July 31, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 31, 1963

Wednesday, cool, 50-70’s, clear,  fair.  Boys got Earl's pump and got water from spring . I did a big wash in afternoon. Wayne and Sue went for Becky. Billie called at night.

Comment:  Must have been nearly out of water if she could not do wash until water was pumped from the spring.  Uncle Earl come through again...not sure who Becky is, Billie is Mom's Aunt and Step mother, Mildred Laraway Barber..it's complicated......Here is a picture (from left) of Grandma Bessie, Billie, her sister, and Billie's daughter Judith at the 1978 family reunion....

July 30, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries.,

July 30, 1963

Tuesday, partly cloudy, much cooler, 62 high.  wrote to Marilyn and ironed most of the day. Cleaned up the house. Mr. Smith from N.Y.S. Conservation Department came tonight for us to sign papers for the mountain.   David and Wayne got a plastic pump at Middleburgh and tried to get water pumped direct from spring to well.  Lorraine called and said she and Ina Belle wouldn’t be coming out.

Comment:  So the top of the mountain with the tower is sold to the state.  I think it was taken by eminent domain so they probably did not have a lot of choice.  The well on the front lawn quite often ran dry and we would pipe water from "The Spring Lot" with hoses.  This looks like an attempt to set up something more permanent.  Here is some other information about the tower and below it a link to the songpoem The Spring Lot performed by my son David.

.....The following is excerpted from “Fire Towers Of The Catskills, Their History And Lore”, Martin Podskoeh, Purple Mountain Press, 2000.
In 1947, the state took down the 80-foot tower that stood on Gilbert Lake State Park and rebuilt it on Hubbard Hill. The mountain is named after the Hubbard family who have owned land and farmed there since the 1800’s.

However, the state misnamed it Leonard Hill Fire Tower, after a lower hill owned by Dr. Duncan Leonard next to Hubbard Hill. 

“It wasn't supposed to be Leonard Hill,” says Frances Hubbard. “Somebody got the maps mixed up. It always bothered me.”

Fred VanAken was the first observer at the tower. He started working April 8, 1949. He and the other rangers parked at the Hubbard farm and followed a rugged trail along the telephone lines to the tower.

“About 15 years after the tower was built, the state purchased 75 acres from my parents,” said Doug Hubbard, son of Clifton and Frances Hubbard. “The state built another road to the tower on the north side of the mountain, and we hardly saw the observers after that.”

One day during the 80’s, observer Judy Merwin gazed out the tower window at the beautiful valleys and woods of Schoharie. A young couple standing next to her had hiked to the tower and were learning about the area. Judy pointed out the Majestic Catskill Mountains to the south and the fertile Schoharie Valley to the north.

In the distant they could see a single-engine plane approaching the tower. As the plane got closer, they saw that it was pulling something. The young man said to his girlfriend, “Look! It has a sign.”

The words were now visible: “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” The young woman’s eyes filled with tears. She embraced the young man with a heartfelt, “Yes.”

Here is a link to "The Spring Lot" where we used to play when children:

http://hubbardfamilymusic.blogspot.com/2011/05/spring-lot-by-gerry-hubbard-david.html

July 29, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 29, 1963

Monday, still hot and humid but not as bad a Sunday,  more wind, sunny. Sue and I took Carol to camp in am.  Ethel Haskin's funeral.  I didn’t go because so hot.  Did some sewing. Thundershowers at night.

Comment:  Ethel Bates Haskins was buried 58 years ago today.  Here are some memories of her from family in tribute to her:


From Great Aunt Ethel's Granddaughter Deb:  My mom (Joan Haskin Tiger) and I lived with Grandma Haskin and Almearon right before Almearon died, as a matter of fact, they held the viewing in the bedroom Mom and I shared. Grandma made the best oatmeal in the world, it tasted like pudding. She took should good care of Almearon before he died. I never remember her raising her voice. My children love the stories I tell them about their great great grandmother. 
Do you remember the big dog (boxer) I think, it seemed like that dog was always getting on the bad side of a porcupine. After the rain we would pop the blisters on the tar road, the blueberry picking, going to the outhouse, pumping water from the sink, playing house on the big rock. the old wood stove, so much more
Thank you for posting these messages it brings back the sweetest memories for so many people. 


