Thursday, September 30, 1920

Very wet. Rain more or less all day. River and creeks high. Arose 5:45 a.M. Studied. Breakfast. To College 7:45 to 12 M. Wrote letter to Nellie. Read paper. Played piano etc. To Phi Nu Theta meeting. To P.O. Ice Cream Ruth's treat. To bed 10 P.M.

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Wednesday, September 29, 1920

Beautiful bright very hot day. Arose 7 A.M. To College 7:45 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Dinner. To College. Talked at rooms with bunch. Read at College Library. Home. Supper etc. Down street. Bowled at Morse 182-143. To College Library. Read. Home. To bed 10:30 P.M. Thankful for health.

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I see his bowling scores have not suffered for his time away from it.

Tuesday, September 28, 1920

Overcast cool day. Rain at noon. Arose 6 A.M. Studied. Breakfast. To College 7:45 to 11 A.M. Home. Wrote in diary etc. Dinner. Took nap. Studied. To School after Ruth. 5 of us to Uncle Johns for visit and supper. Fine time. To Library. To bed 10:30 P.X.

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I think "School" is the school where Ruth works as an art teacher.

Monday, September 27, 1920

RAIN DURING NIGHT. Beautiful bright warm day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast etc. To College 9-1:15 P.M. Student meeting. H.H. & [I] candled eggs. Talked. Played piano etc. Ruth, H.H. Merlin & I played tennis at Riverside park. Supper. Studied etc. To bed 10 P.M.

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Sunday, September 26, 1920

Perfect bright hot day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Made toilet. To Church. Met Mr. Bussy. To S.S. Rally Day. Good exercises. With Bussy till 8 bells. Dinner. Talked etc. Cabinet meeting here. Refreshments. B and I to meet D.S.R. Around park etc. To E.L. Good meeting. Out to Reynolds. Fine visit. Walked & rode home. To bed 1:30 P.X.

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Not sure who Bussy is. I think he meant he went to bed at 1:30 A.M.

Saturday, September 25, 1920

Reoux elected president. Marvelous bright day but hot. Arose 6 A.M. Studied. To college 7:45 to 11 A.M. Got haircut. To class meeting. To bath, shaved etc. To Football game. Union 0 - Middlebury 6. Down town bowled etc. To bed 10:30 P.M. Thankful.

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Reoux was Harry A. Reoux, a fellow senior who went on to greater glory as a lawyer and later a state representative. He served in many leadership positions all his life, including Senior Class President at Union. He attended law school at Albany and ended up with his obituary in the New York Times, which was pretty prestigious. Unfortunately, he only lived to be 67. Here is the obituary as it appeared in the Times:

Friday, September 24, 1920

Marvelous bright warm day. Arose 7 A.M. To Chapel. Home to breakfast. To college 9-11 A.M. Home. Read paper etc. To Rhetoric at 2:30 P.M. Home. Candled eggs. To Uncle Johns for visit. To Phi Nu Theta Rush party. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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Back to school at last!

Thursday, September 23, 1920

Marvelous bright hot clear day. Arose 6:45 A.M. To College 7:45 A.M. to 12:30 M. Senior class meeting. Reoux Pres; Leslie Jones Vice; Goewey historian etc. Mother, Father, H.H. and I to Altamont Fair. Crowds of people and multitude of machines. Fine time. Bought suits. E.W. Mills, measured etc. To ΦΝθ meeting. Candled eggs. To bed 11 bells.

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The Altamont Fair is an Albany-Schenectady (and now Greene) joint counties fair held each year in September. I couldn't find any pictures, though.

Wednesday, September 22, 1920

Most beautiful bright warm day. Arose 7 A.M. to college 8:30 to 11 A.M. Home. Dinner etc. Played tennis with H.H. at Riverside 7-5: 7-5. To College Library to read. Down town to have watch fixed. To Public Library. Wrote letter D.S.R. To bed 10:30 P.X.

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At last, back to college! Stanford must have missed Hanford over the summer.

Tuesday, September 21, 1920

Overcast in A.M. Cleared in P.M. Arose 7 A.M. Made toilet. To college 7:45 to 11 A.M. Talked with Charles Dotter at Library. Took nap. To College to see annual scraps. Around town on errands. To Palace with Merlin & Russ. Bowled at Morse etc. To bed 11 P.M.

