Dann, Evelyn

ORAL HISTORY COVER SHEET

INTERVIEWEE: EVELYN DANN

NARRATOR: MARION HAEBERLE

TAPE #: 37A

PLACE OF INTERVIEW:

DATE OF INTERVIEW: MARCH 13, 1985

SUMMARY: MOVING TO THE VILLAGE OF LAKEVILLE IN 1925, SCHOOLING, WORK, HOURLY WAGES, VARIOUS PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT, ELM TREES IN LAKEVILLE, STORES IN LAKEVILLE, TEACHER WHO BECAME STEP-MOTHER, THE BARTLE FAMILY, INDIAN MOUNTIAN SCHOOL, HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, THE DELAVERGNE HOTEL, THE INTERLAKEN INN, THE GATEWAY INN, A LAW SUIT BROUGHT AGAINST INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL AFTER A FIRE DISPLACED STUDENTS TO THE INTERLAKEN INN, DR. JIMMY DAMON, A PROMINENT NY PHYSICIAN, DRIVING DAY STUDENTS TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL, CONNIE AND BILL DOOLITTLE, JANE BUCKLEY-SMITH AND CHILDREN, WILLIAM ALLEN NIELSON, PETER HELCK, TOM WAGNER, DENISE RESTOUT, WANDA LANDOWSKA, SINCLAIR LEWIS, DOROTHY THOMPSON.

 

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MH: THIS IS MARIAN HAEBERLE INTERVIEWING EVELYN DANN, A RESIDENT OF LAKEVILLE FOR MANY YEARS NOW, ON MARCH 13, 1985.

MH: EVELYN, WHEN DID YOU FIRST COME TO THE VILLAGE OF LAKEVILLE?

ED: WE CAME IN APRIL 1925, WHEN WE WERE MOVING FROM ELLENVILLE, NY, WHERE FATHER HAD BEEN THE METHODIST MINISTER TO BE THE MINISTER IN LAKEVILLE. IT WAS A RAINY DAY. MY SISTER AND I, AND MY LITTLE SISTER AND ALL THE L1TLE KITTY CATS IN THE CAR, WE WERE ALL VERY WEEPY, MOST OF THE WAY ‘TIL WE GOT TO THE TOP OF DELAVERGNE HILL. THEN THE SUN CAME OUT. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, THAT LOVELY VIEW AND OUR SPIRITS REALLY LIFTED UP. WE DROVE INTO THE VILLAGE OF LAKEVILLE AND SAW THE PARSONAGE WHERE WE WERE GOING TO BE. IT LOOKED SO LOVELY, WITH ALL THE ELM TREES DOWN THE STREET WHICH ARE ALL GONE NOW.

MH: YES.

ED: WE WENT INTO THE HOUSE. EVERYTHING WAS SO LOVELY, AND LAID OUT WITH ALL THESE GOODIES THAT THE FOLKS HAD LEFT FOR US: CAKES AND PIES AND THREE GREAT BIG CONTAINERS OF GUERNSEY MILK WITH THE RICHEST CREAM ON TOP I’VE EVER SEEN. THEN PEOPLE FOUND WE WERE THERE. AND BEORE WE KNEW IT, THERE WERE ABOUT, OH, A DOZEN OR SO OF THE TRUSTEES THAT CAME IN TO SEE US. THEY ALL SEEMED SO NICE, WE THOUGHT, WELL, WE’RE GOING TO LIKE IT.

(BOTH LAUGH)

MH: I GUESS YOU DID, YOU STAYED HERE QUITE A WHILE.

ED: WE DID, WE WERE THERE FOR EIGHT YEARS.

MH: EIGHTYEARS, YOUR FATHER WAS MINISTER.

ED: IN LAKEVILLE

MH: AT THAT TIME YOU HAD FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL?

ED: MY SISTER, MARY, WAS GRADUATING THAT JUNE FROM HIGH SCHOOL, AND I WAS POST GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL.

MH: SO, YOU WAITED A WHILE BEFORE YOU STARTED COLLEGE.

ED: YES, I WAITED A YEAR. MY SISTER HAD JUST GRADUATED FROM OBERLIN, MY OLDER SISTER, CHARLOTTE, AND MY BROTHER CHARLES WAS STILL, HE WAS TO BE A SENIOR THE NEXT YEAR. SO, I STAYED OUT A YEAR AND TOOK PIANO LESSONS FROM MARIAN BARTRAM WHO BECAME MY BEST FRIEND.

 

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ED: SHE WAS THE ORGANIST OF THE CHURCH IN LAKEVILLE.

MH: SHE WAS THE ORGANIST OF THE METHODIST CHURCH.

ED: OF THE METHODIST CHURCH.

MH: I SEE, WELL YOU WERE INTERESTED IN MUSIC ANYWAY.

ED: OH, YES, I HAD HAD PIANO BEFORE.

MH: I SEE.

ED: I ENJOYED HER. I REMEMBER MY MOTHER SAID, “SO GLAD I GOT TO KNOW A FRIEND LIKE MARIAN BARTRAM BEFORE I STARTED OFF TO COLLEGE”. “SHE’S AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT FRIENDS CAN BE LIKE”.

MH: HOW DID YOU, THEN YOU SPENT A YEAR HERE IN 1925 BEFORE YOU WENT AWAY?

ED: ’26.

MH: HOW DID YOU? DID YOU FIND WORK? DID YOU HAVE TO FIND SOME EMPLOYMENT WAS…?

ED: YES, I, IN THE SPRING I WENT TO WORK AT THE GATEWAY, WHICH WAS THE BIG HOTEL THAT’S NO LONGER IN LAKEVILLE. I WORKED THERE JUST TYPING.

ED: MOSTLY JUST PROMOTION LETTERS TYING TO GET PEOPLE TO COME.

MH: I SEE, I SEE.

ED: THEN I ALSO, A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE SPRING, MY SISTER AND I, UH, (LAUGH) PICKED STRAWBERRIES RIGHT NEXT TO THE CHURCH FOR ABOUT AN ACRE, EARL DAY HAD PLANTED A BIG STRAWBERRY PATCH. HE ASKED IF WE WOULD LIKE TO PICK THEM. SO, WE GOT UP AT FIVE O’CLOCK IN THE MORING AND STARTED IN. IT WAS FUN AT FIRST BECAUSE, (LAUGH) WE HAD TWO SETS OF QUARTS, AND THEY WERE BIG, AND SO WE GOT QUITE A BIT OF MONEY, MAYBE TWO OR THREE DOLLARS, WHICH SEEMED A LOT OF MONEY, BUT THEN THEY GOT SMALLER AND SMALLER. THE SUN GOT HOTTER AND HOTTER. IT TOOK US ‘TILL NOON TO GET FINISHED, AND IT WAS PRETTY AWFUL. BUT, THEN I GOT MY JOB WITH DR. CADMAN, S. PARKS CADMAN, AND POOR MARY HAD TO GO ON PICKING WHILE I SAT IN A NICE COOL HOUSE AND GOT ALL OF SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS AN HOUR WHICH SEEMED INCREDIBLE FOR TYPING FOR S. PARKS CADMAN.

ED: WHO WAS A MINISTER FROM BREW….FROM BROOKLYN?

MH: YES, A VERY FAMOUS MINISTER.

 

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ED: YES, YES.

MH: HE’S WELL KNOWN. FIRST OF ALL I WANT TO ASK YOU SEVERAL THINGS HERE. YOU WERE SPEAKING ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU WERE PAID. OF COURSE, THIS WAS IN 1925.

ED: YES.

MH: AND SCALES WERE A LOT DIFFERENT. BUT WE CAN SEE THE HOURLY WAGE WAS NOT VERY HIGH.

