History of the Fly Creek Area Historical Society
Our first full-length book, Fly Creek Area History, was published in 2022. It
contains the best articles from the first thirty years of our quarterly newsletter, the Fly Creeker, including histories of area buildings, businesses, and people. Fly Creek Area History has 370 pages, more than 40 photos and images, and a comprehensive
index. A few copies of the book are still available at the FCAHS/Grange building ($20
for members), and at the Fly Creek General Store and Fly Creek Cider Mill ($25 plus tax for the general public). Copies can also be mailed in the continental US (library rate) for an additional $7 per book.
The Fly Creek Area Historical Society (FCAHS) was founded on July 26, 1989, with 55 charter members. A Constitution and By-Laws were approved and a slate of officers was elected on that date. Monthly meetings with programs were scheduled, and a quarterly newsletter, the Fly Creeker, was begun. The group met in the basement of the Fly Creek United Methodist Church.
The objectives of the Society are to research, document, preserve, and present historical artifacts and documents pertinent to the village of Fly Creek, New York (population c. 350) and its neighboring hamlets. A year after its formation, the FCAHS published a booklet of historic post cards entitled Fly Creek Area Yesteryear, and held a community celebration – including a commemorative cancellation by the U.S. Post Office – marking the bicentennial of the Fly Creek area.
The Society continued to grow and keep busy through the 1990s and into the new millennium. Membership reached 100 in 1990 and 200 in 2001. In 1998 the Society was officially recognized by New York State and by the federal government as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. In 1999, the FCAHS acquired its own building, the former Fly Creek Grange Hall. In 2002, the Society received a grant from the New York State Senate toward renovation expenses, and in 2004 the building earned listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Under the Society’s stewardship, the building has regained its status as a community center.
In 2022, the 370-page book Fly Creek Area History was published. Through 2023, the Society had held more than 350 meetings with a diverse slate of programs, and had published 138 issues of the Fly Creeker.
FLY CREEK AREA HISTORICAL TIDBITS
- The hero of James Fenimore Cooper’s novels lived in the Fly Creek area. David Shipman (1729-1813), fictionalized as “Natty Bumppo,” “Deerslayer,” and “Leatherstocking,” lived in a log cabin on the east bank of Oaks Creek, about half-way between Fly Creek and Toddsville. He is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in Fly Creek’s Adams Cemetery.
- Erastus Beadle, “Father of the Dime Novel,” was born in Pierstown in 1821. Beadle’s Dime Books were wildly successful publications in the second half of the nineteenth century.
- Isaac Singer, co-founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, spent time in the Fly Creek area. In 1833, Singer was employed at the shop of George W. Potter on Oaks Creek, one mile south of the Fly Creek village.
- A trolley line ran through the area from 1902-33, with a station in Fly Creek. Among the passengers on this line was former President Theodore Roosevelt, who used it to visit his sister in nearby Jordanville.
- Famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart spent part of a summer in Fly Creek. While giving flying lessons in nearby Frankfort in August, 1924, Earhart boarded in a house which still stands on State Highway 28, just east of the four-corners.
- Another pioneer aviator, A. Leo Stevens – holder of U.S. pilot’s license #2 – lived in Fly Creek from 1927-44. The invention of the ripcord was among Stevens’s 55 aviation “firsts.”
- Two Fly Creek residents were jurors in the trial of Eva Coo, in a 1934 murder case that gained national attention. Coo was ultimately executed for the murder of Harry Wright in nearby Milford.
- The “Abner Doubleday Baseball,” the Baseball Hall of Fame’s first artifact, was found in the attic of a Fly Creek farmhouse. The building belonged to a descendant of Abner Graves, the man who claimed that he was present when Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown. The finding of this tattered, home-made ball in 1935 lent credibility to Graves’s story, and inspired the Clark family to establish a baseball museum in time for the centennial of the game’s birth. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was formally opened in 1939, and the Doubleday Baseball is still proudly displayed there.
- Government official Joseph Campbell lived in Pierstown. Campbell was Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Comptroller General.
Our Building —Fly Creek Grange No. 844
Since 1999, the FCAHS’s home has been the former Fly Creek Grange building at 208 Cemetery Road, Fly Creek. Fly Creek Grange #844 was established with 18 members in February, 1898, and its building was erected the following year. It became a thriving meeting hall and community center for nearly a century.
By the 1990s, the Fly Creek Grange was dissolved and the building turned over to the Otsego County Pomona Grange. Thanks mostly to the generosity of Jim Wolff and Carl Roemer, and the efforts of Jim Atwell, the FCAHS bought the building from them. A deed-passing ceremony was held on June 2, 1999.
Fly Creek Grange No. 844 was organized in February 1895 by Henry Chamberlain, the first deputy of Otsego County. The session was held in the ballroom of the Fly Creek Hotel.
There were 18 charter members, and these selected the first officers who were installed by Deputy Chamberlain. John B. McManus was named master with Ettie Wedderspoon, overseer and Jesse Ellsworth, lecturer.
Others were Richard Johnson, chaplain; Peter McDonough, secretary; Frances Hecox, treasurer; Norman Quaif, steward; Irving Hull, assistant steward; Irving Marsh, gatekeeper; Leona Quaif, Pomona; Mary Elderkin, Ceres; Jennie McDonough, Flora; Clara Quaif, lady assistant steward. Other charter members were Margaret Brady, Sheldon Elderkin, Sarah Leland, Alfred Wilcox, and Charles Hyde.
The members decided that they wanted a hall of their own and a meeting was held in the Oaksville Hotel and the Fly Creek Building Association formed. Richard Johnson was elected president; John B. McManus, secretary and Sheldon Elderkin, treasurer. Shares in the Building Association were sold at $5 each and 1,100 were bought. At the first meeting of the Building Association it was voted to purchase a piece of land of DeWitt Badger for $100.
