ESPRS April 2016 Newsletter

Please excuse our dust!Thank you for taking the time to read our first

newsletter in almost four years! We apologize for our lack

of updates in the last few years, ESPRS has gone through

several restructurings as members came and left.

Co-founders Shawn and Cathy Davis welcomed a

son back in 2012 while co-founder Steve Brewer semi-

retired from the field around the same time to pursue

ventures outside of the paranormal and continue his

education.

Around this time several members left due to work

and personal lives moving them away from the paranormal.

Other team members left to form their own ghost hunting

teams to achieve goals that were not achievable with

ESPRS. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavors!

After several years of inactivity ESPRS is now ready

to begin serving the Finger Lakes Region like we did before.

We have a team of committed individuals who look forward

to assisting those of you who have experienced paranormal

activity and are seeking assistance.

Finger Lakes Paracon 2016One way ESPRS has been active in the last few years

has been through the Finger Lakes Paracon which was

founded in early 2014 by ESPRS co-founder Steve Brewer.

Steve had helped with other conventions and expos for the

paranormal before committing to hosting one of his own.

Despite him semi-retiring from the field in 2012 he

still helped us with our events and investigations when he

could so

Empire State Paranormal Research Society

April 2016 Newsletter

the team committed to helping him with the Paracon. In its

first year the Paracon had fifteen vendors from many

different fields within the paranormal and attracted several

hundred visitors.

The success of the 2015 Finger Lakes Paracon &

Spiricon caused all of our vendors to commit to return in

2016 with a few even paying for their 2016 spaces before

departing. We used a part of the proceeds to secure the

ballrooms for 2016.

We have just started securing vendors with several

already committed including psychics, ghost hunting teams.

a paranormal author and regular on several paranormal

television shows. For a current list of vendors and speakers

for our 2016 Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon please head

to its website www.flparacon.com

The 2016 Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon will be

held Noon to 6:00PM Saturday October 22 and Noon to 6:

00PM Sunday October 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn here in

Auburn. Passes are $10 for adults, minors free but must be

with an adult.



The 2014 Finger Lakes Paracon had fifteen vendors present their trades in half of a ballroom at the Hilton

Garden Inn in Auburn. Due to space issues there was not enough room for the vendors to give

presentations, gallery readings, seminars, etc. which we sought to fix the following year.

Even with the small budget the 2014 Finger Lakes Paracon attracted over a hundred visitors leading to us

bringing the Paracon back in 2015 and increasing the budget to have the entire ballroom, an area for

vendors to speak in and more money for advertising.



Following the success of the 2014 Finger Lakes Paracon we quickly

secured the ballrooms at the Hilton for our 2015 event which we

expanded to be the Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon.

The 2015 Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon was marketed as both paranormal convention (Paracon) and

psychic fair (Spiricon). The event was hosted in both ballrooms of the Hilton with the partition left a jar so

both sides could be accessed at the same time.

We also happily welcomed our vendors to speak in a space that we set aside specifically for them to do so.

The 2015 Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon was a smashing success leading us to bring it back.


April 2016 NewsletterHistory Corner

In 1779 a plan was set into motion to address the

hostile Iroquois raids along the frontiers of New York and

Pennsylvania when Colonel Van Schaick was ordered to

lead a force to destroy the principal village of the Onondaga

tribe. The Onondaga had largely remained neutral during the

war but it was feared that their proximity to the route of the

main campaign may allow them to intervene causing them to

be targeted for removal.

Colonel Van Schaick arrived at Fort Schuyler,

modern day Fort Stanwix, on April 16th to begin assembling

his troops and supplies for the coming campaign. Before his

arrival a force of over sixty Oneida arrived at the fort to

offer their aid but Van Schaick declined as he feared the

close cultural bond between the Oneida and Onondaga

would cause them to warn the Onondaga of the coming

campaign. In total Van Schaick managed to assemble 558

men from 9 different detachments, 29 bateau and enough

provisions to last the expedition eight days before leaving

Fort Schuyler.

On April 18th Van Schaick lead his men from Fort

Schuyler to the frigid shores of Oneida Lake while the

supplies were floated down Wood Creek on the bateau. By

the 20th the expedition crossed Oneida Lake and set up

camp at the snow covered ruins of Fort Brewerton at the

western end of the lake. Due to their close proximity to the

Onondaga villages no fires could be lit forcing the men to

use blankets to stay warm and to consume cold rations to

avoid detection by the natives. The march resumed the

following day when an Onondaga native was captured when

he chanced upon the expedition while hunting and another

was captured and a companion was killed by the advance

guard.

A marker noting the route of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. These stone markers were erected in 1929 and are scattered throughout the Finger

Lakes.

This marker is located in Waterloo but there are stone markers for Van Schaick’s campaign, albeit

smaller rectangular ones, in Lower Onondaga Park and on Colvin Street at Onondaga Creek in

Syracuse.



A New York State Historical Marker referring to a village destroyed by the main force of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign later in 1779. These markers are

often seen by the side of the road throughout the state.

There are a few NYS Historical Markers noting sites visited by Van Schaick and his men including

one on Route 11 south of Brewerton and another on Route 49 northeast of Constantia.

During the chaos a few of the group captured by the

advance guard managed to escape causing Van Schaick to

believe they had returned to the town to warn of the coming

attack. He ordered the advance guard to surround the first of

the settlements with additional men dispatched to the next

settlement. The settlements were spread out across eight

miles forcing the detachments to take several different

routes to ensure that none were left untouched. The main

body of the campaign advanced on the principle settlement

where most of the villagers were caught off guard despite

the warning and were forced to flee.

The majority of the destruction was done by 4:00 PM

that day with the campaign then turning to march back to

Fort Schuyler. On their way back they were beset by a group

of twenty natives who had concealed themselves on the

opposite bank of Onondaga Creek. The campaign managed

to drive off the attackers after one was killed and proceeded

across the creek with no other incidents for the remainder of

their march.

Van Schaick’s campaign was praised and cited as an

overwhelming success, particularly when compared to the

main part of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign that entered the

Finger Lakes four months later. In total Van Schaick lost no

men during his campaign against the Onondaga while killing

twelve natives and capturing three others and succeeded in

destroying their principal village and several others. It was

the first part of what would be the scorched earth campaign

that would be the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign and it was

unfortunate that the Onondaga were the first to be targeted.

While they had been neutral up until 1779 three months

before the raid their chiefs had voted to enter the war on the

side of the colonists.


April 2016 NewsletterClosing Remarks

We here at Empire State Paranormal Research Society would like to thank you for sticking with us! We know this

past few years have been extraordinarily quiet for us so it means that much more to us that you have remained with us!

In addition to the Finger Lakes Paracon & Spiricon we are currently in the process of scheduling several

investigations at local residences, businesses and museums. As the weather improves we also will be exploring local

legends and will be branching into investigating sightings of UFO and Bigfoot!

ESPRS will be on the move in 2016 and we encourage you to follow us on Facebook where we will be posting

results of our investigations as well as events and other research we will be conducting!

Documents

ESPRS April 2016 Newsletter