The Fenton History Center Nanny’s Room features an 1820s rocking chair. A source of family legend, the rocking chair once belonged to Philena Sheldon. It is said that while emigrating from Vermont to Chautauqua County, Philena sat in this rocker on the barge that carried her and her family along the Erie Canal in 1828. Having also traveled by ox cart, the Sheldons eventually settled in the Clymer-Nettle Hill area.
Speaking of chairs, the Military Room boasts a chair on which our very own Governor Reuben E. Fenton sat. It is a high-back maple wooden desk chair with scroll designs and a dark red leather seat. This chair is said to be the chair that Governor Fenton died in while he was working at the First National Bank on August 15, 1885.
Unlike those portrayed in Hollywood horror films, these chairs are not haunted. At least, not that we know of… Happy Halloween!
