ELLICOTTVILLE — The Ellicottville Historical Society has a full schedule of exciting programs this season for anyone interested in local history, the Civil War or unexplained hauntings in the Ellicottville area.
Town historian Ellen Frank said the historical society began its programs May 1 with a presentation by Dennis Upton of Amherst who portrayed Joseph Ellicott, the Great Surveyor from the Holland Land Company and for whom Ellicott Creek, the Ellicott building, Ellicottville and numerous Ellicott roads are named.
“Mr. Upton talked about Joseph Ellicott and the approximate 300,000 acres he walked and surveyed,” she said. “I learned a lot about Joseph Ellicott from the program that I didn’t know.”
June’s program featured Native American historian Lance White Eagle of Salamanca, who presented “Pocahontas: Tragedy and Disney.” Frank said he talked about the true story of Pocahontas, the Native Americans of the Rappahannock tribe located in Virginia, and how the English arrived and tried to take over.
The upcoming meeting, set for July 3, will feature Joyce Thompson who will present on “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.” Frank said Thompson, of Pavilion, is very knowledgeable and has done many programs on the subject, both in New York and Florida where she winters.
Anthony was an American women’s rights activist, known for her important part in the women’s suffrage movement. Douglass, who was a friend of her father’s, was a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman. He became the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century.
Future programs this season include “Music of the Women of the Civil War,” featuring Don Dwyer on Aug. 7 and Amanda Boomer from Spook-Eats on Sept. 4. The season ends with a final meeting and program featuring the Spirit Hunters, Inc. on Oct. 2. Frank said the group did a ghost hunting event last year in Ellicottville.
Frank said this is the third year that the historical society has hosted Dwyer, who is a musician, singer and songwriter from the Buffalo area. She said he presented the “Music of the Civil War,” the first year and the “Music of Stephen Foster” last year. This year, he’ll do the “Music of the Women of the Civil War.”
“He plays the guitar and it’s a very entertaining evening,” she said. “He knows his history and I learned things about Stephen Foster from his presentation last year that I never knew.”
According to her website, spookeats.com, Woomer is a paranormal researcher, occultist, anthropologist, author and foodie. She’s well-versed in the local folklore and dark history of Western New York as well as 19th Century Spiritualism and women in the paranormal. Her works include “A Haunted Atlas of Western New York;” “The Spirit Guide: America’s Haunted Breweries, Distilleries, and Wineries;” “The Ghosts of the Ghostlight Theatre;” and two books in the “Creepy Books for Creepy Kids” series; as well as “The Feminine Macabre, A Woman’s Journal of All Things Strange and Unusual.” She’s also a featured writer for the award-winning “Haunted” magazine and “The Morbid Curious.”
Frank said the Spirit Hunters have investigated the United Church of Ellicottville in the past. She’d like them to come back to do some more investigation into the historical society’s museum and the church.
The popular Ghost and Walking tours will be offered again this year. If a group of six people would like to participate in a private tour, they can contact Frank. For the walking tour, participants gather at the gazebo at 1 p.m. on the following dates: July 13 and 14, Aug. 17 and 18, and Sept. 21. Walking tours are offered for $10 per person.
“On July 14, we’re going to walk to the Jefferson Street Cemetery where I will conduct my program because I’ve had people request that,” she said.
People interested in participating in the ghost tours should meet at the gazebo at 7 p.m. on the following dates: Sept. 27; Oct. 4, 18 and 25. The cost is $15 per person. Both tours are cash or check only.
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month, May through October, at 7 p.m. at the Ellicottville Memorial Library, 6499 Maples Road.
Located at 2 Washington St., the museum opened for the season June 1 and will continue to be open weekends, from 1 to 4 p.m., through Sept. 29.
Direct inquiries to ellicottvillehistoricalsociety@gmail.com. For Walking Tour and Ghost Tour questions, contact ellicottvilletownhistorian@gmail.com or (716) 474-8528.
