New York, March 18, 1865

by Louise Smith Posted on July 12, 2010

This letter was written to Mary Ann Austin in Eldred, New York, from her niece, Addie Austin who lived in New York City. The bridge referred to is the Barryville-Shohola Bridge over the Delaware River, shown in the posts before and after this one.

New York, March 18, 1865
Dear Aunt Mary,
We have all been sick again (as usual), but I believe we are all convalescent now. I have been playing sick for the last few days but am getting about tired of it. I have been very sick of congestion of the lungs.

I have not been out of the house for over a month. I am going out next week if nothing happens.

Cousin George was here to see us about two weeks ago. He looks very well considering the “trying scenes” he has past through lately, don’t you think so?

Well how are you all getting along? Mother talks of coming up this summer, but whether it will end in talk or not I can not say.

We were very glad to hear that Uncle Henry was not drafted. How did it happen? I should have thought it would have past been his luck. There has been no battling in our district, nor will there be if the men volunteer fast enough to keep the Provost busy.

Mother finds liberty in employment in worrying about the draft. I don’t know what she will do for something to fret about should it pass on without hurting anybody.

How is Grandmother? Give her my love and tell her I have been quite a good girl lately. I have not laughed for sometime for the simple reason that I could not.

How is Aunt Laura’s baby? Emogene wrote that it was very sick. I hope she will not lose it. I suppose your boy is quite a young man if he grows at the rate he did when I was there.

I am glad to hear that Billy Myers was so sensible as to not go down with the bridge. (See above post.)

I am getting very tired and will try to bring this to a close before you get quite tired out. Mother sends her best love to you as do all of the rest.

Nettie talks of writing you today. She does not have much time for writing. You must give my love to Uncle Henry, Grandmother, and all my cousins both great and small.

Believe me with love, your affectionate niece,

Addie Austin

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1859 Roebling-Chauncey Bridge

by Louise Smith Posted on July 9, 2010


Postcard of Barryville Shohola Bridge and Lookout Mountain.
Courtesy of M.B. Austin.

Until 1856 there had only been a crude rope guided ferry that connected Shohola, Pennsylvania, to Barryville, New York. There became a need for a bridge with the building of the Erie Railroad Depot at Shohola, Pennsylvania.

A suspension bridge, designed by John Roebling, was built about 1855, by the Barryville and Shohola Bridge Co. The bridge originally cost $9,000, and was completed by 1856.

Chauncey Thomas was in charge of building the bridge, and Johnston believed him to be incompetent.

The two towers were each 12 feet square at the base and 40 feet in height, and placed on an abutment of stones, one at Barryville, and one at Shohola.

The towers stood 495 feet apart and supported two wire cables 10 feet apart
2-1/2 inches in the diameter and suspended from tower to tower, with braces
and guys…In time of high wind it would oscillate up and down to the extent of
three feet rendering it impossible for a team or a person to cross.

On the evening of the 2nd of July 1859, an unusual gust of wind from the North struck the bridge, over came the guys, turned the structure upon the edge and demolished it. The bridge was reconstructed at a cost of $4,000.

The bridge was originally constructed with one main span. There will be more about the bridge in another post.
—Information from:
Johnston, Reminiscences, p. 321, 349, and www.bridgemeister.com.

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1907 Battleship Postcards

by Louise Smith Posted on July 6, 2010


Rhode Island Battleship Battleship on 1907 postcard sent to McKinley Austin.


Idaho Battleship on 1907 postcard sent to McKinley Austin.

There are a number of postcards from the early 1900s in my mom’s collection. These two battleship postcards were sent to my dad’s oldest brother in 1907.

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Street Car Etiquette

by Louise Smith Posted on June 25, 2010


Fifth Avenue, New York City. Post Card from 1907.

I’ve been working on book 2, “Echo HIll and Mountain Grove.” The following tongue-in-cheek article was taken from a newspaper clipping in my great-grandmother Mary Ann Eldred Austin’s scrapbook. I think it may be from the late 1800s.

A few hints, boiled down, the observance of which will tend to promote the comfort and welfare of that large class of fellow-sufferers who are obliged to spend from thirty minutes to two hours of each day in those necessary evils called street-cars.

Gentle hint No. 1 and of importance first:
Always chew tobacco when riding. If you have not acquired that most elegant habit, do so at once, or you will thereby lose one of the best opportunities of showing your independence and utter disregard of the decencies of life, and of your neighbors’ clothes.

No. 2
Never give up your seat to anyone, especially to ladies, thereby showing that
you were brought up with a proper regard of your own importance and comfort.

Should you have a weakness in that respect, however, and should you wish to
give up your seat to a lady, be particular that she is young, good-looking and
well dressed, and always select the time when some poor washer-woman or
tired shop-girl has been hanging on the strap in front of you for half an hour
or more. you will thus show that you have a proper regard for what is due to
the different classes in society. Continue reading →

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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.

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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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