Linda Osborne Cynowa

Romeo Observer Christmas

Linda’s Monday Morning Moaning’s

With this being Christmas week, my thoughts turned too a wonderful and surprising find from when I first started researching. While looking through the Romeo Observer newspapers once again for an obituary or article I was needing, I was handling an unbound set of these fragile and delicate papers, when on this particular search, I see a touch of bright color coming from down deep in the archival box that was holding these papers.

My curiosity was peaked, and when removing the top papers, this wonderful unfaded image was looking back at me, with a printing date of December 20, 1916! Color was extremely rare throughout these papers, so the beauty of this artwork was just remarkable. Edwin King seems to have been the artist, it is not known to me if he was a local artist to the Romeo area or not. But he did some lovely work, and it’s nice to know it will be preserved.

I have this image in a frame, were it sits under a Christmas tree, filled with the Romeo historic homes ornaments that the Romeo Historical Society puts out each year since 1997. The tree sits in the den were I work and is a constant reminder of the fortunate situation I had with being able to research these lovely historic homes.

Much to my disappointment I was never able to come across another image such as this one, and it was not from a lack of trying. Although there are many bound editions of the Observers held by the archives, there are many that are individual paper sections that have not been bound because of the quality of the paper used at times years ago and are in a very precarious state, but being kept safe in the hands of the archivists at the library.

Courtesy of the Melvin E and Joan D Bleich Collection at the Romeo Community Archives, Romeo District Library.

Have a great Christmas,

On that ‘wee’ note, till next week.

Romeo Observer Newspaper December 20, 1916

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Kezar Memorial Library

Linda’s Monday Morning Moaning’s

Samuel and Nancy Kezar from Turner, New York, would live in a Queen Anne style home on Church Street that they built in 1894. When Samuel passed away in Romeo in 1898, his wife and daughter would move to San Francisco on the west coast. Mrs. Kezar’s would come into an inheritance and remembered their time in Romeo and donate the money to build the Kezar Memorial Library on the corner of Church and Main Street.

In 1910 a New York architect would draw up a plan for an ‘Old English Inn’ and building would begin. Henry Stephens II donated $1000. for the purchase of books, which did come with a proviso that he wanted to choose most of the books to be bought. But a generous gift never the less. Today when entering the library you are transported back to a time when life was more simpler and serene. Additions have been added over the years, never changing the original idea of the ‘perfect small town library’.

This was were I was directed to go to find the historical and genealogical information I was looking for. I had lived in the area for almost 10 years at the time and never knew about this treasure. Being someone who loves books and likes to own them,’borrowing’ books from a library had not entered the realm of my thought process. But finding the fact that they were the greatest source of research material, the Kezar became my home away from home.

On that ‘wee’ note, till next week.

Getting Started

Linda’s Monday Morning Moaning’s

I have decided to start my blogging adventure with stories and research information that I have gathered along the way in my book writing journey these last couple of years.

After an innocent question about genealogy at the local library. I was told if I was interested in anything for history (yes) or genealogy (yes) that I should go into Romeo and see what the Kezar Library had to offer. One of the best moves I could have made.

I met Stacie and Julie the librarians, archivists at the library, they opened my world in ways I hadn’t thought possible. I was asked if I would be interested in volunteering to do some genealogy work on the original owners of the Romeo historical homes when they were first built. After spending over 25 years on my own family history stories, I wasn’t sure how interesting researching people that had no connection to my own family would be. Nothing could have been further from the truth!

My starting point for most of the work came from a ‘A Tour of Historic Romeo’ by Richard M Daugherty, a wonderful brochure/booklet that first came out in 1970, a very through work on these beautiful homes. I would compile files for each of the homes I worked on and gathered what ever information that was available including vintage pictures and also current images (photography being a past employment part of my life and now a hobby orientated part). I was given access to their treasury of Romeo Observer Newspapers and their archive of books, photographic images and various collections from Romeo and surrounding areas. While often looking through the Observers for the wonderfully written obituaries of many of the founding settlers of the surrounding areas, I would find myself getting lost in the lovely stories and articles of the long ago past, and having to pull myself back to present.

While I was able to do quite a bit of work from my own home, my knowledge of Romeo and its interesting founding pioneers was just the beginning of this new experience.

On that ‘wee’ note, till next week.