1985

Is it a Bird? No! It's Heidenreich

This article was written by Lois Yoerg, Elwyn Heidenreich’s daughter.

My father was born in 1897 in Rochester, NY. His parents were unable to care for him, as they both had to work. He was taken to the home of his grandmother, Margaret Jane Clute. This is the same place he later bought near Short Tract. His grandmother and her sister, Miss Helen Mellen, raised him. Times were hard!

In 1904 his grandmother died and Great Aunt Helen continued to care for him. They were very poor! Around 1908, his parents set up a home in Utica, NY and came to get him. The boy, Elwyn, had only known his home in Short Tract and didn’t want to go. From that time on he carried in his heart the desire to go back to Short Tract. He worked very hard toward that goal, with his mother beside him. At last, in 1931, he bought the old homestead. How he loved that place!

He flew a 1931 Stearman airplane for 39 years. Anne Voss, and her son, rode with him, swooping over the hills of Short Tract. He was quite willing to give people rides and many people were influenced by this self made man.

This “Stearman” was in an accident and is not in Illinois being rebuilt by its new owner. Maybe someday it will fly again over short Tract. Elwyn loved to fly. He flew the first airmail route between Buffalo and Fillmore and Hunt in 1938. Mr. and Mrs. Alan Higby live on the old Heidenreich place and I dare say they love it as much as Elwyn did. He would be happy about that.

Granger Business - Life on the "Hill" for Over a Century

Charles Bennett came from Dorsettshire, England in about 1830. He came with his mother, six brothers and two sisters. Some of the boys stopped to work on the Erie Canal. The family came through the Mount Morris flats, a very swampy area. Since they were afraid of fever and plague, they looked for a higher elevation. The final choice was a piece of land near Short Tract: the farm now owned by Robert Bennett. In 1936, Charles purchased land in the town of Grove. He cleared the land using the trees for firewood and timber. It was hard work and money was scarce. All the ashes were saved to make lye or to sell to an ashery about a mile north of them (to make potash.) Charles walked to Mount Morris each fall carrying a bag of corn or wheat that needed grinding.

Some of his brothers purchased land near by. They helped each other clear land and build homes. At one time there were 27 children attending school in Short Tract from the “hill.” The whole family made maple syrup using hand made wooden buckets and spouts, and boiling the sap in an old caldron kettle.

Over the years the farm has been improved. A gambrel-roofed barn was built and the herd was increased to twenty cows. They took their milk “over town” to the Short Tract cheese factory.

Round about 1915, Leon (Fern’s husband) and his brother, Everett, decided they would like a tractor. They ordered one from Joe Stackwell in Fillmore. It was a Titan 10-20 and arrived on the Penn. R.R. flat car from Canada. There was a lot of speculation as to whether this was practical or not. The Bennetts also owned the first car in town, a Mitchell Sedan. It had a cloth top, carbide lights and a hand crank. The horn was blown by pinching a rubber bulb. There wasn’t any gas station so they ordered gasoline from Kendall in Bradford. The gas was shipped in wooden barrels. They got about 8 miles to the gallon.

The Bennett family was always active in community affairs, down through the years. The farm grew gradually into the present size. At one time they made 400 gallons of syrup and lots of maple syrup. Everyone got a taste of their generosity, one way or another. The Bennetts now milk 120 cows and have 100 replacement heifers. They mix their own feed, having grain brought in by the truck load. They work about 900 acres and rent another 300. The need to bale hay has been eliminated by switching over to haylage.

Who are the Granger Boosters?

Granger Boosters were born from the seeds of confusion in the hot summer of 1984. What to do about supporting our volunteer fire department was the current issue. However, many of our citizens recognized that this issue, which had sparked a special meeting called by Supervisor Wetzel, was a symptom of an underlying problem in our community. There was need for more community support.

In the following days a core of concerned citizens began to organize. They saw that the major problem facing our town wasn’t caused by indifference but by a need for communication. Granger, they believed, suffered from an identity crisis.

To pull the town together the Boosters decided to publish a local newsletter, “The Granger Gazette.” Through the newspaper the committee hoped to provide the community a means for citizens to exchange information and give a greater feeling of belonging to the same community.

Based on informal reports, the first issue of the Gazette was a huge success. After the second issue, the Boosters received their first written response to a question raised in the paper. Whether it be oral or written WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU. Full and part time residents alike, share needs and have items of news. What are they? If you wish to contribute information you can contact staff members of the Gazette.

So far, the costs of distributing the Gazette have been paid for by $5.00 advertisements that several of our local businesses have taken. Printing costs have been underwritten by Big Tree Graphics. Please try our local businesses. You will probably be pleasantly surprised by their service and prices. Since we wish for everyone to receive a paper, there is no charge. We do accept donations; they make the job easier.

The Boosters wish to be a positive community force. They need your help. Together we can expand our service to the community. The newsletter is merely one tool at our disposal. Ideas such as: fund raisers, a community fair, and quarterly youth activities, have been suggested. Some have already started. What idea do you have? Com on, send it in! To do so, you need only contact a member of the Boosters. Or better yet, join!

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