Yesterday was miserable outside, but I stayed warm and dry at a book signing at the Heritage Square Museum in Ontario. This is set up similar to Genesee Country Museum, where you can walk around and visit different buildings from the 1800’s. I was stationed with some fellow authors at the Warner House, the home of a prosperous Ontario farmer. The house, built in 1838, originally stood near the corner of Lake Rd. and Furnaceville Rd. before being moved to the museum. The owner, Alanson Warner, was an inventor, who received a patent in 1865 for inventing the differential. This is a gear that helped his tractor turn more easily. He was a little bit too early for the automobile, and he sold his patent for $16.

The other interesting thing I found in the Warner House was a musical instrument called a serafine. This was from another family, but was of the same time period. A serafine looks like a small piano, with a small keyboard and a pedal, but it is actually a reed instrument. When you step on the pedal, air is pressed through the reeds instead of pipes. Katie McNally treated us to a concert of Amazing Grace, a song that resonates on any instrument, in any time period.

Heritage Square Museum is closing now for the winter, but put it on your to-do list for next spring. The kids were enjoying it yesterday even in the rain.