Town of Niagara historian receives career achievement award
Oct. 7—Being a historian does not just run in Peter Ames' family, getting recognized for that work does, too.
The Town of Niagara historian has received the Julia Reinstein Career Achievement Award, a citation given out annually by the Government Appointed Historians of Western New York.
The award is named after Julia Reinstein, the first Town of Cheektowaga historian and founder of the Erie County Historical Federation who was the award's first recipient in 1989. GAHWNY covers eight counties and its members hold a meeting every year where the award is given out.
The award was not given out in 2020 or 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so GAHWNY recognized three area historians this year. Audrey Johnson of Pittsford and David Carlson of Java also were honored.
"Audrey Johnson has been at it for 43 years and she is just getting recognized," Ames said. "The fact that I've only been officially the town historian for six years, I'm pretty honored they would nominate me."
Ames has been the Town of Niagara historian since 2016, taking over from the retired Dorothy Rolling, another previous Reinstein award recipient. The post became Ames' main focus after he retired from Bicknell Racing Products in 2018.
"I love what I do, and it gives me a reason to get up every day and plug away at it," Ames said.
Ames credits his father Don with imbuing his love of history. Don Ames was the Village of Youngstown historian for 10 years and received the Reinstein award in 1999.
Ever since he turned 40 in 1992, Peter Ames has been engaged in genealogy. He said he loves discovering people's stories.
Prior to his appointment as the Town of Niagara historian, from 2006 through 2016, Ames coordinated a project with the Monroe Fordham Regional History Center at Buffalo State College to digitize the records of 13 Niagara Falls churches and put them on the college's website.
In addition he spent five years documenting and researching more than 800 veterans interred at Oakwood Cemetery, along with friend Jeff Manning and a genealogical group led by Michelle Kratts of Lewiston Public Library. Ames then did the paperwork necessary to order 100 medallions to add to the private markers of veterans who had no note of military service on their graves.
Upon his appointment as historian, Ames received 24 boxes and tubs of a collection containing original ledgers going back to 1812 when the Town of Niagara was formed. Those items were moved to a conference room at the Veterans Park Community Center, where Ames spent five years organizing them. On Memorial Day 2021, that room was dedicated as the Marsh/Rolling Local History Room, and on that same weekend Ames unveiled a World War IIO service cloth at the center's main room.
With help from a couple of friends, Ames has spent the past three years rehabilitating Witmer Cemetery, which had its first burial in 1828. He worked with the Lions Club to replace fencing and add signage and benches and now he's researching the cemetery residents. There have been no burials at Witmer Cemetery since 2016, but Ames still works at keeping it spiffy.
"I feel people's final resting place should be noted and maintained," he said.