ED: NO, IT WAS NOT.

MH: ALSO, I IMAGINE YOUR FATHER DID NOT RECEIVE TOO MUCH.

ED: HE RECEIVED A TOTAL NINETEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR.

MH: NINETEEN HUNDRED A YEAR.

ED: AND HOW HE EVER SENT ALL FIVE OF US CHILDREN TO OBERLIN, I REALLY MARVEL.

ED: WE ALL WORKED AT OBERLIN. THEN HE HAD TO BORROW MONEY FROM THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN. WE PAID IT BACK AFTER WE GRADUATED.

MH: I SEE, I SEE. I IMAGINE ALL MINSTERS, DID NOT RECEIVE A VERY LARGE…

ED: THEY DID NOT, NO.

MH: SALARY.

ED: NO, BUT OF COURSE THEY DID HAVE THE HOUSE FREE … AND THAT’S A BIG ITEM.

MH: YES, YES, YES. ALSO, WHILE YOU WERE SPEAKING OF WORK THAT YOU DID, COULD YOU EXPLAIN FOR US WHERE THE GATEWAY INN WAS LOCATED.

ED: YES, YOU HEAD FROM LAKEVILLE TOWARD MILLERTON AND THE GATEWAY INN WAS JUST AT THE CREST OF THE HILL, UM, ON THE RIGHT, OPPOSITE NOW WHERE THE COMMUNITY FUEL IS. (NOW DEANO’S PIZZA, 2011)

MH: IT MUST HAVE BEEN A LARGE HOTEL.

ED: IT WAS A LARGE HOTEL.

MH: WHEN DID THEY DISCONTINUE THAT?

 

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ED: I’M NOT SURE, AND 1 DON’T THINK IT BURNED DOWN. I THINK THEY JUST TOOK IT DOWN.

MH: I SEE, I SEE. IT WAS JUST BEYOND THE HOLLEY WILLIAMS HOUSE, I GUESS. A LITTLE WAYS BEYOND IT.

ED: YES.

MH: YES. ALSO, I HAD HEARD MENTION OF THE CADMAN PROPERTY. NOW WHERE DID YOU GO TO DO THIS WORK FOR S. PARKS CADMAN, WHERE WAS THEIR HOME HERE?

ED: WELL, WHEN I WAS WORKING FOR HIM, HE LIVED IN THE BIG HOUSE AS YOU HEAD FROM LAKEVILLE TO HOTCHKISS SCHOOL. IT’S JUST PAST THE CURVE THAT GOES UPTO THE WAKE ROBIN INN.

MH: OH, I SEE.

ED: IT’S A HOUSE NOW THAT’S ALMOST HIDDEN BY A BIG HIGH HEDGE. IT WAS A BIG HOUSE WITH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE LAKE. I WORKED FOR HIM FOR SEVEN SUMMERS. AND THEN HE DIED. HIS WIDOW AND MISS MARIE CADMAN, HIS DAUGHTER, AND MISS LILLIAN CADMAN, MOVED TO A HOUSE THAT’S ON THE ROAD TOWARD INDIAN MOUNTAIN , ON THE LEFT. THEN HIS SON, BOUGHT THE BIG HOUSE THAT IS SORT OF BEHIND THERE THAT HAS NOW, HAS SIX OR SEVEN HOUSES THAT PEOPLE LIVE IN.

MH: THAT’S THE PROPERTY WHERE THERE ARE SOME STONE PILLARS? ALONG THE….

ED: YES.

MH: AT THE CORNER.

ED: THAT’S RIGHT…

MH: YES, AT THE INTERSECTION OF INDIAN MOUNTAIN AND 112. (AYREMONT).

ED: IT HAS A NAME AND I CAN’T THINK OF WHAT THEY CALL IT.

MH: NO, WELL, I WOULDN’T KNOW. I WANTED TO PINPOINT, WHERE HE HAD BEEN. OK. I HEARD ON ANOTHER OF THE TAPES THAT WE HAVE, OF PEOPLE SAYING STRAWBERRIES WERE GROWN ALONG THE PROPERTY WHICH IS NOW THE SALISBURY CENTRAL SCHOOL PROPERTY. SO, EVIDENTLY, STRAWBERRIES WERE QUITE A CROP HERE.

 

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ED: I THINK SO. THIS WAS EARL DAY AND HIS FAMILY WERE THE ONES THAT BUILT THE HOUSE WHERE THE HOUSATONIC PSYCHIATRIC CENTER IS NOW. THE HOUSE WITH THE PILLARS. RIGHT NEXT TO THE CHURCH. THAT WAS THE DAY HOUSE.

MH: THE STRAWBERRY FIELDS WERE IN THE BACK.

ED: IN THE BACK, EXTENDED WAY BACK TO THE PINE TREES.

MH: THEY MUST HAVE LEFT QUITE AN IMPRESSION ON YOU.

ED: THEY DID! (LAUGH)

MH: TELL ME HOW IS LAKEVILLE DIFFERENT AT THAT TIME IN REGARD TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE TOWN

ED: WELL, FOR ONE THING THERE WERE THESE BEAUTIFUL ELM TREES ALL ACROSS FROM THE PARSONAGE, FIVE OR SIX OF THEM. HUGE, LOVELY, LOVELY ELM TREES AND THEY’VE ALL GONE.

MH: YES.

ED: OF COURSE, THERE WAS A GARAGE, DUFOUR’S GARAGE THERE ON THE LEFT WHERE THE INTERSECTION IS. WENT ALONG A WHOLE BLOCK OF STORES, WESTERN UNION THERE, AND BARNETT’S, HEATON BARNETT’S STORE, AND, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, AN A&P STORE CAME NEXT. WE HAD ALL KINDS OF FOOD STORES, WE HAD AN A&P STORE, WE HAD FIRST NATIONAL STORE, WAIT A MONENT, IT WASN’T A FIRST NATIONAL, IT WAS ROBERT’S STORE.

MH: YES.

ED: THEN IT LATER BECAME THE FIRST NATIONAL. THEN WE HAD THE GODRISS MEAT MARKET AND WE COULD BUY ALMOST ANYTHING IN LAKEVILLE THEN.

MH: IN THAT RESPECT LAKEVILLE HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED.

ED: IT CERTAINLY HAS.

MH: YES, WHY DO YOU THINK THEY TORE DOWN THE STORES THAT WERE ALONG… MONTGOMERY…..

ED: I SUPPOSE JUST TO BEAUTIFY THE PLACE, MAYBE. THEY WERE GOING TO TEAR DOWN THE ONE WHERE THE SALIS-LAKE JEWELERY STORE IS.

MH: I SEE.

 

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ED: BUT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF A, SOMETHING, SOMEBODY’S WILL OR SOMETHING, HAD TO LEAVE IT THERE UNTIL MR. DUFOR DIED.

MH: OH.

ED: THEN HE DIED, AND THEY STILL HAVEN’T TORN IT DOWN.

MH: I SEE. I SEE. WELL, I THINK THERE WAS SOMETHING IN THE PAPER ABOUT…

ED: YES, IT’S COME UP AGAIN RECENTLY.

MH: YES.

ED: THE SALIS-LAKE JEWELERY STORE IS SAD, BUT THEY DON’T KNOW WHERE TO GO.

MH: YES, IT’S UNFORTUNATE FOR A SMALL BUSINESS MAN.

ED: VERY MUCH SO.

MH: I GUESS MOST OF US, SMALL BUSINESSES HERE IN LAKEVILLE, HAVE BECOME SPECIALTY SHOPS. WERE THERE AS MANY ANTIQUE ….

