Historic Sleigh Finds its Way Back to Richmondville

RICHMONDVILLE - An Olendorf Gooseneck sleigh that recently became a new exhibit at the Bunn Tillapaugh Mill museum in the Village of Richmondville.

Jake Peck and Joan Sondergaard with the Olendorf Gooseneck sleigh donated by Peck that will be an exhibit at the Bunn Tillapaugh Mill museum in the Village of Richmondville.

RICHMONDVILLE — A Civil War-era sleigh built in Richmondville more than a century and a half ago has found its way home.

Jake Peck made the trip East from his home in Minerva, Ohio to donate the Olendorf Gooseneck sleigh to the Richmondville Historical Society. It was gratefully accepted during a brief, informal reception Friday, July 12 at the historical society's headquarters, the Bunn Tillapaugh Mill museum on High Street in the village.

"We're delighted," said museum curator Joan Sondergaard. "Anything we get that is original Richmondville and part of its history totally delights us."

The sleigh, made by Jake Peck's great great grandfather Alfred Olendorf, will stay on exhibit at the museum.

"We're so glad," Richmondville Historical Society Vice President Ann Lape exclaimed. "Wow, it's so historic, and it has come home."

Alfred Olendorf, a millwright, operated the Olendorf Sash and Blind factory and the Olendorf Mill in Richmondville, according to information provided at the reception. The sleigh spent many years in Richmondville before Jake's father Roger Peck took it to Ohio, where it was restored by Amish craftsmen and eventually gifted to Jake.

Jake Peck is the nephew of the late Doug Peck, a long-time Richmondville resident. Among Doug's children _ all daughters _ and Jake's cousins is Richmondville Town Historian Susan Rightmyer.

"My uncle Doug said it would be a good idea to donate the sleigh back to Richmondville," Jake Peck explained. "He kept saying its history was all there. We debated and I eventually said 'OK, I'll part with it.'"