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Ah, it's time for the annual "scraps" again! Remember last year's? If not, see my post, September 23, 1919.

Charles Albert Dotter was listed as Russell Norris's brother in the 1915 New York census. He was born June 13, 1898 in Pennsylvania. By 1918 he was married to Helena Hogan, and working at the Glenville Rail Yards for D&H Railroad doing car repair, according to his WWI draft registration. By 1920 he had a son, Ernest, and by 1930 he had four children. He was still living in Glenville in 1940, working as a car inspector for the D&H Railroad. Looks like he died in 1959 in Santa Barbara, where his son, Ernest, also lived until he died in 1991.

D&H Railway is the Delaware and Hudson Railway.  There's a lengthy article about its history in Wikipedia, if anyone is interested in reading about it: D&H RR. It's now owned by Canadian Pacific. 

Monday, September 20, 1920

Beautiful, bright cool day. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Met D.S.R. at waiting room. Delivered milk, got grain bags etc. To Parkers Corners in dodge. Helped Mr. Reynolds thrash wheat. Fine time. Good eats etc. Home 8:30 P.M. via dodge. [picture of eye] chauffeur. Out with H.H. in evening. Bowled at Morse. To bed 11 P.M.

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Sunday, September 19, 1920

Cool, bright, windy, clear day. Arose 9 A.M. Cleaned up and dressed. To Church & S.S. Russell here to dinner. Out walking in P.M. To E.L. meeting. H.H. and Goddard led. Ruth, Merlin & I with D.S.R. to Parkers C. Fine time. Father called for us. To bed 11 P.M.

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I wonder if Parkers Corners was actually a corner where people went to "park"? And was Merlin dating Ruth? I seem to remember his granddaughter mentioning a Ruth whom he dated but didn't marry. Maybe . . . 

Saturday, September 18, 1920

Overcast warm clear day. Arose 8 A.M. Helped father load up and Hanford unpack. Studied chemistry etc. Exam 2 P.M. Humdinger. To Country place to let H.H. look around. Goewey along. Called on Grace. To social & entertainment at hall. Fine time. To bed 12 BELLS.

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Friday, September 17, 1920

Fair clear bright day but windy. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Helped father. Studied chemistry. Played piano. Read paper etc. Wrote letters. Hanford upon day boat from Asbury Park. Home 8 P.M. H.H. looking fine. Just the same in weight. Talked etc. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful for protection.

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I'm guessing it would take more than a day to go from Asbury Park to Schenectady by boat, so it's possible Hanford traveled by train to Albany, then took a boat from there by way of the Erie Canal. The picture Stanford drew looks like what could be a steamboat but it's not clear what the dark object on the right is supposed to be.

I guess Hanford's weight was an issue? Maybe he had trouble keeping weight on. That's the second reference Stanford made to it since Hanford left for the summer.

Here is a map of the Erie Canal route as it looked in 1920:

And a postcard of the canal and General Electric right beside it.

Thursday, September 16, 1920

Fair in A.M. Rain at Mid-day. Bright in P.M. again. Cool and windy at night. Arose 7:30 A.M. Father and I to country by way of Scotia. Dug 5 bbls of potatoes etc. Home. S.T. and I candled 13 cases eggs. Wrote in diary. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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I guess Stanford dug potatoes in the rain, judging by the little drawing he made depicting that activity.

Wednesday, September 15, 1920

Fair cool overcast autumn day. Arose 8 A.M. Helped father write letter to S.E.S. Studied chemistry, played piano. Talked with family etc. Out walking with eel and rat. To P.O. etc. To bed 10 P.M. Nellie OK at Mankato.

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Apparently, Nellie has arrived at Mankato, MN where she will be working.

I'm not sure who S.E.S. is.  Also, what does Stanford mean by "eel and rat"? Are they funny names for his friends? Hmmmm . . .

