eric Massa served the shortest period – a little more than half of his term before resigning.
Alanson Houghton and Amo Houghton were grandfather and grandson. (Alanson was on the cover of Time magazine back in 1926.) Bath has streets named for John Magee, Reuben Robie, David Rumsey, and Daniel Cruger (or their families). The homes of Magee, Robie, William Spring Hubble, and Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh are all Bath landmarks.
Eric Massa is a graduate of the Naval Academy. John Magee, Daniel Cruger, and William B. Rochester were in the War of 1812.
William Irvine, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, and Charles W. Gillet were veterans of the Civil War. Amo Houghton was a World War II veteran.
Our most recent three repesentatives (Massa, Reed, and Randy Kuhl) are still living, and Amo Houghton just passed away earlier this year.
Four of our Representatives were Democratic-Republicans, the pioneering party that morphed into the Democrats, and four were Democrats. David Rumsey was a Whig, and Grattan Wheeler was an Anti-Masonic. There have been ten Republicans, but they racked up 40 of the 53 terms, 31 of those with Cole, Amo Houghton, Gillet, and Reed.
Many of our Representatives were lawyers… indeed, Robie and Van Valkenburgh studied under Rumsey. Magee, Hubbell, Gillet, and both Houghtons were businessmen, Grattan Wheeler a farmer, Edwin S. Underhill and Harry H. Pratt were publishers, and Massa a naval officer. Several resigned their seats to become judges, while Rochester, Van Valkenburgh, and Alanson Houghton became ambassadors. Rochester died in a shipwreck in 1838.
I believe that Massa was the only one to unseat an incumbent in the general election, though one or two of them defeated incumbents in their party primaries.
It’s no surprise to say that this is a solid Republican seat. Out of 11 Steuben-based Representatives starting in 1859, only Underhill (1911-1915) and Massa (2009-2010) have been Democrats.
What does the future hold for our seat? Odds are that Tom Reed will keep it as long as he likes. Though Americans vitriolically excoriate Congress, they are also overwhelmingly convinced that THEIR Representative is doing a GREAT job. Clearly both can’t be true, but getting elected to Congress, and then winning your first re-election, pretty much means a lifetime pass.
Since the district’s overwhelmingly Republican, odds are that future Representatives will also be white, male, and at least vaguely Christian. EXCEPT that the party is currently going through a transformation worthy of Dr. Who, even as the country overall is becoming less white, less Christian, less male-dominant, and less Republican. Will the district change with it? Stay tuned!
(Our Steuben-based U. S. Representatives have been: Daniel Cruger 1817-1819; William B. Rochester 1821-1823; William Woods 1823-1825; John Magee 1827-1831; Grattan H. Wheeler 1831-1833; William S. Hubbell 1843-1845; David Rumsey 1847-1851; Reuben Robie 1851-1853; William Irvine 1859-1861; Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh 1861-1865; Charles W. Gillet 1893-1905; Edwin S. Underhill 1911-1915; Harry H. Pratt 1915-1919; Alanson B. Houghton 1919-1922; W. Sterling Cole 1935-1957; Amo Houghton 1987-2005; Randy Kuhl 2005-2009; Eric Massa 2009-2010; and Tom Reed, 2010-?.)

Wild Animals I Have Known… in the Finger Lakes (Part 1!)

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I lived for two years in or near the Bloomfields, and now we’ve been 25 years in Bath, and in those years I’ve spent a fair amount of time hiking, walking, or driving. So I’ve seen wildlife, and some of those encounters are worth remembering.

*Using binoculars to watch a herd of deer on Boughton Road near Bloomfield, I was delighted as a red fox arrived. He was minding his own business, and skirting the herd, but that wasn’t enough for one of the deer, which repeatedly lowered its head and rushed the fox… which was way too small to threaten a single deer, let alone a herd. The fox kept circling out farther in hopes of getting around, and the deer kept on blocking, until finally the fox trotted back where it came from, throwing its head over one shoulder to glare at the deer. I could see the fox’s mouth moving, but couldn’t catch what it was saying. Which was probably wasn’t printable anyway.

