Transportation

Summer

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 2 Comments

It was an eventful weekend. Congress—acting with a speed and unanimity1 unusual these days—declared a new federal holiday to celebrate June 19th as Juneteenth National Independence Day, formerly known and variously celebrated as Juneteenth, Emancipation Day, or Black Independence Day. It has roots in the issues and events of the Civil War years that I’m currently blogging about, and I’ll have more to share about the history of our newest federal holiday in a future post.

Sunday June 20 heralded the arrival of summer, and the observance of Fathers’ Day. In honor of both, I took the day off from writing and spent some time with my family. Wishing you all the best for summer, 2021, here’s an evocative seasonal print from Jonathan and Mary Clark’s era…

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Erie Canal – Macedon, New York

/ Clark House Historian Reed Perkins. / 5 Comments

As a follow up to our look at the Erie Canal and our Turck and Clark families, I’ve been researching and writing about some other early Mequon settlers and their migrations to Mequon from Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New England and New York. It’s taking longer than I expected.

Until those posts are ready, here’s a photo of one of the historic Erie Canal locks, near Macedon, Wayne County, New York. Peter and Rachael (Gay) Turck lived nearby from sometime around 1828 until they went west to Buffalo, New York to begin their steamship journey to Milwaukee in July or August, 1837. A large number of other early Mequon immigrants, including the Bonniwell and Woodworth families, also would have passed through this lock (or its predecessor) on their way their new homes in Wisconsin.

Historic Erie Canal Lock No. 60, near Macedon, Wayne Co., New York, looking to the west. Photo by Reed Perkins, 2011. Click to open larger image in new window.

This is the expanded, second version of this lock. When it was built in 1821, as part of the original canal, it was Lock 71. As a nearby marker explains:

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