2 days ago
Wilson legend gets historic marker
At the unveiling of a new historic marker in Wilson on Wednesday, local eighth-graders paid tribute to a moment that needed less cowbell.
British soldiers had landed in Youngstown in 1813 and headed along the Lake Ontario shore, burning farms on their way to destroy a grist mill in Olcott.
According to Brett Sippel, a Wilson Middle School teacher, a 15-year-old Luther Wilson gathered the local cows and stuffed their bells with leaves to keep them quiet. He stealthily herded the cows east to safety, protecting an important food source for the settlers.
Students were able to memorialize the Luther Wilson story in a new Legends and Lore historic marker located at Calvin Krueger Park. Teddy Andrews, Ethan Dietz, Jamison Geier, Calvin Lawson, Brynn Lepsch and Lilianna Woodward met with Charles Horton, former president of the Wilson Historical Society to research the local story.
Sippel said the project's approach to learning about local history seemed to bring the topic alive for students.
'I think it's neat that they can in their mind kind of picture what it was like,' he said. 'When I can apply something local into my curriculum, I try to do that.'
As part of the project, the students visited other historic markers last year to literally get a picture for their marker.
'We had these passports we made for them,' Sippel said. 'This started by them going to different blue and gold markers and having a picture with them. Then they'd write about the marker. Some parents have also become more aware because they had to take their seventh-grader.'
With Sippel's guidance, the students developed a proposal to the William Pomeroy Foundation for grant funding for the new historic marker. The foundation's Legends and Lore markers are a relatively new program, meant to promote cultural tourism and commemorate legends and folklore as part of American heritage.
Student Teddy Andrews said he could imagine how stressful the historic moment was for Luther Wilson. Andrews said Luther Wilson's home was spared because his mother had offered food to the British soldiers.
At the unveiling, Andrews was struck by the students' accomplishment.
'This marker is just beautiful,' he said. 'It's the first one in Niagara County.'
