February 1941

by Louise Smith Posted on February 16, 2014
Looking north at Eldred Four Corners in the winter of 1938. Photo courtesy of C.M.

February 1941
In Eldred Aida shoveled the paths on Saturday, February 1. The snow had drifted them full. She checked to see if anyone had been around to Mrs. Schroeder’s house.

Lon (Aida’s brother) didn’t feel well enough to go to the Village on Saturday.

Monday afternoon Bob Austin visited his aunt Aida. He had arrived home Saturday morning for a two-week furlough from his camp in Canada on Friday.

Monday in west Eldred, Garfield worked for Alvah Sergeant; Jim at Narrowsburg Lumber. Lee Hansen left for Maryland to see about work.

Tuesday was very cold. Lon went to see Harry Wormuth about getting wood, but decided to get coal. Young Hallock and another man stopped by Aida’s with Watkins’ goods.

Wednesday Lon shoveled out the lane so the truck could get in with the coal. Alfred Hill went through with a load of hay. Aida went to Andrew’s and the A&P.

Thursday was cold and clear. It was raining Friday when Morgan delivered the coal to Aida’s.

Saturday was very cold with the benefit of it also being icy. Lon slid to the Village, but Aida didn’t go because it was so slippery. Continue reading →

Posted in Aida Austin Diary, Farewell to Eldred, World War II | 1 Comment

1800 Lumberland Census

by Louise Smith Posted on February 5, 2014

The names I posted previously, were really those from 1800, I realized this evening. So, I updated the last post with the names of those in Ulster Co., NY in 1790, though I didn’t type up all the names. I apologize for the confusion.

I found Oliver Blizzard, I imagine an ancestor of Oliver Blizzard Hallock who we met in Book I, The Mill on Halfway Brook. Here then is a relisting of those in the Town of Lumberland in the correct year of 1800. Lumberland was officially a town, but was in Ulster County until 1809 when Sullivan County was created.

John Showers, who kept a tavern near the mouth of the Mongaup River, seems to be one of the earliest settlers of the Town of Lumberland. Like other tavern keepers of the period, Showers engaged in fur trading with trappers, providing them with food stuffs, black powder, cloth, and whiskey.

The main business of Lumberland’s 300,000 acres was lumbering. The town included what would become the towns of Highland, Tusten, Cocheton, Delaware and Bethel, and so much of Fallsburgh, Liberty, Callicoon and Fremont as was not originally in the town of Rochester.

Names of those living in 1800 in the Town of Lumberland.
John Showers Jr. and Sr.
Joseph and Zepheniah Drake
Alpheus Ingersoll Continue reading →

Posted in General information | Comments Off on 1800 Lumberland Census

1790 Mamakating, Ulster Co., NY

by Louise Smith Posted on February 3, 2014
1838 map of Lumberland and surrounding towns in Sullivan Co. Courtesy of the Sullivan County Historical Society.
Aida Austin’s handwritten info on Lumberland from Quinlan’s “Sullivan County, New York” book.

Note 2/5/2014: In double checking the census of 1790 does not list Lumberland.

In 1743 Lumberland was part of the Precinct of Mamakating; later (1788), the Town of Mamakating. On March 16, 1798, Lumberland was created as a town from Mamakating, Ulster County, NY.

Names of some of those living in 1790 in Mamakating, Ulster Co.
A. Roosa
Jacob Roosa 2
Jacob Clearwater
John Johnson 2
Elnathan and Benjamin Sears
David Gorham
Robert Milligan
Solomon Terwilliger
James Graham
Tomkins Odell
Abel Horton Continue reading →

Posted in Letters and information | Comments Off on 1790 Mamakating, Ulster Co., NY

Where is the photo?

by Louise Smith Posted on January 18, 2014

My cousin Melva has quite an eclectic assortment of items from our great-aunt Aida Austin. In a reverse photo ID situation, this lists people but we haven’t found the photo. The occasion is unknown. The photo was probably taken no sooner than 1886. Cousin Lillie Austin, (born in 1884 in Kansas), and her folks, Old Mr. Greig and Julia Greig, and descendants of Felix Kyte were in the photo.

Upside down was written: In youth time creeps, in the teens time walks, in the twenties time trots, in the thirties and forties and fifties time runs, and after that time flies. (Isn’t that the truth.)

People in a photo I wish I had.
Posted in Info/photo request, People | Comments Off on Where is the photo?

The Real Alonzo Eugene Austin or The challenges of accuracy

by Louise Smith Posted on January 12, 2014
Is this man an Austin brother or someone else.

One of the challenges of writing a history of an area or ones family is figuring out what of conflicting information is correct.

In both Book I and Book 2, I identified a photo as Alonzo Eugene Austin. Shortly before completing Book 3, I received a photo of Alonzo Eugene Austin. The two do not seem to be the same man.

Initially the photo had been identified as Rev. Felix Kyte by an elderly great-aunt. On asking around, I received a photo of Felix Kyte.

The real Felix Kyte courtesy of Chuck M.

The photo of Rev. Kyte was of a much older man, but did not seem to resemble the initial photo I had. Since Alonzo Eugene Austin (nephew of my great-grandfather Henry Austin) was also a minister, I thought perhaps there had been some confusion and the photo was actually of Alonzo Eugene Austin. So that is how I identified the photo in two of my books.

So now I do have a photo of the real Rev. Felix Kyte and the real Alonzo Eugene Austin. Who then is the original photo I labeled as Alonzo Eugene Austin?

A photo of Mortimer Bruce Austin.

I have photos of Alonzo E. Austin’s brother Mortimer Bruce Austin.

M.B. Austin has a similar hairline and a superb mustache. But whether the man in the top photo was M.B. Austin or an Austin brother, I don’t know.

Today I added a new Book Corrections page in the line that says HOME in the header line just below the photos at the top of the page. As I have time, I will put up corrections found in the Halfway Brook books after they had been printed.

Another photo of Mortimer Bruce Austin.
The real Alonzo Eugene Austin.
Posted in Do you know who I am, Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, The Mill on Halfway Brook | Comments Off on The Real Alonzo Eugene Austin or The challenges of accuracy

December 1978

by Louise Smith Posted on December 20, 2013
Gary and Louise Austin Smith, December 1978.

This weekend Gary and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.

Hard to believe. So much can happen in thirty-five years.

I wonder if Gary would have said “I do” if he knew his future included many hours of designing and editing four major books (all with superb covers) about my ancestors and the places they lived.

Posted in Then or now | Comments Off on December 1978