Christmas 1938
Sunday, Christmas Day, there were some snow squalls in the afternoon. Perhaps that’s the day a photo was taken of Dottie Wait (nicknamed Spider), her dad Alex Wait, and Jim Wade in front of the Wait and Boyd Garage.
The Leavenworth children were all in for Christmas dinner except Goldie and Stella. Supper included everyone except Anna and Bill who were probably at his parents.
Thursday Jim skidded wood for Norm Myers part of the day. Friday the men drew two loads of hay from Ed Myers.
January 1939
Sunday, January 1, Anna and Bill were in. Jim was hunting. Tuesday Jim worked for Harry.
Sunday, January 8, Charlie Sergeant bought the place his grandfather Edgar Sergeant had built.
Monday Garfield took the scaffolding off Jennie Austin’s house that they used when they were shingling the roof.
Thursday the men tore down two barns: one on Goldie’s land and the other on the property Lee had bought between Goldie’s and Echo Hill.
Saturday Lee, Clara, and Jim helped Stella celebrate her 19th birthday.
The following Saturday Lee worked for Harry. Clinton helped Herm Bosch with ice for two days.
Herman had a sawmill and dairy, as well as his ice business. Herman and Mary Bosch and their children: Herman Jr., Marjorie, and Bobby lived near the elderly Austin siblings, Aida and Lon. Herman and Mary were dear friends and good neighbors to Lon and Aida.
Just ordered your 3 books from Amazon. I was in Eldred yesterday for the funeral of Chuck Myers (my first cousin once removed) who was a fixture in the town and one of the founders of the American Legion Volunteer Ambulance Corps after his return from WWII.
Abel S. Myers was my great-grandfather, Norman Beck Myers my grandfather and Norman H. Myers is my father, still going at 97. My mother was Cecelia S. Myers and came to Eldred from the North Country of New York to teach school—was she the one who gave you the photo of the boys in front of the garage shown above?
From the excerpts I expect I will thoroughly enjoy your books. Thanks for writing them and creating this website.
From Louise: Thank you for stopping by Michael. So great to hear your dad is still going at 97!!
Chuck and Ruth Myers were good friends of my parents. Chuck contributed a number of photos for the books and answered questions. My Austin cousins are related to Chuck and you through Abel Sprague Myers and his first wife.
My Austin cousins and my Austin family are related to you through Bertha Frances Eldred. In both instances the Austins are half-cousins.
You may enjoy a photo on p. 160 of book 3. It includes your mother (I just realized this), her sisters, the Alfred Hill family and my dad at maple syrup time! It’s on this link: http://halfwaybrook.com/?p=4052
The photo you asked about was contributed by a member of another Myers family. The name is listed in the photo caption in the book. My uncle Bob Austin (1915 to 2008) commented one time that there were 5 different Myers families (not all the same spelling) in Eldred.
There is quite a bit of your family history in the books, which I hope you enjoy. I always enjoy “meeting” descendants of the people I wrote about. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Louise,
I truly enjoy your updates! I’m 79 years old and have spent my early years at my aunt and uncle’s place every summer—Fritz and Ella Stickel— Orchard Terrace. I met my wife in Eldred many years ago as well.
My mother went to Eldred when she was a girl (Elizabeth Kiem) and remember she talked about staying in a boarding house run by one of your Austin family members. The house was on the left side as you go up the hill from Eldred toward Glen Spey. Can you tell me which Austin family member had this house? It would be great if you had a photo or two as well. I’m sure the house is not there any longer—at least I didn’t see it when I was in Eldred about 4 years ago.
By the way I have all 3 of your books including your latest one—Farewell to Eldred. Thanks very much for writing these books about one of the most wonderful spots in this world! Happy New Year.
Best regards, Jim Smith
Hello Jim!
Thank you very much for your kind comments. As you can probably tell from reading the books, I fell in love with the place and the people in the area that was once called Halfway Brook.
The Austin boarding house, Mountain Grove, on the way to Glen Spey belonged to my grandparents, Mort and Jennie Austin.
Mountain Grove is on the cover of Book 2—right hand side, underneath Grandpa Mort Austin’s photo and to the right of Grandma Jennie Austin’s photo.
On the cover of Book 3, an updated Mountain Grove is at the bottom left; A photo of the Mort and Jennie (on left) is on the bottom right, dated June 1926.
In Farewell to Eldred, Mountain Grove is shown on p. 150. It sadly burned down, so you are right, it is not longer there.
There is a map on p. IX, Farewell to Eldred, which shows Mountain Grove, thanks to my husband Gary’s amazing map skills and lots of patience, as I tried to ascertain from several sources where the boarding houses were located.
Thanks again for your comment. A Happy New Year to you also!
Louise