Beautiful bright cool day. To Church & Sunday School. Took little walk in P.M. also nap. To Epworth League. Good service. Doris Smith and Gertrude Anthony lead. Walked around to Central Park etc. To bed 11:30 P.M.
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I haven't nailed down Doris Smith just yet, but I think Gertrude Anthony was an 18-year-old girl who lived in Schenectady with her family at 11 Spruce St in 1920, about 2.6 miles from the Clossons. Her father was a bookkeeper with GE.
Saturday, June 28, 1919
Beautiful bright day. Helped Father. Went down town etc. In P.M. Kappa Sigma Pi and Phi Beta Pi went on outing at Ballston Lake. Fine time played ball etc. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful.
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As I explained earlier, Kappa Sigma Pi is the religious organization that is also known as the Knights of Saint Paul. What Phi Beta Pi is, I'm still not sure. There was a Medical Fraternity of that name at the time, but no record of a chapter at Union College or Albany Medical College. It could be the group, though I can't help thinking it is somehow affiliated with KSP. In the book about Kappa Sigma Pi there is mention of a religious organization named Phi Alpha Pi, but none by the name Phi Beta Pi. Well, maybe Stanford will clarify at some point.
Ballston Lake is the name of a town not far from Schenectady and of the lake located in the town. Below is an excerpt from a Wikipedia article about it. It seems kind of an interesting place:
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As I explained earlier, Kappa Sigma Pi is the religious organization that is also known as the Knights of Saint Paul. What Phi Beta Pi is, I'm still not sure. There was a Medical Fraternity of that name at the time, but no record of a chapter at Union College or Albany Medical College. It could be the group, though I can't help thinking it is somehow affiliated with KSP. In the book about Kappa Sigma Pi there is mention of a religious organization named Phi Alpha Pi, but none by the name Phi Beta Pi. Well, maybe Stanford will clarify at some point.
Ballston Lake is the name of a town not far from Schenectady and of the lake located in the town. Below is an excerpt from a Wikipedia article about it. It seems kind of an interesting place:
Early settlers in this area feared attacks from Mohawks, who already inhabited the region and who resented the establishment of European buildings on their sacred grounds. One of Ballston's historic sites is Indian Rock, a large boulder where Mohawk tribesmen reputedly took white captives (children, in some cases) to torture and kill them.
Ballston Lake, a narrow, 3.7-mile (6.0 km)-long lake with a maximum depth of 120 feet (37 m) in the south of the region, was called "Shanantaha" by natives. It was known to early white settlers as Long Lake. The lake was part of the Mohawk River during the glacial age and archeological digs have unearthed artifacts indicating settlement around the lake as early as 3,500 BCE.
For a long time the depth of Ballston Lake was not determined, due to the multiple caves that prevented divers from going to the bottom. There has been an artifact found that is dated 2000 B.C. It is also believed that a lake monster exists within one of the hundreds of caves. That is called by the natives Big Tim and has been spotted by multiple people.
Friday, June 27, 1919
Cloudy with rain in middle of day. To country place to work in garden. Place looks fine. Quite a hard rain. Greased Hudson and Ford. Up to Merris's and around town. To bed 11:10 P.M. Thankful for health, education etc.
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I guess after their few days away, Stanford (and maybe his father) had to check the country place and catch up on the gardening.
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I guess after their few days away, Stanford (and maybe his father) had to check the country place and catch up on the gardening.
Thursday, June 26, 1919
Cloudy and rainy. Helped Father with business etc. Candled eggs in A.M. and P.M. Up to Merris's house to Marion Benedict's, Merlyn Finch etc. Home 10:30 P.M. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful.
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Marion Benedict is of course the future Mrs. Hanford Hillman Closson. Stanford doesn't indicate the nature of his relationship to her (or Hanford's, for that matter), but it's certainly interesting to speculate how well he and Hanford knew Miss Benedict at this time. When did they all meet? Maybe someone reading this knows.
In 1910, Marion and her brother Clifford lived with their parents Joseph and Alice Benedict at 424 Summit Avenue in Schenectady. Her father was a machinist for GE at the time. By 1920, other than their address (by then it was 630 Hamilton Street) nothing had changed but their ages. The Clossons lived about a mile from 630 Hamilton Street, where the Benedicts may have been living in 1919.
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Marion Benedict is of course the future Mrs. Hanford Hillman Closson. Stanford doesn't indicate the nature of his relationship to her (or Hanford's, for that matter), but it's certainly interesting to speculate how well he and Hanford knew Miss Benedict at this time. When did they all meet? Maybe someone reading this knows.
In 1910, Marion and her brother Clifford lived with their parents Joseph and Alice Benedict at 424 Summit Avenue in Schenectady. Her father was a machinist for GE at the time. By 1920, other than their address (by then it was 630 Hamilton Street) nothing had changed but their ages. The Clossons lived about a mile from 630 Hamilton Street, where the Benedicts may have been living in 1919.
