Wells College - Cardinal Yearbook (Aurora, NY)

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see the Shepards Morffans Delanos, Averys, Rrehmonds, and more too They were men and women of Wealth drgnrty and eourtlrness and they entertarned each other wrth a good deal of elegance Many a drstrnofurshed man has counted rt a prrvrleve to be therr guest There was a strong ar rstocratrc feelrng among these famrlres and they thought hrghly of rntluence and posrtron I remember one oecasron when Governor Clrnton and hrs Wrfe Were rnvrted to be present at the unverlrng or dedreatron of some publrc burldrno' Durrng the ccremonres an acerdent happened, a board slrpped and fell down among the people The one ery rarsed was, O 1S Mrs Olmton hurt? Is Mrs Olmton hurt'37 But, there was plenty of the rrght sprrrt here When the crvrl War broke out you should have seen the great sewrnv bees that were held rn the lrttle burldrng that rs now the hardware store There ladres of hwh and low degree met together and worked for the boys rn blue, sendrng off box after box of comforts When I look away back to those days rt seems lrke a dream The Wells grrl says good bye and walks on down the street Her feelrnfr for Aurora has not been changed She has not known the past and so rs satrsfred Wrth the present But as she goes, she looks up at the old houses, recalls the storres he has been more romantrc and rnter estrng to have lrved earlrer rn the century Certarnly these old burldrngs of Aurora have a charm for every Wells grrl and a brref sketch oi' some of the most rm portant may be rnterestrnof Before speakrng of the earlrest burlt house now standrnof rn the vrllaffe rt wrll be well perhaps, to vo further back and tell of the first house ever burlt here It was rn the year 1789 that Captarn Roswell Franklrn of Wysox Pennsylvanra, started out wrth hrs famrly to seek a home for hrmself farther west Several frrends accompanred hun The party commenced therr journey rn mrd wrnter, settrng out rn slewhs whrch they were later forced to abandon Over hrlls and mountarns they drove, across rushrng torrents and through forests deep rn snow Frnally rn the sprrno' trrne they reached Cayuga Lake, frozen then we wrsh rt mrght be rn these days The proneers cut a way for then boat through the ree wrth therr axes and at lenffth came ashore at the mouth of the lrttle creek near Whrch stands at present the house of our frrend Mrs S , the dressmaker There a settlement was begun rn the wrlderness Provrsrons grew scarce and Franklrn s son Went to Troga to fret T1 I 'I . WW 7 bil 7 1 1 7 . Y 1 1 L , , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 D -1 D 1 1 1 h 4 1 C wi 1 1 1 1 I 1 D. 1 T C 1 I - 1 ' ' . I . ' . '. 1 1 1 1 1 , an. I 1 H 1 I C , 1 ' ' 77 . i C I 1 1 1 ' ' , ' S , heard of them at one time and another, and thinks it might have T 1 V ', D' 1 1 1 1 . I . ' ' fa O 1 , 1 D1 i 1 1 . 7 1 , ' 1 ' D i . . . g 1 T 1 . 1 1 1 D- 1 , , , D . ' , . ' . . ' 1. ' 4 D 1 1 1 . 1 ' , , , D 25

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Plurora in Ye Olden Time. EAR old Aurora! U The loyal Wells girl means a great deal by those three words, they are not to her a mere hackneyed phrase, but the simple expression of an earnest love that has grown up in her heart and become stronger each day of the one, two, three or four years she has passed in the little village ff on Cayuga's banks. It began as far back as the day after her arrival in Aurora as a Freshman, when she took her first walk down street under the care, perhaps, of some kindly old girl. She was homesick and maybe a little frightened, too, Qif she was a good orthodox Freshmanj, but yet she could not help noticing the beauty around her-a beauty that carried with it a sense of restfulness and peace. There was the long village street with the thick arching green boughs overhead. On either side of the road stood quaint, old houses of many shapes and sizes. Some crowded down to the sidewalk in a friendly manner, others by a wide, shaded lawn kept the vulgar world at a distance. There was a high wind-mill turning and turning against the blue sky-and finally, there was the lake, bordered on the farther side by a line of green hills. How still the water lay, and how it gleamed in the autumn's sun- shine! ' The months have come and gone. The Freshman is a Fresh- man no longer, and many changes have come to her in her college life, but one thing cannot alter except to grow deeper, that is, her early formed conviction that Aurora is one of the perfect things in the world. Perhaps the Wells girl may speak thus enthusiastically to some one of thc old residents of Aurora,who has seen many years glide by, in her pleasant home near the village street. She will smile, sigh and shake her head. Ah, yes, she will say, 'fAurora will always be beautiful so long as there are trees and grass and water on God's earth, but, ah, my dear, if you had seen and known old Aurora as I have, you would not be so contented with Aurora of to-day. What changes have taken place since those good old times! ff I suppose you are referring to the families who used to live here Z ' ff Yes, let me tell you something of our life here seventy years ago. There were a great many ine families here then. Let me 24

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assistance. During his absence the settlerslived chiefly upon milk and ground nuts, it is said. Fortunately it was summer, so that the limited diet and a life in the smallest and rudest of shanties did not result disastrously. Better dwellings were put up in the fall. The log house, sixteen feet square, raised by Captain Franklin, was the first built by any white man west of Rome. In walking past the smooth lawn of Mr. Henry A. Morgan it is difficult to realize that in 1790 this land was forest primeval, and that somewhere upon it Qon the spot, I believe, which is now occupied by the gardenj, the log cabin of Captain Franklin was built. A few stones of the old foundation are still left. To the south of the Military Academy, and somewhat back from it, stands a small house with a high peaked roof, and with the tiniest of ells at one side. It reminds one of those pictures in our grammar school histories, of the modest birth-places of some of the United States presidents. The history of this house carries one back to the year 1793. It was then that Major, or General Ledyard, as he was ordinarily called, great grandfather of the present Dean of Wells College, came from his home in New Jersey to settle in Aurora. He was of a Ledyard family of Revolutionary fame, and had served at VVhite Plains and Mon- mouth. In 1793 the Government allotted the military bounty lands along Cayuga Lake, and Major Ledyard received the ap- pointment of clerk of Onondaga county. His journey to his new home was a long and slow one, for the means of traveling were very primitive in those days. Ascending the Hudson in two barges, one of which was occupied by himself, his wife and seven children, the other by his slaves, till he reached the head of Cay- uga, then coming down the lake he passed through a succession of narrow water ways, landed at the present site of Aurora, and built a log house on the shore. Aaron Burr, his warm friend, bought land in the vicinity of Aurora and visited Major Ledyard occasionally. Major Ledyard is said to have chosen the name f'Aurora for the village, and his own name was given to the town of Ledyard. Early in the next century he removed to the hill on which the Military Academy now stands, and there built the house we pass in our daily walks. In those times it was considered a fine resi- dence, indeed presented quite an imposing appearance with the long lines of outbuildings which surrounded it-stables and quar- ters for the slaves. 26