This collection houses digitized copies of books, chapters of books and papers that are concerned with the local history of Brockport NY and the surrounding region, primarily western Monroe County, but also Orleans and Genesee County to a lesser extent.
The primary focus of the Special Collections is the college archives and the history of the college itself, but in a secondary role we do support a local history collection and researchers. A primary resource for local history is of course the historian of the town or village in question.
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Remembering: Not to Be Thwarted, We Remember Some of Brockport's Finest
Richard (Bud) D. Meade
“Remembering” consists of memorial tributes written for 480 SUNY Brockport emeriti, retirees and friends. Entrees cover those who passed away from January 2, 2001 through December 31, 2019 plus a few stories from earlier years. Tributes were collected from obituary information where known, and personal reminiscences from the author and others. Richard (Bud) Meade served as Brockport’s Director of Human Resources for many years. He emailed updates to emeriti/retirees to keep them abreast of events and things going on at the College that he thought would be of interest, and through which they could share their retirement stories with others. Includes index and photos.
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Emily Knapp Museum Finding Aid
Emily Knapp
A list of resources and materials held at the Emily Knapp Museum.
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Reminiscences of James Cornes
James P. Cornes
First person account of life in an Erie Canal town in the pre Civil War era.
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Smoke, Fire and Ashes
Kenneth Wierzbowski and Western Monroe Historical Society
Presentation of the Western Monroe Historical Society for their 50th Anniversary Celebration 'Out of the Ashes'. Coordinated by Peter Randazzo. Videography by Kenneth Wierzbowski, Drake Memorial Library, The College at Brockport. September 26, 2015
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D. S. Morgan (Seymour & Morgan) Company
Charlie Cowling
Seymour & Morgan reaper manufacturers, Brockport NY.
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Orleans County Alms "Poor" House and Cemetery (1833-1960)
Albion Middle School Service Learning Classes
This book represents a yearlong service learning project of Albion Middle School students, led by teacher Mr. Tim Archer, to investigate and bring to life the forgotten stories of the “inmates” of the Orleans County Alms House, located on County House Road in Albion. The students filed through dusty old death ledgers, maps, abstracts,medical and town records. They conducted countless interviews with public officials, historians, librarians, and residents, and gave formal and informal presentations on what they learned. With funding by the New York State Learn and Serve America Grant, the students designed a historic marker (placed along County House Road), a sandstone monument (placed on the burial site), and this book which is reproduced here.
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Brockport, New York: A Narrative of That Place (and the Place of this Narrative)
Jonathan Mark Smith
Brockport NY, early history, Erie Canal...
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Town of Sweden Sesqui-Centennial Celebration: 1814-1964
Town of Sweden Sesquicentennial Committee
This book is a well done job of local history, portraying not only the history of the Town of Sweden, but that of the Village of Brockport too. It covers from the early pioneer days just after the War of 1812 up through the early 1960s. Prominent people, businesses, industries, events and more are covered.
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Off to school in the past century: a story of early education in Niagara County and the Town of Royalton
Ruth D. Allport
History of early education in Niagara County, the early academies and one room schools, teachers and teaching.
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Reminiscing in Royalton
Eleanor Cosleman
A history of the town of Royalton in Niagara County NY, written by a Brockport student who was a native of the town.
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History of Brockport With Vicinity Happenings, 1826 - 1956: Also Biographies of Prominent Men of the Past
A. B. Elwell
Wide ranging series of local history articles by A.B. Elwell covering life in the village of Brockport and the surrounding region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mr. Elwell was a lifelong resident of Brockport, and a Normal school graduate, class of 1899. The articles ran in the local paper 1954-1956 and cover topics like the history of the fire department, life at Brockport Normal school, the one room schools, livery stables, farm life, early automobiles and much more.
There is a table of contents in the beginning of the book listing the various articles, and by using "ctrl f" one can search for words in the text.
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The Reaper Industry in Brockport
Helen Hastings
A paper on the history of the reaper industry in Brockport NY. Miss Hastings was a keen amateur historian, and a great niece of William Seymour, a key participant in the industry. She covers the history of the industry, including the patent battle between Seymour & Morgan and the McCormick company. The date of writing is uncertain, but Miss Hastings died in 1953.
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Old Houses of Monroe County
Helen Hastings and Brockport Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution
The main author of this book, and the editor, was Helen Hastings, a noted local historian of Brockport, and the founder of the Brockport village museum. She worked on this book with a committee of the Brockport Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. That chapter no longer exists, but their successor, the Monroe Chapter, has given permission to publish this book online.
This book consists of articles describing a number of historic houses, mainly on the west side of Monroe County. By scrolling through the contents, or typing "ctrl f" to search you may locate a particular house. There are also some cemetary records and biographies etc. as well.
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1911 Old Home Week Sheet Music
M. Donatelli and E. C. Weeks
Original sheet music from the 1911 Brockport Old Home Week Celebration.
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Brockport Old Home Week News
Old Home Week General Committee
A special newspaper produced for Brockport's Old Home Week, 1911.
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History of Clarkson, 1803 - 1890. Volume 1 & 2
Stanley Soules Ed.
Stanley Soules was a local man who in his retirement in the 1980s transcribed and printed a number of local history articles from the Brockport Republic newspaper. This and the accompanying volume 2 were compiled by him from a series of articles that appeared in the Republic in 1890. The articles detailed the history of Clarkson from the early pioneer days up to the time of writing, with much of the focus on the earlier years. Much good information about early families, farming, social customs, roads, farming etc. Added to the end of volume 1 is a map of Clarkson from an 1872 atlas, to aid in locating people and places.
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Historical Album of Orleans County NY: Clarendon
Macnamara
History of Orleans County, Town of Clarendon. Many details of pioneer history, families, businesses, institutions etc. Also a roster of Civil War service, and illustration of Warren Farm, Bennets Corners.
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Historical Album of Orleans County, NY: Pioneer Chapters
MacNamara
This is pages 69-95 of MacNamara's Orleans County history. The chapters cover early pioneer settlement and life, schools, medicine, roads, government officers and more.
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Early Settlers of Sweden: Fifty Years Ago, Brockport in 1829
Stanley Soules
In 1879 the Brockport Republic newspaper ran a series of articles commemorating the early settlers of Sweden, Brockport, and Clarkson. Stanley Soules was a retiree who made an avocation of local history and in the 1980s transcribed these articles from the microfilm of the paper. They cover the early settlement of the town, layout of early Main Street, and much other information. Mr. Soules added a name index at the end of the series.
