by Old Mentz | Nov 20, 2022 | Uncategorized
If you were a child in the 1950s or ‘60s, you likely remember the “duck and cover” drills that we all had to do in school. We were all made aware of the impending atomic bomb attack, so in addition to the fire drills, we had to either; get under our desks, or go out...
by Old Mentz | Oct 16, 2022 | Uncategorized
Headstone Cleaning Suggested Cleaning Kit- 5 gallon bucket (to carry everything and sit on) $0 to $5 Clean water if the cemetery doesn’t have water available Scrub brushes (large, medium and small) $10-$15 at the hardware store Pump type garden sprayer $15-$20 (get...
by Old Mentz | Sep 9, 2022 | Uncategorized
Port Byron’s Water Supply Through the Years; Drinking Auburn’s Sewage. Water Supply of Port Byron Grossly Contaminated, State Report Says, Blaming Auburn. This was the headline in the September 9, 1915 Auburn Advertiser-Journal, and it stated what everyone...
by Old Mentz | Aug 7, 2022 | Uncategorized
I was on the fence with the title as this it might also be named as one of the Port Byron Family Tree series, but this is what will be in the August Citizen Mentz Column with a few added notes. In prior columns, I have written about the Port Byron Family Tree project...
by Old Mentz | Jul 10, 2022 | Uncategorized
Sorry. I could help myself. Little puns roll of the keyboard. This is about the connections between the Little, Rooker, Sadler, Barrus, Wilson, (and Ames) families. I was up to Mt. Pleasant cleaning four stones of the Little family. These caught my eye as they are all...
by Old Mentz | Jun 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
Tucked away in the old section of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery you will find many graves with names long forgotten in the area. John and Rachel Waffle are one of these families. I recently cleaned their headstone and wanted to see if they could be added to the PBFT project....
by Old Mentz | Apr 17, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Port Byron Family Tree (PBFT) is a project with a goal of discovering connections. Most people or groups are added when we at Lock 52 receive a research request (like the Peck family) or find a photo (such as Otis Critchett) and we want to see how they fit into...
by Old Mentz | Apr 12, 2022 | Uncategorized
Note that is an updated version of this that reflects the lessons learned over the year. Check on the new post. If you take a walk through one of our many local cemeteries you might notice that time and weather has not been very nice to the headstones and monuments....
by Old Mentz | Mar 27, 2022 | Uncategorized
We have been working on the Port Byron Family Tree project for about a year now. As of March 20, 2022, we have entered 4964 people. Although to be fair, with some families I have chased the linage back to the Mayflower or Europe to see how people might be related. I...
by Old Mentz | Mar 26, 2022 | Uncategorized
When I run out of ideas for my monthly Citizen column, I turn to the old Port Byron Chronicles for some inspiration. This is where I found these two articles about the old Erie Canal. The first is an article about how the construction of the new telephone building on...