*On a trail through high brush at Ganondagan State Historic Site, we suddenly came upon a VERY young fawn. Instantly freezing, we rubbernecked around for the mother, which we knew would be close by. We quickly spotted her, looking worried as her little one stumbled toward us. All at once the fawn jerked to a halt, gave us a double-take, and lurched into the brush after mother, who led it quickly away.

*On a somewhat similar trail near Owego, I came upon a baby skunk. To my left was high brush. To my right was a lake. If I reversed course, I’d have to double back about half a mile. Where were the mother and the other offspring? Surely this little one would soon get off the trail?

Well, no. Did the babies spray? I didn’t THINK so, but I couldn’t remember for sure. Finally I retraced my steps a little, turned to face forward again, raced for the baby skunk, flew high over it, and hit the ground running. All ended well, for both of us.

*I was on the hill at the D.E.C. Twin Cedars site near Avon, watching waterfowl down in the lake, when a short-tailed weasel ambled out of high grass, strolled across the trail almost over the toe of my sneaker, and vanished into grass on the other side. (Might have been a least weasel. But the range doesn’t seem right.)

*I was narrating on a bus tour up Canandaigua’s Main Street when one of the out-of-state passengers asked if we had coyotes. Yes, I told her, but we won’t see any on this trip. Seconds later, as we crossed the train tracks, I glanced to my left and there stood a coyote, at 10 o’clock in the morning, looking things over like he was planning to buy the place.

*Watching birds at a pond off Mitchellsville Road in Steuben County, I saw a muskrat swim up to another muskrat on the shore. The two of them rubbed noses and kissed.

*Driving a dirt road near Buena Vista, we saw what we thought was a mastiff shuffling toward us. When it jerked its shocked head up, we saw that it was a yearling bear. The bear rushed off the road and started climbing a tree – a juvenile response, which together with the size and the season of the year convinced us that this was one of the previous year’s young, recently chased off by its mother and now on its own for the first time.

*Interesting though those tales may be, they don’t even mention woodchucks, bobcats, beavers, fishers, rabbits, squirrels, possum, or raccoons – maybe another time!

We’re Still Using New Deal Construction

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A couple of weeks ago, we looked a little at how local folks experienced the Great Depression of roughly 1929-1941. It was a nightmare, but all our efforts to get OUT of the Depression left a very positive mark on our country, and on us locally.

When New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933, he threw himself into “the New Deal,” hoping to soften the Depression and build a better future. Social Security was a New Deal program. So was repeal of Prohibition, which put Keuka Lake grapegrowers, shippers, and winemakers back into business.

Putting people to work on construction became a hallmark of the New Deal – the government paid to have the old unused trolley tracks pulled up in Penn Yan.

More visible was work done right in the heart of our coverage area. Painted Post got a new post office, still in use today, with a mural in the lobby (artists need to eat, too). And we’re still crossing the Chemung River on Bridge Street… that bridge was the biggest New Deal project in Corning.

At Bath V.A., which the U.S. had only recently taken over from the state, many of the facilities went back to the 1870s. So one day in 1936 the last surviving Civil War resident wielded a shovel from his wheelchair to ceremonially begin construction of a new modern hospital, which is still in use today.

Roosevelt was a Democrat, but Republican U. S. Representative W. Sterling Cole made sure to secure the funds for the new hospital… AND a new nursing home care unit, AND a new entry bridge… all of them still in use. The V.A. also got reforesting, to the tune of a quarter million seedlings.

Sterling further arranged to vastly expand the Bath Memorial Hospital, now the Pro Action building on Steuben Street, with a new wing joining the two original buildings.

Hammondsport got a brand new school to replace the old Academy, much of which went back before the Civil War. The Glenn H. Curtiss Memorial School, built partly on the old Curtiss home grounds donated by Glenn’s widow, was a K-12 school. It was so cutting-edge that it actually had television when it opened in 1936. Curtiss School was used into the 21st century, and is now privately owned.

Franklin Academy in Prattsburgh also got a hand up. The original 19th-century building burned in 1923 and was replaced the following year. By 1935 it already needed updating, so Prattsburgh got a thorough renovation AND a substantial addition, giving birth to Prattsburgh Central School.

