John Van Vechten (1822-1869) was the son of John Van Vechten (? - ?) and Letita Sebring (1790- 1854). Van Vechten's ancestors were among the early residents of New York City. It was through the extensive holdings of lumber interests in northern New York that he became a resident of Chateaugay when he came here to look after these interests.
The collection was donated in 2005 to St. Lawrence University by Mary Smallman.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, New York on January 30, 1882 and died April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia. He was educated at Groton in Massachusetts, received a B.A. in history from Harvard in 1903, and studied law at Columbia University. He married Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905 and they had six children. He was Governor of New York in 1928 and became President in 1932 until his death in 1945. The Franklin D. Roosevelt collection was donated to St. Lawrence University in February 1965 by Dr. Harold T.
Also included is a Civil War Diary of a Lewis Murray, miscellaneous items (dog tags, military buttons, bracelet, etc) of William and Mary's as well as a notebook William kept while in the Armored Force School, and material while he was in Officer Candidate School in Fort Knox, Kentucky. St. Lawrence University received this collection from Roger Duvall, heir of Murray family, of Ogdensburg, New York in April, 1998. Collection also contains coins, military silverware, dog tags, belt buckle, military pins, and jewelry related to World War II.
Held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, the World’s Columbian Exhibition was held in 1893 in Chicago. Over 600 acres in size and containing over 200 exhibit halls, the fairgrounds were located in the southern part of the city. The Exposition, or World’s Fair had participation from 46 countries and over 27 million people attended during it's 6-month run. The fair was a major cultural event that spotlighted industrial innovations, new consumer goods and new forms of entertainment.
Dr. Paul Connett, a chemistry professor at St. Lawrence University and his wife Ellen, formed Work on Waste with the help of other citizen environmentalists. Though the mid 80s and into 1990, WOW questioned the county's Solid Waste Authority, its consultants, the State and county lawmakers about every aspect of the incinerator project; its safety, economic viability and its effect on other ways of dealing with the waste stream, principally recycling.
William Rose Benét was born on February 2, 1886 in Fort Hamilton, N.Y. and died May 4, 1950. He was educated at Albany Academy and Yale University, Benét was a poet, editor, critic, anthologist, translator, and children's author. He wrote, edited, or collaborated on 36 books and was best known for his column "The Phoenix Nest" in the Saturday Review of Literature (1924-1950).
The Rasbeck family was among the first settlers of Hermon NY. From the time he was a child Bill Rasbeck loved the woods, and as adults he and his brother Harrison (Has) became guides at Cranberry Lake starting in the late 1880s. They guided many well-known people, including Frederic Remington.
The first few pages of the 1887 diary include several recipes, both hand written and clipped from newspapers. The collection also contains a register book for the New Columbian Park Hotel in Cranberry Lake for the summers of 1910-1917.
William H. Davies was born in 1820 and died in 1913. He was married to Helen MacVean Davies and had two children, Eunice and John. They resided in Oswegatchie.
Private William H. Carr was from Rossie, NY in St. Lawrence County. The 14th New York Heavy Artillery A Company was primarily recruited out of Ogdensburg, New York in July of 1863. The diary was purchased in 1995 from a rare book dealer, Charles Apfelbaum.
The Wetherells moved from Vermont to Russell, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. in the early 1800's. Some family members moved west to Illinois, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Two sons, Willard and Darius enlisted in the 60th N.Y. Volunteers. Contains correspondence, a civil war diary by Willard, photographs, printed ephemera and broadsides.