Wednesday, June 25, 1919
Beautiful hot day. Up 6 A.M. Took breakfast at Perkins. Left Potsdam 8 A.M. Drove 258 miles home thru the Adirondacks. Fine trip. Arrived home 8:40 P.M. To bed 12 P.M. Thankful.
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Well, I may have finally found out something about Perkins. In the January 29, 1919 Potsdam newspaper I came across an ad for someone to work at a Perkins Boarding House, primarily in the kitchen. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the boarding house, owned by Mr. & Mrs. Perkins, was there in Potsdam for many years. This may be the Perkins where the Clossons ate two breakfasts. It may also have been where they stayed, but there's no way to know for sure without some indication of it from the diary.
Anyway, here is a story published May 22, 2013 (my birthday!) in the Oswego County paper that tells a little bit about the boarding house and its owners:
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Well, I may have finally found out something about Perkins. In the January 29, 1919 Potsdam newspaper I came across an ad for someone to work at a Perkins Boarding House, primarily in the kitchen. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the boarding house, owned by Mr. & Mrs. Perkins, was there in Potsdam for many years. This may be the Perkins where the Clossons ate two breakfasts. It may also have been where they stayed, but there's no way to know for sure without some indication of it from the diary.
Anyway, here is a story published May 22, 2013 (my birthday!) in the Oswego County paper that tells a little bit about the boarding house and its owners:
POTSDAM, NY – Tabatha Svereika of Hannibal, a senior majoring in aeronautical engineering and mechanical engineering at Clarkson University, received the following award at the University Recognition Day ceremony during the spring semester: The Perkins Family Memorial Award. Begun in the 1960s, this award recognizes the influence and support of the Perkins family. This family owned a boarding house that was located on the current site of the Newman Center in Potsdam. The Perkins family employed many Clarkson students in exchange for their board. The family was also known for loaning money to needy students, enabling them to complete their education. The award is now presented annually to deserving work-study students.Another piece in a Potsdam paper tells of one of the Perkins' two daughters:
1964: Nov. 19thIn the 1920 census, devoted Anna was listed as single, her occupation servant. Perhaps she was the one who waited on the Clossons in June of 1919.
Miss. Anna J. Perkins, 88, died. She was born Dec. 8th, 1875. Daughter of Ralph and Merian (Matthews) Perkins of Potsdam, NY. She assisted her mother in running the Perkins Boarding House. Her only survivors are cousins.
Tuesday, June 24, 1919
Beautiful bright day. Breakfast at Perkins. Up 7:30 A.M. Commencement exercises at 10 A.M. Fine address etc. Drove to Ogdensburg. In Canada for 15 minutes at Prescott. Sat around at night. To bed 12 P.M.
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I'm curious about the place called Perkins where they had breakfast. Is it a restaurant or cafe? John and I established it is not the Perkins restaurant we have now. But I couldn't find it, so I'll have to continue to wonder.
Ruth's commencement was held in the auditorium of the brand new Potsdam Normal School building that had at the time not yet been opened for classes. (It would be in the fall.) Below is a picture of the auditorium, and the building it was in.
Both pictures came from the book State University of New York at Potsdam, published in 2011.
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I'm curious about the place called Perkins where they had breakfast. Is it a restaurant or cafe? John and I established it is not the Perkins restaurant we have now. But I couldn't find it, so I'll have to continue to wonder.
Ruth's commencement was held in the auditorium of the brand new Potsdam Normal School building that had at the time not yet been opened for classes. (It would be in the fall.) Below is a picture of the auditorium, and the building it was in.
Monday, June 23, 1919
Up 5:45 A.M. Started from Holland Patent 6:45 A.M. Drove 124 miles. Arrived in Potsdam 1:45 P.M. Beautiful bright day. Drove to Parishill etc. To recital at opera house 8 P.M. Ruth sang well. Walked around town. Stayed at Bonney's. To bed 11:15 P.M.
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In trying to determine where was the opera house where Ruth had her recital, I came up with the first civic center, built in 1875. It apparently served multiple purposes in the town until 1934, when it was condemned. According to Potsdam Museum web site, the Town Hall and Opera House, as it is named in the photo,
I tried to determine who the Bonneys were, but was unable to come up with any people or place that would match.
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In trying to determine where was the opera house where Ruth had her recital, I came up with the first civic center, built in 1875. It apparently served multiple purposes in the town until 1934, when it was condemned. According to Potsdam Museum web site, the Town Hall and Opera House, as it is named in the photo,
was the scene for Normal graduations, plays, musicals, lectures, home talent shows. One outstanding feature of the auditorium was its perfect acoustic properties and architects came from Boston and other cities trying to find the reason. No one ever found the secret.Here is a picture of the building:
I tried to determine who the Bonneys were, but was unable to come up with any people or place that would match.
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