Remembering Town of Highland’s WWI Soldiers

by Louise Smith Posted on May 29, 2016
WWI-Veterans-Plaque
Town of Highland WWI Veteran’s Plaque courtesy of the Bosch Family.
Mortimer McKinley Austin cross in France where he died.
Mortimer McKinley Austin cross in France where he died.

My Uncle McKinley Austin, the oldest son of Mort and Jennie Leavenworth Austin, died in France in October 1918. His body was brought back to the US at a later time.

McKinley in France
Ruth Colville, Barryville, writes McKinley
McKinley’s letter to his mother, September 1918
Battle of Romagne-Sous-Montfacon
Madeleine Farm, France 1918/1923
St. Miehl, France, 1918
McKinley Austin 1890 to 1918
Jennie Austin, Gold star mother
1923 Romagne-sous-Montfacon

You can read about the Town of Highland’s Civil War, WWI, and WWII soldiers in my Halfway Brook books.

1919 Newspaper Article on US WWI casualties
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1821 Newbury, New York View

by Louise Smith Posted on May 8, 2016
Newburg No. 14 of the Hudson River Port Folio published by Henry I. Megarey, New York. Engraved by J. Mill. Painted by W.G. Wall. LOC: Prints and Photographs Division 0381.
Newburg No. 14 of the Hudson River Port Folio published by Henry I. Megarey, New York. Engraved by J. Mill. Painted by W.G. Wall. LOC: Prints and Photographs Division 0381.
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Dear Soldier Boy, 1918

by Louise Smith Posted on May 1, 2016
River Scene Crystal Falls, Michigan. Emily Neuberger, February 28, 1918.
River Scene Crystal Falls, Michigan. Emily Neuberger, February 28, 1918.
1918-lonescout-school
High School at Crystal Falls, Michigan. Emily sent the postcard to McKinley Austin, February 25, 1918.
1918-lonescout
Postcard to Mr. M.M. Austin, Co. F. 11 US Inf., Chattanooga, Tenn., from Burl Nation February 26, 1918, 4 p.m.

I would like to revisit the young ladies (who read a Lone Scout magazine ad) and wrote letters/postcards to Mortimer McKinley Austin who had enlisted in the army. The letters were mostly written in February of 1918.

There seems to be a renewed interest in finding ones ancestors, and I would be interested if there are any descendants of these high school age gals who took the time to write such delightful letters to Uncle McKinley.

Lone Scouts

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 →

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1820 Hudson River

by Louise Smith Posted on April 24, 2016
No. 13 of the Hudson River Port Folio: View of the Hudson River from the shore; Hudson, NY across the river, 1820. Pub: Henry I. Megarey, NY. Engraver: John Hill. Painter: W.G. Wall. LOC: Prints and Photographs Division 03814

In my searches for photos on the Library of Congress site, I found several in the Hudson River Port Folio of interest. From LOC:

    Irish-born artist W.G. Hall spent the summer of 1820 traversing 212 miles of the Hudson River’s 315-mile course. 20 plates were engraved as aquatints by master printer John Hill and published between 1821 and 1825 by Henry Megarey in New York.

Vocabulary word for the day: acquaint:
a print resembling a watercolor, produced from a copper plate etched with nitric acid.

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1831, James Eldred Postmaster

by Louise Smith Posted on April 22, 2016
1831 Certificate for James Eldred to execute the duties of the Post Office at Lumber land.
1831 Certificate for James Eldred to execute the duties of the Post Office at Lumberland. Certificate courtesy of T. Eldred.

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a descendant of C.C.P. and Effa VanTuyl Eldred. She wanted to share some documents and photos from her family.

What a wonderful surprise that one of the documents was for the 1831 selection of our common ancestor James Eldred to be the Lumberland Postmaster. It was signed by William T. Barry, Postmaster of the United States of America.

My readers may know that Barryville, New York was named after the US Postmaster General Barry around 1831. It’s always nice to get documented proof of an event.

Posted in The Mill on Halfway Brook | 1 Comment

1873 Sunday afternoon

by Louise Smith Posted on April 17, 2016
Sunday afternoon on the West Point Road. Travelers resting on a dirt road through a mountainous region with a distant view of a river or lake. Artist: Eglau; Pub.: Kaufman, 1873; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; chromolithograph; LC-DIG-pga-01727.
Sunday afternoon on the West Point Road. Travelers resting on a dirt road through a mountainous region with a distant view of a river or lake. Artist: Eglau; Pub.: Kaufman, 1873; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; chromolithograph; LC-DIG-pga-01727.
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Hickok Gravesite & Questions

by Louise Smith Posted on April 10, 2016
Hickok Grave in the Eldred Cemetery. Photo courtesy of CLB.
Hickok Grave in the Eldred Cemetery. Photo courtesy of CLB.

Do any of my Halfway Brook readers know the first names of the Hickok family members buried in this enclosure in the Old Eldred Cemetery.

On the “New Book” tab above, I have listed names of families who at one time lived in Woodbury, Connecticut who are a part of my new book. I am in search of family stories from the 1700s or even 1600s.

I think I have mentioned this before, but both the Hickok family and later the Leavenworth family who settled in Lumberland (later Highland) lived in Woodbury, Connecticut, before 1700.

I think John Leavenworth the miller during the Revolutionary War was the grandfather of Sherman Buckley Leavenworth. But I can not match John’s wife or parents with any of the names I found.

Posted in Info/photo request | 1 Comment