USA > New York > Chemung County > Chemung County, its history > Part 5
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"It was forty years ago. From that day to this, she has never been out of my mind."
They were married on Feb. 2, 1870. Although they never es- tablished a home of their own in Elmira, they were often here and spent many summers at Quarry Farm, the beautiful hilltop place overlooking the city that belonged to Mrs. Clemens' sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Crane. Mrs. Crane, an un- usually kind and understanding woman, had a little study built for Mark Twain about a hundred yards from the house where he might work amid pleasant surroundings without being disturbed.
The study was octagonal in shape with windows on all sides. There was always a breeze on hot days and there were beautiful views. There was a sofa for the writer's use when he was tired. In this pleasant place, parts of Mark Twain's greatest books were written: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Ad- ventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Prince and the Pauper," "Life on the Mississippi." All of us who have enjoyed these books must feel grateful to Mrs. Crane for giving our author such a good place in which to write. We are told that he had in mind the idea of writing the stories of Tom and Huck, but it was in the study at Quarry Farm that he finally went to work on them. The study is now on the Elmira College campus.
Mr. and Mrs. Clemens and three of the children are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira. Ossip Gabrilowitsch, distin- guished pianist and orchestra conductor who was the husband of Mark Twain's daughter Clara, is also buried there.
Mark Twain's grave and monument at Woodlawn Cemetery.
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Mark Twain's study where he penned many famous works.
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A MESSAGE FROM
ZIM-
HORSEHEADS. N.Y.
A postcard by Horseheads' famous "Zim."
Part of permanent exhibit at the Arnot Art Gallery.
MUSIC
During the nineteenth century, families and larger groups of amateurs did more of their own music making than is common today. During the later part of the century there were numer- ous glee clubs and choruses, sometimes called singing societies. A German singing society called the "Sangerbund" formed on Madison Ave. in 1856 apparently had the longest life of any of these groups. There was also a long procession of bands which played for parades and gave concerts on summer evenings. Brand Park was a favorite place for such concerts.
Today we have the Elmira Symphony-Choral Society, a com- bined civic chorus and symphony orchestra, with a professional director.
There has also been a long succession of women's clubs devoted to stimulating serious interest in music. The present heir to all these clubs is the Thursday Morning Musicales of Elmira organized in 1908. This club not only arranges programs for its own members, but also sponsors a winter series of concerts by professional musicians for the benefit of the entire community.
In the later half of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, all households in comfortable circumstances had either a piano or a parlor organ. At least one member of the family could play well enough to accompany singing by friends and relatives. Singing in the home was one of the popular diversions of the time.
The interest in the piano in Elmira was no doubt stimulated by the fact that Mr. Jacob Greener made fine pianos in a small factory on the north side of Church Street just a little east of State Street. Mr. Greener brought the tools and machinery which he needed to Elmira through the Chemung Canal. He made upright, square and grand pianos. Many were made of rosewood, and were elaborately carved.
Charles Tomlinson Griffes, noted American composer, grew up in Elmira. He died while still young and critics are agreed that his early death was a serious loss to American music. Some of them say that had he lived he might have become America's greatest composer. One of his most popular compositions is "The White Peacock" which is often played on concert programs.
THE ARNOT ART GALLERY The Arnot Art Gallery on Lake Street was once the home of Mr. Matthias Arnot. Mr. Arnot collected pictures, medals, coins and intersting curios. At his death he left his beautiful home, its contents, and a large
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sum of money to the people of Elmira with the proviso that his home be open as an art gallery free to the public.
In 1953 the facilities of the gallery were enlarged by making what was once the carriage house into a club room. Four or- ganizations now have free use of this room for their regular meetings-the Art Club, the Camera Club, the Ceramic Guild, and the Coin Collectors of Chemung County.
In addition to its permanent collections, the gallery has special art shows throughout the year in one of its larger galleries. At least two of these shows are the work of Chemung County artists; and one of these local shows is the work of junior artists. The Elmira Junior League and various businesses in the county give prizes for out- standing work in these local shows.
The work of local art- ists is also on display in the club room through- out the year. These dis- plays include paintings, photographs and cer- amics.
A group of interested citizens called the Ar- not Art Gallery Asso- ciation sponsors lectures and demonstrations at the gallery. The gal- lery and the Elmira Junior League jointly sponsor a lending li- brary of original pic- tures.
