Halfway Brook

The Delaware River Gap was a large break in the Appalachian Mountains. It was one of the very scenic places viewed by timber rafters as they floated their rafts to market on the Delaware River. Postcard of Aida Austin.
The Delaware River near Narrowsburg, New York, had originally been so narrow and with such a sharp [...]

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Panic of 1873
A series of events led up to the Panic of 1873—a severe nationwide economic depression, which lasted until 1879:
• The Black Friday Panic in September, 1869, mentioned in 
an earlier post.
• The October, 1871, Chicago fire and loss of 200 million dollars in property over four-square miles.
• The 1872 Great Epizoötic or equine influenza when there [...]

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1872 Cartage Book of my great-grandfather.
Henry Austin’s 1872 Cartage book is not very large. It lists names and supplies. One of the pages lists hoops in batches of 1,000 and the cost. Sample page:
October 2, 1872
1 b Oats 1.30
Hay 4.50
Nov 6, 1872
1 bale of hay 230 lb. 4.60
1 b oats 1.30
stabling 2.50
Dec 2, 1872
2 b oats 2.80
1 b corn 1.55
1 b oats 1.50
2 [...]

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50 Warren St. in New York City around 1872. Photo courtesy of cousin Melva.

Envelope addressed to my great-grandfather Austin who worked
at 50 Warren St. in New York City.
My great-grandfather, Henry Austin, started his wagon delivery or carting business in the fall of 1866. He worked from 50 Warren St., New York City, around 1872. Henry [...]

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You may have heard of the money or greenbacks created during the Civil War by the U.S. government, which were backed only by credit.
After the Civil War ended, it was thought that the U.S. Government would buy back the greenbacks with gold.
In 1869, James Fisk and Jay Gould headed a group of speculators [...]

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Photo of ice breaking up under the Barryville-Shohola Bridge with a middle support. Photo courtesy of M.B. Austin.
One very cold morning, about the first of January 1865, three teams of horses and mules were crossing the Barryville-Shohola bridge with two heavy loads
of wood.
The upper cable of the bridge (completed in 1856) parted near the center [...]

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This letter was written to Mary Ann Austin in Eldred, New York, from her niece, Addie Austin who lived in New York City. The bridge referred to is the Barryville-Shohola Bridge over the Delaware River, shown in the posts before and after this one.
New York, March 18, 1865
Dear Aunt Mary,
We have all been sick again [...]

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Postcard of Barryville Shohola Bridge and Lookout Mountain.
Courtesy of M.B. Austin.
Until 1856 there had only been a crude rope guided ferry that connected Shohola, Pennsylvania, to Barryville, New York. There became a need for a bridge with the building of the Erie Railroad Depot at Shohola, Pennsylvania.
A suspension bridge, designed by John Roebling, was built [...]

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JULY 1881
Monday 18
Maria and I had a letter from Lon today. It has been so cold today that I had to put my saque on even in the middle of the day, when I was outdoors. Mother and I went upon the hill to pick huckleberries this morning at ten and it was one when [...]

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Aida A. Austin, my great aunt, was the daughter of William Henry and Mary Ann Eldred Austin. Aida never married, but she wrote a diary in 1881 and several in the 1940s. Aida saved many letters and photos over the years that helped to tell the story in The Mill on Halfway Brook and the [...]

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