ED: NO.

MH: ….PLACES THAT YOU WOULD….

ED: NO, NO THERE WEREN’T. I DON’T REMEMBER ANY. OF COURSE, THERE WASN’T THE LAKEVILLE PRECISION MOLDING, THAT WASN’T THERE THEN. NEITHER WAS THE…WELL. THE LAKEVILLE JOURNAL WAS THERE, AND, BUT THE PLACE ACROSS FROM IT, THAT WASN’T A BUSINESS THERE. IT WAS A STORE THAT MR. BOULTS HAD.

MH: BOULTS?

ED: YES, THE FATHER OF BILL BOULTS.

MH: THIS WAS NEAR WHERE THE LAKVILLE JOURNAL WAS?

ED: YES, ACROSS FROM WHERE THE LAKEVILLE JOURNAL.

MH: WHAT KIND OF A STORE WAS THAT?

ED: WELL, I’VE BEEN TRYING TO THINK. ALL I REMEMBER IS HE USED TO BE ALWAYS SINGING WHEN YOU WENT IN THERE. (LAUGH)

MH: OH.

 

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ED: …OR WHISTLING.

MH: WELL, IT WAS A HAPPY PLACE.

ED: LIKE HIS SON DID, WHEN HE WORKED AT THE FIRST NATIONAL. PERHAPS IT WAS KIND OF A STATIONARY STORE.

MH: 1 SEE, I SEE.

ED: AND THEN LATER ON MR. PAVOLA HAD A STATIONARY STORE WHERE THEY HAD THE NEWSPAPERS AND SO FORTH RIGHT SORT OF ACROSS FROM WELL, WHAT USED TO BE THE SCHOOL AND IS NOW THE POST OFFICE.

MH: OH, OH, YES, THERE ARE, THAT, THAT RED-ISH BUILDING NOW.

ED: YES, YES. THAT HAD ANTIQUE PLACE AND THINGS.

MH: WHEN YOU MOVED HERE, WAS THE SCHOOL STILL AT THAT LOCATION?

ED: YES.

MH: YES, THAT WAS THE HIGH SCHOOL?

ED: MY SISTER, CORA, WHO WAS IN THE FOURTH GRADE WHEN WE CAME HERE, HAD A VERY NICE TEACHER IN THAT SCHOOL BY THE NAME OF MISS BESSIE ARGALL. I REMEMBER WE GOT A LETTER, WE, MARY AND I, HAD TO GO BACK TO ELLENVILLE UNTIL WE GRADUATED AND POST-GRADUATED.

MH: YES.

ED: WE STAYED WITH FRIENDS, AND MOTHER WROTE A LETTER ABOUT THIS VERY NICE TEACHER THAT CORA HAD IN THE FOURTH GRADE, MISS BESSIE ARGALL. NEVER DREAMING THAT SOME DAY SHE WAS GOING TO BE OUR STEP-MOTHER!

MH: YES. SHE CAME FROM AN OLD FAMILY IN TOWN.

ED: AN OLD FAMILY.

MH: DID SHE NOT?

ED: THE BARTLE FAMILY THAT CAME HERE FROM MICHIGAN. HE WAS TO TAKE OVER THE ORE MINE PLACE. HE HAD THIRTEEN CHILDREN. THE DAY HE CAME, IN MILLERTON, THEY STOPPED TO EAT AT THE, I THINK THEY CALLED IT, THE BRICK BLOCK HOTEL, IN MILLERTON.

MH: OH, YES.

 

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ED: ALL FIFTEEN OF THEM. AND THE MAN THAT OWNED IT, TALKED TO THEM AND FOUND THEY WERE GOING TO COME LIVE AROUND HERE AND EVERYTHING. WHEN THEY FINISHED THEIR MEAL, THE MAN SAYS “THAT’S ON ME; I’M NOT CHARGING YOU A CENT. A FAMILY OF YOUR NATURE COMING TO IS GOING TO BE A GREAT ADDITION TO LAKEVILLE.”

MH: WELL, ISN’T THAT INTERESTING?

ED: AND IT PROVED TO BE TO, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE BILL BARNETT, WHO WAS OUR FIRST SELECTMAN. HE WASN’T BORN THEN.

MH: YES.

ED: BUT, HE WAS A GRANDSON.

MH: HIS MOTHER WAS A BARTLE.

ED: HIS MOTHER,

MH: YES, YES.

ED: AND, BESSIE ARGALL’S MOTHER WAS A BARTLE. THE BARTLE FAMILY WAS SPREAD OUT AND DID DIFFERENT JOBS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

MH: YES, THERE ARE MANY STILL HERE IN TOWN.

ED: YES.

MH: YES, YES, THAT’S VERY INTERESTING. UH, YOU MENTIONED THE ORE MINE THAT UM, THAT PUT ME IN MIND OF THE SCHOOLS. THERE WAS A ONE ROOM SCHOOL DOWN THERE. WERE THERE ANY OF THE ONE ROOM SCHOOLS STILL HERE WHEN YOU CAME?

ED: I THINK NOT.

MH: NO.

ED: BESSIE ARGALL’S FIRST JOB WAS IN A ONE ROOM SCHOOL ON THE WAY UP TO SALISBURY SCHOOL, YOU’LL SEE A PLACE WHERE THERE IS JUST ABOUT, LOOKS ABOUT, JUST ROOM FOR A CAR TO PARK, AND THAT’S WHERE HERE ONE ROOK SCHOOL WAS, HER FIRST JOB.

MH: OH, OH. ALRIGHT, OFF OF FORTY-FOUR.

ED: YES.

 

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MH: OH, THAT’S INTERESTING, YES. I IMAGINE A NUMBER OF THE TEACHERS WHO WERE IN THE SCHOOL AT THAT TIME HAD COME HAD ORIGINALLY COME FROM ONE ROOM SCHOOLS.

ED: 1 THINK, YES.

MH: IT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE A CHANGE FOR THEM.

ED: I SHOULD SAY SO.

MH: YES. WERE THERE MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHEN THEY GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL OR ALSO FROM COLLEGE TO FIND WORK IN LAKEVILLE AND SALISBURY?

ED: I WOULD SAY NO. IT SEEMS TO ME EVEN LESS THAN THEY HAVE NOW.

MH: REALLY?

ED: IT SEEMS TO BE THAT WAY.

MH: THAT’S UNFORTUNATE.

ED: VERY MUCH SO.

MH: YES.

ED: SEE, LAKEVILLE WAS SORT OF A RETIREMENT HOME, FOR, WELL FOR FAMOUS MINISTERS LIKE DR. S. PARKS CADMAN. ROBERT E. SPEAR, WHO WAS THE HEAD OF THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONS FOR MANY YEARS, HE WAS HERE, AND HENRY SLOANE COFFIN.

MH: OH, HENRY SLOANE COFFIN.

ED: YES.

MH: WAS HE RELATED TO A YALE PROFESSOR WHO HAS BEEN VERY PROMINENT?

ED: YES. BEEN A LITTLE BIT INFAMOUS YOU MIGHT SAY, THAT’S HIS NEPHEW.

MH: HIS NEPHEW.

ED: HENRY SLOANE COFFIN LIVED IN THE HOUSE. I DID SOME TYPING FOR HIM TOO, AND FOR DR. SPEAR. OR, MOSTLY AFTER HE DIED, FOR MRS. SPEAR, I TYPED.

MH: YES.

