Women of WWII: On the Front Lines & the Home Front

Barb Warner Deane

Barb Warner Deane will be the speaker at the Frontenac Historical Society & Museum on March 16th at 2pm. She is the award author of four published novels and a public speaker on the role of American women in World War II. Her books feature strong women and small towns.

The Frontenac Museum will have a grand opening of a new exhibit honoring women who have served in the military from our local communities. Visitors had commented that there was a lack of women representatives in the Thomas Eldred Military History Room.

So, the curators began to look at ways to address the issue. They perused the 1976 Springport Bicentennial Record and came up with 6 names of women who served in WWII and the Korean War. An appeal was put out for other women, who served in the military, to contact the museum. This appeal led to over 25 women with representatives from Vietnam to the present. Each 'lead' required research for bits and pieces relating to these names. High school yearbooks, newspaper articles, phone calls and emails for information or photos was undertaken.

At the upcoming March program, it is expected that there will be profiles of the women identified, but will continue to collect names and stories of women from the areas represented by the museum as part of an on-going chapter of local history.

We hope to see you at this exciting program. If you know of a woman who served or is still serving in the military, please contact the museum at 315-889-7273 or email us at frontenac178@gmail.com. It will allow us to add to our base of knowledge and history.

Free parking and refreshments will be served. Looking forward to seeing you!

Fireside Reading on History of Frontenac Museum

The First Presbyterian Church of Union Springs, NY, built ca. 1840, is an imposing structure located on Cayuga St., the main street of the village of Union Springs in west central Cayuga County. A block from Cayuga Lake, the building is a large and dominating edifice constructed in Greek Revival style on the east side of the street, which is also NYS Route 90, the western most north-south thoroughfare of the county. It is sheltered on three sides by tree lined hedges in the midst of historic residences in the village. It faces the lake on its west end behind which is a small lawn edged by the village sidewalk. On its north side sits the Howland Chase House, already on the National Register of Historic Places.

The founders of this church had roots in a Congregational Church in 1779, which built a small stone meeting house on Cross Road, near Cayuga, NY in 1816. Some members of the original group applied to join the Presbyterian Church in 1822 and incorporated as the First Presbyterian Society of Union Springs in 1835. According to Session records, they formed a building committee in 1839. Session records from September 1839 indicated that the building committee unanimously agreed to hire Ferrand Kitchell to build the structure "in a style and instructions corresponding with a draft drawn by (John) Hagaman of Auburn for the sum of $2,650 (which contract is now on file with the clerk)". On October 8, 1839, the church trustees accepted a donation of land in Union Springs from George Howland and his son, Augustus Howland according to a deed filed with the county clerk. An 1840 letter from the representatives of the Church Society to the Boards of Assistance for the Western Agency of the Presbyterian mentioned that the Society contributed around $2,900 for the construction. The letter also stated that the construction of the new church had commenced, and its foundation had been laid. The foundation blocks are assumed to have come from local quarries active in the area in this period. According to meeting minutes, by December 29, 1840, the Society met in their newly built Meeting House. It was not until 1914 that the opalescent windows were purchased and installed by the Booth Art Glass Company, a business that existed only from 1909-1914 but in that time installed art glass windows in numerous church buildings in western and central New York. The windows are dedicated to the memory of 19th century church members including Peter Yawger, grandson of Phillip Yawger, one of the first settlers in the Town of Springport. His father was an active leader in the building of the Presbyterian Church that became the home of the Frontenac Historical Society.

The structure of the building is an example of classic Greek Revival Architecture featuring a symmetrical facade with a low-pitched gable roof, an entabature with cornice (projecting border near the roof line), frieze (the pronounced horizontal band at the bottom), and architravewhat (the area, a lintel or beam that rests on the columns) above a complete row of six impressive Corinthian style fluted columns (with roman style bases) standing on a broad portico. The capitals are specific to the Tower of the Winds in Athens, an archaeological reference that suggests a limited number of references being used by a well-educated architect. Fenestration is symmetrically and functionally placed. Door and window moldings are heavy and distinct, but plain and simple, consistent with the Calvinistic beliefs of Colonial Presbyterianism, and perhaps with some echo of the Quaker roots of many of its founders, who also referred to their worship structures as Meeting Houses rather than 'sacred space' associated with churches and cathedrals.

