THINGS YOU PROBABLY WISH YOU DIDN’T KNOW #1
I like old cemeteries. The people who live out their lives in a place define what that place is— who they were, what times they were a product of— and what they managed to accomplish for themselves and their communities. Cemeteries help to tell that story. The more illustrious of these folks we like to claim in our history and social narrative. We want people to know ‘who came from here’ and be able to vicariously live and promote ourselves and our community through these people.
Interestingly the Internet gives us a conflict in the picture of who’s famous and who is not. This writer guesses that a lot of effort locally has not been given to the promotion— rather ignoring what has been collected in the swamp of the Web. Sad to say what we find is not pretty and makes for a dichotomy. So, you ask “what in the hell is he talking about?”
Our most notable Steuben County resident is of course Glenn Curtiss. A pioneer of early aviation and the driving force in the industrialization of Hammondsport and the surrounding area. Great stuff! Then we come to the flipside… Does anyone know who Is Bath’s most famous native son? Has anyone heard of Joseph James DeAngelo?
Well, this writer didn’t either until he Googled it. It seems that Joe’s early claim to fame was as a police officer in Exeter, California— and then tragically as the original “Night Stalker” of the 1970s. Serendipity has it that he only lived here in Bath for the first few years of his rotten life. Ugly stuff.
You know, I am sure there are lot better people that have come out of the Village of Bath, and the Town of Steuben— no less the County of Steuben. Whether the unbridled mouth of local politicians or negativistic narratives in our past that are not offset by the triumphs of our native sons who shined—things of this nature damage the perceptions of those from outside who would invest in local business and industry. Yeah, it’s true…
I listen to a “History” snippet every so often on WVIN radio. Perhaps this person or someone at our local historical society will take an interest in what is presented on venues such as Wikipedia, and other resources. Image is everything because it denotes something about the quality of life in our humble village. We certainly do not want to be mainly remembered for someone who helped fill cemeteries plots with innocents…
Who is up for the task of moving us forward?
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