Altar cloth from time capsule: Town Historian Dawn Fisher and Town Planning Board member Terry Thompson hold up the altar cloth created by Ruth Eick. The altar cloth was among the items in a time capsule made for the town’s 175th anniversary in 2001.
Story and photos by Brian Quinn
The town was almost named Norway. Then, for a couple of years, they called it Gerrysville. For most of its 200-year history, it’s been the town of Alabama.
Residents and local and regional leaders celebrated the town’s bicentennial year Saturday with a Town of Alabama Proclamation Day at the fire hall, which included opening a time capsule and unveiling a school bell that the Oakfield Historical Society donated. Janet Sage, Alabama’s first female Town Board member and town supervisor, was among the residents there for the historical displays, re-enactment of the first town meeting, performance by the Seneca Singers and proclamations.
Town Historian Dawn Fisher of the Bicentennial Committee said after the committee started to plan events for the year, it enlisted more help. Proclamation Day was the second of several events planned for 2026.
“We have many people, places and things to be proud of in our town,” Fisher said. “We reached out and asked. We networked. Now, our Bicentennial Committee has grown. We’ve been planning events to help celebrate this history in 2026. We are here to honor our town’s founders, our town’s rich history and the people that have been our friends and neighbors in the town of Alabama for the past 200 years.”
Tina and Bob Kahlenbeck were dressed as 19th century Alabama residents for Saturday’s celebration.
As Bob and Tina Kahlenbeck stood at the main entrance, dressed in 19th century outfits, and greeted people, Fisher kicked off the celebration and gave the community a sense of how the town began. The town was carved from parts of Pembroke and Elba in Genesee County and parts of Barre and Shelby in Orleans County. On Oct. 20, 1825, the Republican Advocate newspaper in Batavia ran a notice of an application to the New York State Legislature to create the town of Norway. Sponsors of the application were David Gary, John S. Wolcott and Benjamin Gumaer.
“The application was approved, but was greatly edited as to the boundaries sought by the applicants and the name of Norway was rejected because a town of Norway already existed in Herkimer County,” Fisher said. “Who was responsible for naming the town Gerrysville is not positively known. Some believed it was designated by the State Legislature, others that it was meant to honor David Gary, but was somewhere misspelled Gerry. It is pretty much agreed that being spelled Gerry, the name was in honor of the fifth vice president of the United States, Elbridge Gerry.”
According to information compiled by former Town Historian Cindy Amrhein, the town’s name became Alabama on April 21, 1828.
The afternoon included proclamations presented by Town Supervisor Rob Crossen; Legislator Gregg Torrey; State Assemblyman Stephen Hawley; State Sen. George Borrello; Phillip Gow, representative of Congresswoman Claudia Tenney; Jacob Gilbert Mahoney, representative of Gov. Kathy Hochul. The Seneca Singers, a community choral group directed by Dr. Susan Avery, performed for the community.
Outside, the Collins Draft Horse, Ox & Pony Club was giving horse-and-wagon rides starting the fire hall parking lot.
The first town meeting
The first town meeting took place on April 17, 1826. It was re-enacted 200 years and one day later. Former Town Historian Joe Cassidy and current Town Board member Kevin Fisher began the re-enactment by portraying Amasa Green and Sylvester Swiat, respectively. Green and Swiat asked for nominations of officials at that first town meeting.
Three people: Jay Wolcott portrays his ancestor, Chester Wolcott. Chester Wolcott was voted town clerk of Gerrysville, later renamed Alabama, during the first town meeting in 1826. Seated are Kevin Fisher, who portrayed Sylvester Swiat, and Joe Cassidy, who portrayed Amasa Green.
The officers nominated on April 17, 1826 were: town supervisor, Benjamin Gumaer; town clerk, Chester Wolcott; assessors, David Goodrich and Charles P. Brown; collector, Green; poor-master, John S. Wolcott; commissioners of highways, John S. Wolcott, Joseph Holmes and Ephriam Divinny; commissioners of schools, Brown, Swiat and Green; constables, Green, Harry Holmes and Sylvester Finch.
As Green and Swiat went through the nominations, with the community voting on each, some laughed when a man voted “No” on one of the nominees.
What actions did town officials take at that first meeting? They voted to raise $25 for the repair of roads and to raise $50 for the benefit of common schools.
The time capsule
There was a little bit of mystery surrounding the 175th anniversary time capsule, which apparently was never buried, Dawn Fisher acknowledged Saturday.
“The time capsule is from our 175th anniversary (in 2001). At one of our early bicentennial planning meetings, Terry Thompson stated there was a time capsule buried somewhere on the premises of the Town Hall,” she said. “He began inquiring as to some people that were involved at the town during that time as to where it could be buried.”
Unfortunately, no one knew the burial spot. Thompson said he was busy elsewhere on the day the capsule was to be buried. Bicentennial Committee member Gabe Foster has a metal detector and offered to bring it to the Town Hall to search for the capsule.
A few weeks ago, Dawn Fisher said, she and Cassidy were at the Town Hall and Cassidy went downstairs to see if he could find something that looked like a time capsule.
“We really weren’t sure what it was supposed to be buried in or what it was going to look like. Lo and behold, the last box that Joe opened happened to hold this laundry basket draped in a flag/banner type of thing and it had a note attached,” she said. “It had a note … to be buried and it had the date it was supposed to be buried. However, we’re not sure what happened or how it got there. Maybe they forgot about it. Maybe they were cleaning … don’t what the mystery was or why it never got buried.”
