CAZENOVIA — On Saturday, Dec. 11, Cazenovia Heritage and the Cazenovia Public Library will host a talk by Erica Barnes and Jason Emerson on their recently published book, “The Bear Tree and Other Stories from Cazenovia’s History.”
The presentation will be held at the First Presbyterian Church Meeting House at 2 p.m.
Much of what has been written about Cazenovia has focused on the elite and their grand lakeshore mansions. In contrast, the new book by Barnes and Emerson chronicles the story of everyday Cazenovia: the fascinating people, places, and history of this 225-year-old community. Readers will encounter historical characters such as elephant and lion tamer Lucia Zora Card, “The Bravest Woman in the World”; educator Susan Blow, “The Mother of American Kindergarten”; Civil War soldier William Madge who escaped from Confederate prison; and World War I soldier Cecil Donovan, whose letters home vividly depicted the experience of war for those awaiting his return in Cazenovia.
While the book examines tales involving the greater Cazenovia area — Cazenovia village and town, the towns of Nelson and Fenner — adjacent towns such as Chittenango, Pompey, DeWitt, and Syracuse also are included. Many of the people and subjects involved had an effect well beyond Cazenovia, some of national and international significance. Cazenovia has connections to four U.S. Presidents: Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt who visited Cazenovia, and local residents who knew, met, and served in the military with the two greatest presidents — George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Cazenovians also played major roles in national and world conflicts, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World War I.
Barnes and Emerson are well-suited for this task: Barnes compiled the Years Ago in History column for the Cazenovia Republican newspaper for four years; contributed research, writing and planning to the 225th anniversary exercises for the village of Cazenovia in 2018; and is a current schoolteacher. Emerson was the editor of the Republican for seven years and is an award-winning historian who has written or edited seven previous books on American history. Together they dug through local, regional and national archives, and numerous volumes of the Cazenovia Republican and previous village newspapers, to reveal new information about the history of their community.
This event is free and open to the public, with masks required for the presentation. Copies of the book are available for purchase at the Library’s bookstore. For more information on future events, visit cazheritage.org and cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.