SCULPTORS AND PAINTERS
Lars Hoftrup, standing, and his friend Armand Wargny.
Samuel Conkey was Chemung County's first sculptor. He came to Elmira in 1861 and for some years thereafter worked both as a dentist and a sculptor. Three of his works can be seen in Elmira-the Civil War monument on the Court House lawn, a bust of Joel Dorman Steele at the Steele Memorial Library, and a bust of Simeon Benjamin at Elmira College.
Ernfred Anderson, presently director of the Arnot Art Gallery, is a talented and skillful sculptor. As a boy in his native Sweden he read Mark Twain's stories. When he came to Elmira and found that Mark Twain had spent a great deal of time here, Mr. Anderson began a special study of the great American humorist. He modeled a portrait bust of Mark Twain that so
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pleased Twain's daughter Clara that she chose Mr. Anderson to design a monument to her father and her husband, Ossip Gab- rilowitsch. This monument is in Woodlawn Cemetery in El- mira. It has a bas-relief portrait of Twain, and also one of Gabrilowitsch mounted on a granite shaft.
Other examples of Mr. Anderson's work can be seen in the col- lege library, the library of the Southside High School, the Steele Memorial library, the Arnot Art Gallery and at Dunn Field. He also designed the facade of the Watson Fine Arts Building at Elmira College.
The most distinguished of many painters who have lived in Chemung County is the late Lars Hoftrup. He was born in Sweden, but came to Pine City with his parents when he was six years old. He attended a one room rural school, and later walked from his Pine City home to old number two in Elmira (now the Booth School) and to the Elmira Free Academy.
After leaving the Academy he studied briefly in art schools in New York City and Chicago, and traveled in Europe. In the early twenties he opened a studio in New York City, and became a widely known, well established artist. In 1932 he returned to his family home-the farm near Pine City that came to be known as Artstorp-torp being Swedish for farm. He lived there until his death in 1954 at the age of eighty. People came from long distances to buy his pictures, and artists came to talk with him. Many Chemung County artists studied with him, and he was one of the early influences in the Elmira Art Club, a group of practicing artists that has had a large influence in developing art appreciation in Chemung County.
There is a mural by Mr. Hoftrup in the entrance hall at the Riverside School in Elmira. It is called the "Rhodes Farm" and Mr. Hoftrup said that he chose that subject because the Rhodes farm was a place where he spent many happy hours as a boy.
RECREATION
In the early days people got much of their recreation by com- bining work and play. This was the origin of "bees"-a gath- ering of friends and neighbors to do a piece of work and have a good time too. The work might be "rolling up" logs for a cabin, or, a little later, raising the frame for a house or barn. There were husking bees; and the women had quilting bees, and bees where fruits and vegetables were prepared for drying.
A little later the word bee began to be used for contests such as spinning bees and spelling bees. These were also fun.
At all bees there was gossip, stories, and jokes. There was al- ways an abundance of food. A little later there was canoeing
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American Girl's statue in Eldridge Park.
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· AMERICAN GIRL
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on the Chemung River in summer and skating in winter. There was much riding in sleighs and bob-sleds. We understand that there were races between fine sleighs drawn by beautiful horses on Church Street between Main and Hoffman. This however was "not supposed to be." It just happened. There was good fishing and hunting within easy reach of almost everyone who lived in the county.
At the turn of the century cycling was such a favorite recreation that there were cycling clubs. There were cinder paths for cyclists from Elmira to Big Flats, from Big Flats to Horse- heads, and in other parts of the county.
Today Chemung County has a fine recreation facility at Harris Hill. There is a gliding center where area, national and inter- national soaring contests are held. There is an administration building that also has a kitchen and dining room. There are cabins in which the contestants can live, and there is a hangar. There is also at Harris Hill a youth camp, which has cabins and an administration building. There is a swimming pool and picnic area.
There are also winter sports facilities-a ski slope with tow and a skating rink.
The City of Elmira has a golf course called the Mark Twain Community Golf Course, tennis courts, playgrounds and two swimming pools. There are other recreational facilities in the towns and villages, notably a large swimming pool in Horse- heads.
