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Calendar- Schempp Home

This calendar picture was used in the Clay Historical Calendar in September 1977. A current picture is featured to show what the house looks like today. The 1977 calendar picture was drawn by one of the members of the North Syracuse Art Guild - Fran Kageals Forstadt. From her obituary - Fran moved to the Syracuse area after completing her studies in Maine and NYC. She always had a passion for art from birth and eventually became a graphic designer. She was active in the local community theater for the Salt City Playhouse, working for Laubach Literacy, building and designing sets. Fran moved out of the Syracuse area in 1993 and passed away a few years ago in Virginia. After studying an 1874 Town of Clay map, I discovered that the Shempp home was originally occupied by Rev Loren Adkins who officiated at the Euclid Methodist church for one year in 1855. The property was then bought by T. Larue Sitterly. Sitterly's son, Willis “Scott” Sitterly, was Justice of the Peace for the Town of Clay for 24 years(1935-1959). After 1940 - the home was sold again to the Reinhold Schempp family, and still resides with the family today. Reinhold’s son Paul Schempp is the current owner. Paul’s amazing career started when he graduated from Cornell University and their R.O.T.C. program. He assisted in reorganizing the 174th Tactical Fighter Wing. He later retired as a Major General. This excerpt was taken from the OHA collection at the Syracuse Regional Aviation Museum. The museum shows a flight suit, gloves, and helmet that Paul wore during his missions. He was also presented with a 30mm shell that is on display at the museum. This house on Bonstead Road, has housed two distinguished gentlemen: one being a judge and the other a Major General in the military. For viewing pictures of Paul Schmepp’s display at the Syracuse Airport. Please visit our Google page at “Clay Historical Association”. Or email me at historian@townofclay.org if you have any questions. The Clay Historical Association meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the Clay Historical Park at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to attend or invite anyone to join the Clay Historical Association, we would love to have you. Information about the North Syracuse Art Guild - After speaking with one of the members of the art guild, I learned the following information. They met at the NSEA Teachers Union Bldg. @ 210 S Main St N.Syracuse. Meetings are held every third Wednesday @ 12:30 p.m. (September-June). Check them out on Facebook.

Calendar Collection - Strever Homestead

I found out this month that one of the houses in the past “Historic Town of Clay” calendars has been put on the real estate market. The house in the calendar collection was called the “Strever Homestead” back in March of 1986 for Aaron Strever’s family that lived there. I’ve included then and now pictures of their homestead. As you can see in the calendar picture, on the side of the house there are cistern pipes to collect water in the basement as in many older homes in that era. This house was also once the home of Rev.Diefendorf for the Dutch Settlement Church. Including the other families Brown,Shaver,Hemmerick and Soule which is Aaron’s wife's maiden name. The home was kept in the family thru their daughter until the late 1920’s. Aaron Strever (1818-1898) & Emily Soule Strever(1819-1894) lived in the house until their deaths. Aaron Strever was a farmer and also did surveying according to the 1870 census. With information obtained from Family Search. Some of Aaron's highlights is that he graduated from Columbia College and was a licensed Civil Engineer and Surveyor. He came to the Clay area from Ancram NY around 1845 and was a very successful farmer and surveyed in Northern Onondaga County. Aaron and Emily had 7 children from 1849 thru 1862. Aaron and his wife Emily, including 6 out of their 7 children are buried at Pine Plains Cemetery across the street from their homestead which could be seen until the new development was built this year. The picture of Aaron and Emily looks like it was taken in the 1860’s which on the reverse of the picture shows the photographer CH Perry 46 North Salina St Syracuse NY. I did find an article of someone doing photography in an old newspaper in 1866 that could be a possibility of how old the picture could be. The Strevers would be in their 40’s in the late 1860’s. Hopefully the new owners of this historic house enjoy the history from the previous owners and The Town of Clay.

The Clay Historical Association meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the Clay Historical Park at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to attend or invite anyone to join the Clay Historical Association, we would love to have you. These photos can be seen in color and better resolution under “Clay Historical Association” under Google search.

Hello! Here is another “Then n’ Now” picture I found intriguing. Pictured are my two uncles, my mother, and grandfather (no. 1, 2, 4, 27). The approximate year taken is summer 1961 or 1962; if anyone knows the specific date and time, please contact me. This photo was in my “Snow family photo collection” and can also be found in numerous community family photo collections of those who attended Euclid Methodist Church on Morgan Road. I have also included a picture from this past week to show the exact location. It is hard to believe that Morgan Road used to be so narrow, especially when looking at the tree line. In the future, I hope to share with you a picture of how narrow this road truly was.

Studying this picture took a lot of time and dedication identifying the people photographed. Unfortunately, many families have had this photo for years and have had no idea who all these “old people” are! With the help of Ruth Koch, myself, and other CHA members, we were able to comprise a list of almost all of the people in the picture. (Two individuals still remain unknown, but if you are able to identify them, or notice an error, please feel free to reach out).

Names of those pictured are as follows: Gary Snow, Edward Baker, Sam Kamer, Joanna Baker Snow, Ronald Balch, Mary McLaren, Cindy Gray Cronin, Don Clary, Bill Chase, Bonnie Hamlin Holmes Bergan, Emily Wright Moore, Clary, Tom Bull, Steve Coburn, Jerry Lewis, Marsha Stirner Wattnem, Harvey Fields, Ronald Sharp, Gary and Rick Chase, Naomi Kramer, Arthur Waterbury,Nancy Kramer, Glenn V Snow, David Zag, Bob and Ora Hamlin, Rev Jack and Grave Buskey, Martha Higgs, Donna Brosnan Fabianek Damewood. [Note: photo can be seen in color and better resolution on our Facebook page and Google under the title “Clay Historical Association”].

General Information:

-As before, -If you OWN any photographs, old film, documents, etc., that you would like to share with the Town of Clay, feel free to drop them off in person at the Town of Clay with your name and current phone number on the items, or contact me at historian@townofclay.org. (Items would be scanned and returned to owner).

-The Clay Historical Association meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the Clay Historical Park at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to attend or invite anyone to join the Clay Historical Association, we would love to have you.

Jeff Snow

Town of Clay Historian

Clay Historical Association Member

There’s A New Historian in Town [of Clay]

Greetings! My name is Jeff Snow and am honored to have been appointed as the Town of Clay’s next Historian through the Clay Historical Association. My great grand-parents lived in the Town of Clay over one hundred years ago. My father still resides in the Town of Clay today living only three to four miles from where his, and my mother’s, childhood homes are. As a lifelong resident of the Town of Clay, and active member of the Clay Historical Association I wanted to take a moment to thank the previous historian, Dorothy Heller, on the awesome job she did and the articles she put into the “Eagle News” over the previous years.

As I take on my new role as Clay Historian, I would like to share a few “Then N’ Now” pictures. The older picture shows my uncle, my father, and their friend (left) and lifelong friend, Raleigh Harke (right), moving a calf to a cow pasture in 1947, near the corner of Bonstead and Jackson Rd. [Note: photo can be seen in color and better resolution on our Facebook page and Google under the name “Clay Historical Association”].

If you OWN any photographs, old film, documents, etc, that you would like to share with the Town of Clay, feel free to drop them off in person at the Town of Clay with your name and current phone number on the items, or contact me at historian@townofclay.org. (Items would be scanned and returned to owner).

General Information:

Thank you,

Jeff Snow

Town of Clay Historian

Clay Historical Association Member

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