Wayne Quest Glossary

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abolish - to do away with

Adams, William H. - he and the Sodus Canal Company wanted to build a canal from Sodus Bay to connect to the Erie Canal but it was never completed

aqueduct - structure which carries a waterway over another waterway

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C

canal - a man made waterway

canawler - person who worked on the canal

Chimney Bluffs - famous drumlin in Wayne County which is being eroded away by the wind and waves

cobblestone - small, smooth stones which were laid in rows of mortar to build fireproof structures

conductor - person who secretly helped to lead escaped slaves to freedom

Collins, Jerry- was Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff of Wayne County for over fifty years.

Cooper, Griffith- Williamson Quaker who helped guide fugitive slaves to the safety of Canada

county seat - village where our county government is located, Lyons

Cuyler, Samuel- Underground Railroad stationmaster in Pultneyville who hid slaves brought up from Griffith Cooper’s and from Sodus

D

drumlin - long, submarine shaped hills running north and south, left by the glacier

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Erie Canal - canal from Albany to Buffalo, built as a way to carry goods to the western part of New York and return

evaporator - dryhouse used for preserving fruit

F

Featherly, John - one of the first pioneers to settle in Wayne County near Lyons in 1789

Fox, Leah, Kate, and Margaret- sisters responsible for the start of Spiritualism

G

glacier - large ice sheet

Gorham, Nathaniel - along with Oliver Phelps, bought the land west of the Pre-emption line from Massachusetts for three cents an acre.

H

Hill Cumorah - site of a famous drumlin in Wayne County where Joseph Smith is said to have found the Golden Plates

hoax - trick

Hoffman, Augustus- found what is believed to be a Norse spearhead at Charles Point near Sodus Point in 1929.

hoggee - person who drove the mules or horses on the towpath which pulled the boats on the canal

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L

lock - boxlike structure with gates on a canal, used for raising and lowering boats as they went from one level of water to another

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malaria - disease carried by mosquitoes that made many workers on the canal ill

muckland - dark, rich, low cropland which was once forest land

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P

Phelps, Oliver - along with Nathaniel Gorham, bought the land west of the Pre-emption line from Massachusetts for three cents an acre.

potash - substance which was made from the wood ashes left when settlers cleared the land and burned the stumps

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R

Richmond, VanRensselaer - engineer who designed the aqueducts on the Erie Canal

ridge - name given to the higher land which is said to have been the original shore of Lake Ontario

S

Sexton, Pliny - member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, who had an Underground Railroad station in Palmyra.

Shakers - religious group named so because of the way they would shake their heads during religious services

Smith, Joseph- in 1823 claimed to be visited by the angel, Maroni, who told him where he could find golden plates buried in the ground which were later translated into the book of Mormon.

Stansell, Nicholas and William - two of the first pioneers to settle in Wayne County near Lyons in 1789

supervisor -person elected every two years to represent their town in county government

survey - to determine the boudaries of a piece of land

T

tourism - business of offering services to those who travel for pleasure

towpath - area along the canal where horses and mules walked while pulling boats on the canal

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V

W

Wayne, Anthony- Revolutionary War general for whom our county was named in 1823.

Williamson, Charles - land agent for Sir William Pultney who developed the land to make it easier for people to settle in Wayne County

Wisconsin - name given to the glacier which once covered what is now Wayne County

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