The collection consists of 19th century student writings and orations, grange talks, diaries, a family history, correspondence, genealogical material, subject files and photos related to the Rodee family.
Portrait of the Rodee Family of Canton, New York.
Collection Overview
Leslie Earl Rodee was born in Enosburg, VT in 1868, and moved to the Canton area with his parents, Hiram and Cornelia Rodee as a young boy. In 1880, Leslie’s parents in siblings moved to the Dakota Territory while Leslie stayed behind to help his grandmother and three aunts run the family farm near Waterman Hill in Canton, which remains in operation as Brick Chapel Acres. Leslie attended Potsdam Normal School and in 1888 relocated himself to South Dakota, where he taught school. He returned to Canton in 1890 and married Jessie May Truesdell in 1894. Leslie and Jessie had five children, four of which graduated from either Clarkson College or St. Lawrence University. One son, Bernard Rodee did not attend college but ran the family farm. Bernard married Celia Etta Aldous and fathered ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood and most of whom attended local colleges. Bernard and Etta’s youngest, William Rodee was born in 1935. He and his wife Marilyn Elliott Rodee have lived on and operated Brick Chapel Acres since their marriage in 1960.
The collection was processed, cataloged and donated by Alix Ross, August, 2016.