Prattsburgh found that the project was going to run way over the promised funding, so two men went to New York City to plead for more. The official there said he couldn’t do anything, but urged them to go to Washington. Their story of the needs of Prattsburgh’s people had brought tears to his eyes, he said, and a higher authority might be convinced to release more funds. Down they went, sharing a railroad berth to save expenses, and got the funds they needed. Another agency went even further, putting in a ball diamond and athletic fields. The 1935-36 work is still the heart of the school.

Kanona was home to a camp of Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) lads… older teens hired for a year of conservation-related work. C.C.C. created much of the infrastructure for Stony Brook State Park and Watkins Glen State Park, and after catastrophic flooding in 1935 the boys worked mightily on flood-control and soil-conservation projects. The Army Corps of Engineers built dams and Arkport and Almond, while Avoca, Corning, and Addison got improved flood barriers. Believe it or not, the 1972 flood could have been much worse than it was. Some of the thanks should go to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“Lost Steuben”

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When Steuben County was formed in 1796, it was a LOT bigger than it is today. It even stretched all the way over from Keuka Lake to Seneca Lake, taking in Lamoka and Waneta along the way.
Over the years portions of Steuben have been sheared off to create new counties, or to augment existing counties.
The first cession came in 1808, when the “seventh range of townships” was transferred to enlarge two-year-old Allegany County. Roughly speaking this is the “stack” of towns that runs north and south on the west side of the Steuben-Allegany line: Ossian (now in Livingston County), Burns (including the Village of Canaseraga), Almond (including most of the Village of Almond), Alfred (including Village), Andover (including Village), and Independence.
Steuben was originally set off from Ontario County, and in 1814 “the part in the fork of Keuka Lake” was donated back to Ontario. This is the southern half of Keuka Bluff, in the Town of Jerusalem. A look at the map confirms that this was a very sensible arrangement – otherwise the Bluff dwellers would have been “islanded,” nowhere in direct contact with their own county. After cession the Bluff and its hinterland were politically, as well as organically, connected. (Although this transfer was to Ontario, the territory went to Yates when that county was created in 1823.)
An 1822 cession transferred what is roughly the Town of North Dansville (including the Village of Dansville) to the year-old Livingston County. This has led to two centuries of confusion over the Town of Dansville (in Steuben), the Village of Dansville (in Livingston), the Town of North Dansville (also in Livingston), and the unincorporated settlement of South Dansville (back in Steuben again).
The 1824 cession gave roughly the Towns of Barrington and Starkey (including the Village of Dundee) to Yates, along with the Towns of Tyrone and Reading (later transferred to help form Schuyler).
The 1854 cession of the Towns of Orange and Dix (including the canal port of Watkins Glen, but not Montour Falls) was also part of the foundation of Schuyler County.
The new County of Schuyler in the east spawned confusion like the confusion of Dansvilles in the west. The Town of Wayne remained in Steuben County, but the settlement of Wayne lies mostly in Schuyler. (Just to mix it up a little more, this settlement is often called Wayne Village, even though it’s not a village legally. There’s also Wayne Four Corners, in Steuben.)
This might also be a good place to note the boundaries in Keuka Lake. The Pulteney-Jerusalem line is extended eastward into the West Branch, until it’s half-way across. It then undulates southward, keeping to the moving centerline; swings around the point of the Bluff at the same distance; and continues northward along the centerline of the East Branch until it reaches a point a little northwest of Wayne’s northern tip, then connects those two points. So Steuben no longer touches the Bluff anywhere, but it does include almost half of the west Branch, and a little bit of the East Branch.
If all of that country were still in Steuben, it would make a big addition to our agriculture. We would have considerably more grape country in the east and on the Bluff, plus somewhat more muckland in the northwest. Educationally, we’d have Alfred University, Alfred State College, and The New York State College of Ceramics.
Our tourism would also be beefed up, with a good stretch of Seneca shoreline, and a lot more on Keuka, not to mention the “Little Lakes.” We’d have a pleasant waterfront town at the head of each major lake, and we would be anchored by a major state park in the east (Watkins Glen) to match our park in the west (Stony Brook). Watkins Glen International would be in Steuben, and much of the Catharine Valley Trail, plus more of the Finger Lakes Trail.
We’d have Camp Gorton, and Camp Lamoka, and a nice airport in Dansville, along with the New York State Festival of Balloons. And in the stakes for most famous Steubener, Clara Barton would be giving Glenn Curtiss a run for his money!