for years of service It was 1980 when Eunice Chesnut finished her master's degree in history at SUNY Brockport. She had been volunteering as a guide at the Morgan Manning house and writing the newsletter for the Western Monroe Historical Society for about four years. But in 1980, the society’s board of trustees decided they finally had enough money in their budget to hire an historian. Chesnut was the natural choice. Until that time, the historical society had directed its efforts to restoring the Morgan Manning house, an architectural and historical gem on Brockport’s Main Street. A 1964 fire had heavily damaged the structure, as well as taking the life of its final resident. With the hiring of Chesnut as historian, the society began to turn some of its efforts to documenting the history of the local community. Chesnuts’ work began with two bushel baskets of letters belonging to the Morgan family. "Mrs. Morgan wrote to her children while they were away at boarding school," Chesnut said, "telling them what was happening at home. Her children wrote back, and when they came back to Brockport, they also brought back all their mother’s letters." The Morgans never threw anything away, Chesnut continued, "so we have this wonderful documentation of life here." Over the years, many residents have donated letters, photographs and maps to the historical society, so many that they now fill 20 filing cabinets. Chesnut researches each item that is donated then carefully catalogs it for future use. One of the most satisfying parts of her job, she says, is helping the many people that contact the historical society looking for information about an ancestor. "We don’t always have something that helps them, but often we do." Well aware that preserving history is more than collecting documents, Chesnut has penned six local history books that tell the stories of the people who settled Brockport and made it an important commercial center in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Her sixth book, "The Canal and the Castle and Other Good Things," is due to be released in July. Chesnut said her newest book is very different from the previous five. The book is divided into 25 chapters, each told in the first person by an historic Brockport figure. One chapter is told by Mrs. Heil Brockway (her husband was the co-founder of Brockport), another by Mr. Capen (owner of piano and shoe factories). "I tried to choose people who have had a lasting effect on Brockport," Chesnut said. At the end of each figure’s "monologue" of events, Chesnut brings a local topic up to date. For example, Mrs. Brockway’s chapter ends with her lamenting that the canal will never be finished. Chesnut finishes the tale through to the current use of the canal. For this newest book, Chesnut was able to interview the only direct descendent of Heil Brockway still living in the community. Wilma Eckerty is the great-great-granddaughter of the co-founder and lived in Hunt’s Castle as a child. The castle, which is the subject of one of the new book’s chapters, stood on Colby Street from shortly after the Civil War until it was razed in 1956. Chesnut has two more local history books in the works and her dream project is well underway – a local history encyclopedia. "I’ve always thought how much easier research would be if we had an encyclopedia. I have a good start on it, but I probably won’t be the one to finish it." The Western Monroe Historical Society celebrated Chesnut’s 21 years of service with an open house on May 6. Chesnut laughs that the board was afraid she would never retire so they decided to honor her now. She considers herself privileged to work with "such a good group of people." She is constantly touched by the hours and efforts so many residents are willing to donate to the historical society. "Everyday when I go to work I think how lucky I am to come to a beautiful place and do what I love to do," Chesnut said. "Most people aren’t that lucky." |