From Charlotte Carlton Haskin: Didn't realize 7/27/63 was the date Grandma Haskin passed. She was the most important person in my upbringing such a lady and you are right so small never weighed 100 lbs. I shared it with my sons and grandsons. Not sure you realize how much your Mother's diary entries mean to all of us and thanks again. charlotte

 From Linda Reed Mormile

I love your Blog! Aunt Ethel was a big part of our family's lives. She was the sister of my grandmother who died when my mom was only 9. We spent a good deal of time up at Aunt Ethel's and were all saddened by her death. She was a feisty, little lady with so much life and love. Everyone loved Aunt Ethel! Linda

July 28, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 28, 1963

Sunday, hot and humid,  80’s.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  LaVerne and Roberta here for dinner.  Went to Cliffords and Ina Belle was there. Clifton, the girls, and I went to the funeral parlor at Middleburgh at night for Ethel Haskin.

Comment:  More on Great Aunt Ethel Haskins paraphrasing from the introduction to her diary of 1929 written by Beatrice Haskin:  Ethel Violetta Bates was born in Bates Hollow on November 18, 1879.  She married Almearon Haskin on April 11, 1897, when she was 17 and he 21.  "And the horse ran away" is always told after the wedding information.  Almearon was very tall and thin and Ethel was a very tiny woman under five feet tall.  Six children were born to them from 1903 to 1918.  Their first child, Helen, died at age 24 in 1928 after the stillborn birth of a daughter.  Her other daughter Vada Belle, also died at age 24 in 1936 from multiple abscesses of the brain.  Her other four children were boys:  Ferdinand "Bates", father of Charlotte and Leonard, Duncan Moore "Leonard", father of Bob, Reggie and Tommy, Almon Palmer, father of Beatrice and Loretta, and John Kenneth who had one son.  There were other grandchildren but I was not that familiar with them.  If anyone knows what "And the horse ran away" means, please let me know....

July 27, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 27, 1963

Saturday, hot and humid, 80’s. Maude called said Aunt Ethel Haskins died 10 am.  Lorraine called and we ordered flowers for the funeral.  Carol and I went to camp in am and got Sue.  Called on Lousie a few minutes.  Had letters from Marilyn.

Comment:  Ethel Haskins was the wife of Almearon Haskin, the brother of my grandmother Agnes.  He died in 1961, aged 86.  They are the grandparents of Charlotte, Loretta, Beatrice, Bob, Reggie and Tommy Haskin and others.  Aunt Ethel was 84 when she died.  I remember her as quite small.  Almearon played the fiddle and called square dances in the area.  This is their wedding photo on April 11. 1897.  Some good looking folks...Thanks to Beatrice Haskin for the information in her book Haskins In The Hills....

July 26, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 26, 1963

Friday, hot and humid, 80’s.  I washed in the am.  Louise, Grandpa and 2 little girls who were staying there for 2 weeks called in the am.

Comment:  The two girls must have been from the "camp" that Louise owned.  Grandpa is, of course, Elmer Hubbard.  Elmer was born May 18, 1882 and died September 21, 1964.  He had eight children by Agnes Haskin.  All but Winifred were born before the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 through 1920 and all survived it.   Here is an article about their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party when all of the kids were in their early twenties or teenagers:

Gilboa Couple Wed Twenty-five Years Given Surprise

Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Hubbard were greatly surprised when a number friends and relatives came to help them celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary August 25, 1928.  After congratulating Mr and Mrs. Hubbard, a buffet lunch was served after which Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard were presented with chest of silver.

The evening was spent with music and singing.  Those present at the happy event were:  Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Hubbard and family, Clifton, Earl, Lorraine, Evelyn, Ina Belle and Winifred, Mrs. Ann Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. John Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. Merel Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Ellis and daughter, Doris, Grover Haner, all of Gilboa;  Mr.  and Mrs. Geil Spencer and son, Kieran Orin of Mackey; Mr. Amos Flint of Athens; Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hyatt and son, Robert, and Mrs. Charlotte Hyatt of Ellenville; Mr. and Mrs. Gamalia Hasbrouck and sons, Steve, Leonard and Allen of Milton.

