Greetings,

Emigration and immigration are as old as mankind as people searched  for a better life and environment. The potato famine in Ireland from 1846-1852 was the cause of a large emigration of the Irish to America. Potatoes, the main staple of the Irish diet, were destroyed by a blight. British and Irish landlords had little sympathy for the Irish tenant farmers as the landlords continued to levy high taxes on the land that was being used for cattle sold to Great Britain. Religious discrimination was also a problem. Most of the working Irish were Catholic following their patron St Patrick who had arrived in Ireland in the 5th century. The British aristocracy were Protestant following King Henry VIII who had split from the Roman Catholic Church. The Irish were starving, disease ridden and dying by the thousands. It was time to leave. Many that could,fled to America. 

The Irish immigrants who reached Central New York originally settled north of the lake where work was found in factories along the creek and on the Erie Canal or Clinton’s Ditch, as it was called. A few families settled in Bear Swamp on the north west end of the lake. Land was cheap but it was a hardscrabble life due to poor soil that was heavily forested.  Charles “Charlie” Major, a well known local lawyer, judge,town supervisor, history buff and author has written about his ancestors who settled in the swamp in 1863. His grandfather was one of fourteen children. Seven siblings died of diphtheria. Charlie wrote “ It is still hard to imagine how they lived up there..but it was far better than the famine they left behind.” All were gone by 1920 to settle elsewhere in Central New York.

Religious discrimination followed the Irish. An organizational meeting of the Ku Klux Klan was held on January 23, 1924. More than 200 men from Otisco, Amber, Marietta, Spafford, Skaneateles and Borodino secretly met to join the national organization. The targets were the Catholics and gypsies. There were numerous  large cross burnings in the area which could be seen for miles around during the night time hours, an intimidating sight. The Klan movement was short lived, dying out in the mid 1920’s. This may in part have been a result of Charles Major Sr’s rise to prominence as a lawyer and election to the office of Skaneateles Town Supervisor. In later years he became known as ‘ Mr. Skaneateles.’

Today Bear Swamp is a conservation area with many trails. Only hedgerows and some stone foundations remain of those who bravely traveled thousands of miles from their homeland  for a better life. Irish heritage is celebrated on March 17. The Irish blessing  is their wish  for all.

"May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door."