Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County
News Release
(Thursday, October 29, 2009) -- The Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County will mark the 180th anniversary of Sam Patch’s fatal leap over High Falls with a special commemorative event at 3:00 pm on November 13, 2009. Activities will be held in the Kate Gleason Auditorium, Bausch & Lomb Building, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, 115 South Avenue, Rochester.
The event will feature a re-enactment of Sam Patch’s jump by storyteller Howard Edmond and a discussion and book signing with Julie Cummins, author of the new children’s book, Sam Patch: Daredevil Jumper. The book will be available for purchase.
The afternoon will also include short presentations by Vicki Schmitt, Executive Director of Corn Hill Navigation, on the Sam Patch boat that cruises the Erie Canal, and Christine L. Ridarsky, City Historian, on Sam Patch’s final resting place in Charlotte Cemetery.
“Sam Patch died on Friday the 13th,” Ridarsky said. “When we learned that the 180th anniversary of his death also fell on a Friday and in the same year as the city’s 175th anniversary, it seemed fitting to pay tribute to the man who has fascinated so many people for so long. Anyone who has lived in Rochester for any length of time has heard the story of Sam Patch. It’s sort of a morbid tale, and yet it holds a certain charm.”
On the afternoon of November 13, 1829, Patch leapt over Rochester’s High Falls into the chilly waters of the Genesee River. He had survived the same 96-foot jump days earlier, but as more than 7,000 people looked on, he seemed to falter as he stepped off the platform on this fateful day. He hit the water in an awkward position and never reemerged. Patch’s frozen body washed ashore in Charlotte the following spring, and he was buried in the River Street cemetery there.
This event is co-sponsored by the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, the Office of the City Historian, and the Charlotte Village and Transportation Museum.
The Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County is handicapped accessible. Accommodations may be provided for disabled program participants and must be made at least 10 business days before the program. For further information or to make a request please contact Deborah Nevin, Program Coordinator, at 428-8304.