AURORA -- The roads of Cayuga County are speckled with historical signs and land markers, relating brief notes on who lived there and what happened on a given date.
But a few sentences can only really say so much.
On Sunday afternoon, at the Morgan Opera House, a little bit of that history came to life with a program called Historic Markers of Southern Cayuga County II.
The program, which was written and directed by Marsha Russell, is part of the Renate Rewald Literary Art Series.
Rewald was an emigre to the Aurora community, fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Rewald would go on to further her education at Wells and Cornell, teaching German at Union Springs High School and Cayuga Community College.
Rewald dedicated her life to the arts, with a special fondness for reading and writing, especially local writers.
In 1996, a year after Rewald passed away, it was decided that a literary arts series would be a good way to pay tribute.
Through the historic markers presentations, local performers gather to tell the stories behind the signs that dot the road ways of Cayuga County, but with a focus on bringing that history to life, not only with the facts of the location, but with stories and details of the people who lived and worked there and called these places home.
Marian Brown, Brad Walp, Mary Ellen Ormiston, Alan Clugston, Barbara Adams, and Linda Van Buskirk took to the stage to tell these stories, dressed to suit the period of the 1700s and 1800s when many of these locations were thriving.
Brown began the program, talking about the Western Luminary, a newspaper which was published in what is now Scipioville, explaining the name and a bit of the history.
"It was the second paper published in Cayuga County," Brown said. "That (Scipioville) used to be the west then, the frontier. They used a sunrise motif on the top of the front page, with the sun rising from the pages of an open book."
Brown said that as far as she or anyone else knows, there is only one copy of the paper known to be in existence, in the basement of the Cornell library.
In the one known edition, Brown said there were stories on New York Constitution voting regulations, the Jefferson Administration building a naval yard as well as news from around the world telling of the campaigns of Napoleon.
Walp followed, reading about Jethro Wood, who has three signs designating his various accomplishments, most notable, the invention of the cast iron plow.
Walp said that all three signs make reference to this, despite that in his lifetime, Wood was never given the credit he deserved.
Walp said Wood and his descendents would spend a great deal of time battling over patent rights for the plow, but records indicate Wood was noted for having made the invention.
"Wood did a demonstration in Moravia," Walp said. "So the farmers took his plow and went to the rockiest field and they tried to hit all the big rocks, but then they saw that the plow didn't break and that it could be pulled by two horses instead of a team of oxen."
Other presentations included Isaac McKeel, who help popularize amber cane syrup during a time when there were efforts to boycott products such as sugar, which were made by slave labor.
Another was on settlements such as Bolt's Corners and the Bolt's Corner Women's Study Club.
The group was an extension of Cornell, much like the cooperative extension programs that reach out to agriculture, the women's club was designed to reach out to women with information on family health and nutrition.
While the women's group lasted into the 1970s, little is known about what became of Bolt's Corners, but like all the signs, it offers the opportunity to learn more about the area's history.
"It helps us to engage nostalgically," brown said. "And to remember our history."
On Sunday afternoon, at the Morgan Opera House, a little bit of that history came to life with a program called Historic Markers of Southern Cayuga County II.
The program, which was written and directed by Marsha Russell, is part of the Renate Rewald Literary Art Series.
Rewald was an emigre to the Aurora community, fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Rewald would go on to further her education at Wells and Cornell, teaching German at Union Springs High School and Cayuga Community College.
Rewald dedicated her life to the arts, with a special fondness for reading and writing, especially local writers.
In 1996, a year after Rewald passed away, it was decided that a literary arts series would be a good way to pay tribute.
Through the historic markers presentations, local performers gather to tell the stories behind the signs that dot the road ways of Cayuga County, but with a focus on bringing that history to life, not only with the facts of the location, but with stories and details of the people who lived and worked there and called these places home.
Marian Brown, Brad Walp, Mary Ellen Ormiston, Alan Clugston, Barbara Adams, and Linda Van Buskirk took to the stage to tell these stories, dressed to suit the period of the 1700s and 1800s when many of these locations were thriving.
Brown began the program, talking about the Western Luminary, a newspaper which was published in what is now Scipioville, explaining the name and a bit of the history.
"It was the second paper published in Cayuga County," Brown said. "That (Scipioville) used to be the west then, the frontier. They used a sunrise motif on the top of the front page, with the sun rising from the pages of an open book."
Brown said that as far as she or anyone else knows, there is only one copy of the paper known to be in existence, in the basement of the Cornell library.
In the one known edition, Brown said there were stories on New York Constitution voting regulations, the Jefferson Administration building a naval yard as well as news from around the world telling of the campaigns of Napoleon.
Walp followed, reading about Jethro Wood, who has three signs designating his various accomplishments, most notable, the invention of the cast iron plow.
Walp said that all three signs make reference to this, despite that in his lifetime, Wood was never given the credit he deserved.
Walp said Wood and his descendents would spend a great deal of time battling over patent rights for the plow, but records indicate Wood was noted for having made the invention.
"Wood did a demonstration in Moravia," Walp said. "So the farmers took his plow and went to the rockiest field and they tried to hit all the big rocks, but then they saw that the plow didn't break and that it could be pulled by two horses instead of a team of oxen."
Other presentations included Isaac McKeel, who help popularize amber cane syrup during a time when there were efforts to boycott products such as sugar, which were made by slave labor.
Another was on settlements such as Bolt's Corners and the Bolt's Corner Women's Study Club.
The group was an extension of Cornell, much like the cooperative extension programs that reach out to agriculture, the women's club was designed to reach out to women with information on family health and nutrition.
While the women's group lasted into the 1970s, little is known about what became of Bolt's Corners, but like all the signs, it offers the opportunity to learn more about the area's history.
"It helps us to engage nostalgically," brown said. "And to remember our history."
