By John Antonowicz

Correspondent

As we glance at the accession records from the museum, one might notice a ‘Cow Pass: 300 Feet’ sign, a signed George Eastman Cook painting of his estate, items from Thornbrook Hall, wooden carvings by Jacob Matthey of Earlville, original political cartoon drawings that once appeared in The Evening Sun done by Dan McCarey, and a wooden sign from a butter manufacture in Rockdale, N.Y. All these objects; one could say they really have no connection, other then all being from Chenango County but the truth of it is that all these objects and hundreds, even thousands of items were donated to the museum by Tracy Law of Norwich. In celebration of the Chenango County Historical Society’s 50th anniversary open to the public, the society honors Tracy Law as an important volunteer for the society in the past for the expansion of the museum.

Tracy was born in the town of Norwich and grew up on several farms in the county. As a child, Tracy helped his father on the farm, giving him an understanding of farming techniques. He learned to read and always had a keen interest in books. Tracy was Norwich High School graduate Class of 1949 and was given the nickname “Book Worm.” After he graduated from Norwich High School, he continued his job at the Bennett-Ireland Foundry on State Street in Norwich. During the time of the Korean War, Tracy joined the Army. He traveled all over Europe during his service time, and after three years of service, Tracy came back to Chenango County.

After Tracy returned, he opened up an antique shop called on his own personal property on Polkville Hill. Locally known as an antique dealer and collector, he was known as buying relevant information to the history of the county. The information that was significant to Chenango County was often collected by Tracy, and not sold in his store.

In 1973, Tracy began volunteering by shoveling out the dirt floors of the museums basement. The basement had to be dug deeper in order for the cement to be poured. He focused mainly on the center part of the cellar.