Albert Alonzo Austin

by Louise Smith Posted on June 22, 2010

JULY 1881
Monday 18
Maria and I had a letter from Lon today. It has been so cold today that I had to put my saque on even in the middle of the day, when I was outdoors. Mother and I went upon the hill to pick huckleberries this morning at ten and it was one when we came in. We ate our dinner and went out again until supper time.


Photo courtesy of Kathy, descendant of James Eldred Austin.

In July of 1881, Aida was living in Eldred with her parents. Maria was her sister and Lon (Albert Alonzo Austin), her brother was in Kansas with another brother, James Eldred Austin.

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January 1881: Plumbing problems

by Louise Smith Posted on June 15, 2010

Great Aunt Aida Austin was living with her Eldred-Austin uncle, aunt and cousins in New York City in January of 1881. This is an excerpt from “Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary,” the second edition of which is available, having been updated with correct info and ‘new’ old photos of the Eldred-Austin cousins.

January, Monday 3
Mr. Buckbee was here this morning. He is going to send the plumber here tomorrow.

January, Tuesday 4
The plumbers have been here all day and I have not got a bit of sewing done.

January, Wednesday 5
The plumbers have been here again all day.

January, Thursday 6
Maria [Aida’s sister who was also in New York.] came over this afternoon. I was just going out. I called down at Mrs. B.’s to see if she would go to Central Park Saturday evening with Harry and I. Her half sister was there with her husband and little boy. The plumbers were here again this morning until eleven o’clock.


Aida’s sister Maria Adelaide Austin.

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Aida Austin as a young girl

by Louise Smith Posted on June 9, 2010

Aida A. Austin, my great aunt, was the daughter of William Henry and Mary Ann Eldred Austin. Aida never married, but she wrote a diary in 1881 and several in the 1940s. Aida saved many letters and photos over the years that helped to tell the story in The Mill on Halfway Brook and the other two books I plan on writing. (Thanks to my mother and cousin Melva for keeping the info/photos all these years!)

Until recently, I had one photo of Aida from 1923 when she was 62. Thanks to my newly found Austin relative Kathy, who shared the photo album William Henry Austin made for his daughter Aida, here are three photos of Aida as a serious, young girl.

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Uncle Augustus and Aunt Maria

by Louise Smith Posted on June 7, 2010


Augustus Austin and his wife, Maria Eldred Austin.
Photo courtesy of cousin Kathy T.

The Mill on Halfway Brook tells the story of the January 1916 birth of Phebe Maria Eldred just 10 days after her parents, James and Polly Mulford Eldred arrived and settled in a log cabin near Halfway Brook in the Town of Lumberland, New York. The location of the cabin became the southeast corner of Halfway Brook Village, still referred to as “the Village” as late as the 1940s, even though the hamlet was officially named Eldred in 1873.

In 1834, Augustus Alonzo Austin married Phebe Maria Eldred in the Town of Lumberland. Augustus and Maria were aunt and uncle to the children of William Henry Austin (Augustus’s younger brother) and Mary Ann Eldred Austin (Maria’s half sister).

The daughters of the 2 Eldred-Austin couples exchanged letters, many of which are included in The Mill on Halfway Brook. Uncle Augustus, Aunt Maria, and their family play a part in Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary.

I was quite excited to receive some “new” old scans from an Austin cousin of some of the Eldred-Austin relatives. I’ll include some more photo scans in the next post.

Posted in Aida Austin Diary, Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, People, The Mill on Halfway Brook | 2 Comments

John Conway Reviews “The Mill on Halfway Brook”

by Louise Smith Posted on June 4, 2010

I would like to thank John Conway, Sullivan County New York Historian for devoting a whole post to a comprehensive, thoughtful review of my book,
The Mill on Halfway Brook.

You can read the review on Mr. Conway’s site: Retrospect; click on June 4, 2010. Mr. Conway also has a column in the Sullivan County Democrat.

John Conway, a writer and historian, travels throughout the region to speak on Sullivan County history. You will find several of John Conway’s books including Sullivan County (NY): A Bicentennial History in Images, on amazon.com.

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Hawk’s Nest

by Louise Smith Posted on May 19, 2010


View of Delaware River from the Hawk’s Nest Road, Sparrow Bush, N.Y. Photo courtesy of H.H. Oset.

The road from Carpenter’s Point (now Port Jervis) to the Town of Lumberland. I’m not sure what year this postcard was made. In 1859, the Hawk’s Nest, as this road is called, was a one lane dirt road. It was not paved until 1931.

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Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary

by Louise Smith Posted on May 12, 2010

Aida A. Austin lived in New York City with or near her Eldred-Austin relatives during the winter months. In the summer, Aida and her New York City cousins travelled 95 miles to the village of Eldred, New York, and stayed with Aida’s parents, Henry and Mary Ann Eldred Austin.

“A bad beginning makes a good ending?” questioned Aida Austin at the beginning of her 1881 Diary, the year she turned 20.

Aida wrote about the weather and daily life—plumbers fixing piepes, dentist and doctor visits, going to Central Park, skating, sailing, shopping, getting the mail, holidays, daily visits with relatives, President Garfield’s assassination, raking hay, and times with friends in Eldred (the Village) where she grew up.

Included at the end of the Diary are photos of Aida’s parents, brothers, and some of her Eldred-Austin relatives mentioned in her diary.

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Great Aunt Aida’s 1881 Diary

by Louise Smith Posted on May 12, 2010


Original scan of Aida’s 1881 diary.

In the summer of 2005, I raided my mom’s treasure chest of old photos and family memorabilia. In it was a small, about 2.75 inches wide and 4 inches long, diary that belonged to my great aunt Aida Austin. Great Aunt Aida was 19 years old when she started writing the diary in January.

In 2006, I published Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary. It included scans of each entry, and I typed up what I could read. My husband Gary, laid out the book and got it ready to print.

After working on The Mill on Halfway Brook, I now have a better understanding of who many of the people in Aida’s diary were. I recently met (via email) an Austin descendant that shared some photos of the people mentioned.

A second edition of Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary, complete with corrected info, old and new ‘old’ photos will soon be available.

Much of the Diary will be in book 2, Echo Hill and Mountain Grove, but Aida Austin’s 1881 Diary is also a stand alone book of daily life in Eldred and New York City, New York, in 1881.


The original scan of the outside of Aida’s diary opened up.

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