Rope Ferry, 1856
Posted in General information, Stories of Halfway Brook
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Author Archives: Louise Smith
Log Rafts
It’s hard to believe this Halfway Brook blog will be ten years old in September. Here is a post from 2009, with an image I recently found on Library of Congress. In 1800, Lumberland (then two years old), had a … Continue reading
Posted in Stories of Halfway Brook
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1816, The Year of No Summer
Terrible cold* blanketed the Northern Hemisphere with wintry weather in the summer of 1816. The notorious cold destroyed most of the crops in the Town of Lumberland, New York. Only rye, potatoes, and onions grew. Not even a blade of … Continue reading
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Happy New Year 1907–1937
This is a repost of a collection of Austin New Year’s Postcards first on the Halfway Brook site starting in 2011. In 1937 Aida Austin sent this card to her brother Ell Austin. On the back she wrote the first … Continue reading
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December 1941
December 1941 is the only month I have not posted. Here are the links to the previous months of 1941. January 1941; February 1941; Aida and Lon, March 1941; The Village and the A&P, April 1941;May and June 1941; Clambake … Continue reading
Posted in Farewell to Eldred, Postcards, World War II
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1846 Thanksgiving Week
Hannah Hickok Smith was 79 years old when she wrote the following about Thanksgiving in the year 1846. Hannah, a widow for sometime, and her five daughters, Zephina, Laurilla, Cyrinthia, Julia, and Abby lived in Glastenbury, Connecticut, some seven miles … Continue reading
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Meuse-Argonne Cemetery
The Meuse-Argonne Cemetery covers 130 acres and holds the largest number of American dead—14,246—in Europe. Most of those buried in the cemetery died during WWI’s Meuse-Argonne Offensive. A short distance from the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, just where the Romagne-Cunel Road turned … Continue reading
Posted in Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, World War I
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Abby, Laurilla, and Mary Ann
After publishing Farewell to Eldred in 2013, I took a year off from writing. Since 2014, through broken leg, cataract surgery, dental appointments, arrival of two (of five) grandchildren three weeks (1,000 miles) apart, various other adventures, and life in … Continue reading
Posted in ALAMA, Books of Interest
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Jennie Austin, Gold Star Mother
It was a custom of families of servicemen to hang a service Flag in the window of their homes. The Service Flag had a star for each family member in the military. Living servicemen were represented by a blue star, … Continue reading
Posted in Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, World War I
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Mortimer McKinley Austin, 1899–October 14, 1918
Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France, October 12–17, 1918 McKinley’s outfit arrived in the vicinity of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon on October 12. They suffered casualties from the heavy shelling of enemy guns the next day. That evening the 11th Infantry took up a position around Ferme … Continue reading
Posted in Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, World War I
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