ARTS AND RECREATION
References The Chemung Historical Journal
Vol. 1-No. 2 Dec. 1955 Three Generations of the Langdon Family in Elmira Vol. 4-No. 1 Sept. 1958 Mark Twain in Elmira
Vol. 6-No. 2 Dec. 1960 My Uncle Mark Twain
Vol. 4-No. 1 Sept. 1958 Memories of Rorick's
Vol. 3-No. 1
Sept, 1957 The Elmira Angle
Also Vol. 3 -No. 2
Vol. 6- No. 4 June 1961 Pine City's Hoftrup
DER
A
PITAL
C
OF THE
WORL
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THE WORLD WARS
Two World Wars and the Korean conflict made history at a fearful price for Chemung County in the Twentieth Century.
In World War I, 104 men from Chemung County gave their lives.
In World War II, 296 men gave their lives and more than 600 were wounded. Another 100 were prisoners of war for varying periods.
In the Korean conflict, 37 gave their lives, 57 were wounded.
World War II (1941-1945) was a "total" war. More than 10,000 men and women from Chemung County were in military service.
Of the civilian population, the labor force was engaged in "de- fense" or defense-related production. The largest defense fac- tory was the Eclipse Division in Elmira Heights where, in 1943, a total of 8,594 men and women worked. They made anti- aircraft shells and fuses, 20 mm aircraft cannon, and fuel in- jectors for warplanes.
Another large war factory was the "N" Division of Remington Rand where the famous Norden bombsight was manufactured. About 3,600 men and women were employed there.
The other factories were busy with war production, too. At American-LaFrance fire trucks and crash trucks were produced, as well as oxygen cylinders for airmen, and flamethrower cylin- ders for our jungle fighters. American Bridge Company made airplane hangars and ship parts and Kennedy Valve helped outfit hundreds of ships with valves and fittings.
More than a quarter of a billion dollars worth of ordnance and vehicles were produced in Chemung County during World War II. Hardinge Bros. produced $25 million worth of precision machine tools. Ward LaFrance Truck Co. produced $85 million in war materials including huge tank-recovery wreckers and pontoon bridge trucks. The Elmira and Chemung Foundries also were high-rated defense plants.
The "home front" did without many peacetime services and luxuries. The biggest pinch was a shortage of gasoline. It was rationed. So-called pleasure driving was forbidden. The basic "A Card" ration was three gallons of gasoline a week. Defense workers and doctors were allowed enough gasoline to get to work and make their rounds. But the other civilians took the bus, or rode bicycles. Trains were crowded and airplane travel was reserved for those with war priorities.
Food was rationed too. Meat was scarce and so were butter, coffee, sugar -even pepper.
Elmira's Victory Arch in World War I.
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World War I monument in Oak Ridge Park, Elmira Heights.
CI: WELCOME . HOLOW FOLDERS SAUCES
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Company L mobilization for World War I.
Shoes were rationed and cigarettes were in very short supply and hard to buy. Many men "rolled their own."
Chemung county had 13 aircraft warning observation posts on various hilltops, and volunteer "spotters" worked day and night, watching for possible enemy planes. In all about 4,000 people were engaged in Civilian Defense activities.
Of our county's approximately 50 doctors, 30 were called into military service. Many of our clergymen joined the Chaplain Corps. Dentists, too, were summoned to serve the military.
When a shortage of metal developed, a huge Victory Scrap Pile campaign was held, and all available iron and steel were rounded up. Iron fences, signboard supports, even pots and pans went into the scrap pile. Early in the war everybody saved their old tin cans for Uncle Sam. Waste fats were carefully saved and turned in. Boys and girls formed "papertrooper" brigades and collected old papers for the government. The schools also held a separate campaign to collect old keys for melting into scrap. More than 1,500 pounds of keys were brought in by the children.
Blackouts were held frequently during the early years of the war, and there were daytime "alerts," too, to test the Civil Defense.
At Horseheads the huge "Holding Point" was built at a cost of $8,228,000 for the Army Transportation Corps. In this 700-acre plot were stored hundreds of tanks, recon cars, searchlights and other war equipment. The tanks were shipped by railroad to the East Coast for forwarding to Europe.
At Harris Hill many Army Air Corps officers were trained in glider work before the glider school was moved to Alabama.
While the "home front" was attempting to do its share, the young men from Chemung County were fighting in Africa, Italy, France and finally Germany. Others were in the Pacific Theater, afloat in our great Navy, or ashore in the island-hopping that sent the Japanese reeling northward. In the air, Chemung County pilots, navigators, bombardiers and gunners were en- gaged in the great sweeps against the German Luftwaffe, and later Japan.
