By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
For over a century, the Cazenovia Public Library has served as the town’s historical society and “community attic.”
Located at 100 Albany St., the library is home to an impressive collection of “Cazenoviana” like Cazenovia-related memorabilia, historical documents, maps, artifacts/antiques and artwork that provides valuable insight into the community’s past.
This spring, the library archives were enhanced by a sizable donation of locally important materials from the collection of Danna DeVaul and her late husband, Charles.
“The library is very pleased to receive this very generous donation,” Betsy Kennedy, the library’s executive director, said. “These treasures from Cazenovia’s past will give generations a glimpse into our history. We are excited to share them with the community.”
Accumulated over several decades, the DeVaul’s “Cazenovia Collection” includes legal documents associated with long-running local lawsuits; fund transfers between well-known town residents; 19th century deeds and bonds; personal journals and scrapbooks; local bank checks and notes; materials related to Lorenzo and the Cazenovia Seminary; books published in or about Cazenovia; business ledgers and sales receipts; postcards, stereo cards and photographic portraits; local business giveaways; apothecary and milk bottles; advertising cards; souvenir plates; and signs.
DeVaul moved to Cazenovia in 1980 with her husband, who grew up in Erieville.
Until Charles’ death about 20 years ago, the couple worked together in the antiques business, operating DeVaul’s Auction Service and selling antiques in the Central New York region.
According to DeVaul — who continues to work in the industry — she and her husband were among the first dealers to set up at the Madison Bouckville Antique Show.
Throughout the years, the couple amassed an extensive collection of locally important material.
“Charlie and I have enjoyed collecting these treasures of Cazenovia over many decades,” DeVaul said. “[As] a native of this area, he took great pride in purchasing items from Cazenovia, Erieville and Chittenango . . . If he was still alive, my husband would be very humbled and honored to have his collection on display.”
Most of the items in the collection, DeVaul recalled, were purchased from local homes and acquired through estate liquidations.
The Cazenovia Collection will be showcased in the library’s local history exhibit.
“The collection is now at home in Cazenovia for all generations to enjoy,” DeVaul said. “The [materials] will help to give future generations a chance to look back and envision what life was like in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All of these items will . . . help preserve the history of Cazenovia.”
A few notable items in the collection, according to DeVaul, include images of ice harvesting on Cazenovia Lake, early photographs of a circus, including an elephant, parading down Main Street, and a rare 1897 book containing John Lincklaen’s journals documenting his 1791-92 travels through the northeast.
Many of the objects feature the names of recognizable Cazenovia businesses, such as Brown’s Dairy, Aikman’s Hardware, Lawrence Pontiac, F.D. Squires, George Morse, H.M. Cushing and R.H. Kohler Furniture and Undertakers.
One of DeVaul’s favorite items is the 1891 leather-bound diary of J.H. Hunt, a young boy who lived in between Cazenovia and New Woodstock. His journal entries describe his chores, splitting wood, skating, sledding, fishing, playing ball, setting squirrel traps and attending Sunday school. He also wrote about his travels to Cazenovia, “Woodstock” and DeRuyter.
Jonathan Holstein, a member of the library’s Museum Committee, facilitated the donation.
“Danna DeVaul’s gift embodies just the sorts of things that give us valuable insights into all aspects of local history,” Holstein said. “The library and the village are grateful . . . for the generous gift, which will further our knowledge of our local history and be available to future researchers interested in the history of Cazenovia and its surrounding area.”
History of the library
Merchant John Williams established Cazenovia’s first circulating library in 1828 out of his general store on Albany Street.
In 1886, the Cazenovia Library Society was formed to facilitate the development of the institution. The society operated out of the rooms above the office of its president, William Burr.
In 1890, well-known Cazenovia benefactor Robert J. Hubbard purchased the John Williams House at 100 Albany Street and donated it to the society. The library opened to the public the same year.
The circulation room, stacks and reading rooms were located on the building’s ground floor, while the upstairs was reserved for a museum showcasing natural history specimens, objects of local significance and a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts — acquired by Hubbard on his 1894 “Grand Tour” of Egypt.
In 1996, a modern, two-story structure was added to the original library to serve as the main working building. All circulation and book storage functions were relocated to the addition, which is connected to the Williams House by an art gallery.
The new construction also included a climate-controlled archive room and a community room.
The ground floor of the original building now houses reading rooms and multiple museum spaces designed to showcase items from the Library’s collection. In addition to a hall dedicated to local history, the museum features an Egyptian Room (complete with a 2,000-year-old mummy); Native American artwork and tools; natural history items; extinct and rare stuffed birds; eighteenth- through early twentieth-century American artifacts; cultural objects from around the world; and a “Cabinet of Curiosities.”
Educational programs, developed by the library’s Museum Educators, are delivered to more than 1,000 school children each year. The Museum also serves as a destination for college students studying design and history.
For more information on the Cazenovia Public Library, visit cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.
