The Civil War ended in the summer of 1865. Union General Gordon Granger, who was given command of the Texas District after the Civil War,  just weeks later, delivered General Order No. 3 in Galveston on June 19, 1865, informing its inhabitants that all enslaved people were now free. June 19th would go on to be known and celebrated as Juneteenth.

In the sleepy little hamlet of Joy (in Sodus) last week, General Gordon Granger (1821-76) was celebrated as a local hero - which he was. Granger, whose homestead sits on a back road in Joy, was remembered and honored with a special William C. Pomeroy Foundation Marker. Granger was probably born in that home and spent a good deal of time there, later moving to Phelps to live with his grandfather Elihu Grander after his mother died.   He returned to his hometown as a teen, and taught at the Sodus District #16 school on Pre-Exemption Road. In 1841, Gordon Granger entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1845. In battle, he was most known for his significant heroic action in the Battle of Chickamauga, in Georgia, which saved Union troops.

Much pomp and circumstance, and speeches filled the incredibly sunny morning. Historically clad attendees, historians, neighbors and press were on hand, as it was also the celebration of Juneteenth. Welcoming speeches were given by Town of Sodus Supervisor Scott Johnson, NY Assemblyman Brian Manktelow, and WARE (Wayne Action for Racial Equality) President Jim Wood, bedecked as General Granger. He spoke of the triumph of General Granger’s historic announcement and read the General Order No. 3 to the audience, speaking about its implications, then and now. 

General Orders No. 3: “The people are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, become that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

US President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. Issued under powers granted to the president “as a fit and necessary war measure”, the proclamation declared, “That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward and forever free…” 

 Lincoln’s proclamation would have little impact on Texans at that time due to the small number of Union troops available to enforce it.

At the dedication ceremony, Bruce Farrington of the Sodus Historical Society, introduced himself to the crowd  as “Michael Joy”. He informed attendees that he (Michael Joy) had sold the original home and land to the Granger family. He is also the namesake of the hamlet of Joy.

Reverend Earl Greene’s stirring homily of the significance of the freeing of enslaves people, also eluded to the fact that the treatment of African Americans and their “freedom” has a long way to go. “I do not use the word slaves...because we were not slaves, we were people who were enslaved.”

The current homeowner, of the Granger Homestead Lois Swales said that when she and her late husband, Mike, purchased the historic home in 1981,  they had no clue of its historic significance. “We heard stories and rumors over the years from neighbors that it was the home of someone famous, but we did not have all the information. It led me to start researching further and we eventually found the Granger connection,” Lois explained. She stated that she and her current partner  Ted Lazcano, have spent nearly $150,000 updating and shoring up part of the residence to make it livable on one side. Much of the lower half of the home is still solid and standing, but the roof and  upper half have needed major work. She said that she and Ted stay their often, but it is not their permament home.

Lois gave historians access to the roadside space on the property for the purpose of placing the permanent marker, and she was proud to see it unveiled and dedicated on Monday.

The dedication of the marker comes the same year as the County is celebrating its 200th Anniversary, and the renewed interest in local history.