Young ladies were serving in the Wacs, the Waves and the Nurse Corps.
Approximately 100 servicemen from the county became POWs (prisoners of war) for varying periods.
The folks at home read their newspapers- or listened to the radio to keep up on the war news. There was no TV in the early
BUY BONDS
00 PUSHES
SEND THESE RABLE GENTS
, TILL IT HURTS .. HITLER BENITO HIROHITO
THEIR
Highjinks at a World War II War Bond Rally in Elmira.
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The Women's Ambulance Corps of World War II.
1940s. When a soldier or sailor was killed, the next of kin was notified by a telegram from the War or Navy Departments.
Of the 296 who died in service, most gave their lives in Europe. Here are the approximate totals of Chemung County war deaths:
European Theater of Operations-162 in ground fighting; 25 in air war; 4 at sea.
Pacific Theater of Operations-32 in ground fighting; 17 in air warfare; 14 in naval engagements.
In addition, four died in POW camps. Training and miscel- laneous accidents took the lives of 35.
WORLD WAR I (1917-'18)
The conflict that began in Europe in 1914 became the "Great War" or "World War" when the United States declared war against the Central Powers on April 6, 1917.
Approximately 5,000 men from Chemung County saw military service. Of these, 104 gave their lives.
Company L, 3rd N. Y. Infantry, became part of the 108th In- fantry. The Company was sent with the 27th Division to France and served with gallantry and with heavy losses in the 1918 offensive that broke the German Hindenburg line. On Sept. 29, 1918, in the Allied assault on the Hindenburg Line between Cambria and St. Quentin, more than a dozen men from Chemung County were killed or wounded.
Other Chemung County men served in the 77th Division, "New York's Own", and the 78th Division, "The Lightning Division." Many from the county served in the Marine Corps, which made history at Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, the Aisne-Marne and Meuse-Argonne offensives.
The 27th Division sailed up New York Bay on March 6, 1919, and their ship, the Mauretania, was greeted by many welcoming craft including one boat carrying the sign, "Elmira-Chemung County Welcome Their Heroes."
On the civilian front, World War I brought rationing, "meat- less days," "rainbow sugar" so-called because it was crudely refined and vari-colored
The factories were busy with war production including the Morrow plant, where airplane motors were assembled.
The Red Cross, Needlework Guild, DAR and the Canteen Serv- ice were among the women's groups actively helpful back home.
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In 1918 the Canteen met almost all the troop trains passing through and presented milk, coffee, confections, magazines, post cards and the like to 203,618 men.
The Red Cross was especially helpful in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
In 1898, Chemung County men were called to service during the war with Spain. The 30th Separate Company volunteered 112 strong for service, as Company L, 3rd N. Y. Volunteers. None of the men from our county were killed in action, but several died of fever.
WARS References The Chemung Historical Journal
Vol. 2-No. 1 Sept. 1956 Chemung County's Part In the Spanish-American War
Vol. 3-No. 3 Mar. 1958 Chemung County In World War 2 (Part 1)
Vol. 3 -No. 4 June 1958 Chemung County In World War 2 (Part 2)
Vol. 4 - No. 2 Dec. 1958 Women's Activities In World War 2
Vol. 5 - No. 3 Mar. 1960 Elmira's 107th Infantry
Vol. 6-No. 3
Mar. 1961
Company L In 1918
Vol. 6- No. 4
June 1961
The Korean Conflict
ECLIPSE · BENI
A
Eclipse, County's largest war plant, receives Army-Navy E in 1942.
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OUR COMMUNITY TODAY
Old boundaries have been overrun by the mid-century phenom- enon of "suburbia." Where once the population of Chemung County could be classified as "rural" or "urban" it has become almost homogeneous owing to the good highways and the 35,000 automobiles registered in the county.
Chemung County's 1960 population of 98,706 compares with 86,827 in 1950 and 73,718 in 1940. The City of Elmira had a population of 46,365 in 1960 compared with 49,716 in 1950.
Although the city's population has remained fairly constant since 1920 (45,393), its retail and wholesale trade has grown. It is the "core" of an area overlapping county and state boundaries.