All left at a late hour wishing Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard many more years of happy married life.

Uncle Merel, 22, and Aunt Madeline Hubbard Ellis 24, were marred. Doris Ellis, the only grandchild at the time, was two years old.  My Dad, Clifton was 20, Earl 18, Lorraine 16, Evelyn 13, Ina Belle 12, and Winifred 6.

Mr. and Mrs. John Hubbard were Elmer’s brother and wife.  The rest of the guests were mostly distant relatives, some by marriage. Their names are familiar but I have no clear recollection of them. Here is a picture of the whole family several years later with more grandchildren:

July 25, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 25, 1963

Thursday, hot and sunny,  88,  humid.  Carol and I went to Oneonta took machine (sewing) to have fixed and did shopping.  Ina Belle was here at night.

Comment:  Ina Belle Hubbard, born August 16, 1916, died May 5, 1985, at age 70.  Just did some quick calculations and here is a list of the folks in my Dad's family who died when they were younger than I am now, 82 & 10 months:  Grandma Agnes 67, Madeline 51, Glendon Ellis 45, Merel SR 72, Uncle Earl 58, Ina Bell 70, Aunt Winnie 59, Glenn Taylor 22, Baby David Taylor 1.   And in my immediate family, Brother Doug, 75, Brother Wayne 59.  Only lucky people get old.

The Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered, "Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived." I hope all of us still living can escape that fate....... Here is a picture of Ina Bell and Evelyn as young women on the Hill.....

July 24, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 24, 1963

Wednesday, hot and sunny, 80’s.  Carol, Clifton, and I went to Emil’s funeral in Riverdale NJ.  We left here at 1 pm and got home at 12:15am.  I wrote to Marilyn.


Comment: The trip to the funeral was about 130 miles and probably took about 3 hours or so.  Letters to and from Marilyn continue.....

July 23, 1963 The Frances Hubbard diaries

July 23, 1963

Tuesday, partly cloudy,  70’s.  Gerald took charcoal to PA for Joe (Gallo). I baked rolls, cleaned up the house, and fixed a couple of dresses.  Carol and I went over to camp at night and saw Sue.

Comment:  Timberland Charcoal had a kind joint venture with a charcoal plant in Bradford, PA.  Timberland would sometimes manufacture charcoal for them with their Bradford brand and they would sometimes make charcoal for Timberland with the Timberland brand on the packages.  I had several bad experiences on those runs.  On one trip, I was on the road from Bradford for about an hour and blew a tire on the trailer on an inside dual wheel.  A flat tire on a loaded truck will heat up to the point of spontaneous combustion and so it had to be changed.  I drove it until it started smoking, then stopped and changed the tire.  It was terrible.  Hotter than hell.  The lug nuts came off only with great difficulty and just handling those 12 ply truck tires was an athletic event.  It probably took me about three hours and then I had to drive from about Olean, NY to Stamford..about 250 miles...at least another 6 or 7 hours in a loaded truck.  And I was getting only mileage at 8 cents per mile..Here are some more of my experiences:

Gerry Hubbard · David Does Truck Driving Memories By Gerry Hubbard

Truck Driving

I’ve hauled bark for Timberland to make charcoal briquettes

Getting paid 8 cents a mile, I took all I could get.

Brockway diesels, Screaming Jimmies, Mack B63’s

Concrete batch truck, Andrews Air Base, Washington DC

I drove to put  myself through school, just trying to change my luck

Off the farm, then just discharged I drove those damned old trucks.

I’ve  hauled clinker, ice, and milk, and charcoal by the ton 

Double clutching, jamming gears making midnight runs.

