WIXAM / WIXOM FAMILY SPOON

Sandra Brown is the author of an article on the Wixam/Wixon family, which was published in the Crooked Lake Review in June 1995.  I am trying to reach her or anyone who may be connected with the Wixam/Wixom family.

I am trying to contact anyone in the Wixam/Wixon families in search of a lost heirloom.  My query follows.

Lost, possibly sold on eBay, one tarnished silver spoon from Wixam/Wixon family.

About 2001-2003, I placed a family heirloom into the drawer of a roll-top desk in a home where I was renting.  When I prepared to move, I could not find this item, and I believe the home owner's sister may have sold this on eBay.  I asked, but no one has ever acknowledged this priceless family treasure.  This sister sold many of her family's heirlooms out of that home, and I believe she sold mine also.  No one remembers my heirloom, and the sister has now passed on.

Has anyone purchased a silver spoon with an engraved handle.  The name "Wixon" engraved in script looks like "Wiscon" because the X has open loops.  The bowl of the spoon was dented in many places.  This is a small spoon, more the size of a sugar spoon or a child's spoon.  My great-grandmother, who was born in 1823, was the owner of this spoon.  My mother, who has Alzheimers, handed it down to me, and I placed it carefully in the drawer of that roll-top desk so that it would be safe.  I searched everywhere when I moved, and I have continuously searched through my belongings.  Everything that I own has now been removed from storage, and yet there is no sign of that spoon.  I would like to purchase it back from the buyer, or I would at least like a photograph of it for my family's sake. and I'd like to know where it now resides.  This is all that we had from our Wixon family of Tyrone, NY.

I pray that the current owner of this small silver spoon will at least contact me to verify that the spoon still exists and has not been destroyed. 

Respectfully,

genealogyjoy@gmail.com

READING, WRITING AND MAPPING

CONTINUED FROM FEBRUARY 23, 2013

13 July, 1829. Approximately 1600 hours. Buffalo's new school building sits ready for it's first class of 55 young men, even now marching up Main Street, accompanied by the Buffalo Band,  officials, administrators and close to a thousand spectators, including proud families. It's not likely their formation was even close to West Point standards, but that would come in time.

The procession crosses Goodell Street arriving at the new academy building where a half-flight of stairs leads up to the first floor entry. As the parade enters the three-story brick building with its cupola and bell, some turn their heads to glimpse the sunlit river slightly over a mile off to their left. They enter and climb to the third floor in the July heat, filing into the lecture room. Once inside seats are taken and the opening ceremonies begin. In addition to the 500 or so fitted inside, an equal number gather outside. The edge is taken off the stifling air only by the feeble eddies stirred up by ladies' fans and whatever air moves in through open windows.

If 1943 reporter Walter McCausland was able to find the texts of the various speeches delivered on that day in 1829, he doesn't mention it. I'll spare you, as well. The assemblage was not as lucky - but entertainment wasn't easily come by anyway, so perhaps they didn't mind too much. The inaugural class probably didn't sleep too much that night. Tomorrow was another big day; classes began. Thoughts would not only be on the subjects older brothers had told them about, but on promised classes in "topography, construction of maps, navigation, fencing, ethicks, natural theology, evidences of Christianity, and metaphysicks." Parents most likely did not sleep much that night, either. Such a full educational menu came, as usual, at a price. The cost for a full 46-week academic year was $200, around $1,200 in our own time. (The average canal laborer made about 30¢ day). This did include classes and board, as well as washing and mending. Clothing and medical expenses were extra, as were fees for French, Spanish and Fencing. Five dollars was charged annually for fuel and the use of a bed; you could knock off a couple of bucks by not taking advantage of a bed. And, you were assured a small discount if you and your family were of the "lower classes".