Tuesday, September 14, 1920

Most beautiful bright cool day. Arose 4 A.M. Took walk to City Market, Klondike, Central Park etc. Home 6:45 A.M. Read paper. Ran vacuum cleaner. Studied chemistry. Wrote letter. Wrote on typewriter. Candled eggs. Took bath, wrote in diary etc. To bed 9:30 P.M. Thankful for food.

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The place in his walk Stanford refers to as Klondike is actually the Klondike Stairs, built in 1904 to accommodate GE workers walking to work from the Pleasant Hill section of Schenectady. Here is a picture of the stairs from an old postcard:

Later, when people complained that the weather made the stairs hard to navigate, the city built the Klondike Ramp (see below, with map), but eventually the ramp fell into disrepair, was used less and less and was finally torn down. There is a website where the whole interesting story is told: Grems-Doolittle Library Collection.

I didn't know Stanford used the typewriter. I wonder what he wrote on it--a letter, perhaps? He might have had an Underwood, or one like it. The Underwood was the model typewriter of its era. Here is a picture of one, taken from a Xavier University website:

Monday, September 13, 1920

Bright hot day with heavy shower in P.M. Arose 8 A.M. Read, played piano, helped father etc. Studied chemistry. Talked with family in evening. To bed 9:30 P.M. Thankful for health, friends, opportunities etc.

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Sunday, September 12, 1920

Fair during day and hot. Very hard electrical showers in evening. Arose 8:30 A.M. To S.S. & Church. Mr. Josiah from India to dinner. Visited etc. To Uncle John's for visit. To E.L. Fine meeting. M. Benedict leader. Talked. To bed 10 P.M.

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Well, Marion Benedict is still around but doesn't seem to have a special place in the group just yet. I don't know who this Mr. Josiah from India is, but he must be associated with the Methodist mission somehow.

Saturday, September 11, 1920

Beautiful bright warm day. Rain at night. Arose 7:30 A.M. Studied some. Helped father wash Super Six. Father, Mother, Ruth, I and Clara Lavery to Center Glenville to S.S. Picnic. Fine eats and sports. To country place. Mowed lawn. To city. Out in evening with Merlin, Russ & Lew. Bowled. To Albany Th. To BED 11:15 P.M.

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Well, at last Stanford has resumed bowling! I was worried he was going to lose his edge. I'm not sure who is going to Albany Thursday, but it's not Stanford. Lew, perhaps?

I learned a bit more about Lewis Barber Larkin. He married in 1926 to Alice Maria Lachapelle, and then sometime before 1930 they moved to Detroit, where Lewis worked as a Secretary for the YMCA. I wonder if he got together with Stanford while he lived in Detroit? Maybe later we'll find out.

Friday, September 10, 1920

Very wet rainy dismal dark day. Arose 6:30 A.M. Helped shuck elderberries. Read paper. Played piano. Looked at Garnet. Studied Chemistry etc. Wrote letter etc in evening. Took walk to P.O. & around. Took bath. Shaved etc. To bed 11 P.M.

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The Garnet, as I've noted before, I think, is the Union College yearbook.

I wasn't sure what the procedure for shucking elderberries was, so I looked it up. It looks pretty tedious--they are some small berries! Here is a website that talks about all the things the writer does to get them off of their stems: Cleaning Elderberries. But this YouTube video makes it look a little easier:
Shucking Elderberries.

Thursday, September 9, 1920

Beautiful bright warm autumn day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Studied chemistry. Helped father etc. Candled eggs. Out to call on John and Anna Myers. Nice visit. Stopped off at Reynolds. Pleasant call. Walked home. To bed 1:30 A.M.

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I presume they brought the elderberries they picked for the Myers. I think Stanford is preparing for a test in chemistry, sort of like a placement test, I'm thinking.

Wednesday, September 8, 1920

Fair bright warm clear day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Father, Mother, & I to Park Site. Worked around raspberry bushes, Picked and husked corn. Mother canned 15 cans. Picked elderberries for Myers and us. Good crop of musk melons. To city. Took bath etc. To bed 10:30 P.M. Thankful.

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Well, I guess they had quite a few nice things to eat at their farm!

Tuesday, September 7, 1920

Fair clear warm close day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast. Helped father load up etc. Candled eggs. Played piano, read newspaper etc. Ruth to teachers meeting. Talked with Merlin on telephone. To bed 10 P.M. Thankful for good parents.