 

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ED: BUT HENRY SLOANE COFFIN LIVED IN THE, WHAT WE HAVE ALWAYS CALLED, THE JEROME HOUSE, WHERE JENNY JEROME IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE LIVED, BUT WE FOUND OUT THROUGH MARION HAEBERLE, RECENTLY, THAT SHE, EVIDENTLY, DID NOT LIVE THERE, BUT WE ALWAYS THOUGHT SO.

MH: YEAH, A BOOK 1 READ SEEMED TO INDICATE IT WAS HER UNCLE WHO OWNED THAT HOUSE, WHO HAD BUILT IT AND OWNED IT AND LIVED THERE.

ED: YES, THE LEWIS’ DIDN’T KNOW THAT AND THEY WROTE TO WINSTON CHURCHILL TO ASK IF HE HAD EVER LIVED IN THAT HOUSE. HE WROTE THEM BACK, HE SAID, “NOT THAT HE KNEW OF, BUT HE COULD HAVE VERY WELL BEEN THERE AS A BABY” HE SAID.

MH: YES, WELL, HE TRAVELED SO MUCH IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER.

ED: (LAUGH)

MH: ESPECIALLY WHERE YOU WERE WHEN YOU WERE A BABY.

ED: THAT’S RIGHT.

MH: WELL THEN, EVEN IN THE 1920’S, THIS PLACE WAS BECOMING MORE OF A SUMMER HOME AND RETIREMENT AREA.

ED: THAT’S RIGHT.

MH: WHERE THERE ANY OTHER LARGE HOTELS SIMILAR TO THE GATEWAY INN?

ED: OF COURSE, IN SHARON, THE SHARON INN.

MH: THAT IS NO LONGER THERE, IS IT?

ED: THAT BURNED DOWN. AND THEN THE DELAVERGNE HOTEL (IN AMENIA) BURNED DOWN. THAT WAS A BIG HOTEL.

MH: JUST FOR THE RECORD, WHERE WAS THE SHARON INN LOCATED?

ED: IT WAS LOCATED RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE CLOCK TOWER.

MH: THE OTHER HOTEL IN AMENIA?

ED: IN AMENIA, WAS LOCATED RIGHT THERE WHERE THE PIZZA PLACE IS NOW.

MH: OH, THE FOUR BROTHERS.

ED: YES, THE FOUR BROTHERS.

 

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MH: 1 SEE. WELL, INTERLAKEN INN WAS HERE, WAS IT NOT?

ED: YES, BUT NOT THE BUILDING THAT IS HERE NOW.

MH: NO. NO.

ED: MR. PERCY WAS THE HEAD OF IT THEN. INTERLAKEN, (LAUGH) WAS THE REASON FOR MY FIRST JOB AT INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL BECAUSE INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL BURNED DOWN IN 1929. IT WAS JUST AS WINTER WAS SETTING IN, SO MR. PERCY LET OUR BOYS COME TO LIVE AT INTERLAKEN. IT WORKED ALRIGHT EXCEPT THAT IT WAS COLD WEATHER, AND INTERLAKEN WASN’T PREPARED TO BE OPEN DURING THE WINTER TIME.

MH: OH.

ED: THE BOYS WERE GETTING UP IN THE MORNING TURN ON THEIR FAUCETS, AND NO WATER WOULD COME, IT WOULD BE FROZEN. THEY WOULD GO DOWN TO BREAKFAST AND COME BACK AND FIND WATER ALL OVER THE PLACE, IT HAD MELTED YOU SEE.

MH: YES.

ED: WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR US TO GO, HAD OUR NEW BUILDING AT INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL AND MOVED BACK TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL, MR. PERCY SUED US FOR FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

MH: OH!

ED: BECAUSE OF THE DAMAGE FROM THAT WATER WHICH REALLY WASN’T OUR FAULT.

MH: THAT’S RIGHT.

ED: BUT HE SUED US, AND SO THERE WAS A COURT SESSION. MR. RIGGS, WHO WAS THE HEADMASTER, HAD ME COME UP AND TAKE DICTATION FROM ALL THE MASTERS ABOUT THEIR SIDE OF IT.

MH: I SEE.

ED: WE HAD QUITE A BOOK WE MADE. THAT WENT TO COURT AND WE WON! WE DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY THE FIFTY THOUSAND.

MH: VERY GOOD. WELL, YOU SAID THEY SUED “US”. WERE YOU, YOU WEREN’T REALLY…

 

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ED: I WASN’T REALLY ASSOCIATED WITH INDIAN MOUNTAIN THEN, BUT MY FATHER WAS.

MH: OH.

ED: HE WAS THEIR CHAPLIN. HE TAUGHT BIBLE THERE.

MH: OH, I SEE. I SEE.

ED: HE ENJOYED IT. THOSE WERE THE DAYS WHEN QUENTIN ROOSEVELT USED TO BE THERE. YOUNG QUENTIN. FATHER ENJOYED HIS, (LAUGH) WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, IS THERE SUCH A WORD SUCH AS EBULLIENCY, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

MH: WELL, YES THERE IS.

ED: YES, HE WAS JUST FULL OF IT. EVEN, WHEN IT HAD TO DO WITH THE BIBLE, HE WOULD JUST GET SO EXCITED ABOUT IT, AND IT SORT OF KEPT THE WHOLE CLASS ALERT.

MH: I SEE.

ED: I USED TO GO UP SOMETIMES, JUST FOR FUN, WITH FATHER. IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TOO, THEY HAVE A VERY, KIND OF EXCITING CLASS IN BIBLE, THANKS TO QUENTIN.

MH: WAS HE TEDDY ROOSEVELT’S SON?

ED: TEDDY’S SON.

MH: OH MUST HAVE BEEN THE YOUNGEST.

ED: I GUESS SO.

MH: YES.

ED: HE WAS SO EXCITABLE THAT MR. RIGGS USED TO SAY “CALM DOWN, QUENTIN, CALM DOWN, CHEW YOUR CUD”. (LAUGH) AND SO, AFTER THAT WHENEVER QUENTIN WROTE TO MR. RIGGS, HE WOULD SAY “YOURS, VERY TRULY” AND THEN JUST PUT A PICTURE OF A COW.

MH: OH! THAT’S AN INTERESTING STORY.

ED: HE CAME BACK TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN ONCE TO SPEAK TO US AND IT WAS VERY INTERESTING, THEN HE WENT BACK TO CHINA AND WAS KILLED.

MH: OH!

 

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ED: IT WAS THOUGHT TO DO WITH A BOAT, IN A BOAT THAT WENT DOWN OR SOMETHIN, VERY SAD.

MH: YES

ED: ‘CAUSE HE WAS YOUNG, HE MUST HAVE BEEN UNDER THIRTY. I WOULD LIKE TO READ ABOUT IT SOMEWHERE, FIND OUT JUST WHAT AGE HE WAS, BUT HE WAS YOUNG.

MH: YES. WE HAD MENTIONED INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL. YOU HAD LEFT LAKEVILLE TO GO TO COLLEGE AND THEN YOUR FATHER….

ED: WELL, NO. 1 WAS STILL IN LAKEVILLE WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE. I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE IN 1930. THAT WAS THE YEAR MY MOTHER DIED. THEN, FATHER, THREE YEARS LATER, WENT DOWN TO BREWSTER. AND AFTER HE GOT DOWN THERE, MARRIED THIS LAKEVILLE TEACHER, MISS BESSIE ARGALL. AT THAT TIME I WENT DOWN TO BREWSTER FOR WEEKENDS AND PLAYED THE PRESBYTERIAN ORGAN. OH, NO, I’M JUMPING AHEAD OF MYSELF. I WASN’T WORKING, I WENT DOWN TO BREWSTER WITH THEM AND WORKED AT THE READER’S DIGEST. PARTS OF TWO YEARS, AND THEN THEY DISCOVERED THAT I COULD TYPE. THEY PUT ME IN THE CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT AND SAID I WOULD BE A PERMANENT. JUST ABOUT THAT TIME, THE JOB AT INDIAN MOUNTAIN BECAME OPEN WITH MR. RIGGS BECAUSE HIS SECRETARY HAD TO GO TO FLORIDA BECAUSE OF HER HUSBAND’S HEALTH. I CAME BACK UP TO LAKEVILLE. FATHER WAS STILL IN BREWSTER AND STARTED WORKING FOR MR. RIGGS.