Quarts of Pepsi with no food kept me tightly wired

Sleep-deprived hallucinations, always over-tired

Triplex, Duplex, straight 5-speeds with vacuum  shift rear ends

5-speed mains -auxiliary 3’s, combos without end

I  always got them figured out sometimes while on the road

And I always drove those damned old trucks, as fast as they would go

I’ve left smoking strips of rubber and watched those big duals burn

When I locked them up to miss a car as they made a no-left turn

I’ve endured  the deadly boredom then the special thrill

When I blew the air brake diaphragms at the top of a steep hill

I’ve passed semis 3 abreast on  narrow 2 lane roads

Trying to keep momentum up with twenty-five-ton loads

I’ve seen my trailer in my mirrors skid and come around

And damn near jack knife tires sliding on the icy ground

I’ve rolled backward down a hill in a state of abject terror

When I missed a shift and stalled it out and my trailer brakes lost air

I got it started, revved it up, and jammed it  into low

The tractor reared high in the air when I popped the clutch to go

So when I’m on the interstate and see a big rig roll

I want to be there in that  seat but I guess now I’m too old

I know I’ll probably never get to go back to those times

But  sometimes just before I sleep I hear a diesel whine

And I feel the  deep vibrations of a big rig in my bones

And I drive a midnight highway, fast and young and wild,  alone.

And I feel the  deep vibrations of a big rig in my bones

And I drive a midnight highway, fast and young and wild,  alone.

July 22, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 22, 1963

Monday, mostly sunny, 70.  I washed in the am.  Gerald and Carol went to Catskill, Schoharie, and Stamford.  I took Sue over to camp for the week.

Comment:  Not sure why Carol and I went on the road trip.  Quite a few miles involved.  Sue must be going to Ferris Camp for a church thing.  Carol must have been about thirteen.  Here she is as a high school senior.  Carol was always the cutest and happiest little girl.  We used to take her haying with us when she was about three or four.  When she was younger, we would also play catch with her being the thing we would toss.  I remember LaVerne and me throwing her almost all the way across the living room and catching her and she loved it.  I was sleeping on a bed face up one time and Doug threw her on top of me and her head bopped me square in the nose and it almost knocked me out.  I've still got the bump on the bridge of my nose..and a deviated septum that I think resulted from that....

July 21, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 21, 1963

Sunday, rainy in am,  clearing up in pm,  60’s.  Girls and I went to Church and Sunday School.  Gerald and us went to Earl's and LaVerne's in the pm.  Billie called and said Emil died 10 am.

Comment:  Billie is Margaret Barber, Bessie's sister.  Emil Roth died.  Mom and Dad went down to New Jersey a couple of weeks ago to help out.  Not sure what the relationship is with Emil but they was apparently quite close.  Wish I had known that Uncle Earl only had about five more years to live..he died on May 4, 1968..here is my tribute to him:

Uncle Earl  Born August 1, 1910, Died May 4, 1968

Gerry Hubbard · Uncle Earl

July 20, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 20, 1963

Saturday, partly cloudy,  rained nearly all night.  I washed in am.  Doug was home.  LaVerne and Roberta here a few minutes in the evening.

Comment: It is kinda striking how many times the children visited on the hill.  Almost every day somebody comes back or drops in...

On July 20, 1969, six years hence, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.  This was two days after our youngest son, Craig was born and I remember watching this alone in our rented house in Flat Rock, MI while Mary Ann was still in the hospital in Trenton MI.  I also remember this vividly for another reason.  When space exploration started, my mother always said that God would never allow man to get to the moon.  Although I never brought it up, I often wonder what she thought and felt when it happened......

July 19, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 19, 1963

Friday, hot,  85, partly cloudy.  Girls and I went to Cobleskill in the am.  Wayne and Linda took the girls swimming in the afternoon.  Doug called from Grand Gorge about 9 pm.

Comment:  Doug must have caught a bus or train from Virginia into Grand Gorge for the weekend.  He sure seems to be getting a lot of liberty.  Not sure where Wayne took the girls swimming.  We usually swam in Earle's pond on the road to Flat Creek, Hallock's, or Red Falls in Prattsville.  I remember family swimming parties at Earle's pond with many of Dad's sisters and brothers there.  Once, when I was probably four or five, I remember Howard Vaughn, Lorraine's second husband, running over the short plank pier that jutted over the water and diving into the pond.  Seconds later, Barry Taylor, who was maybe four years old, did the same thing much to the surprise of all, and, of course, he could not swim.  I think his father, Clifford, jumped in to pull him out.  We would also go fishing in the pond with bamboo poles and worms and catch many small bullheads.  Uncle Earle had stocked the pond with Rainbow Trout with the help of the NY State Conservation department and LaVerne once caught a 21 inch trout when he was about 11 years old.  Here is a pix of that with our cousin, Merel Jr.

