Town of Pulteney Historian Report
September 2011
The Town Clerk and I have been going over to the Glen View Cemetery to confirm the information in the records. I’m still entering them in the computer as often as I can.
I received another e-mail from Shay Pickett from the state of Washington. He will be sending a copy of the family bible for the Pickett family folder. Shay sent me 3 DVD’s with pictures and documents on them. I couldn’t read them with the Historian’s computer, so I bought a flash drive. The library’s computer is newer and can read them, so Barb is going to save them on the flash drive so I can save them to my older computer and print them off.
I have 5 more pictures for the “Military Wall”. They are Bob Conley, Robbin Conley, Bill Case, Junior Case, and Daniel Stryker. I will call Mark Wright to make arrangements to hang the military symbols out in the hall. The Town Clerk says there have been many comments regarding the wall now that everyone can see it all the time.
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I wrote a small article about Francis Pollay and his involvement with the “Rickshaw”. I sent it to Lenora Applebee for the book they are doing. I have included it at the bottom of this report for your enjoyment.
I will be receiving a filing cabinet soon. Kenny Forenz and Loren Welch will be bringing it down. I believe Dan Radigan had some involvement also. Thanks, guys.
I have had visits from Floyd Holley and his wife from near Savannah, Georgia and from Gary Gibson and his family from Newtown, Pennsylvania. Gary wanted his son and daughter-in-law to see where he grew up as a child. It’s always very interesting to talk with these people searching for their roots and those remembering Pulteney with fond memories. Bill Hill stopped in and said he had a picture of the Glen View Cemetery when the trees were just saplings. He will look for it when he gets back to Arkansas.
I need to see if the Civil War pictures are marked on the back who they are. Gary Gibson would like copies if I can figure out which ones are Gibsons.
I am having some copies made of some photos from the files. Some of them are fading away to nothing, so copies need to be made while they are still visible. Also, I need to send photos to Floyd Holley and Gary Gibson.
I still have not sent the information to Keith Helmer of Durham, North Carolina, but will very soon.
Sharon Daggett
Pulteney Town Historian
Requests for the Town of Pulteney Historian
September 2011
Pictures of the blacksmith shop where the Holley sprayer was built and Herbert Holley’s house.
Pictures of the Gibson Hotel. .
Donations given to Town of PulteneySeptember 2011 There were no donations this month
Francis C Pollay
Jonathan Goble of Wayne, NY met Francis C Pollay of Pulteney, NY while they were on the flagship USS Mississippi with Commodore Perry’s famous expedition to Japan in 1854.
A few years later after they both had returned home, Reverend Goble had married and returned to Japan as a missionary. When his wife became an invalid, he remembered his friend, (the wagon maker from Pulteney) and wrote him asking to build something to easily transport his wife in.
Francis built it and shipped the parts to Japan for assembly in 1869. It was given the name “jinrikisha” by the Japanese.
“jin” meaning man
“riki” denotes power
“sha” signifies wheel
The correct translation is “man-power-carriage”. The Americanized version of this name was “Rickshaw”
After it was assembled and seen in use, a Japanese manufacturer added springs and a hood and mass produced it for the general population. It was such a good replacement for the “sedan chair” which took 4 men to carry, that it very quickly became the most popular and preferred mode of transportation.
At one point Japan had over 250,000 jinrikisha in their country plus they came to be used in China, India, and Singapore as well.
Who knew that a wagon maker from Pulteney would change the mode of transportation in the Far East for years to come !!!!!
Sharon Daggett
Pulteney Town Historian
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