MH: I SEE. AND YOUR WORK ON HELPING THEM IN TAKING TESTIMONY FOR THE LAWSUIT HELPED YOU GET THIS….

ED: YES. THEY KNEW ME, YOU SEE.

MH: YES, AND YOU WERE WELL RECCOMMENDED BY YOUR WORK.

ED: YES.

MH: I SEE. HOW LONG WERE YOU AT INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL?

ED: THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS.

MH: THIRTY-SEVEN?

ED: YES

MH: OH, MY, YOU MUST HAVE SEEN A LOT OF INTERESTING CHILDREN GO BACK AND FORTH.

ED: YES, YES. IT WAS FASCINATING. I HAD SOME MIGHTY FASCINATING TIMES TOO.

 

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MH: YES. ATTHATT1ME, WHEN YOU FIRST CAME THERE, THE CHILDREN STILL COULD COME UP BY RAILROAD…

ED: OH, YES, YES.

MH: TO ATTEND SCHOOL, COULDN’T THEY? WHERE DID THE TRAIN COME IN AT?

ED: I, WELL, TO TELL THE TRUTH, WHEN I FIRST WENT THERE, THEY WERE ALL BOARDERS, THERE WEREN’T ANY DAY SCHOLARS.

MH: YES.

ED: I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAME UP BY TRAIN AFTER MY WEEKEND DOWN IN BREWSTER. I WOULD COME BY TRAIN.

MH: NO, I DIDN’T MEAN AS COMING DAILY, I MEANT WHEN THEY CAME BACK.

ED: OH, WHEN THEY CAME BACK.

MH: IN SEPTEMBER AND SO ON.

ED: OH YES, THEY ARRIVED BY TRAIN.

MH: YES, YES, AND DID SOMEONE FROM THE SCHOOL MEET THEM?

ED: YES

MH: AND BRING THEM OVER.

ED: YES. I WILL TELL THIS (LAUGH), QUICKLY I WILL TELL YOU PERHAPS. WE HAD A BOY, BY THE NAME OF JIMMY DAMON. HIS FATHER WAS A DOCTOR, DR. VIRGIL DAMON, WHO WAS QUITE FAMOUS; HE’D HAD BIG LONG ARTICLE IN THE LAKEVILLE JOURNAL ABOUT HIMSELF AND SO FORTH. WELL, HE NEVER COULD COME UP TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN BECAUSE HE WAS TOO BUSY. BUT, FINALLY, HE CALLED UP ONE SATURDAY MORNING AND SAID “TELL JIMMY WE’RE COMING UP”. SO I TOLD JIMMY; HE WAS SO EXCITED! JUST BEFORE IT WAS TIME FOR DR. DAMON AND MRS. DAMON TO ARRIVE, THE TELEPHONE RANG, AND IT WAS THE HOSPITAL, WHERE HE, HE WAS A BABY DOCTOR, WHO WAS USING THIS SPECIAL KIND OF SOMETHING WITH MOTHERS ■BOUT TO GIVE BIRTH. VERY SPECIAL. WROTE ABOUT IT IN THE DIGEST. THE HOSPITAL SAYS, “HAD DR. DAMON ARRIVED YET?”, I SAID “NO”, HE SAID, “TELL HIM HE’S GOT TO COME RIGHT BACK, ONE OF HIS SPECIAL CASES HAS COME, AND HE’S GOT TO GET RIGHT BACK”. THEN HE SAYS “WE LOOKED IT UP AND THERE IS A TRAIN THAT LEAVES AT 2:15”. HE WAS TO GET IN AT TWO O’CLOCK. I SAID “I’LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO”. THEY SAID “TELL HIM IT’S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH”. AND SO, I WENT OUT TO THE ROAD TO MEET DR. DAMON. WHEN THEY CAME WITH THE TAXI, AND I SAID “DR. DAMON, THE HOSPITAL CALLED AND YOU’VE GOT TO GET RIGHT BACK, TAKE

 

PAGE 15

THE TRAIN THAT LEAVES IN…LN… WELL, EIGHT MINUTES NOW, FROM HERE. ANDI SAID TO THE TAXI MAN “CAN YOU TAKE HIM THERE?” “ISN’T TIME” HE SAID, “CAN’T DO IT, WON’T DO IT”. SO I JUST DASHED IN AND GOT MY KEYS, GOT MY CAR AND GOT THE DAMONS IN MY CAR, AND WE STARTED OFF TO SEE IF WE COULD MAKE IT. THE TAXI MAN WAS SO MAD, HE WENT ON AHEAD OF ME AND AT CUT OFF THERE WAS A HAY WAGON. HE WENT AND PARKED RIGHT BY THE HAY WAGON SO I COULDN’T GET BY. SO, I WENT RIGHT UP THE HILL, AND MADE IT ABOUT A QUARTER OF A MILE FURTHER, BUT I WAS GOING ABOUT 60. WE WENT UP THE HILL AND HEADED TOWARD MILLERTON AS FAST AS WE COULD, AND ON THE WAY THE DOCTOR WAS SAYING “CALL THE HOSPITAL AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK AND TELL THEM TO GIVE HER”

HE GAVE ME THESE THINGS OF COURSE, I HAD NEVER HEARD ABOUT AND I TRIED TO REMEMBER THEM, WHAT THEY WERE. SO WE CAME INTO MILLERTON, CAME AROUND THERE, JUST BENT DOWN AND SAW THE TRAIN JUST LEAVING THE STATION SO I JUST SAT ON THE TELEPHONE, I MEAN JUST SAT ON THE HORN. EH, JUST KEPT IT GOING. I COULDN’T GET TO THE TRAIN BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY CARS PARKED.

MH: YES.

ED: SO, I WENT UP ON THE SIDEWALK. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO ONE WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK. AND IT WASN’T TOO DEEP, HEAVY A CURB. WENT DOWN THE SIDEWALK, STELL WITH MY HORN BLOWING SO THEN I GOT RIGHT CLOSE TO THE TRAIN AND THEY STOPPED.

MH: OH, THEY DID STOP.

ED: THEY LET THEM IN. LATER, DR. DAMON CALLED ME UP AND SAID “YOU SAVED A LADY’S LIFE”.

MH: OH! WELL, THAT MADE YOU FEELGOOD! I THINK, FROM OTHER STORIES I’VE HEARD YOU TELL ABOUT DRIVING AROUND, I THINK YOU WERE VERY COURAGEOUS. (LAUGH) FOR EXAMPLE, DRIVING THE CHILDREN TO SCHOOL.

ED: I HAD A TWO DOOR CHEVY AND I STARTED IN DRIVING JUST ONE BOY FROM FALLS VILLAGE, JOHNNY NEWMAN, WHO NOW I BELIEVE IS A JUDGE HERE IN LAKEVILLE, IN AH., HARTFORD. JOHN NEWMAN. THEN EVERY YEAR IT GOT MORE AND MORE ‘TIL THE LAST TWO YEARS I WAS PICKING UP ELEVEN CHILDREN IN MY TWO DOOR CHEVY. THE LAST TWO WERE THE BECKET’S WHO HAD ONLY ABOUT A MILE AND A HALF MILE TO GO. I CALLED IT MY THREE DECKER SANDWICH. IT WAS ONE THING I KNOW THAT THEY COULDN’T OPEN UP THE DOOR AND FALL OUT BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE BACK SEAT AND IT WAS JUST A TWO DOOR. AND, I DID THAT FOR SEVEN YEARS.

