Browse Items (23 total)

Son of his uncle Alvah Peabody, Sheffield's cousin George McLellan (1858-1928) grew up in Springwater and then began training as a doctor, which he completed in 1885. He practiced in Wayland, NY where he held several public positions.

Idealized illustration of family at the holiday appears in William Makepeace Thayer's "Merry Christmas: A Christmas Present for Children and Youth." A popular children's writer, Thayer attempted to weed out the pagan traditions from Christian piety,…

Hyde & Egbert Farm alongside the creek shows derricks, pipes leading to wooden tubs, and the many barrels required to transport oil downstream to Oil City on the Allegheny River. Farm was the location of the "Jersey," "Maple Shade," and "Coquet"…

At the mouth of Oil Creeks, spectators watch rafts that have made it downstream after a so-called "pond fresh." The creek was too shallow for navigation much of the year, so dams held water then released it all at once--a chaotic process that often…

Looking northwest, major streets and features of a town whose growth was driven by America's first oil boom during the 1860s. Oil Creek is in the foreground, and the Oil Creek Rail Road is shown running south toward the oil region--although by this…

Collection of five maps shows in detail the buildings, oil companies, properties, and notable wells of America's first oil boom. The series begins with Oil City, a major depot on the Allegheny River, and moves (north) upstream toward Titusville.

Panoramic view of Springwater Valley looking southwest, showing the Advent church at right and the town hall at left center

Scheme for the application of steam engines to agriculture was deemed by the editors of "The Genesee Farmer" to be "more poetry than practice." Surreal as it appears to be, except for the rail lines modern planting and harvesting use very similar…

Since the 1860s a fair has been held at the northern end of Hemlock Lake, then called "Slab City." This crowd may have just disembarked from the Lehigh Valley Railroad station, behind the mill.

Engraving depicts wooden structure, built in just a few weeks, to hold 10,000 delegates to the party's nominating convention. In the years following it was used to hold rallies and political meetings during the Civil War before its demolition…