Bi-Weekly Newsletter

​I received an interesting note from David Ames after my last newsletter dealing with ghosts and the supernatural. I am going to quote him here: “After my father died, my Mother would take long afternoon walks from her house up through Langwater and one time in the 90's she told me that while she was on her walk she had seen 2 small dogs appear from the bushes next to where the old tennis court had been behind the house. They made no sound. She did not know what breed they were, but she said they looked like the little lap dogs that had been popular around the turn of the century. When she got to where she had seen the dogs, she looked for them in the brush but they were gone.” I am still hoping to get more stories or anecdotes!
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Another story from the folklore file is called ‘Billy Rock’. This remembrance is from Furnace Village. A man known as ‘Billy’ was regularly seen getting into his little boat at Old Pond and heading out to fish. Billy Higgins worked as a moulder at Drake’s Foundry and was a veteran of the G.A.R. He was known by the author to be kind and generous. Billy loved to fish. Often. Strangely, he always stopped at a large rock that peaked above the surface of the pond on the way out and stopped once again by the same rock before returning. Sometimes his steps were a bit unsteady once he was out of the boat on the return trip. A neighbor decided to investigate the rock and found a small box weighted down by a stone. Inside the box was a bottle. In time, the rock came to be known as ‘Billy Rock’. The story was written and bound in a tiny book by George E. Hamilton of Furnace Village. A clever but somewhat transparent scheme on Billy's part. 

The small book titled Billy Rock. ​

​The Museum’s April 16th Open House was dedicated to Sheep Pasture and the NRT. Interim Curator Arielle Nathanson put together a nice, well-researched exhibit that was well attended. I’ve included some pictures 

People on the rock face at Sheep Pasture. It is much more overgrown today.

The potato cellar at Sheep Pasture. The entrance is currently barred but it wasn’t when I was young. We would dare each other to go all the way in. It was damp and creepy.

Adorable photo of two young residents of Sheep Pasture. Olivia & Elise.

Sheep Pasture was built during 1893-94. At one time sheep grazed in the meadow, hence the name. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The mansion was demolished in 1946. Mrs. Elise Ames Parker bequeathed the majority of Sheep Pasture to the Natural Resources Trust.


          When the sun caught
          A bluebird in flight 
          I breathed deep with
          The relief that is spring

 
Anne Wooster Drury
ehsnewsletter12@gmail.com
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