Watch Night celebration

PETERBORO >> Owen Corpin will once again prepare the watch fire and provide the program for the Watch Night Commemoration on New Year’s Eve in Peterboro.

The event will begin at the Smithfield Community Center at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, then move to the watch fire site on the Peterboro Green.

Corpin, a retired Navy commander, member of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum and a descendant of 19th century freedom seekers who came to Peterboro, organized the Watch Night commemoration on the 150th anniversary of the first Watch Night in 1862.

Through the night of Dec. 31, 1862, people of the north and south waited to see if President Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the states of rebellion. Lincoln had shared his first draft with his Cabinet as early as Sept. 22, 1862. A facsimile of that proclamation gifted to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum by the New York State Museum will be on display at the Smithfield Community Center. The First Steps to Freedom: Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation brochures from Albany explaining the document and Gerrit Smith’s role in preserving the treasure will be distributed.

The public is encouraged to join in this free observance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Dress warmly. Bring a flashlight. For more information, contact Corpin at 315-750-6561.