Historic Marker installed

By now, most people have heard of Belva A. Lockwood (1830-1917) and her connection with the village of Owego, so it is important that we get the history straight. Since 1987, a historic marker has stood in front of 249 Front St., the site where she was principal of the Owego Female Seminary from 1863 to 1865. 

At my suggestion as Tioga County Historian, the rusty old marker was recently replaced by the Village of Owego Department of Public Works for two reasons; one being that the information was misleading and second, it did not give any mention of Belva A. Lockwood, who ran for President of the United States twice. In 1884 she opposed Grover Cleveland and in 1888 she opposed Benjamin Harrison.

She was so well respected that three communities were named for her – Belva, West Virginia; Lockwood, California; and Lockwood, N. Y. in Tioga County. 

There were three figureheads carved of her for ships. One is on display in the museum at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, and during WWII a merchant liberty ship was named “USS Belva Lockwood”. Also, her portrait is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. 

In 1983 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls, N.Y and in 1986 she was honored by the US Postal Service with a seventeen-cent Great American Series stamp.

With all of that, she was recently honored with a street named for her at the Owego Gardens Apartments in Owego, called Belva Lockwood Lane as suggested by then Mayor, Kevin Millar. It is only fitting that the new historic marker completes the list, especially since 2017 marks the 100th anniversary for New York State women winning the right to vote for the first time in history.

The last time she visited Owego was during Old Home Week in 1909 as an honored guest and speaker.