Tioga County Historical Society holds Annual Meeting

On Saturday, Aug. 5, the Tioga County Historical Society (TCHS) held their annual meeting in the Village Hall, located at 22 Elm St., to report to the members on the status and future of the organization. 

The Historical Society was formed in 1914 and met in the Coburn Library until 1932 when it moved to 314 Front St., where its collections were housed. Internationally famous, revered, Congregational minister and author Washington Gladden had summered here. It was later Minnie Wade and brother Louis’ home. 

Minnie, her sister Ida Wade Leonard, and brother Louis provided the endowment that funded the new museum building (approx. $200,000) at 110 Front St. Louis was a successful stockbroker who died shortly after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, which caused the Great Depression. The property at 314 Front St. was auctioned off and the proceeds contributed to the funding of the museum.

The new building, opened in 1960, as chronicled in Hilda Watrous’ Owego Reflections was not without controversy. The large “Greek Revival” mansion on this site had been built in 1827 and at its demise had been referred to as the Norman L. West home. Editorialists in the Owego Gazette suggested an alternate site on West Main across from Marvin Park. Others suggested the 110 Front St. site was flood-prone and the location was hidden in a residential street, requiring razing of an historic structure.

There were approximately 20 TCHS Board Members and Society Members present. Board members present included Board President John Ricklefs, Secretary Andrea Klett, Treasurer Jackie Beal, Emma Sedore (County Historian), Tom McEnteer, Cliff Balliet, and the Museum’s Executive Director, Scott McDonald. 

Included in the business of the day was the proposal by Emma Sedore to re-nominate Board Members Rickleffs, Klett, and Duane Schoen (Vice President), and the appointment of new Board member Jackie Beal, whose impressive resume was read by Emma detail. The motion was made and seconded, and all Members present voted in favor.

The meeting began with a celebration of some Front Street (Owego) residents who made national and international contributions. The talk by Tom McEnteer was titled, “The Geniuses of Front Street.” 

Included among the people celebrated were Helen Dean King (369 Front) who along with Marie Curie were considered the most important women scientists of the early 20th Century. 

Belva McNall, later Lockwood, who only spent a few years teaching on the site which is now 249 Front, went on to become the first woman to run for president on a National Ticket (1884 and 1888), and the first woman to practice law before the Supreme Court.

Tom went on to describe the genius of Lucius “Ellery” Colby (97 Front) whose bridge company spanned rivers up and down the East Coast, and the Ely Brothers, Charles, Alfred and Frederick, whose mansions at 321 Front and on the site of the Elks Club parking lot are now gone. They were druggists whose potion, Ely’s Cream Balm, brought them a fortune, and is still the formula for ointments such as Vicks Vapo-Rub. 

Tom also told the story of Gurdon Hewitt (223 Front), the richest man from the Village; Solomon “Washington” Gladden (314 Front), author, hymnist and church leader; John Hoyt Lillie (30 Front), who held one of the earliest electric motor patents; Todd Loring (351 Front), Smithsonian Institution naturalist and Teddy Roosevelt’s safari companion; and Daniel McCallum (45 Front), railroad bridge builder for the Erie Road and the Union Army, and many others.

Tom’s well-received lecture was followed by Director Scott McDonald’s report on the status of the Museum, and a brief overview of its finances. Scott discussed meetings with other regional and national museum executives about the future, the importance, and relevance of museums in the digital age where a two-dimensional image and a Wiki Story are available at our fingertips. The comments centered on the value of “objects” and their preservation. 

Scott quoted from a number of sources including a quote from Thomas Campbell, president of Metropolitan Museum of Art, which read, “Nothing replaces the authenticity of the object presented with passionate scholarship. Bringing people face-to-face with objects is a way of bringing them face-to-face with people across time, across space, people whose lives may have been different from our own but who, like us, have hopes and dreams, frustrations, and achievements in their lives.”

Scott then reviewed the five-year Exhibit plan, which includes, in 2024, an exhibit on Household items including China, Flatware, Clocks, Stackmore furniture, and an exhibit of Coins and Banking in Tioga County. 

In 2025 the museum plans to display Tioga County textiles and fiber art, Native American objects, and to celebrate Earth Day. 

For 2026 the museum will feature an exhibit on Tioga County business and industry, and later an exhibit chronicling 250 years from the American Revolution and Tioga County. They also have subsequent years mapped out.

Scott gave a very brief summary of the fiscal year (June to July), reporting net income of $167,000 and expenditures of $149,000. The O’Tannenbaum event is the largest fundraiser for the museum, and attendance peaks during November and December because of this event. 

Scott reported that their very important Genealogical Research staff and collections have helped over 125 visitors. Among the major accomplishments for the year was the digitization of 168 rolls of microfilm, each containing over 1,000 pages of the Owego Gazette, and the Owego Times. This is an important and essential research tool and will undoubtedly result in fascinating new research and scholarship. These microfilm rolls are about half of the Museum’s collection of historical newspapers, the rest of which will be digitized as funds become available.

In concluding there was discussion on the importance of outreach to the schools and other youth organizations such as the scouts to bring them into the museum, both as visitors and volunteers, and the desperate search for a mason to repair the sagging front steps.