Zoom LHS Annual Meeting and Program – Sunday, May 16th at 2 PM

The Real Underground Railroad

 

By Tim McDonnell

Speakers’ Bureau

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at RIT

 

We have an exciting, illustrated program on a topic that we in Lima have often mused about— possible involvement of 19th century Lima residents in the Underground Railroad.  On May 16th, Tim McDonnell, a very popular speaker on the RIT Osher Speakers’ Bureau, and an adjunct associate professor at Monroe Community College, will be speaking about the Real Underground Railroad in our region.

He will talk about how this loosely-organized “conspiracy” against slavery operated before the Civil War. Since New York has a long border with Canada, our state was the important last “station” on the way to freedom. Tim will discuss the routes used by the “conductors,” including routes that led through Livingston County. He will talk about the men and women of the Underground Railroad (UGRR), some famous and most not. Since they were breaking federal laws, this was not an enterprise without danger, both to the runaways (or “Freedom Seekers”) and to the people who assisted them. Tim will conclude his talk with a discussion of why the Underground Railroad is important in the 21st century. The illustration above shows the Freedom Statue in Lewiston, NY on the Niagara River, with Canada in the background. This was the last stop on the UGRR for many formerly-enslaved people.

 

VIEW A RECORDING OF THE PRESENTATION BELOW

YouTube Link to Video

The Lima Recorder (1869-1989)

A Three Generation Van Gelder Family Enterprise

“The Lima Recorder,” Lima’s long-time weekly newspaper was first established in 1869 when Elmer Houser began publication. Over subsequent years, a number of Lima publishers: Houser and Dennis, Dennis and Dennis, and Dennis and Deal took over the publication. In 1875, A. Tiffany Norton, a prolific publisher of local history who eventually became one of the editors of Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle, purchased the paper and edited it until 1881.


That year, 1881, Phineas C. Van Gelder purchased the paper and it remained under the management of the Van Gelder family for three generations. In 1989, it merged with the Honeoye Falls Weekly Times, the Honeoye Lake Courier; and the Livonia Gazette to form the Town & Country Gazette. Is anyone able to identify the location or the individuals below?


Sometime after the Lima paper closed, the Recorder’s huge printing press was donated to the Lima Historical Society by Violet (Shorty) Birch, proprietor of the Birch Print Shop who had purchased the equipment from the Van Gelders. Sadly, storage in the museum’s garage opened the way for unexpected rodent activity, and we were forced to abandon the press to iron salvage. Recently, Marilyn Zaludny has donated the publisher’s type set cabinet acquired from Mrs. Birch to the Lima Historical Society; John Bailey has generously offered to repair and restore it for exhibit in the museum.


We are anxious to fill the gaps in our Lima Recorder collections. Please contact us if you have old issues.


To read the entire article and more historical information, view our September 2018 issue of The Yellow Wasp. Additional newsletters can be found on our Newsletter page.