Posts focused on the 19th century period.
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150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
A little over one-hundred fifty years ago, on September 22, 1862, President Lincoln took a step he had planned for months and proclaimed that as of January 1, 1863 “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.…” -
The Helpful Horse
The rise of the automobile and the decline of using horses for transportation in Geneva, New York. -
Kidnapped!
The kidnapping of two African-American men from Geneva, New York in 1857 -
Freezing Fingers, Toasted Toes: Heating in America
A comfortable house in winter was a rare thing in much of the United States prior to the late 19th century. According to one English visitor to Cayuga, NY in 1827, American houses were built “expressly for summer, without the slightest reference to the six months’ winter that they suffer.” -
Tom Thumb Visits Geneva
General Tom Thumb visit to Geneva, New York in 1847