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I guess school hasn't started yet for Stanford. But Ruth has started teaching, apparently, though he doesn't give us any details.

Monday, September 6, 1920

Wonderful trip. Best ever taken YET. Overcast mild day. Rain in late P.M. and evening. Arose 8:30 A.M. Mess. To Coney Island etc. Nice Visit. Started for home 10:30 A.M. 25 miles thru N.Y.C. Up East side of Hudson. Nice rides. Lots of cars on road. Home 8 P.M. Total mileage 599.9. I drove about 450 M. TO BED 10 P.M.

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Here's a postcard view of Coney Island as it appeared in the 1920s:

Sunday, September 5, 1920

Beautiful bright hot day. Arose 7 A.M. Got car. Breakfast. H.H. piloted us around to see sights. Wonderful residences. Ocean quiet. To Ocean Grove Auditorium. 10,000 present. Left for Brooklyn 2 P.M. Arrived 5:30. 60 miles. First view of N.Y. Rather disappointed. Stayed over nite with cousin Will Closson. To bed 10 P.M.

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Stanford drew some funny pictures of the N.Y. sights. I'm not sure what that obelisk-shaped object is supposed to be, but I'm guessing it's a tall building. I know it's not the Empire State Building, since that wasn't built yet, but in 1920, there were other candidates, such as the Woolworth building that was 40 stories tall.

Cousin Will Closson is the famous William G. Closson of Flushing, NY who wrote the Closson Genealogy.

The Ocean Grove Auditorium is a large venue in Ocean Grove, NJ. Here is some information about it: Ocean Grove. They apparently had and still do have Sunday services there.

Here are a couple of vintage pictures:

Saturday, September 4, 1920

Wonderful clear mild day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Helped dress B. kids etc. All over to Bethlehem for ride. Thru Lehigh University etc. Started for Asbury Park 3 P.M. Arrived 8 P.M. Rough roads. Mrs. B's mother & Aunt along. 100 miles. Hanford O.K. H.H. --> 157 lbs. S.S. --> 156 lbs.

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I'm not sure why Stanford was comparing his and Hanford's weights. But they're apparently visiting Hanford in NY where he has been working for the summer. It sounds like Stanford's having fun with the Brasefields. They don't seem to be relatives, but maybe they are friends through the YMCA, where Mr. Brasefield works.

Friday, September 3, 1920

Marvelous bright warm day. Arose 5:15 A.M. Mother, Father, Ruth & I started at 6:45 A.M. for Brasefields, Easton Pa, 200 miles. Arrived there 5:30 P.M. Down west side of Hudson, Del. water gap etc. Wonderful trip. Nice visit. Ice cream in Eve. Down on board walk. Lots of excitement. Rode on ferris wheel etc. To bed 10:30 P.X.

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So, now that I know where the Brasefields live, I know that they are Lester N. Brasefield & wife Fanny, children James and Clayton. They are the ones I had guessed they were. When Ruth went "after" them back on August 16, it must have been to the train station.

That does seem to be a nice trip down to Easton, which is near Allentown and Bethlehem. Here is a map of the route they might have taken:

The green area near Newton and under the marker for Route 209 is the Delaware Water Gap, which is now a National Recreation Area. Here is a closer look:

Thursday, September 2, 1920

Beautiful bright hot clear day. Arose 8 A.M. Helped father. Filled grease cups on S.S. and got car ready for trip. To United States Army Reserve Depot at 11:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. after money. Shaved, took bath etc. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful for health, opportunities etc.

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Well, I guess the job at the Warehouse is over and he got paid. And a trip on the morrow! Life is good.

Wednesday, September 1, 1920

Pleasant bright clear day. Cooler. Arose 5 A.M. To city bag and baggage. To work at U.S.A.R.D. 7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Home. Cleaned up. Mother & Father to Center Glenville to Weaver's Anniversary. Ruth & I to call on Reynolds with Ford. Nice Visit. To bed 12 P.M.

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I wonder what anniversary it was? Perhaps it was the anniversary of the store?

Stanford drew a frowny face at the top of this entry, maybe to show he was sad to leave the country.