MH: UH HUH. THAT’S A LONG TIME AND IT’S A VERY COUR AGEOUS THING TO DO.

ED: WELL, IT WAS FOOL-HARDY, REALLY, BUT MY…..

 

PAGE 16

MH: WELL, NOTHING HAPPENED…

ED: NOTHING HAPPENED….

MH: THE GOOD LORD WAS WATCHING OVER YOU.

ED: THE INSURANCE MAN KNEW IT, HE WAS MY BROTHER-IN-LAW: HE KNEW I WAS DOING IT.

MH: BUT HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING.

ED: I DIDN’T TAKE ANY MONEY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

MH: NO, NO. THEN THESE WERE DAY STUDENTS.

ED: THEY WERE DAY STUDENTS. BY THEN BILL DOOLITTLE WAS THERE AND HE STARTED TAKING DAY STUDENTS AND GIRLS. WE HAD NEVER HAD GIRLS BEFORE.

MH: OH. OH. SO, YOU TOOK GIRLS A LONG TIME BEFORE SOME OF THE PREP SCHOOLS WERE TAKING THEM.

ED: THAT’S RIGHT…

MH: WHERE DID MOST OF THESE….UM….NO….INDIAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL STARTED AT WHAT GRADE LEVEL?

ED: WHEN I FIRST WENT, IT STARTED AT FIRST GRADE. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, AS BOARDERS. AND WENT THROUGH THE EIGHTH. THEN THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL STARTED TOWN HILL SCHOOL WHICH WENT FROM THE FIRST TO THE FOURTH. SO WE LOPED OFF OUR FIRST GRADES.

MH: I SEE.

ED: AND STARTED WITH THE FIFTH AND ADDED A NINTH GRADE.

MH: OH, I SEE. YOU WENT FROM FIFTH TO NINTH. SUPPOSE THERE WERE STUDENTS WHO QUALIFIED AND PARENTS WHO WISHED THEM TO GO TO EITHER HOTCHKISS OR SALISBURY. WHAT DID THEY DO? DID THEY LEAVE INDIAN MOUNTAIN AFTER THE EIGHTH GRADE, BECAUSE THOSE TWO STARTED IN THE NINTH.

ED: THAT STILL EXISTS. A NUMBER OF OUR EIGHTH GRADERS LEAVE. BUT, OTHERS HAVE GONE AND JUMPED A YEAR INTO HOTCHKISS OR SALISBURY.

MH: I SEE.

 

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ED: BUT A GOOD MANY LEAVE AT THE END OF THE EIGHTH GRADE. BUT NOT THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE.

MH: WHEN BILL DOOLITTLE WAS INTERVIEWED, HE SPOKE OF THE SCHOOLS AND THE STUDENTS, HE WAS VERY PROUD OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF INDIAN MOUNTAIN’S STUDENTS.

ED: GOOD! WELL, HOTCHKISS SCHOOL, I REMEMBER WHEN THEY DEDICATED DOOLITTLE BUILDING THERE, CONNIE DOOLITTLE, THAT WAS BILL’S WIFE, WAS VERY ILL WITH CANCER AND THAT WAS HER LAST PUBLIC APPEARANCE. BUT THE HEADMASTER OF HOTCHKISS SCHOOL JUST GAVE HER A GLOWING ACCLAIM. HE SAID “WE KNOW THAT THE BOYS COMING FROM INDIAN MOUNTAIN UNDER CONNIE DOOLITTLE ARE BETTER PREPARED THAN ANY OTHER’S THAT WE GET HERE AT HOTCHKISS SCHOOL”.

MH: OH, SHE WAS ASSOCIATAED WITH INDIAN MOUNTAIN ALSO?

ED: CONNIE HAD BEEN A TEACHER THERE AT THE TIME WHEN BILL HAD GOTTEN HIS DIVORCE FROM SUE DOOLITTLE, WHO LATER, MARRIED RALPH INGERSOLL. CONNIE FELL IN LOVE WITH BILL AND HE WAS IN LOVE WITH HER. SO, THEY WERE MARRIED AFTER HE CAME BACK FROM THE WAR.

MH: I SEE.

ED: AFTER SUE TRIED DESPERATLY TO GET HIM BACK, SHE USED TO COME. (LAUGH) CONNIE WAS AN EXCELLENT TEACHER. THEY RETIRED IN ’70, 1970. WELL, THEY DID TAKE A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD. FACULTY AND PARENTS GAVE THEM MONEY FOR A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD.

MH: ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL!

ED: THEY HAD A WONDERFUL TIME.

MH: ISN’T THAT NICE!

ED: THEN, THAT POOR GIRL, THEN SHE GOT CANCER. IT’S VERY SAD. SHE WAS FIFTEEN YEARS HIS JUNIOR.

MH: THAT’S TOO BAD. THAT’S VERY SAD. I DID NOT REALIZE THAT BOTH OF THEM WERE CONNECTED WITH THE SCHOOL IN THAT WAY. THAT’S A WONDERFUL THING.

ED: SHE WAS A WONDERFUL TEACHER.

MH: ARE THERE ANY OTHER PEOPLE OR STUDENTS OR INCIDENTS THAT YOU REMEMBER RELATING TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN?

 

PAGE 18

ED: WELL NOW, LET’S SEE…THERE WERE PLENTY.

MH: THE BUCKLEY CHILDREN ALL ATTENDED THERE DID THEY NOT?

ED: ORIGINALLY, THE BUCKLEYS HAD THEIR OWN SCHOOL. AND THEY TAUGHT THEIR PROGENY, THEY HAD PLENTY OF THEM.

MH: YES!

ED: THEN THAT WAS GIVEN UP AND THEN THEY STARTED IN AT INDIAN MOUNTAIN. WE HAD JANE BUCKLEY-SMITH’S CHILDREN AND WE HAD OTHER BUCKLEY’S. WE HAD A LOT OF THEM. THEY WERE THE CREAM OF THE LOT!

MH: OH, REALLY?

ED: WE HAD A JOB NOT GIVING OUR HIGHEST PRIZE TO ALL THE BUCKLEYS AND THE SMITHS, AND SO FORTH, BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT ONLY BRILLIANT, BUT AWFULLY NICE! A LOT OF OUR PRIZES HAD A LOT TO DO NOT ONLY WITH BRAINS, BUT WITH PEOPLE THAT WERE, HAD WONDERFUL GIFTS.

MH: YES, YES.

ED: THEY WERE A FINE BUNCH OF CHILDREN.

MH: YES, YES. THAT’S VERY INTERESTING.

ED: DID YOU NOTICE MRS. BUCKLEY HAD 93 PROGENY. THE ONE THAT JUST DIED LAST SUNDAY. MRS. BUCKLEY.

MH: OH, I DID NOT REALIZE SHE HAD PASSED AWAY.

ED: YES, SHE DIED SUNDAY MORNING.

MH: OH!

ED: YES. THE PAPER SAID SHE HAD 93 PROGENY, 33 WERE GREAT- GRANDCHILDREN.

MH: ISN’T THAT MARVELOUS!

ED: ISN’T THAT SOMETHING!

MH: THAT CERTAINLY IS WONDERFUL!

ED: YEAH.