July 18, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 18, 1963

Thursday, mostly cloudy and humid, 82. Wayne and Gerald cultivated the garden, pulled weeds and worked in flower garden.  Girls and I went to prayer meeting.  Wayne and Linda here a few minutes in the evening.

Comment:  Not sure why I was home and not at work, maybe working at nights.  Sound like typical summer day on the hill.  In exactly 6 more years our youngest son Craig will be born.  I wonder what I'd have thought if I had known that then...Happy Birthday Craig Evan:  

Craig Evan Hubbard, Born July 18, 1969, Trenton, Michigan.

July 17, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 17, 1963

Wednesday, beautiful day.  I worked in the garden in am and girls and I went to LaVerne’s after lawn mower.  Boys got new antenna and put it up.  Wayne worked all day for Carlton.

Comment:  TV antennas have now gone the way of the buggy whip...We put up a roof antenna because the rabbit ears could only bring in WRGB (NBC at the time) from Schenectady.  (I see that WRGB is now a CBS affiliate, do not know when that happened.) After the roof antenna we could get all three available channels:  ABC, NBC and CBS but all of them were in black and white at the time and also "snowy".  We now know the "snow" was the background radiation from the Big Bang at the start of the universe....Mom was 50 years old at this time and still very active, mowing the lawn and constant gardening.....

July 16, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 16, 1963

Tuesday, mild day, 75.  I did a big wash in am.  Girls went to Merle's in the pm to ride horses.  I visited with Ella.  Melody’s parents came after her 4 pm.

Comment:   Ella and Mom were always very good friends, probably dealing with a couple of Hubbard men for all those years developed a deep commiseration and empathy between them.  They would often talk on the phone and Aunt Ella was quite active in the Missionary Meetings.  Aunt Ella seemed like she was always in a good mood and would always whip out her chocolate cake for us kids when we dropped in.  During WWII, I remember being at their house during the "blackouts".  We would sit around in the dark with just one candle or so with all the windows covered so potential German bombers could not target us.  Great Uncle John, Elmer's brother, was the Air Raid Warden for our area and would drive and walk around checking for light sources.  Here is a picture of Mom and Aunt Ella...

July 15, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 15, 1963

Monday, cloudy and windy,  clearing in the pm, 70 high.  Melody Sullivan came over for Sue’s birthday, her folks brought her.

Comment:  Susan was 10 years old.  I don't remember any large birthday parties at our house for any of us but, I do remember Mom just about always baking a birthday cake for each of us and we would have it usually at "supper time" on the birthday.  Mom had a large birthday party when she was sixteen and among the guests were her future husband, Clifton John Hubbard.  Happy Birthday Susan....  

Mom's Sixteenth Birthday Party

Mom's Sixteenth Birthday Party


Middleburg News, October 27th, 1929
Miss Frances Barber Given Birthday Surprise

A birthday surprise party was given by Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Barber at their home last Friday evening in honor of the sixteenth birthday of their daughter, Frances.

She had been away for the afternoon so was very much surprised on returning to find about thirty guests there to greet her.

However, she entered into the fun at once. Everyone had a very enjoyable time during the evening due to the hospitality of the Barber family.

Most of the time was spent in playing games, singing and dancing. Toward the latter part of the evening Frances took time to open the many lovely and useful gifts which she received.,

A lovely lunch was then served which carried out an orange and black color scheme, as did the attractive decorations throughout the house, which were very appropriate because of the nearness of Halloween.

Soon after the guests departed wishing her many more such happy birthdays.

