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East Main Street1

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”
― Winston Churchill

I would really like to think that Winston Churchill had great insight when he quoted above. Sure Victor is a thriving little town with one of the best shopping establishments in the area. The school system is amazing. People from all over seem to be moving to “The East Side” of Rochester. My fear is that as time goes on that the money makers will see nothing but dollar signs and forget what little bit of charm we have left. I spoke with my Great Aunt tonight Esther (Farrell) Bennett. She is my grandmothers last surviving sibling. I kept confusing Joe and Patrick Farrell. Joe was her father and Patrick was her grandfather. She has never seen a photo of her grandfather and really didn’t remember that much about him. She tells of how my Great Uncle Edward her brother went to Montreal twice to try and find some information on him. She took one of the trips with Uncle Edward and talked about how nice everyone was that they spoke to in Montreal yet nobody had a photo of Patrick. She told me that all she knew was that Patrick had worked on the railroad and that’s what had brought him to the village of Victor. They lived on East Main Street in the village and that home stayed in the family for 3 generations. The photo above I do not have a date but shows the Farrell house on the right hand side of East Main Street. This is long before the road was redirected over the railroad.  I believe the Sale family lived on one side of them and Lucy family lived on the other. Below is the only information that my family has on Patrick Farrell which is a copy of his United States Citizenship papers and on October 25 1877 he became a US citizen. My Aunt Esther also spoke of the “Farrell Family Plot” in St Patrick’s Cemetery on High Street. She told me that I could learn so much from the cemetery. I’ll definitely be making the little trip once the winter subsides. Patrick Farrell Citizenship Papers