Rummaging through old stuff or simply surfing the Net can sometimes turn up exciting little gems, especially for history buffs.
And a couple of these gems came to my attention recently, with both involving the pioneer Porter family.
Mrs. Delores West, of Niagara Falls, who said she is a Porter descendant, recently rediscovered a centuries-old autograph book that was in the family.
And the find on the Internet site eBay revealed that illustrious War of 1812 general Peter B. Porter had been awarded a rare Congressional Gold Medal.
Mrs. West said the old autograph book came to her decades ago from her in-laws. She didn't think much of it at the time, so it languished undisturbed in a box in her basement. But she was going through the boxes recently when the old cursive writing in the book caught her attention.
Not knowing what she had, she took it to a book signing of some local history author who told her it was a valuable piece of Americana. This opinion was reinforced when she showed it to an official at Old Fort Niagara.
The old-style writing and line drawings in the book were done with a quill pen and ink, and he gave her some hints about preserving the old paper, such as handling it with clean or gloved hands and covering it from the air.
This was obviously an autograph book kept by a couple of women who ran a souvenir-type store near the Cataract House in downtown Niagara Falls. They had their customers, mainly tourists from all over the world, sign their names in the book.
Some particularly talented tourists even drew pictures over their autographs, some of them startlingly good art. The book also contains a few old newspaper clips.
The women, Katie and Millie, operated what was variously called a souvenir shop or an Indian trading post. The business was in the Krakoski family and went to Katie and her brother Julius Krakoski. But, according to newspaper clips, a dispute arose among the siblings about who owned what, so a law firm was engaged.
As it turned out, Julius got the family house on Mackenna Avenue and Katie got the business located at Main and Second streets. She had to pay her brother $29,800 for the business.
Although it was not entirely clear what was involved in the family dispute, Katie went with her beau to Canada to get married. Then, when the mediation at the lawyer's office was taking place, according to one article, Katie's new husband and her brother nearly came to blows and had to be separated by the lawyers before an agreement was reached.
U.S. senators, foreign diplomats and travelers from around the world signed the autograph book in the trading post, but much of it is in a flowery, old-style cursive writing difficult to make out. Some wrote poems, some doggerel, many praised Katie and Millie and their trading post.
Mrs. West said her daughter suggested she offer the book for sale on the Internet but she has not yet decided whether she wants to part with the book. Its age is indicated by the first autograph on the book which is dated July 20, 1880. A member of the West family signed it in 1883.
The old Porter medal came to the attention of Larry Steele of the Falls library, who was contacted by a Buffalonian who bought a bronze copy of the medal on eBay. Steele told of the find at a recent meeting of the Friends of the Local History Department, now headed by city historian Chris Stoianoff.
Steele said the Congressional Gold Medal was akin to the Congressional Medal of Honor for military heroes or the Presidential Medal of Freedom, also given to civilians, but apparently more prestigious because only 179 of them have been awarded. The medal was given for outstanding public service, and the first one was awarded to George Washington. President and Mrs. Reagan were also awarded the medal.
Others receiving it were generals Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown of the War of 1812, poet Robert Frost, and entertainers Frank Sinatra and John Wayne.
While the gold medal, struck by the U.S. mint, was only given to the awardees, bronze copies were made to give to friends and relatives. While a bronze copy of the Porter was discovered, the gold one is still missing.
Anyone who has information on the general's gold medal can contact Steele at the library.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Jan. 31 2012 |