Sepia Saturday #29 - Hastings Family

Last week I posted a few amusing pictures of the Harry Hastings family enjoying an afternoon at their beach house. This week I dug deep into the photo archives to come up with more on the Hastings and the beginning of that family.

Here we have a Souvenir List from a European cruise in 1894, upon the Cunard Steamer "Umbria", where my maternal great grandparents met for the first time. Listed member, Miss Margaret Watrous of Wellesboro Pennsylvania is my great grandmother, and Mr. H. L. Hastings of Worcester, Massachusetts is my great grandfather.

The young couple -

Harry Leander Hastings

4-19-1875/10-26-1946

Margaret Isabelle (Smith) Watrous Hastings

12-8-1872/3-15-1950

This photo shows Harry & Margaret leaving on their honeymoon on October 20, 1898.

Harry & Margaret made their home at 23 Westland Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, the same city in which Harry ran the family business, "The L. A. Hastings Co.-Fine Harness & Leather Goods".  Photo circa: early 1900's.

Harry & Margaret had five children:

Frances Watrous, Sept. 21, 1899-May 25, 1994;

Twins, Elizabeth Lucy & Gerald Leander, August 20, 1903

Gerald died Feb. 18, 1947 - Elizabeth died Oct. 6, 1965

Martha Watrous, March 4, 1905-May 20, 1980

Harry Leander Hastings, Jr., Jan. 12, 1912-Dec. 24, 1938

Shown here are three generations of Hastings men, circa 1905:

Leander Augustus Hastings

Harry Leander Hastings

Gerald Leander Hastings

I love the caption written on this photo dated August 1905, "In the good old summertime".  Showing the twins, Elizabeth & Gerald and eldest daughter Frances, with the nurse/nanny.

Circa apprx. 1908-1910

(The above photo was taken before Harry Jr. was born)

Sepia Saturday #28Its Summertime!Head to the Beach House!

My great grandparents owned a "Summer Cottage" at Sagamore Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts that they called "Two-Ways" as it had a fabulous view of the bay on one side, and lovely gardens on the other.  Each year they would pack up and leave their city home in Worcester for fun in the sun!  This family home was sold in the 1950's.

The photo below shows what might be a Sunday afternoon gathering, after a round of golf by the men -note that the attire doesn't quite seem beach appropriate- and they were entertaining a special guest. The approximate date is unknown, but through family birthdates I would guess this to be early 1930's.

They all seem very proper, although I notice that my great grandfather (on the far left), is glancing at Albert's shoes and smiling...

This one shows them all having a great laugh as Albert shows off his stylish shoes... high heels, seriously?

And then they all relax, after having a good chuckle...

L.to R.: Harry Leander Hastings, Martha Watrous Hastings, Bertha May Hastings, Margaret Isabelle Watrous Hastings, and family friend, Albert Hyde.

©2010 All photographs from the family archives, property of Janice Stiles-Boults.

Sepia Saturday #27Wedding Day

Remembering my parents

on their wedding day, June 12, 1943

Southfield, Massachusetts

My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary

June 12, 1993

In loving memory

Martha Louise Cook Stiles

8/28/1923-12/31/1994

Henry Raymond "Bud" Stiles

7/7/1920-5/11/2009

Sepia Saturday #26The Great New EnglandHurricane of 1938

From the family archives - photographs of the damage from the Great New England Hurricane of September 1938. Taken by my great grandfather, Howard Augustus Cook, in and around the Village of Southfield, Town of New Marlborough, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, New England! 

From Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia:

"The New England Hurricane of 1938 (or Great New England Hurricane or Long Island Express or simply The Great Hurricane of 1938) was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The storm formed near the coast of Africa in September of the 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on September 21. The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.7 billion in 2009 dollars).  In 1951, damaged trees and buildings were still to be seen in the affected areas. To date it remains the most powerful, costliest and deadliest hurricane in New England history."

Massachusetts

The eye of the storm followed the Connecticut River north into Massachusetts, where the winds and flooding killed 99 people. In Springfield, the river rose to 6 to 10 feet above flood stage, causing significant damage. Up to six inches of rain fell across western Massachusetts, which combined with over four inches that had fallen a few days earlier produced widespread flooding. Residents of Ware were stranded for days and relied on air-dropped food and medicine. After the flood receded, the town's Main Street was a chasm in which sewer pipes could be seen.

To the east, the surge left Falmouth and New Bedford under eight feet of water. Two-thirds of all the boats in New Bedford harbor sank. The Blue Hills Observatory registered sustained winds of 121 mph and a peak gust of 186 mph.  The New Haven Railroad from New Haven to Providence was particularly hard hit, as countless bridges along the Shore Line were destroyed or flooded, severing rail connections to badly affected cities (such as Westerly) in the process.

Photographs ©2010 Property of Janice Stiles-Boults

Sepia Saturday #22 - "The Old Neighborhood Playhouse"

WWII Observation Tower (1940's). At the home of Palmer J. Cook, Southfield, MA. "Civil Defense efforts were largely manifested by the Defense Board and the Ground Observation Corps, a group of volunteers which, according to the New Marlborough Town Report of 1942, was headed by Palmer J. Cook, co-owner of Turner & Cook buggy whip factory in Southfield. The aircraft warning system used the structure pictured as an observation post... it was manned continuously 24 hours a day, and one of the few stations in this section of New England. It was discontinued in 1944.

The tower actually lived three lives. First as the WWII Observation Post; then it was moved just up the road where the fire department used the tower once again as an aircraft observation post... in the mid-1950's there was national concern that the US was vulnerable to atomic attack by the Soviet Union. The post's second life came to an end in 1957 when the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line system was completed and made operational.

The tower was acquired a few years later by a local resident and moved to their property on East Hill Road in Southfield. Its third and final life was a playhouse for the neighborhood children, and eventually razed in the 1980's." (Reported by David Lowman, NM 5 Village News, 2003).

A friend of mine commented on the photo: "How well I remember going up in the tower with your mom, and watching in awe as she would report what types of planes were flying over."

Another friend added this: "It was right where I built my house... it was torn down in about 1984... there wasn't much left of it, though, by then. We used to camp in it as kids, and somewhere I still have a few signs, and aircraft posters from it! Thanks, Jan... I'd love to see the video of it being moved!

©2010 Photographs property of Janice Stiles-Boults

Rest in Peace Celinda...

1965 when Celinda was born; pictured here with her great grandmother, grandmother, and mother.  4 Generations.

1991 when Celinda returned home for a visit with her baby boy Shaun; pictured here holding Shaun is his great-great grandmother, and from left, his great grandmother, grandmother and mother Celinda.  5 Generations.

In loving memory of
Celinda Louise Allyn Lockwood

3/30/1965-4/18/2010

Gone too soon my niece
We miss your strength and beauty

Angel, rest in peace.

Sepia Saturday #20 - "Steeplejack"

  

This is the Congregational Church in the village of Southfield, Town of New Marlborough, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, taken on July 31, 1926.

Last summer our church was being painted, and a big cherry-picker type machine sat in front of the church for several weeks so the painters could go up on a lift to paint the steeple.  I teased them, asking why they were not doing it 'the old fashioned way', because it would be less costly... I said with a wink, and then produced these photos for the church archives.

My great grandfather, Howard Augustus Cook (1870-1938) took these photographs when the Steeplejack came to town! 

Hope you can enlarge them to view the man at the very top.  The current painters told me there is still a large hook at the top that the Steeplejack used to attach the rope around his waist on the steeple while he painted.

Photographs property of Janice Stiles-Boults