It was the summer of 1872. Abby and Julia Smith lived in their roomy, comfortable Kimberly Mansion—a white, two-story house with green shutters. The home, well over one hundred years old, sat on the original 133 acres, which included woods, … Continue reading
Challenging, but quite different, times were ahead for both Abby and Julia Smith and their second cousin Mary Ann Eldred Austin, during the 1870s. The decade began and ended with a death in each family. The Austins The 1870s were … Continue reading
In October 1869 Julia, Abby, and Zephina—the three remaining Smith sisters—received a second unexpected tax bill, which they paid. Since women could not vote, they had no way to dispute the second bill. To the suffrage meeting we went…—Julia E. … Continue reading
The house on the right with a white fence is C.C.P. Eldred’s house. The bridge crossed over Halfway Brook, the brook which impressed Laurilla Smith. The Austin home (not shown) is less than a half mile east (right). On the … Continue reading
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
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
