“Ancient Woodbury” and Southbury, Connecticut As I have researched “Ancient Woodbury,” Connecticut, the home of the ancestors of Asa and Esther Hinman Hickok (who arrived in Lumberland in 1811), I have run across several familiar names. Southbury was one of … Continue reading
What does Bullet Hill School built in 1762 in what was at that time Woodbury, CT, have to do with Halfway Brook, you ask? In 1769, David Hickok (who had attended Yale, though not completed a degree), mentioned in his … Continue reading
Net Austin, NYC to Mary Ann Eldred Austin, Halfway Brook, NY Sunday, January 31, 1864 Dear Aunt Mary [Austin], I received your very welcome letter last week and will now try and answer it. For a great wonder, we are … Continue reading
NYC, NY, January 6, 1863 Dear Grandfather [Ralph Austin], Your letter of December 18th came to hand in due time and I was very glad to hear from you, but sorry to hear that your health continues so poorly and … Continue reading
Washington, January 16, 1862 Dear friends, I don’t know what they can want better than we eat. We get rice and molasses twice a week, beefsteak twice a week, pork and beans and corned beef the rest of the week. … Continue reading
Ella Sergeant married James Garfield Leavenworth September 5, 1906. “Uncle” Garfield was the brother of Jennie Austin, my grandmother. Fast forward to Christmas 1930 when Ella received a diary as a gift from her sister, Hazel. Inside the cover Hazel … Continue reading
Click to read post on January 1945. January 1946 Tuesday, the second day of January, Chet Middaugh skidded logs for Jim. Sunday Jim paid $15 to have the mill machinery he had bought from Perry Barnes Jr. in December, drawn … Continue reading
January 1, 1944, Italy Arthur Austin, T/Sgt, 5th Army Headquarters, Italy, to Mary Briggs, Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn Dear Mary, Well, here it is New Year’s Day and I think it a good idea to catch up on my correspondence… Your … Continue reading
“The Japanese took Manila,” Art’s aunt Ella Leavenworth wrote on Friday, January 2. The warm start to January ended the third day with a storm. Art’s cousin Charlee was with their aunt Anna Leavenworth in East Islip. Charlee’s father Anthony … Continue reading
January of 1941 was almost two degrees colder than normal in New York. But the month started off on a “lovely, clear and warm Wednesday,” according to Ella Leavenworth. Her son Jim bought his first car for $25. On the … Continue reading