The school apparently started off with a partial term (presumably with a price discount), but by late autumn the typical annual pattern emerged. Classes began in November. Christmas break isn't mentioned, perhaps they just had the day off; a week of exams were held in May, then it was back to the books (and fencing foils) until September exams. Six weeks off and then the cycle began all over again. McCausland tells us, "Every Sunday those cadets whose parents had not designated another place of worship paraded with their instructors from the Academy to First Presbyterian Church, which occupied the site on which now stands the Erie County Savings Bank. What a spectacle they presented, as they marched down Main Street in military order, resplendent in stiffly starched white duck trousers (dark blue in Winter) and blue coats sprinkled plentifully with globe-shaped silver buttons!"

The spectacle, however, was to last less than two decades. The academy would eventually become too expensive to run and sometime around 1846 the building would be taken over by the Sisters of Mercy and converted into a hospital.

  

© 2005  David Minor/Eagles Byte

GREECE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MARCH 2013 NEWS

Saturday, March 9, 2013, 2:00 p.m. Greece Public Library, 2 Vince Tofany Blvd.

Blanche Stuart Scott - Memories of an Adventurous Woman

Performed by Greece Historical Society member, Maureen Whalen - Celebrate National Women's History Month with this program about America's first aviatrix.  Blanche Stuart Scott was born in the Town of Greece and was a pioneer in the automotive and aviation industries.  Come "meet" this fascinating woman and hear about her many adventures and accomplishments.  This FREE program, sponsored by the Greece Public Library, is based on recordings of interviews with Blanche and on excerpts from her unpublished autobiography. It is the first of a planned trilogy about this feisty, fascinating woman.

Sunday, March 10^th, 2:00 p.m., at the Greece Museum, 595 Long Pond Rd. 

Refugee Tales of a Burmese Family Now Living in Greece

Meet a refugee family making a new life in Greece after many trials and frightening experiences in leaving their home land of Burma. Their heartwarming story is a lesson in overcoming and starting anew with hope. This program is free although donations to support the Greece Historical Society and Museum are appreciated.

Tuesday, March 12^th, 7:00 p.m. Greece Community & Senior Center, 3 Vince Tofany Blvd.

The Role of Women in the Civil War by Rebecca Budinger

During the American Civil War, men were called to the front to fight, forcing women to re-evaluate their roles as wives, mothers, home keepers, and members of society.  This presentation will explore some of the many roles into which women evolved, most beyond anything they ever imagined.  Rebecca Budinger has been the Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble in Greece for the past 16 years.  Greece Historical Society members FREE. A $2.00 donation is appreciated from others. Reservations are not necessary.

History of Northgate at Museum Gift Shop The recently published Brief History of Northgate Plaza booklet by Marie Poinan is still available for only $5.00 in our Museum Shop.  If you cannot get to our museum, you can order by mail for $5.00 plus $1.00 for S/H.   Mail your $6.00 check to Greece Historical Society, P.O. Box 16249, Greece, NY, 14616.  Please specify that you are ordering the Northgate booklet.

Susan B. Anthony House & Neighborhood Tour

Wednesday, May 22nd 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tour will include: Bus Transportation, Hot Lunch, Tours of Susan B. Anthony House, and the private home of Dawn Noto, the Madison St. neighborhood gardens. (NOTE: This tour is NOT handicapped accessible.) $55.00 Members, $60.00 Non-members.Reserve NOW ! - Space is limited, call  Sue Hodge at 585-225-3833 or 225-7221.

Upcoming Programs & Events

Tuesday, April 9, 7:00 p.m. Greece Town Hall, WWI and the Flu Pandemic of 1918 by Robert Brown, PhD

Sunday, April 14 & 21 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Greece Museum, 595 Long Pond Rd. Art Show featuring work by the Greece Community & Senior Center Art Club.

Thursday, April 18, 11:00 a.m., Fleming Point Senior Living Residence 720 Latta Rd.  History of Yates-Thayer House at 710 Latta Rd. by Marie Poinan and Mabel Thayer.

Saturday, May 4, Noon & 2:30 p.m. Greece Museum, 595 Long Pond Rd. Floral Tea, $12.50 reservations required.

Tuesday, May 14, 7:00 p.m., Greece Town Hall, Channel 13 Over the Years by Patrice Walsh

Wednesday, May 22 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Susan B. Anthony House & Neighborhood Tour reservations required