Raymond Austin and his grandpa Henry Austin

by Louise Smith Posted on May 16, 2012
William Henry Austin, Raymond's grandfather. Photo in the Austin family.

In December 1904 my uncle Raymond Austin turned 4. A couple stories are told about Raymond and his grandfather Henry Austin who lived with the Austin family: Mort and Jennie, and their sons: Raymond, McKinley, and Will.

When Raymond was very young, before he could read, he evidently had a good memory of what he heard read. His father [Mort] got the newspaper—either when he went to the village in the afternoon, or it came in the mail. Mort would often read some of the items from the newspaper to Jennie.

Raymond would listen carefully and later, with his grandfather, Henry Austin, would hold the paper up as though he was reading out loud from it. His grandfather would always comment, “It is a caution how that boy can read!”

One day the report was about a serious railroad accident. Raymond read, with his grandfather Henry marveling—until Raymond read, “A number of people were ‘conveniently’ killed.”

His grandfather said, “What?” and took the paper and noted some other discrepancies, as well. The deception was over. Continue reading →

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House in Eldred for sale, 2012

by Louise Smith Posted on May 14, 2012

One of the major contributors to Echo Hill and Mountain Grove has listed his house in Eldred for sale. Please email me at info [at] halfwaybrook [dot] com if you are serious about the house and I will get you more info.

House in Eldred, NY.

$275,000
Ranch Home, 2000 sq.ft. (+/-); full walk-in basement
Built in 1977 on 2-1/2 acres of prime land

3 Bedroom; 1-1/2 baths—both recently modernized
24 X 14 Living room with blue stone fireplace
24 X 12 Family Room with brick fireplace
13 X 12 Kitchen; all new stainless steel appliances (Kitchen Aid and Maytag)
15 X 12 Dining room
12 X 6 Laundry on main floor; new Maytag washer and dryer ‘Bravo’ models
24 X 6 Front porch with all new white vinyl

Outside covered parking is 700 sq. ft.
1-1/2 car garage; Garage has 100 amp service.
10 X 15 Lawn equipment shed w/electric
36 X 48 garage/workshop interior total 1400 sq. ft.; 1000 sq. ft. heated
Full walk in dry basement; plenty of storage
Slop sink in basement
50-foot rear deck, tropical hard wood, IPE, approx. 460 sq. ft.
Continue reading →

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Flatiron Building Postcard 1

by Louise Smith Posted on May 9, 2012
Postcard of the Flatiron Building sent to the Austins in 1908. Postcard courtesy of Mary A.
    The Flatiron Building was built on a triangular-shaped lot at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway. It was called the Flatiron Block, as it was shaped like a clothing iron.

    Considered to be one of the first skyscrapers to be built, it was completed in 1902.

    The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago’s Daniel Burnham. Its facade was limestone at the bottom and changed to glazed terra-cotta as the floors rose.

    It had a steel skeleton, a construction technique familiar to the Fuller Company, a contracting firm based in Chicago with considerable expertise in building such tall structures. At the vertex the triangular tower is only 6.5 feet wide; an acute angle of about 25 degrees.
    —wikipedia.org.

There is another postcard of the Flatiron building in the Austin collection which I will post soon.

I found the building so fascinating that I will also post 2 photos of the Flatiron building from the Library of Congress Collection.

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The Arlington 1913

by Louise Smith Posted on May 8, 2012
"The Arlington 1913 courtesy of Juliana.

Recently a Halfway Brook reader sent me this delightful 1913 photo of her mom (the little girl in the center) at The Arlington boarding house mentioned in the previous post.

    My mother’s parents were Frank J. and Julia Wolff. I believe that they moved to Eldred from New York City in 1913 when my mother (Emily Wolff) was three years old. The family lived there from 1913 to 1915.

    The two boys in the picture are most likely my mom’s brothers—Frank and Frederick. The other two girls in the picture may be cousins. I don’t know if the Wolff family owned the house, but they ran the boarding house for two years and then returned to the city.

    I know that my mother visited Eldred sometime in the 1960’s, and the house was still there. However, when she went back—maybe ten years later—it was no longer there. That’s about all the information I have.

Louise: At one time the Onderdonck’s owned The Arlington which may have originally been Twin Lake Farm owned by J.P. Gallagher in 1885.

I haven’t researched the Arlington in the years from 1920 to 1950. Does anyone have more information about it?

I pieced together possible earlier information on The Arlington in Eldred (there were other Arlington Hotels in Sullivan County) that you can read here if you are interested. Continue reading →

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Popular Boarding Resorts in 1903

by Louise Smith Posted on May 6, 2012
William and Phebe Middaugh Owen's lovely Oakdene boarding house. Postcard courtesy of Pam D.

For Sullivan County Republican Watchman, July 1903
Popular with New York visitors are the following hotels and boarding houses:
Washington Lake House at Yulan
Pine Grove Farm at Eldred
West Farm at Yulan
Myer’s Farm House at Eldred
Minisink Farm at Eldred
Laurel Cottage on Washington Lake
Crest Hill Cottage at Barryville
The Arlington at Eldred
Orchard Terrace at Eldred
Oak Dene, Pine Grove Cottage, and Lake View Farm at Yulan

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Beware on your way to the Library

by Louise Smith Posted on May 5, 2012
The Rusty Library, May 2012. Photo: L. Smith.
First Rattlesnake warning. Photo: L. Smith.
Rattlesnake Crossing at the library.
Where the rattlesnakes might be, unless they are basking on the walkway to the library. Photo: L. Smith.

It is a bit of a conundrum that I can collect research and write books in Cave Creek, AZ about a place 2500 miles east with “real” green trees (in the summer) and numerous blue streams and lakes. (We do have a blue, blue sky most of the year, though the palo verde shown here is about our greenest “tree.”)

I have recently been enjoying trips to the nearest library (affectionately called “the rusty library” because of the re-rod architectural theme) for research and books including some about WWII which will be included in my next book.

The last couple visits to the library, I have been especially cautious. I thought that perhaps Halfway Brook readers might enjoy photos of the warning signs.

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Congregational and Methodist Churches 1901 to 1903

by Louise Smith Posted on May 3, 2012
Barryville Methodist Church Cornerstone, 1902. Photo: Gary Smith

Congregational Church
In 1901 Edna Gardner, Archie A. Myers, and Georgia Clark (later Mrs. Walter Styles) were received into membership at the Congregational Church.

The following year, James K. Gardner, Charles Breen, George Layman, Mrs. Ami Quick, Phebe Drake, Mrs. Shotwell, and Gussie and Edith Davenport were also received into membership. Rev. W.J. Carter was pastor from 1900 to 1903.

Methodist Church
Eldred’s Methodist Church had been built in 1859. Sometime after 1900 a steeple was added. There was also a wagon shed beside the church for the use of members who drove some distance to church.

The Methodist Church in Barryville was built in 1902. The parsonage at the Barryville Church was owned by both the Eldred and Barryville Methodist churches.

E.R. Kalbfus and Ira M. Austin of Barryville, along with James Boyd and my grandfather C.M. Austin of Eldred, were the original trustees of the property. Rev. S.O. Rusby was pastor from 1896 to 1901. Rev. F.L. Rhodes was pastor from 1901 to 1904. Continue reading →

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