In 1875, the brass bell manufactured by Andrew Meneely Bell Foundry in West Troy, NY was purchased and installed. Meneely has been described as one of the greatest bell makers in American History with over 65,000 bells cast under the Meneely brand between 1826 and 1951.

The first major modification to the original building was the construction of a 'Prayer Room' in a hand dug basement under the auditorium described in a 1962 program for the Dedication of the Christian Education Building.

...a review of our Church records shows that on May 28, 1860, the (Presbytery) Session authorized certain funds for what apparently what was a thriving "Sabbath School". Since the American Sunday School Union was not established until 1824, we assume that our Sunday School may be one of the oldest in the country.

We find that during the pastorate of Rev. Henry R. Fancher, (1891-95), the basement of the church was excavated Several of our members remember seeing the work done when they were little children. We understand that Charlie Davis, older brother of our own Jerry Davis, drew the dirt out using a "slip scraper" and his team. This was a long arduous task, since all the work had to be done by hand. There were no machines as we know them, in those days. The only other person living today who worked on the excavation is William Schenck. This room was used first as a Prayer Meeting room, then for Sunday School and later for social affairs of the church ...

We notice too, in reviewing the old Session minutes, that in 1927, during the pastorate of Rev. George Davis, some thought had been given to an addition to the church building. Following several months of discussion...the idea was dropped as being too expensive.

The idea of an addition was revisited thirty years later and with a fundraising effort in 1960 netting $33,000 in gifts and pledges, construction on an addition began. It was completed in 1961 with a documented congregational celebration in October of that year. The total cost of the project was $42,754.51 and included refurbishing the basement dining room and new kitchen with new ceiling and flooring and a modern heating system throughout, including the original sanctuary. A stairway from the addition to the basement under the original building was added.

This history was researched and written by Linda Albrecht, Trustee of Frontenac Historical Society.

News Flash!

We are so pleased to announce that the Frontenac Museum is now listed on the NY Registry of Historic Places! Our application for National Registry Status will now be automatically submitted for consideration by the National Parks Service for inclusion on the National Registry.

Historic Society & Museum in Union Springs. Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen

Special recognition must go to Marge Gibbs, who recently passed on October 7, 2024. Attached to the donation of the property on which the museum is located, George and Augustus Howland required that any future transfer of the property required the approval of Howland heirs. Tracing these heirs was a daunting task! Marge worked diligently to trace the 87 Howland heirs who all eventually signed off on the transfer. Sadly Marge is not with us in person today to celebrate this accomplishment. Her vision and recognition of the significance of our historic property cannot be forgotten.

The article below was published in The Citizen on December 6, 2024.

NY board nominates historic Cayuga County church for national designation

by Kevin Harding

A state board has recommended adding a Cayuga County church to the National Register for Historic Places.

The First Presbyterian Church of Springport, which houses the Frontenac Historical Society and Museum in Union Springs, has been added to the state register and nominated for the national designation. The submission will be reviewed by the National Park Service. The designation is significant because the church will be eligible for federal historic rehabilitation tax credits and state grants.

According to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the church features a Greek Revival sanctuary that was designed by John Hagaman, a local architect, and built by Farrand Kitchell in 1840. The church was used from its construction until 1968.

The parks office added that the building "has seen little alteration, retains most of its original fabric and historic context in the community, and is therefore a notably intact example of a rural Greek Revival church from the period."

The Frontenac Historical Society and Museum, which was established in 1974, moved into the church in 1994.

The state Board of Historic Preservation nominated 14 sites for the national designation. Two, including the Union Springs church, are in central New York. The other is the Westcott-University Neighborhood Historic District in Syracuse. The residential area has several homes that were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The state and national registers of historic places recognize "buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archaeology and culture of New York state and the nation," according to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

New York has more than 126,000 properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The auditorium at the Frontenac Historical Society & Museum in Union Springs. Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen