John Sipos is pictured at the Valley Historical Society holding a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

SINCLAIRVILLE – At the recent meeting of the Valley Historical society in Sinclairville, John Sipos, historian for the Town of Stockton and the Village of Cassadaga, presented to all those in attendance the history of the Declaration of Independence.

Written in June of 1776 by Thomas Jefferson, the 13 United States wanted to be under their own government and not that of the British. Until that time the country was known as the United Colonies. Jefferson was on a committee of 5 for writing the declaration and completed it on June 28,1776. The Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress on July 4th,1776. That night a printer, named John Dunlap, printed 200 copies of the Declaration.

Today, 26 copies are known to exist – 21 copies are in Washington D.C., including the original one, with many of the copies in various historical libraries throughout the United States; two copies are in British hands and three copies are privately owned.

In 1989, a man purchased a framed painting at a yard sale for $4 and found out that one of the original copies was folded in the back of the painting. That copy sold for $8.1million at an auction.

Where are the other 174 copies? The Declaration was signed by 50 members of Congress on August 2, 1776, and the last one to sign the Declaration was Thomas McKean on January 18, 1777, to make 56 signatures. The Declaration in summary said that God created men equally, and that they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the government is to enforce this.

Since the country was new, many towns in Chautauqua County were named after signers, such as Richard Stockton, Charles Carrolton, George Clymer, William Ellery, Elbridge Gerry, and Roger Sherman.

Cindy Furlow Spinler was present at this meeting, and presented to the Historical Society a notebook of history of her grandfather Howard Samuel Furlow who was a 3rd Degree Master Mason of the Sylvan Lodge. Mr. Furlow had been elected to serve as President of the Lodge, but died suddenly in December 1950. A wall of photographs of the Sylvan Lodge members is on display in the museum. Local history is always interesting to everyone.

The Valley Historical Society will hold the 26th annual history fair in Sinclairville on Saturday September 13th from 7 am. until fireworks at 9 p.m. Dean Houser, former mayor of Sinclairville, has taken charge of arranging for music, food stands, dog show, baby contest, grand parade, craft show, cemetery tour, library activities, and buggy rides during the day. The Sinclairville 76ers will hold a breakfast to open the day, and the museum will be open all day for tours and historical demonstrations. Everyone is welcome and there is no admission charge.

Following this meeting, refreshments were provided and served by graphics artist Susan Sipos.

The Valley Historical Society was formed in January 1977 to preserve the history of the Cassadaga Valley area. One year later in 1978, the museum located at the corner of Main and Lester streets on Sinclairville was purchased, and now houses many historical items of the area. For more information on the Valley Historical Society, write to P.O. Box 1045, Sinclairville NY 14782.