Thompson, as he was walking up to help Fisher with the time capsule, said he also wasn’t sure why it was never buried back in 2001.
Fisher removed items from the time capsule, one of which was an altar cloth made and created by Ruth Eick of Alabama for a 175th anniversary Community Church service on July 13, 2001.
“If anybody remembers Eick’s Bicycle Barn over in Alabama Center on Alleghany Road, Ruth was his wife,” Dawn Fisher said.
Thompson said, “We had a church service that day with seven different churches in the Fire Department.”
There were pictures buried in the capsule – pictures of different people and families.
“We have so many people in our community who have gone before us,” Dawn Fisher said. “I just think about community and the importance of community for our town … the people who got together to celebrate. That’s immensely important to remember.”
The time capsule also contained newspaper articles, a T-shirt and hat, and a 2001 Oakfield-Alabama class program.
School bell: Town Historian Dawn Fisher rings the school bell from the old South Alabama schoolhouse after the bell was unveiled Saturday. With her is Bob Thompson, who restored the bell.
The school bell
Dawn Fisher got a call in late December from Oakfield Historical Society President Laurie Nanni, who told her the Historical Society had the original bell from the schoolhouse in South Alabama. She asked if Fisher would like it back and Fisher said she would.
“She proceeded to tell me that, for some reason … when they closed the school, apparently (it) was taken to the High School in Oakfield and it was taken down in the basement,” Fisher said. “Somebody was cleaning down there or doing something down there and they noticed this bell. Apparently it was a custodian and they were going to take it home. Somebody said, ‘No, that should go to the Oakfield Historical Society.'”
While the Historical Society had the bell, someone painted it red, white and blue. Dawn and Kevin Fisher brought it back to the Town Hall. The Bicentennial Committee had a meeting about a month ago and Dawn Fisher showed everyone the bell. Bob Thompson looked at it and the bell was missing the clapper, the part inside the bell that hits its sides to create sound.
“Bob said, ‘I think I can fix that.’ So, Bob took it home and he said, ‘That’s all fixed.’ He said, ‘I think it needs to be painted. Would you mind?'” Dawn Fisher remembered. “I said, ‘No. I thought the same thing.'”
The bell was restored and painted black.
“We’re very grateful for the Oakfield Historical Society for their donation and for Bob Thompson for taking the time and effort to restore our bell,” she said.
Thompson joined Dawn Fisher next to the bell and lifted the cover off to unveil it. Fisher then rang the bell for the celebration.
Jeff Sage and his mother, Janet Sage, view one of the historical displays. Janet Sage was Alabama’s first female town supervisor and Town Board member.
Sage thoughts on Alabama’s bicentennial
Among the residents walking around to look at the displays at Saturday’s celebration were Janet Sage, 84, the first female to serve on the Alabama Town Board member and, later, as town supervisor. She was at Proclamation Day with her son, Jeff Sage.
Janet Sage served from 2000 to 2020. She was town supervisor from 2015-2020. Sage said she first became supervisor after replacing Dan Mangino, who had become ill. She was elected to her own four-year term as supervisor in 2016.
“We started planning for the STAMP (Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park) project. It was in the infancy,” she said of her time on the board. “We got municipal water in the town, too, at that time.”
Janet Sage said she lived in Alabama all her life, until recently. Jeff Sage, 58, said he grew up in a house across the street from the fire hall.
“We used to go to this church,” Jeff Sage said, gesturing toward the Oakfield-Alabama Baptist Church, which was featured on one of the displays. “I just found out that the church has a burial plot. I didn’t know we had one.”
Janet Sage she and her husband, Donald Sage, were married in the Baptist Church on Sept. 24, 1960. Donald Sage passed away in 2018 at age 78.
Janet and Jeff say they are interested in attending a social at the Oakfield-Alabama Baptist Church, scheduled for noon-2 p.m. May 2. It will celebrate the church’s early influence on the town, showcasing the church’s history and building updates.
“You might go to the Senior Luncheon on the 21st of April,” Jeff Sage suggested to his mother. “She likes going to those.”
The luncheon, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” will be at the fire hall. Bring a dish to pass or make a donation at the door. Contact LaNora at (630) 888-8966.
The Seneca Singers, a community choral group, performed during Saturday’s celebration.
The Bicentennial Community Calendar of Events
After Tuesday’s Senior Luncheon and the May 2 church social, the following events are on the calendar:
- May 9: Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Spring Spectacular – Open House, 1101 Casey Road, Basom. Call (585) 948-9445.
- May 13-17: Alabama Hunt Club 80th Anniversary – more than 20 matches open to all. Displays and dealers/traders are welcome. Modern and primitive camping are available. The Alabama Hunt Club & Range are at 1857 Lewiston Road in Basom. Contact Sammy at (585) 297-7747.
- May 25: Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony – American Legion Post 626 and local officials will remember the men and women who have served our country. It will begin at 10:15 a.m. at the Alabama Town Hall.
- May 30: Alabama Hunt Club vendor fair and other events.
- July 11: noon-9 p.m., Homecoming Day.
- Aug. 15: the Alabama Basom Methodist Church will host a community open house to showcase its windows and its contribution to the town. A chicken barbecue will be available.
- Sept. 12: There will be a tour of the Alabama Cemetery led by Joe Cassidy, with refreshments to follow.
- Oct. 10: Farm Days will take place at the Thompson Museum.