Early 1800s Roads

“The Highway Mast Hope, PA.” Postcard in the Austin Family.

In the early 1800s, there were only two roads to the Town of Lumberland—the Sackett Road and the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike. Neither of them, perhaps, deserved to be identified as roads.

The Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike was a 70-mile plank road. It started at Newburgh on the Hudson River, and went west to Cochecton, on the Delaware River. Newburgh became a trade center to get supplies to and from New York City.

So many settlers traveled to the new area that in 1809, Sullivan County was split out of Ulster County (one of the original twelve New York Counties). At the same time, Bethel, which had been part of the Town of Lumberland, became its own Town (township), and included the villages of Cochecton and Delaware.

Later, there were other roads to or through the Town of Lumberland. James Eldred worked on the Mast Hope Turnpike, which started near Middletown, went through Forestburg, and crossed through the Town of Lumberland on its way to Mast Hope, Pennsylvania.

In 1815, work was started on the Mount Hope-Lumberland Turnpike, which went from Orange County to Narrowsburgh, New York, and later to Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

George D. Wickham, Benjamin Dodge, John Duer, Benjamin Woodward, Benjamin B. Newkirk, William A. and Abraham Cuddeback were the directors of the Mount Hope-Lumberland Turnpike, segments of which are still in use today.—The Mill on Halfway Brook, p. 8.

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March 1936

Barryville from across the Delaware River. The X marks where the Barryville parsonage was. Photo taken by Irwin Briggs.

March 1936
Sunday, March 1, Everett Kelley ate supper with the Leavenworths. Norman Wolff was in. Mr. Briggs stopped by the Leavenworth’s three afternoons that week. He bought a violin from Garfield for $6.

My dad Irwin Briggs had orchestras at all the churches. In Barryville I learned violin, two others did, too. When we gave a concert, Dad said we could play the song backwards and forwards. So we played it forwards and we turned our backs and played “backwards.”—Mary. [See: February 1936]

Saturday, March 14, Jim went to the Austin’s. The Leavenworths started working on the sap for maple syrup. They boiled 45-1/2 quart jars down to 1-1/2 quarts of syrup. Sunday they boiled the sap all day.

Bob and Herb Wolff, and the Leavenworth men went to the estate sale at Stege’s. Charlie Foster was over for supper.

There was terrible flooding of the eastern rivers soon after the middle of March. Wednesday (18th) Clinton took Clara and Ella to see the flood at Barryville. Thursday the menfolk went to see the Delaware River in flood.

Ell Austin’s daughter-in-law Sadie Austin, in Pennsylvania, wrote to tell Ell how bad the flooding was. (Sadie’s husband Henry was a half brother to Lillie.)

Sadie Austin, Honesdale, Pa., to Mr. J.E. Austin, Ossining, N.Y.
March 21, 1936
Dear Pop,
Your letter just rec’d. and we shure have had some excitement up here. We had some flood. I had a cellar full of water and 16 inches of water. Water all over the first floor, but I moved everything upstairs but one rug in the kitchen, but the stove was on that so I didn’t try to move that. Continue reading

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March 1934

Arthur Austin standing in front of the Post Office at the Parker Hotel. The building behind Arthur was possibly Ray Ryman’s electrical business. Pete Callahan would own an appliance store there around 1940.Photo courtesy of CSM.

February and March 1934
Garfield got his oak boards from John Love to make chairs. Clinton had finished his County job before Christmas and worked several days for John Love in March.

Jim Leavenworth visited his aunt Charlotte Leavenworth one day and another time stopped by the Austin’s, perhaps to play baseball with his cousin Bob.

Austin Smith continued violin lessons. Carl Wolff had his first violin lesson.

The Eldred Postmaster
When Franklin D. Roosevelt became President, Emily Stevens was re-appointed Postmaster in Eldred, because the Democrats were then in office.

In the 1920s the Post Office had been moved from the Parker Hotel to the northwest corner of Eldred where Arthur Wilson’s A&P store and the butcher shop were.

When Emily became Postmaster (yes it is correct to call her Postmaster) again, she kept the Post Office at the Corner location for awhile, but later moved it back to the Parker Hotel.

My dad Arthur Austin had taken a Civil Service test in July 1933. His average percentage as typist was 84.30.

By the spring of 1934, Arthur Austin worked at the Eldred Post Office for Postmaster Emily Stevens. The Eldred Post Office had been moved back to the Parker Hotel, or it would be soon.

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March 1933, Eldred

“Wednesday, March 15, the Leavenworth men went to see Hawk’s Nest Road in the afternoon.” Photo taken in 2008 by Mary A.

