President Garfield, The Last Resting Place

by Louise Smith Posted on August 18, 2011

The Last Resting Place
In accordance with a wish often expressed of late years, President Garfield will be buried in Lake View Cemetery, at Cleveland, Ohio. This cemetery lies upon a high wooded ridge in the outskirts of that city, overlooking the waters of Lake Erie.

It possessed peculiar attractions for President Garfield, says a writer in the New York Tribune: “Within the sight of the highest ground in the cemetery is the place where the farmer boy whom destiny had marked for great achievements and great suffering first saw the lake while chopping wood to earn money to educate himself, and was fitted by the sight of its restless shining waves to know the great world and mingle in its large affairs.

About 10 miles to the south is the site of the log cabin where he was born and there is still standing the plain little frame house which he and his brother built with their own hands for their widowed mother when their sturdy toil had lifted the family out of the pinching straits in which it was left by the death of their father.

Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. Photographed by Thomas S. Sweeny. Page in Mary Ann Austin’s Scrapbook courtesy of Cousin Melva.

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President Garfield 1831–1881

by Louise Smith Posted on August 17, 2011

The following newspaper article about President Garfield was in Mary Ann Austin’s scrapbook.


The Dead President
Tomorrow will be laid in his eternal bed one of the noblest of American citizens. James A. Garfield, after struggling patiently, calmly and heroically with death for 80 days, was beaten in the contest, and he now takes his place with our well-loved Lincoln in the affection and reverence of the American people.

It is strange that these two men—Lincoln and Garfield—should have been chosen by assassins as victims. They both sprung from the very poorest of our people, by the hardest endeavor achieved education and position in life, and were chosen by their fellow-countrymen to rule over them.

There was nothing in the character of these two men of the people to arouse enmity or create hatred. The honors which they had fairly won they wore with gentle humility and they were kindly, generous and charitable in all their ways. Toward their bitterest opponents they exhibited no animosity, and when they had occasion to rebuke they did so as to leave no sting behind.

They will remain forever among the most revered and loved of American citizens. Page in Mary Ann Austin’s Scrapbook courtesy of Cousin Melva.

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The Final Stages (hopefully)

by Louise Smith Posted on August 15, 2011

I am still hoping that Echo Hill and Mountain Grove will be available the first part of September. There are still a number of things to check off while we do the final editing. Besides the wonderful cover, Gary has made some super maps which show locations of the places we know about in the Town of Highland and nearby Shohola, Pennsylvania.

I have taken over the kitchen table once again. On the right in the back are 2 of my major resources: Johnston’s, Reminiscences, and Richard Eldred’s, The Eldred Family.

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Erie Train Stations Near the Delaware, 1880

by Louise Smith Posted on August 9, 2011


Post card of Erie Depot and Hotel Oakland, Narrowsburg, N.Y., in the Austin Collection.

Excursion tickets were valid for continuous passage either going or returning on the date of issue or anytime within the next 30 days.

Package tickets of 10, 20, or 25 were good for either direction until used.

Commutation tickets were valid for continuous passage between the stations named on the tickets, if the train stopped at said station. The limit was 60 rides between the stations during the month named on the ticket.

Miles from New York City
Callicoon, New York, 136
Cochecton, New York, 130.75
Deposit, New York, 177
Goshen, New York, 59.75
Hancock, New York, 163.75
Hankins, New York, 143
Hawley, Pennsylvania, 127
Honesdale, Pennsylvania, 136
Lackwaxen, Pennsylvania, 111
Long Eddy, New York, 146.75
Lordville, New York, 153.5
Middletown, New York, 67
Narrowsburg, New York, 122.25
Parkers Glen, Pennsylvania, 102.25
Paterson, New Jersey, 16.75
Pond Eddy, Pennsylvania, 99
Port Jervis, New York , 88.25
Shohola, Pennsylvania, 107
Sparrowbush, New York, 90.75
Tuxedo, New York, 38.5

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The Great East River Suspension Bridge

by Louise Smith Posted on August 1, 2011


Currier & Ives Chromolithograph, 1885. Grand birds eye view of the Great East River. Library of Congress: 03205r.