Hence the following description of Elmira's physical composi- tion and substance:
The attempt here is to provide a visualization of the physical community and note some of its substance. This is a description of the structural framework within which the community activity of Elmira takes place.
The City of Elmira has developed in this geographic location around the mouth of Newtown Creek from original settlements in 1788. The city grew westward and northward from this point through the years. When the Erie Railroad (now the Erie-Lackawanna) first entered the Elmira area in 1849, the physical city expanded to embrace the railroad line. In 1864, the resulting urban growth was incorporated into the City of Elmira. By 1900, the city had assumed the general boundaries by which it is described today. Between 1900 and 1950, these boundaries were almost completely filled up with urban development. During the same period of time between 1900 and 1950, the population of Elmira increased from 35,600 to 49,716. The latter figure is the maximum number of people ever to live in the City of Elmira to this date.
What does this concentration of urban development that is El- mira look like? One can visualize certain portions of it from everyday association, but how can a word picture of the entire city be provided? City planners describe cities in terms of land use, that is, the activities that take place in structures located on plots of land within the city boundaries. Seen together, the summation of land uses provides a descriptive picture of the whole city.
When one speaks of the city in physical terms, one first must describe its boundaries. The city boundaries of Elmira gen- erally form a rectangle. This rectangle is approximately two miles wide (east-west) and three and three quarters long (north- south) forming an area of approximately 71/2 square miles of
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land which is the City of Elmira. This rectangle straddles the Chemung River which crosses its short side and the Erie- Lackawanna which runs lengthwise through its center.
Approximately 41.9 per cent of the developed area within this rectangle is devoted to residential land use, that is, contains structures which are primarily used for residential dwelling. Approximately 30 per cent more of the total developed area is devoted to streets. The land space devoted to retail business and service trade activity comprises about 6 per cent of the total developed area within the city. The remainder of the land is devoted to railroads, public and utility uses, schools, play- grounds, etc. These relative amounts of land devoted to various land-use types in Elmira are quite typical of the way land uses are divided in most American cities having less than 50,000 population.
Much of the industrial land-use activity, heavy commercial use, wholesaling activity, as well as the central business district in Elmira is situated along the North-South central axis of the city formed by the railroad linę.
The relationship of the railroad line with the river forms a cross-like pattern which divides the remainder of the city into four natural residential sections, one to the northeast, one to the northwest, one to the southeast, and one to the southwest.
This is generally how land-use activities are placed in Elmira to create the form of the city.
Serving these various types and locations of land-use activity is an extensive system of city streets. The land devoted to streets comprises approximately 30 per cent of the total de- veloped area of the city. This system of streets is constructed in what is referred to as a "gridiron" pattern or one in which the streets run perpendicular to each other forming blocks between them where the various land-use activities are then located. This system of streets is necessary to allow circulation between the land-use activities and is essential to the economic movement of goods and people that takes place within a city.
Regional traffic, that is, long distance traffic coming from, or going to, other parts of New York State, nearby states or other parts of the nation, is provided for primarily on Route 17, which by-passes the city on its eastern border. A number of less in- fluential state highways also serve the area. Among such high- ways are State Routes 13, 14, 15, 427, 328, and 17E.
Good traffic circulation on city streets and regional roads means efficiency for the manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing activities carried on in the city and is important to its economic health.
When the Erie overhead was dedicated in 1934.
UNITED FILMFRA
Windsor Gardens development in Horseheads.
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The new Route 17 bypass at East Water St.
Elmira's new (1961) Lake Street Bridge.
Industry, the base for Elmira's economy, is extensive and di- versified within the city. Products varying from business forms, other paper products and greeting cards to glass products, typewriters, fire apparatus, hydrants and machinery parts are manufactured here. Approximately two-thirds of the number of people employed within Chemung County at any given time, work in the City of Elmira. These people work at various types of jobs, i.e., manufacturing, retailing, service trades, govern- ment, etc. About 1/2 of the total number of people working within the city are engaged in manufacturing. This means that usually 10,500 manufacturing workers are employed by the eleven manufacturing plants within the city that are of signifi- cant size. The remaining half of total employment within the city is accounted for by people working in the retail and service trades and with government. The city's industry added 90 million dollars of value to goods during the manufacturing pro- cess in 1954. This is a rough estimate of the amount of money that comes back to Elmira to be distributed as profit, salaries, wages, etc., to the people engaged in the manufacturing process.
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