This location has the distinction of having had one of the last remaining family residences in Cortland’s business district! Believed to have been built in the 1830s, what is commonly known as the Keator House was torn down in 1937. But let us start at the beginning: The first owner that we can attribute to the home is Tercius Eels, a private in the War of 1812, Cortland’s Poor Master in 1831, and additionally active as postmaster, Whig leader, Town Clerk, and as a merchant. Eels sold to Oren Stimson, who served as County Clerk and kept a dry goods store. Harmon S. Conger boughtRead More →

Alice Cately was born in Tully, New York, the daughter of Shepard W. Cately, renowned carriage manufacturer. Alice graduated from Cortland Normal School in 1871 and taught for a few years before training as a nurse. She married Henry Ettling but was widowed in 1885 at the age of 35, after only four years of marriage. She had one child and never remarried. Her father left his carriage business in Tully in 1876 and moved to Cortland where he was employed as a salesman at Fitzgerald and Kinney, wagon manufacturers. He was always an inventive man, and he continued to develop and patent his designs.Read More →

We’ve recently been working with Molly Kathleen Reagan to highlight three important women from Cortland County’s past. We supplied information and Molly created portraits of each of the three women. This is week two of our series. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. Bertha Eveleth Jones was the oldest of two girls born to Augustus and Helen Jones. She was born on September 7, 1866 inRead More →

How can we know so little about someone who left behind so much? That is the question I often ask myself when I consider what we know about miniature portrait artist, Meriva Carpenter. Carpenter provided inspiration for local artist Molly Reagan for her “History Highlighted” series created for Cortland County Historical Society. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. Meriva Carpenter was born to Dr. Ruggles andRead More →

The beginning of the history of #3-5 Main Street overlaps with that of #1 covered several weeks ago (https://tinyurl.com/zd4y4h). Joshua Ballard is quoted in H.P. Smith’s “History of Cortland County” as saying: “The corner lot where stands the noble brick edifice of Major Aaron Sager and the Dexter House, was once occupied by a tavern building of ordinary size, owned by Grove Gillett, with whom Samuel Nelson, afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, took board for a time.” This seems to be a reference to an earlier building, perhaps latter replaced by the Barnard block seen in theRead More →

  The first structure at 1 Main Street for which we have decent documentation is the Bernard Block, which according to the 1863 map included a boot and shoe shop, a milliner’s shop, and a dry goods and grocery store. D. Morris Kurtz briefly describes the building in his book “Past and Present: A Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Cortland, NY” (1883) as being three stories high in front with a sloping roof and only two stories in the rear. It was apparently one of the most prominent buildings in the village at the time, although rather stunted when compared to the building that replacedRead More →