The son of a Scottish immigrant, Hamilton was born 1832 in Le Roy and grew up on a farm. After a brief time spent as a teacher in the upper midwest, Hamilton returned to Caledonia, married Jane Vallance, and had five children. Hamilton was a leading…
"Under the Protection of Mary" is the usual translation for this emblem blessing the Catholic Church's approved ceremonial book. First published in 1829, it was by 1894 in its 8th edition and used in churches like St. Columba in Caledonia, NY.…
This resonant symbol appears near the end of a 1904 history of the Western New York Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It was fairly common in the Anglican church and its Episcopal branches in the United States, one of them St. Andrew's…
Number 5 on the Burleigh map, records for this school prior to 1892 are missing due to a major fire on Main Street that year. The structure shown by Burleigh received a west wing in 1896 and a north wing in 1904. In 1914, a new brick structure…
Number 6 on the Burleigh map, the BR &P was one of four rail lines passing through the area and like the Lehigh Valley RR constructed primarily for the shipment of Pennsylvania coal--in this case, the major markets being industrial Rochester and…
Number 7 on the Burleigh map, an original modest structure served the needs of a railroad built primarily to deliver coal from the Pennsylvania anthracite fields, east to New York and west to Buffalo on the Great Lakes. Amidst ferocious competition,…
Number 42 on the Burleigh map, it's not clear whether Davis (1860-1947) ever was successful in starting up his billiard hall--and the attendant liquor license likely for its operation. It's more certain that, by May 1894, he and Charles Bundy had…
Postcard shows the nationally recognized operation created by Seth Green in 1864 and eventually taken over as a state operation in 1875. Despite this source of funding, the hatchery still depended upon publicity--thus the sizable text both on its…
Number 8 on the Burleigh map, depot originally was located next to William Hamilton's produce business on the east side of North St. Constructed in ca. 1853 along with the Canandaigua & Niagara Falls Railroad, the line was purchased in 1858 by…
Number 45 on the Burleigh map, the firm alongside the Erie Railroad dates to 1892 when John Ball (1855-1936) formed a partnership with his younger brother Thomas--who had been a principal in the firm of Ball & Donahue. Eventually their facility came…