 

PAGE 19

MH: WELL, I MEANT TO ASK YOU, GETTING BACK TO LAKEVILLE ITSELF, AND THE TIME YOU LIVED HERE, WHEN YOUR FATHER WAS MINISTER. ARE THERE ANY SPEICAL EVENTS THAT OCCURRED THAT YOU MIGHT REMEMBER? NOW, YOU WERE HERE AT THE TIME OF LINDBERG’S FLIGHT. HAVING LIVED ON LONG ISLAND I KNOW MANY PEOPLE REMEMBED THAT VIVIDLY. DID PEOPLE TAKE NOTICE OF THINGS LIKE THAT?

ED: WELL, TO TELL THE TRUTH, THAT WAS 1927,1 THINK.

MH: RIGHT.

ED: I WAS AT OBERLIN. OF COURSE, AT OBERLIN WE ALL DID! IT WAS VERY THRILLING. NOW I WAS IN LAKEVILLE AT THE TIME THE LINDBERG BABY WAS KIDNAPPED. IT WAS VERY STRANGE; I WAS TYPING A STORY FOR A LADY THAT LIVED AT WAKE ROBIN. NOBODY WAS HOME, AND I WAS EATING MY LUNCH. I TURNED ON THE RADIO AND I HEARD THE SAME, ABOUT A BABY BEING KIDNAPPED, IT JUST SOUNDED JUST LIKE THE STORY I WAS WRITING.

MH: OH, REALLY.

ED: I THOUGHT ISN’T THIS STRANGE, AND I LISTENED TO IT AND DISCOVERED IT WAS THE LINDBERG BABY.

MH: YOU DID A LOT OF TYPING FOR PEOPLE.

ED: A LOT.

MH: YES.

ED: I TYPED FOR, WELL I TYPED FOR THE WRIGHTS FOR FIFTEEN YEARS OR SO, TYPED ABOUT TWENTY OF MRS. WRIGHTS BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, YOU KNOW.

MH: WHAT WAS HER FULL NAME?

ED: EDITH LAMONT MEADOWCROFT.

MH: OH, YES, WELL I KNOW HER BY THAT NAME.

ED: DO YOU?

MH: I DIDN’T KNOW HER MARRIED NAME

ED: DO YOU REALLY?

MH: WELL, I KNOW OF HER.

ED: OH, YEAH. OH, SHE WAS LOVELY.

 

PAGE 20

MH: YES.

ED: ALL HER BOOKS MADE ME FEEL SO PATRIOTIC.

MH: OH, YES SHE DID.

ED: BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL …

MH: HISTORICAL.

ED: HISTORY.

MH: YES.

ED: ON INDIAN TRAILS WITH DANIEL BOONE, DAVEY CROCKETT. ON EGYPT, SHE WROTE, BECAUSE HER FIRST HUSBAND, MR. MEADOWCROFT WAS AN EGYPTOLOGIST.

MH: OH, YEAH. I THINK THERE WAS ANOTHER AUTHOR THAT YOU SAID YOU TYPED FOR.

ED: WILLIAM ALLEN NIELSON, THE EX PRESIDENT OF SMITH COLLEGE, I TYPED FOR HIM UP ON TOP OF, I WAS GOING TO SAY DIBBLE HILL, IN FALLS VILLAGE….OH WELL, NEVER MIND.

MH: WASN’T THERE AN AUTHOR WHO LIVED ON ASLYUM ROAD.

ED: WHERE IS ASLYUM ROAD?

MH: ASLYUM ROAD, DOWN, DOWN HERE OFF OF WELLS HILL. OLD ASLYUM ROAD THEY CALLED IT. I DON’T, I CAN’T RECALL HIS NAME RIGHT NOW MYSELF. HE WROTE HISTORICAL FICTION ALSO. WELL, I GUESS I HAVE IT WRONG, I THOUGHT MAYBE YOU HAD TYPED FOR HIM ALSO. (Thomas Costain Ed.)

ED: I DID TYPE FOR A FAMOUS COMMERCIAL ARTIST, PETER HELCK, WHO LIVES AT BOSTON CORNERS NOW. HE’S IN HIS NINETY’S.

MH: OH REALLY, PETER HELD?

ED: H-E-L-C-K.

MH: OH, C-K

ED: HE HAD, OH; HE HAD A LOT OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE SATURDAY EVENING POST AND THINGS LIKE THAT. ALL OF CARS, RACES THAT HE DID IN FRANCE AND ITALY. FOLLOWED. HE WOULD GO OVER THERE EVERY YEAR TO THESE FAMOUS RACES, HE WOULD WRITE THEM UP AND HE HAS PAINTINGS OF THEM, HUNDREDS OF

 

PAGE 21

THEM. HE WROTE THIS BOOK CALLED “THE CHECKERED FLAG”. AND 1 TYPED THAT FOR HIM. SOLD FOR FIFTY DOLLARS WAY BACK, THAT WAS YEARS AGO. ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. OR MAYBE THREE YEARS AGO, HE WROTE ANOTHER BOOK, WHICH IS A GREAT BIG BOOK; IT SELLS FOR ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. HE ASKED ME IF I WOULD TYPE IT, AND I HAD RETIRED BY THEN AND I SAID “OH, PLEASE PETER, NO!” .(LAUGH) I HAD KIND OF RETIRED.

MH: YES, YES.

ED: AN AWFUL NICE MAN.

MH: YES. YOU HAD MENTIONED BOSTON CORNERS. HAS…THAT SEEMS TO BE A VERY SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN NOW.

ED: YES

MH: WAS IT THAT WAY WHEN YOU FIRST CAME HERE TO LAKEVILLE?

ED: I THINK SO. WHERE HE LIVES IS ON A FARM. HE HAS BARNS. IN THAT BARN, I THINK HE STILL HAS, THIS 1907 CAR. IT MUST BE WORTH, I DON’T KNOW, THIRTY THOUSAND OR SOMETHING. IT WAS A CAR HE SAW A RACE IN 1907, WITH THIS CAR TAKING PART. I THINK IT”S A FIAT, B UT SOMEBODY ELSE SAID “NO, IT ISN’T A FIAT’. BUT ANYWAY, HE SAID, HE WAS JUST A YOUNG BOY THEN, AND HE SAID “SOMEDAY I’M GOING TO OWN THAT CAR”. AND HE OWNS IT!

MH: OH, THAT’S QUITE A HOBBY! WELL, ARE THEY ANY OTHER THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT I DIDN’T THINK TO ASK ABOUT?

ED: WELL, IT WAS MY FATHER THAT BROUGHT THE FIRST TORNADO TO LAKEVILLE

MH: OH!

ED: DID I EVER TELL YOU ABOUT THAT?

MH: YES, I THINK YOU DID, NOW TELL US ON THE TAPE.

ED: HE WENT, ONE DAY HE WENT DOWN TO TOM WAGNER’S OFFICE WHERE HE HAD HIS INSURANCE AND SAID “I WANT TO TAKE THE CLAUSE ABOUT TORNADO OUT OF MY INSURANCE”. I DON’T KNOW WHETHER TOM GAVE HIM A REDUCTION OR WHAT. BECAUSE HE SAID “WE’VE NEVER HAD TORNADOES HERE IN LAKEVILLE”. SO, TOM WAGNER SAYS “OK” SO, HE TOOK IT OFF. THE VERY NEXT DAY FATHER HAD TO GO TO GOSHEN. NEW YORK TO SPEAK FOR THEY HAD THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE CHURCH, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. THEY CAME BACK AND FOUND OUT LAKEVILLE HAD HAD ITS FIRST TORNADO. AND, HE SAID IT WAS HEADED RIGHT TOWARDS HIS HOUSE. DR. NOBLE, LIVED JUST TWO DOORS DOWN, AND HE HAD JUST HAD TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF WORK DONE ON HIS TREES SO EVERYTHING, AND IT

 

PAGE 22

JUST LOPED THE TOPS OF ALL THOSE TREES OFF.

