Welcome to the History Corner!
Celebrating the rich history of Port Byron, New York, an old Erie Canal village in the Town of Mentz. This site is dedicated to the legacy and heritage of our community as well as a variety of regional historical tidbits. I hope you enjoy your visit and will stop by again.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Municipal Historians of New York State

For readers that are from other areas of the Country, New York State is blessed with incorporating local historians into the laws of New York State. Historians are governed by Section 57.13 of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. You can read more about the history of New York's Historian Law by visiting the following website:

Historian's Law of New York State

This site also contains a searchable list of all historians for the entire State of New York.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Annual of Scientific Discoveries

Did you know that Port Byron appeared in the 1850 Annual of Scientific Discovery for analysis of our wheat flour?

Chemical analysis of our flour was listed as:

13.60% Water
12.00% Gluten
67.60% Starch
06.80% Glucose, dextrine
------
100.00%

Monday, September 28, 2009

Lieut. Peter Elsworth

Here's another ground breaking law suit involving Port Byron. This case involved a Revolutionary War soldier who was awarded bounty land for his service. The soldier never occupied the land but willed the land to his father. The father in turn willed the land to his son Theophilus Elsworth who was the first to settle on part of the soldiers lot. The law suit was over the rights of deceased soldiers:

Law Suit over land grant at Port Byron

Peter Elsworth had a lengthy period of service during the war. He served in the 4th NY Regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Frederick Weissenfels, Lt. Mayor's Company. He was stationed at West Point, Fort Schuyler as well as Camp Steenrapie. His muster cards are plentiful being 65 cards in all. He also was assigned to Henry B Livingston, Esq. and spent some time at the Manor of Livingston in the Nine Month Levies. He held the rank of Captain with Livingston's assignment. He was also a Regimental Adjutant.