Mary Ann Eldred Austin kept a scrapbook packed with poems (one of Charles Dickens’s), articles (one of Mark Twain’s), pictures (mostly of children), colorful stickers, and newspaper clippings. Along with the images shown here, Mary Ann’s collection (owned and shared … Continue reading
This and the next post features envelopes from the 1920s and 1930s, usually addressed to C.M. Austin, my grandfather, Charles Mortimer (Mort) Austin. I am the keeper of most of my mom’s massive amount of photos and other information from … Continue reading
Eleazar Mitchell plays a role in Abby, Laurilla, and Mary Ann. He first married Olive Hickok. After Olive died, Eleazar married the widow Abigail Johnson Hickok, mother of Hannah Hickok Smith. Eleazar was the only grandfather the Smith sisters knew. … Continue reading
After Abby Smith and her sister Laurilla arrived back in Glastenbury, Connecticut, Abby and Mary Ann exchanged letters. In one of her letters Mary Ann might have mentioned to Abby that finally, in 1856, there was a bridge across the … Continue reading
Justus and Mary Wells Hickok Abby and Laurilla stayed in Barryville with Justus and Mary Wells Hickok, and their family. Abby mentioned their sons Robert and David Hickok in her letters to Mary Ann. Abby and Laurilla had to stay … Continue reading
Abby and Laurilla Smith were welcomed by Hannah Hickok Eldred, her daughter Mary Ann Eldred Austin, and her three daughters (ages one to four): Mary Henrietta, Edith Emogene (Emma), and Maria Adelaide Austin. (In thirteen years Abby Smith remembers the … Continue reading
Abby Smith and her sister Laurilla Smith were brought up to think more of the Hickok relatives of their mother Hannah Hickok Smith, than their father’s. In 1854 Abby (age 56) and Laurilla (age 65) left their Glastonbury, Connecticut home, … Continue reading
Lumberland Towns and Sawmills In 1838 the Town of Lumberland included what are now the Towns of Tusten, Highland, and Lumberland. The map shows Lumberland’s many sawmills on Halfway Brook, Beaver Brook, Ten Mile River, and other streams. The Delaware … Continue reading
The Library of Congress was a source of many of the images in my books. Often I could find an image with a date that corresponded with the time frame of a chapter. Sometimes it took several different word combinations … Continue reading
