Fanny Austin’s 1857 Letter from Halfeway Brook

by Louise Smith Posted on May 4, 2010

Page one of my great-great-grandmother Fanny Knapp Austin’s letter, courtesy of my cousin Melva. An Excerpt of the letter follows.

Halfeway Brook
January 11, 1857
Dear Children,

You must excuse my not writing sooner. I have been waiting for something pleasant to write but sicknefs and glome over spreads our Neighborhood. Our house had escaped untill yesterday, Henry was brought from Moscow very sick…had the Doctor. He pronounced it the Billous feavor, but he is better this morning. I feal in hopes it is a lite case. It is the prevaling eppidemic and the scarlet fevor. The Doctor says he has 40 patients down with them and many that will not recover. Continue reading →

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Chapter 8 Letters from a Soldier: Four Trees

by Louise Smith Posted on May 1, 2010


Trees on the Leavenworth Homestead. Photo: Gary Smith.

My great-great grandparents, Sherman B. and Charlotte Leavenworth, had four sons. Sherman S., Hezzie B., and Atwell B., were in the Civil War. Son John E. was too young to fight in the Civil War, but fought out West with Custer.

The story is told that a tree was planted for each of the Leavenworth sons that went to war. The tree would be cut down if the son did not come back from the war.

In the photo above, the trees on the right are said to be where the original four trees were planted. The two trees still there were for the two sons that lived—Sherman Stiles and John Ellis Leavenworth.

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U.S. Fractional Currency, Confederate money, Plantation Bank Ad

by Louise Smith Posted on April 30, 2010

United States Fractional Currency notes were issued by the U.S. Government during and after the U.S. Civil War due to the hoarding and shortage of coins in gold, silver, and copper in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 cents. These notes were in use until 1876 and were redeemable by the U.S. Postal Office at face value in postage stamps. This is an 1874–1876, 10 cent Fractional Currency with an image of William Merideth, Secretary of the Treasury (1849-1850). Collection of M.B. Austin.

Confederate money in the collection of M.B. Austin.

A circa-1860s advertising note for Drake’s Plantation Bitters. From the collection of M.B. Austin.

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Aunt Sal

by Louise Smith Posted on April 22, 2010

Sherman S. Leavenworth talks about Aunt Sal in his Civil War Letters home. Whether she is an aunt, I do not know. She had a number of daughters and there is a Sarah (nickname is Sally) in the 1850 Lumberland and 1860 Highland Census.

In 1850, Abraham and Sarah Ingersol had four daughters. One daughter had died in 1849. Another daughter died in 1854.

In 1860, Abraham and Sarah Ingersol have seven daughters and a son. In The Mill on Halfway Brook, I had written up the names as 2 sons, but I have recent information that says there was only one son.

For history trivia folks, I will include some more information about the possible Aunt Sal forwarded to me by my cousin Cynthia.

In 1870, the Ingersol family was in LaSalle, Illinois. One daughter, a son, and possibly a nephew lived with Abraham and Sarah.

In 1880 Abraham was a widower and lived with his daughter Emma’s family in Pleasant Ridge, Livingston, Illinois. Sarah had died in 1873.

Sarah (Sally Ann) Ingersol’s maiden name was Swartout. She was the daughter of Geradus Swartout and Matilda Whitehead.

Abraham Ingersoll was the son of Alpheus Ingersol and Sibel Adams.

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Crazy Quilt from Chapter 5

by Louise Smith Posted on April 15, 2010

Chapter 5 is about my Austin family’s arrival in what is now Eldred, New York, and I included a black and white scan of an Austin crazy quilt coverlet that I have always loved and admired. I remember as a child admiring all the variety of stitches, the rose, the rose branch, the wheat with the golden threads, and the exquisite glove. Here are two colored images of sections of the small crazy quilt which is framed and hangs above my computer desk.

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1861–1865 Town of Highland Enlistments

by Louise Smith Posted on April 13, 2010

Chapter 8, Letters from a Soldier, lists some of the men of the Town of Highland, New York, that fought in the Civil War. A number of the men are mentioned in Sherman S. Leavenworth’s letters home.

56th Regiment
July 16, 1861
George Eldred, 25, enlisted at Newburgh, to serve three years; mustered in as a sergeant, Co. B; discharged for disability, November 2, 1863, at Beaufort, S.C., 56th Regiment Infantry.

Ira Austin, 20, enlisted, at Newburgh to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. B, August 17, 1861; re-enlisted as a veteran, February 29, 1864; mustered out with company, October 17, 1865, at Charleston, S.C., 56th Regiment Infantry.

August 3, 1861
Sherman Leavenworth, 18, enlisted at Newburgh, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. B, August 17, 1861; re-enlisted as a veteran, February 29, 1864; promoted to corporal, July 13, 1864; mustered out with company, October 17, 1865 at Charleston, S.C., 56th Regiment Infantry.

March 30, 1864
Hezekiah Leavenworth, 18, enlisted at Deerpark, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. B, March 30, 1864; died of chronic diarrhea, April 25, 1865, at Sparrowbush, N.Y., 56th Regiment Infantry.
Continue reading →

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The Goose Lot and Stone Walls from Chapter 8

by Louise Smith Posted on April 8, 2010

In one of the letters John Leavenworth wrote to his brother Sherman on the Civil War battlefield, he mentioned the stone walls on their property. Here are some photos of the walls and the goose lot taken in 2009 by my cousin Cynthia.

The goose lot was a large area surrounded by stone walls with a space that was left for a gate. The geese had one wing clipped so they couldn’t fly over the stone walls. The Leavenworths raised geese for their meat and eggs. Their feathers were used for stuffing pillows and comforters.

The walls were probably built in the Civil War era. Atwell Leavenworth was working on stone walls before he went to war and probably the goose lot was
part of that too.

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Chapter 7: Round Pond

by Louise Smith Posted on April 6, 2010

Southeast of Hagan Pond, where the Martin David Myers family settled, was Round Pond, a lake fed entirely by underground springs, and 60 to 80 feet deep at the center.

Today Round Pond is called Lake DeVenoge. The DeVenoge family from France was listed in the 1855 census. And Aunt Aida Austin wrote about going to see Dr. Leon DeVenoge in her 1881 diary.

The DeVenoge Family apparently had plans for a vineyard in the area, but the climate did not cooperate. Dr. Leon, encouraged people that the area would be helpful for those with tuberculosis, and ended up owning quite a bit of property.

Sometime after 1916, a golf course was created on what had been Dr. DeVenoge’s land. That golf course would play a part in World War II.
Photos courtesy of my cousin Cynthia.

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Chapter 7: Near Hagan Pond

by Louise Smith Posted on April 5, 2010

The Martin D. Myers family settled east of the Austin property, underneath Hagan Pond’s thumb, but on the south side of Hagan Pond Road, close to Collins Road.


Map showing Hagan Pond (Highland Lake) and Round Pond (Lake DeVenoge). Halfway Brook Village (Eldred) was to the west. Map drawn by Gary Smith.

Chapter 7 in The Mill on Halfway Brook covers the years 1851 to 1860 and the arrival of my Myers and Van Pelt relatives from New York City who settled near Hagan Pond. The following photos of Hagan Pond or Highland Lake as it is called today) are courtesy of my cousin Cynthia.

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