Close-up view of construction of Brooklyn Bridge over East River, New York City. Library of Congress: 3c08446r.

The Great East River (Brooklyn) Suspension Bridge, the first land connection between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was also the first steel-wire suspension bridge. It was the longest (5,989 feet) suspension bridge in the world from 1883 (when it opened), until 1903.

John A. Roebling, who designed and constructed the Roebling Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, was the initial designer of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Very unfortunately, Mr. Roebling’s foot was crushed when he surveyed a possible bridge site. His toes had to be amputated. Soon after, he died of a tetanus infection.

John’s son, Washington Roebling, was then put in charge of the bridge. Washington and his wife Emily had gone to Europe as newlyweds. There they learned how to use caissons (watertight structures) to work on the foundation of the bridge. Continue reading →

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Caisson Sickness

by Louise Smith Posted on July 25, 2011

Illustrations of the inside of an East River Bridge caisson. From “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,” v. 31, no. 785, October 15, 1870, p. 76; Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-124944.

Caisson, French for box, is a sealed underwater structure.

Caisson disease, another name for decompression illness, occurs in construction workers when they leave the compressed atmosphere of the caisson and rapidly reentered normal (decompressed) atmosphere.

The Brooklyn Bridge was built with the use of caissons. A number of workers were killed or permanently injured by caisson disease during its construction. Washington Roebling also suffered greatly from Caisson Disease.—wikipedia.org/.

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1881: A Railroad in the Clouds

by Louise Smith Posted on July 22, 2011


Switchback railroad in Pennsylvania’s Moosic Mountains.

The most novel and pleasurable summer excursion route in this country is that offered by the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway over the famous Gravity Roads of Northern Pennsylvania.

These Railroads are a series of inclined planes and reach an altitude of 2,500 feet above tide. They traverse a country of rugged mountains and glens; waterfalls, gorges streams and valleys greet the tourist in magnificent variety.

One of these novel roads connects with the Erie at Honesdale, Pa. It is owned by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and climbs the Moosic mountains to Carbondale by one route, and returns to Honesdale by another—both offering continuous delight to the tourist…. Continue reading →

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Aida Austin’s Diary: Friday, August 26, 1881

by Louise Smith Posted on July 17, 2011

Shohola Glen, Pennsylvania, Friday, August 26, 1881
Lil, Ida, Addie, Lon, and I have gone out for a morning walk. Lil and I are resting here on the bridge while Addie, J.K., and Ida are exploring the glen. We all got back from the glen about eleven or half a past.

Shohola Creek Bridge over Shohola Creek at Shohola, Pennsylvania.
Library of Congress: 140749pu; HAER PA,52-SHOH, 1-8.

“In its descent from the mountaintops of Pike County to the Delaware, the course of the Shohola Creek is tortuous and extremely precipitous, so that during the last 8 miles of its length, its fall is nearly 1,000 feet; and its course is such that, at one point, the angler may follow it for more than 3 miles and then come out less than 1/4 of a mile from where he started.”—New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Brochure, 1886 and 1889.

Shohola Glen, Pennsylvania was about 5 miles from the Austin home in Eldred. Shohola Creek started in the mountain tops of Pike County, Pennsylvania and headed towards the Delaware River.

The Erie Railway traveled across the creek on a large arch viaduct which Jacob Pershbacher made of hand cut stone in 1870. Most likely, this was one of the sights Aida and her cousins saw at the Glen.

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1881 Groceries, work and other costs

by Louise Smith Posted on July 14, 2011

There are a number of grocery book ledgers in the
Austin collection. The following groceries were
bought from Abel S. Myers who had a store in town.

January
443 lbs. B. flour: $8.86
18 bushel oats: 9.00
3 dozen eggs: .54

February
333 lbs. B. Flour: 6.66

March
5 lbs. 2 oz. butter: 1.28

April
4 lbs. butter: .68
4 dozen eggs: .60
4 dozen eggs: .60

May
4 dozen eggs: .50
1 egg beater: .30
1 illustrated Lord’s Prayer: .40
6 bushels potatoes: 3.00

August
Work on road, District No. 13
Team: 6.5 hours: 2.44

September
1 cow: 25.00
Goat to Wm. Gallagher: 67.50

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