MH: OH, MY!

ED: IT HEADED RIGHT TOWARD FATHER’S HOUSE. FATHER HAD A ROOMER STAYING AT THE HOUSE. SHE SAID IT SOUNDED TO HER AS IF THERE WAS JUST A FREIGHT TRAIN COMING RIGHT AT HER. HORRIBLE NOISE. ALL IT DID WAS KNOCK A GERANIUM OFF THE PORCH. THE HILL BEHIND THE HOUSE SAVED IT. BUT IT WENT RIGHT UP THE TOP OF THE HILL AND DID A LOT OF DAMAGE UP THERE.

MH: I SEE.

ED: SO FATHER WENT BACK TO MR. WAGNER THE NEXT DAY AND SAID “YOU BETTER PUT THAT CLAUSE BACK IN AGAIN!”

MH: WHAT YEAR WAS THIS?

ED: GOLLY, I WISH I KNEW!

MH: WAS THIS WHILE HE WAS STILL MINISTER HERE OR HAD HE RETIRED?

ED: NO, IT WAS AFTER HE RETIRED. HE RETIRED IN 1945. PROBABLY SOMETIME IN THE 50’S

MH: SO THE HOUSE YOU ARE SPEAKING OF IS THE ONE IN WHICH YOU NOW LIVE.

ED: THAT’S RIGHT.

MH: AND THE HILLIS…

ED: WHEN HE DIED, HE LEFT THE

MH: IS THE ONE THAT GOES UP TO UH….

ED: LINCOLN CITY ROAD

MH: LINCOLN CITY ROAD, YES.

ED: IT CERTAINLY DID SEEM AS IF IT WAS HEADED TO TAKE HIS HOUSE, BUT THE HILL, I THINK, WAS WHAT SAVED IT.

MH: WELL, THAT’S UNUSUAL.

ED: WELL, WE’VE HAD TORNADO’S SINCE THEN.

MH: WE HAVE. YES, YES.

 

PAGE 23

ED: BUT THAT’S THE FIRST ONE THAT ANYBODY HAD REMEMBERED HAD COME TO LAKEVILLE.

MH: I GUESS HE REINSTATED IT IN HIS INSURANCE.

ED: (LAUGHING) HE SURE DID!

MH: ….AND LEFT IT. (LAUGHTER)

MH: NOW, EVELYN, YOU SAY YOU WERE ACQUAINTED WITH A WANDA LANDOWSKA. WHO LIVED HERE? DID SHE LIVE HERE AS A PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR…

ED: NO…

MH: SUMMER? SHE HAD BEEN IN LAKEVILLE.

ED: SHE HAD COME OVER FROM PARIS AND THEN HAD LIVED IN NEW YORK A WHILE GIVING CONCERTS IN NEW YORK, AND THEN CAME UP HERE JUST TO LIVE.

MH: AND SHE IS A HARPISICORDIST?

ED: SHE WAS A HARPISICORDIST, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS IN THE WORLD. SHE WAS THE ONE THAT BROUGHT THE HARPISCORD BACK TO MUSIC. SORT OF DIED AWAY, NOW SINCE THEN THE HARPISCORD HAS GOT TO BE QUITE ACTIVE IN CONCERTS AND THINGS.

MH: IN WHAT CAPACITY DID YOU KNOW HER? AS A FRIEND? ACQUAINTANCE?

ED: WELL, FATHER HAD ONE OF HER PUPILS AS A ROOMER AT HIS HOUSE.

MH: OH, I SEE.

ED: BUT THE REASON I HAD MET HER ONE DAY. I HAD SEEN HER PICTURE IN THE 1924 MAGAZINE. SO I MET HER ON THE STREET ON DAY AND I SAID “YOU MUST BE MADAM LANDOWSKA” AND SHE SAID, “YES”, SHE SAID “HOW DID YOU KNOW?” AND I SAID “WELL, BECAUSE OF THE PICTURE IN THE ETUDE IN 1924”. AND, SHE USED TO WALK A GREAT DEAL. SHE EVEN USED TO PICK UP STICKS BECAUSE WHERE THEY CAME FROM; THE SLIGHTEST STICK WAS SAVED, IN FRANCE. SHE USED TO SOMETIMES PICK UP STICKS OUT OF HABIT AND TAKE THEM HOME. WELL, SHE LIVED IN THE BIG HOUSE JUST BEYOND WHAT WAS THE GATEWAY.

MH: I SEE.

ED: ONLY I THINK BY THE TIME SHE CAME TO TOWN, THE GATEWAY WAS GONE. SHE GAVE LESSONS AND SHE RECORDED THERE. A LOT OF HER RECORDS ARE RECORDED THERE. SHE HAS THREE HARPISCORDS I BELIEVE THERE. AND ONE OF THEM HAD

 

PAGE 24

QUITE A STORY. DURING THE WAR, WHEN SHE HAD A HER SALON OUTSIDE OF PARIS IN SAINTE LO IT WAS CALLED, SAINTE LO. THE GERMANS TOOK IT OVER AND SHE HAD TO ESCAPE. SHE AND DENISE RESTOUT AND HER COOK HAD TO ESCAPE PRACTICALLY FOR THEIR LIVES. THE GERMANS THAT TOOK IT OVER WERE TO SEND, WERE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS TO SEND ALL THESE HARPISCORDS TO GERMANY. BUT IT JUST HAPPENED THAT ONE OF THEM HAD BEEN A PUPIL OF WANDA’S, HE KNEW HOW THIS PARTICULAR HARPISICORD WAS JUST HER LIFE. WITHOUT LETTING ANYBODY KNOW HE GOT IT SENT TO THE UNITED STATES SO, NOW IT’S IN THE HOUSE IN LAKEVILLE.

MH: ISN’T THAT INTERESTING! IS SHE STILL LIVING?

ED: NO, SHE DIED A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO. BUT, HER PUPIL, DENISE RESTOUT IS STILL LIVING AND STILL GIVES HARPISICORD LESSONS.

MH: FROM THAT HOUSE?

ED: YES. AND DENISE, AFTER WANDA DIED, SHE HAD ALMOST FINISHED A BOOK CALLED “LANDOWSKA AND MUSIC” THAT SHE WROTE WITH THE HELP WITH ONE OF THE HOTCHKISS MASTERS, (ROBERT HOSKINS), WHO HELPED WITH THE ENGLISH CAUSE SHE, WAS OF COURSE, WAS FRENCH. DENISE GOT THAT BOOK PUBLISHED. THAT, INCIDENTILLY, IS THE HOUSE WHERE SINCLAIR LEWIS USED TO LIVE, BUT NOT FOR LONG. HE AND HIS CHAUFFER LIVED THERE. I’VE OFTEN WONDERED WHETHER DOROTHY THOMPSON, WHO WAS ONE OF MY FATHER’S FAVORITE, HE USED TO ALWAYS READ DOROTHY THOMPSON, WHETHER SHE EVER CAME HERE TO LIVE WITH HIM OR WHETHER THEY SEPARATED THEN OR NOT.

MH: I SEE, I SEE. WE’VE HAD A LOT OF FAMOUS PEOPLE…

ED: OH, WE HAVE…

MH: IN LAKEVILLE, AND I GUESS AND STILL DO.

ED: YES (LAUGHTER)

END OF TAPE.