Saturday, March 22, 2008

Frog's Patent

A Town Historian's job is all about people, places and things. One of the places I mentioned briefly in my November 26, 2007 blog was Frog's Patent. It is almost time for those spring peepers to start up reminding us where that name came from!
I think in our town's early years, every 4 corners had a unique and very localized name. Several of the farms did too. Generally the name had to do with the people who settled there, or where they came from. With time, some of those names changed or were forgotten.
Scipio itself was named for the Roman general, when it was surveyed as part of the original Military Tract. It was larger then. I have found Scipio history in publications about Onondaga County and Seneca County.
Through every publication runs the theme of the farmers who came here to tame the land and stayed to raise their families. Some of the best soil is ours, that is why our crops do so well - from the huge farms of several hundred acres to the smallest kitchen garden.

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