The hall was built on this lot by Charles Allen and Henry Babcock. Members of the Grange donated time and labor, and the organization soon had one of the largest and finest halls in Otsego County. Four members were leaders in the projects and their pictures are hanging in the hall in which they took so much pride in building. They were Richard Johnson, George Page, Sheldon Elderkin, and George Wedderspoon.
The members put up exhibits at the Otsego County Fair held in Cooperstown, regularly, and as much as $225 was received in premiums in one year. Home talent plays and dances also brought in funds as well as furnishing entertainment for the young people of the community.
The Grange rented the hall of the Building Association, paying $60 a year. In 1924, the members decided they would like to own their hall, so a committee was named to meet with the Building Association officers. The latest stockholders at the time were Fred VanWalkenburg, Melvin Kane and Loomis Wood.
It was necessary to borrow some money to meet the obligations but it was soon paid back, and the mortgage and Building Association dissolution papers were signed by Secretary K.A. McRorie, February 18, 1928.
One of the objectives of the Grange, when organized, was to save farmers money on their purchases. A grocery agent was appointed each year, to take orders from members, and to have charge of the Grange Store Room. The members purchased their supplies at the store room on meeting nights. Farmers who raised hops bought a large part of their supplies from the Grange agent.
George Page, Daniel Curtis, and Fred VanWalkenburg were three of the agents who were very active and showed a great interest in the store. On December 2, 1922, the members voted to discontinue the store operations as business had dropped away and there was not enough profit to make it worthwhile.
The Grange Hall has been used for several Pomona meetings, also for other county sessions, such as School of Instruction, practice meetings for degree teams and anniversaries. It was dedicated June 27, 1928, the ceremonies being in charge of State Master Fred J. Freestone.
Four charter members were among the guests of honor on that occasion. They were John B. McManus, the first master; Ettie Wedderspoon, the first overseer; R.P. Johnson, the first chaplain; and Alfred Wilcox.
Pomona master Harry Hawver of Otego and Deputy John Chase of Schenevus were guests for the dedication program.
There have been five Golden Sheaf members – John B. McManus, Edwin M. Jarvis, Ettie Wedderspoon, Leona Wood and Lena McRorie. McManus served as master, and also held other offices later. Brother E.M. Jarvis was elected master three times and has held other offices. Ettie Wedderspoon has been an active Grange member and served in several offices. Sister Lena McRorie was master for two terms and held an office continuously for 50 years.
The 50th Anniversary was celebrated July 31, 1948. A program of music, readings and a Grange pageant was presented under the direction of Lena McRorie, the lecturer. It was at that time the master E. M. Jarvis presented Golden Sheaf certificates to John B. McManus, Ettie Wedderspoon, and Leona Wood.
The master presented the Grange with a 50-year anniversary picture and the lecturer made a presentation of a picture of the seven founders of the Order. Past Deputy Ritter was the speaker describing Grange events.
The membership was 148 and Silver Star certificates were presented to 25 members. In a contest for Milk Queen of Otsego County, held in 1952, Alice Platt of the Fly Creek Grange won the honors.
After 73 years, Fly Creek Grange is active. Regular meeting are held. The Grange Hall is used as a voting place for on district in the town of Otsego. 4-H meetings, Extension Service meetings, family anniversary celebrations and the Fly Creek Co-op meetings are often held in our Grange Hall.
What is the Grange?
By John M. Benedik, New Jersey Lecturer, State Grange
The origin of the Grange came about in the year 1866 when Mr. Oliver Hudson Kelleywas authorized by the Commissioner of Agriculture to make a survey of farm conditionsin the South following the Civil War.
Mr. Kelley conceived the idea that a fraternal organization, composed of farmersfrom all sections of the country, would help to heal the scars caused by war, aswell as to improve the economic and social position of the farm population.
Mr. Kelley and six of his friends, having framed a ritual and a constitution, formallyorganized the National Grange.
As National Grange is the supreme legislative body of the Order, its policies aredeveloped through the channels of Subordinate (local), Pomona (County), and State units. The program for agriculture developed at these sessions is carriedback for action to the representatives of their local and state groups. Atthe annual session, the Seventh Degree (highest in the Order) is conferred whichhas no superior in modern ritualism.
The State Grange is a delegate body, representing Subordinate and Ponoma Granges,and is composed of both men and women on an equal footing. State Granges considermany important matters relating to legislation and public policy, particularly withreference to agriculture and the welfare of the state as a whole. The StateGrange confers the Sixth Degree at its annual session.
Pomona Grange consists of Subordinate Granges with a given district grouped togetheron a county basis, and meets quarterly. The Pomona Grange confers the FifthDegree of the Order extending the lessons and opportunities of the Subordinate Grange.
Subordinate Grange is built around the community. It confers the first fourdegrees of the Order. All Grange activities are for the purpose of developingleadership, improving rural life, and expanding opportunities for those who liveby the land. All those who farm or who have a real interest in agricultureand are 14 years of age are eligible for full membership in the Grange.
Believing that the future of a nation depends upon the training of its children,the Grange structure also includes the Junior Grange. Open to children betweenthe ages of 5 and 14, which is a distinct unit in itself. The Junior Grangeis under the direction of competent adults, selected by the Subordinate Grange.
Membership in the Grange gives you an opportunity to express fully your opinionon community and national issues.
You can actively meet today’s challenge by joining the Grange and participatingin its many worthwhile programs. The actions of the Grange have a direct bearingin the handling of many problems relating to national as well as community life.
There is a place in the Grange for every member of your family, and every memberof your community. Especially your neighbors!