March 1933
Wednesday, March 1, Garfield took Frank Sergeant to the doctor. Clinton drove John Love’s team of horses when the Leavenworth men drew their wood.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated on Saturday. It was a clear, warm day in Eldred. In the evening Mary and Alvah Sergeant were at the Leavenworths until after midnight. Alvah was Ella’s cousin.

Every Saturday night we were home and Mary and Alvah Sergeant and family were here or we were there to visit and listen to the Grand Old Opera. The older ones would play pinochle until around eleven o’clock and then the women would go in the kitchen and make a pot of coffee and usually oyster stew.—James Leavenworth.

Tuesday March 7, 1933, Thelma Hill started taking mandolin lessons from Garfield.

Friday there was a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Southern California; 120 people died and there was about $50 million of damage.

Wednesday, March 15, Anna and Kate Love went to Jennie Austin’s. The Leavenworth men went to see Hawk’s Nest Road, a section of N.Y. Route 97 which was being constructed.

Saturday Henry Graf’s Pine Grove House on Highland Lake and the Davis houses burned.

Homes burning down may have meant that old wood needed to be cleared from the wooded properties. At some point in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps cut firebreaks and cleared land on the Boy Scout properties.

There was no school on Wednesday, March 22. The electric light line was broken so the school had no water.

Thursday the Leavenworths celebrated Frank Sergeant’s birthday at his house. He was 72. The next week Clinton and Ella visited with her dad. Clinton started working for the County.

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World News, March 1933

• Japan, China, the Dutch East Indies, and Siam formed the Great Asia Association. It was under Japanese leadership.

• Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He withdrew Germany from the League of Nations.

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated. His speech included, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats began. He also introduced the New Deal (social and economic legislation) from March to June.

• The Civilian Conservation Corps was authorized under the Federal Unemployment Relief Act.

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March 1932

Georgia Styles in the 1945 El Dorado (Eldred) Yearbook.

National news Tuesday evening, March 1, contained the upsetting story of the abduction of Charles Lindbergh Jr., 20 months old.

Tuesday at the Eldred School, Mrs. Styles gave her student Jim Leavenworth a certificate saying he had passed the New York State Test for the first semester of fourth grade.

At the beginning of March, Ella was given an electric washer from Lottie Meyers who had gotten the machine from Mrs. Sidwell, a neighbor.

Friday, March 19, the men went to Henry Graf’s on Highland Lake to play for the first dance. Austin Smith and Dot spent the evening at the Leavenworths.

Monday Clinton went for Doc Gutfruend as Ella’s Aunt Lou Kelley was very sick. Aunt Lou was a sister to Frank Sergeant, Ella’s father.

“They haven’t found Lindy’s (Lindbergh) baby yet,” Ella wrote on Wednesday, the day the Highland schools were closed because of scarlet fever.

Friday Austin Smith was in for a violin lesson. Stan Myers and William McBride were at Leavenworths for the evening.

The last Sunday of March, Nick Rohman was up to play with Jim; Austin Smith and Tom Hill were there for violin lessons.

Towards the end of March Albert Wolff married Ruth Foster, daughter of George and Jennie Hallock Foster.

Albert and his brother Norman would soon buy the house near the old Ira Austin house where Ed and Mabel Austin Smith and their son Austin Smith lived. The Wolff’s “new” home had been sold to Charles Frace in 1868.

Close to and adjoining the premises of Mrs. Frace is the house and premises of Ira M. Austin a wagon maker, blacksmith and general mechanic. The house was first erected by Abraham Russel…—Johnston, J.W., Reminiscences, p. 328.

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March 1931

1934: Julius Maier on left; his sister Annie in the center. Photo courtesy of the Bosch Family.

March 1931
Sunday Jim Leavenworth started the month off at his friend Ken Crandall’s house. (Ken Crandall Sr. was a carpenter at the Scout Camp.)

Grant and Charlie Sergeant, and Herman Bosch were at the Leavenworth home in the evening.

Herman’s uncle Julius Maier and his sister aunt Annie lived nearby on Crawford Road.

[Does anyone recognize other people in the photo? Click the image to make it larger.]

The Wolff brothers visited on Monday evening. Friday Anna was down to the MacIntyres. Garfield bought a ton of hay from Averys for $15 and also fixed the brooder coop.

Frank Wolff was over the third week of March for advice on buying a house.

