I found this 1825 newspaper ad in my family’s massive photo and document collection I am organizing. I thought it might be of interest to some of my Halfway Brook friends.
Hello Halfway Brook friends,
It has been a long time since I posted, but we are doing ok here in Cave Creek.
Abby, Laurilla, and Mary Ann, the book about my Hickok ancestors (1600–1900), is hopefully in the last stages. The text and some 144 sidebars are completed, as is a 3-page timeline, 2 family trees, endnotes, and index. One map is left and several read throughs to catch the edits which manufactured themselves as the book was written.
I have become the organizer of almost all of my parents’ gazillion family photos and document collection (thanks to my mother saving them). I am currently organizing the Lone Scout letters girls from all over the U.S. wrote to my uncle McKinley (Mac) Austin in January and February 1918, before he left for France to fight in WWI.
This is a partial repost from 2016. I am hoping more people have been researching their relatives and might be interested that their relative wrote a letter, while attending high school. I would love to hear from you if one of these young ladies was your relative. You can leave a comment on this post or contact me at: HalfwayBrook at protonmail dot com
Lone Scout Letters, February 1–5
• Vera M. Allen, Cates, Indiana
• Anna Betsa, Lopez, PA
• Maggie Dempsey, Warrior, Alabama, Route 3
• Flossie Fraser, Gainsboro, Saskatoon, Canada
• Irene Freeland, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Ottie Godsey, Peerless, Indiana
• Helen Hamilton, Chicago, Illinois Continue reading
Hello Halfway Brook Friends,
I hope this post finds everyone doing well.
It’s been busy times here in Cave Creek. October and November were intense times of editing Gary’s book, Deans Garage, The Future is Back, which was finally published in January.
November and December were exciting months with visits from two different families and a total of six grandchildren (the oldest is five). Then an encounter with a milder, though still miserable flu in January.
I continue to work on my next book, Abby, Laurilla, and Mary Ann; The Heritage and Legacy of the Daughters of Two Hannah Hickoks, 1635–1906.
As I have time, I plan to put up some of my favorite images from my Halfway Brook books. Today’s color postcard from Great Aunt Aida Austin’s collection is Eldred, perhaps in the 1920s or 30s.
Arthur Wilson’s General Merchandise is the first building on the right. Next is Wait and Boyd’s Garage. Parker’s Hotel is second on the left.
Ten Years ago this Halfway Brook Site was two months old. The post of the day was “Grandmother and the Bear.”
October 14, 2009 I wrote that The Mill on Halfway Brook was in its final, final edit. But it would be February 2010 before the first of the Halfway Brook books would be published.
The Mill on Halfway Brook included mainly stories and photos that had been saved within (or new provided by) the Austin and Leavenworth families (as well as research).
After The Mill on Halfway Brook was published, I began to get contributions of stories and photos from many people related in someway to Halfway Brook Village (Eldred), and the villages of what became the Town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York. What grand memories and friendships.
The Postcards on the left are from the collection of my great-aunt Aida Austin. They can be enlarged by clicking on the photo.
Yulan Boarding Houses
Bodine’s Cottages, Henry and
Blanche Bodine
Grand Vue, Bornstein
Park Hotel, Atwell Bradley
Cold Spring Farm, Crandall
Washington Beach Hotel, Henri Darriensecq
Laurel Cottage, Abel Hazen
Lakeview Farm, Kaese
Highland Cottage, Edith V. Kalbfus
Minisink Lodge, M.A. McCormick
Max and Minnie Vonderhorst
West Farm, Theodore West
Oakdene, Phoebe Owen
Pine Grove Cottage, Frank Owen
Eldred, 1920–1921
Bradley House, Avery
Echo Hill Farm House, Leavenworth
Fred and Mary Myers
Ferncliff Lodge, Jackson Myers
Seven Oaks, Beck
Greig’s House
Straub Hotel/Bar, Juliana Straub
Parker Hotel, Emily Parker
Mountain Grove House, C.M. Austin
Rooms in Farmhouse to Let
Furnished for housekeeping; week, month or season; on the mountains; beautiful view; fishing, boating, bathing; lake on property; Sullivan County, Box 54, Eldred, N.Y.
—Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 1, 1920.—Farewell to Eldred, p.11.