Ella finished Mary Sergeant and Bertha Wilson’s dresses on Tuesday, March 24. Charlotte, Garfield’s sister, was there for supper later that day. She visited them again the next day as did Minnie and Archie Myers.

The end of the month, Charlie Dunlap stopped by for a visit.

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March 1930 News

Ted Wicks Sr. with co-workers at the Empire State Building. Photo taken around 1930 courtesy of the Bosch Family.

The Empire State Building
In March construction started on the Empire State Building. Up to 3,000 men worked on the framework which rose at a rate of four to five stories per week. The masonry work started in June and was completed in November.

Ted Wicks Sr. was one of the construction workers. He was the husband of Tillie Bosch who had grown up in Highland Lake.

Frozen Foods
The first frozen foods of Clarence Birdseye were sold in March 1930, in Ringfield, Massachusetts.

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March 1927

R.B. Collins, Madison, N.J., to Mort Austin, Eldred
March 9, 1927
Dear Mort,
How are all you dear folks? You like myself are getting to be an old man, I will be 87 in July next and you can’t be far behind.

I had a letter from Tom’s wife Emma Kelso, saying that she thought of going up to Eldred this summer, just for a change of climate. She thought it would do her a lot of good to breathe again the sweet, strong, healthy air of that dear old place.

I have not been up to the nice old place for some time. Dear old Eldred, I shall never forget the years I spent there, and the acquaintances I made there. I often think of the services in the old church. That was long ago.

I left Eldred in the Spring of 1862—during the Civil War, for New Jersey, to begin my life work as a Methodist Preacher, and for 37 years I faithfully and joyfully tried to do my work and I had good success. Then my voice failed me, and I had to stop. I have been living with my dear daughter [Bertha Noe] and her husband in a delightful home among the roses.

Remember me to all the members of your family who still live and I loved. Best wishes, R.B. Collins

Robert Collins’ sister-in-law Emma wrote to Mort’s brother Lon regarding her home and cows on Collins Road, not far from the Herman Bosch residence.

Emma K. Collins, Tenafly, N.J., to Lon Austin, Eldred
March 18, 1927
Dear Friend,
Thank you for taking my cattle for a while. We hear the roads are very bad, so I am afraid to risk sending a moving van full of furniture up until later, for fear they should get stuck in the road in front of my place.

The same man that brought the cows down is going to take them back. Be careful of the cows. Feed them well—they will be pretty well shaken after the long ride.

Now Lon, about the second week in April, I would like you to open up the house and have Herman Bosch fix the pump in the kitchen. I will settle all bills with you when I get there. I am feeling better, but am not real well yet.

Hope this finds you and Aida well. With kind regards. Your friend, Emma K. Collins

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March 1921

Elizabeth Austin, 1911–1921, eating a meal at her home, Mountain Grove House.

The years 1921 was one of deep heartache for Mort and Jennie Austin and their four sons.

Thursday, March 24, Dr. Smith arrived at the Austin home to take out Elizabeth’s tonsils. The operation took place on the family’s kitchen table.

Still perhaps recovering from the death of their son McKinley in France during World War I, one can imagine the deep sorrow of the family when the unthinkable happened—Elizabeth died from a “heart clot following an operation for tonsils and adenoids.”

Elizabeth, the only daughter of Mort and Jennie Austin, died four days before she turned 10. Mort Austin wrote down his thoughts.

Mort Austin’s Letter
March 24, 1921
Our only daughter died on the 24th day of March, 1921. My dear Elizabeth. I did not know how much we loved you until now. I hope that it will not be long before I meet you in Heaven. I know you are happy there and I hope through the goodness of God, in a few years to be with you. Father

Guenther and Vonderhost Deaths
The year 1921 was also a year of terrible sadness for Freida Meyer Guenther and Louise Vonderhorst.

Joseph Guenther, a butcher, had a meat market in Lackawaxen and Shohola where he worked with his friend Fritz Suessman.

On a foggy March morning as Joseph and his dog Spot crossed the railroad tracks to the Shohola Depot, they were struck by an Erie train. Joseph, 35, died about two weeks later as a result of his injuries. Spot also died.

Joseph’s wife Frieda was now a widow with five children: Freida, 11, Edith Vera, 10, Clinton Joseph, 7, Helen Katherine, 6, and Viola, 2.

Louise and Eric Vonderhorst were building a boarding house up above Washington Lake when Eric, still in his twenties, died of typhoid fever. Louise Vonderhorst would raise their children: Carl, 6, Walter, 3, and Elsie, 1; and run Lake View Inn for at least another twenty years.

Other letters of sympathy sent to Mort and Jennie Continue reading

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