Those present were: Emma George, Beatrice George, Leah Brayman, Elizabeth Thorington, Dorothy Rivenburg, Dorothy Engle, Ethel Reed, Belle Haskins, Maude Bailey, Evelyn Hubbard, Emma Tenblad, Marian Van Tassel, Neva Becker, Ruth MacDonald, Marguerite Meier, Julia Kane, Sara Gibbons, Ralph Cooke, Roland Shepard, Victor George, Clarence Earls, Raymond Earls, Clifton Hubbard, Almon Haskins, Alton Thorington, Maynard Laraway, Myron Stanley, Norman Van Tassel, Franz Rosenburg, Mrs. Grant Laraway, Mildred Laraway, Frances Barber, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Barber. 

Notes:
Attendee Maude Bailey married attendee Almon Haskins. Also, about this time, Bessie Laraway & Clarence Barber (Mr. & Mrs Clarence Barber) went to Reno for a divorce. Bessie then married party attendee Norman Van Tassel and Clarence married Bessie's sister, party attendee Mildred Laraway. Clarence and "Billy" also went to Reno with Bessie & Norm.
When she was eighteen, Frances married party attendee Clifton Hubbard. If anyone knows of more connections among the party attendees, please add them in the available "Comments" section. Gerry Hubbard

July 14, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 14, 1963

Sunday, mostly cloudy, hard showers at Richmondville at 1:30.  We went to church and Sunday School and us and LaVerne's went to mother's for dinner.  We stopped at the Old Stone Fort on the way home.  Gerald was at Gloversville.

Comment:  Typical Sunday, Church and visits to relatives and sites.  Although the area was steeped in historical, tourist and travel destinations, we very seldom visited these areas unless it was on school trips.  I was an adult when I first visited Howe Caverns for instance, and an older adult before I ever went to any of the several ski areas around.  We did take a lot or "rides" on Sundays on various back roads through South Mountain, the fire roads around the tower, and the back roads into Windham and Tannersville.  I think the problem was partially economic and also that we always had to be back on the farm in the early evening to milk the cows so the opportunity window was kinda narrow....Here is info about the Old Stone Fort....

About the Old Stone Fort

The Old Stone Fort was built as a church in 1772.

Builders chiseled parishioners' names into the stones. They include many of the early families of the valley. With the coming of the Revolutionary War, the church was enclosed by a log stockade in 1777.

On Oct. 17, 1780, a force of about 800 loyalists and Indians under Sir John Johnson and Mohawk Capt. Joseph Brant raided the valley and briefly attacked the fort before proceeding north toward the Mohawk Valley. A cannonball hole may still be seen in a cornice at the rear of the building.

The stockade was removed in 1785 and the building continued service as a church until 1844 when it was replaced by the present Reformed Church in the village. In 1857 the former fort was sold to the state for $800. Through the Civil War and until 1873, it was used as an armory. Then, it was given to the county for historical use.

In 1888 the Schoharie County Historical Society was formed to operate a museum at the old fort and by 1899, a catalog of 2,500 items was published.

The complex now includes the William Badgley Museum and carriage house, built in 1972; the Warner house, a Greek Revival home housing the Scribner Exhibit of early twentieth century communications equipment; the 1830 Jackson law office; the Ward Oliver one-room school house furnished circa 1900; and the Schaeffer-Ingold Dutch barn. The Hartmann's Dorf House, a Palatine dwelling circa 1760, is undergoing restoration.

Thousands of antiques and artifacts from war and peace are on exhibit. Costumed interpreters assist your visit and a research library is available to historians and genealogists.

July 13, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 13, 1963

Saturday, hot and humid.  I worked in the garden and cleaned up the house.  Amy and Donna H. rode horses up in am.  Wayne worked for Carlton.  I wrote to Marilyn.  Mother called in am.

Comment: Lots of horse riding lately, I think Uncle Merel may have bought a couple of horses and the family and neighbors are using them.  Wayne still "haying it".  Letters and phone calls, where is email and instant chat when you need it...oh..about 45 years away into the future....

July 12, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 12, 1963

Friday, fair and warmer,  70’s.  Carol, Kristen, and I went to Cobleskill and Middleburgh in am. Girls went to AWANA at night.  LaVerne and Roberta here a few minutes in the evening.  I pulled weeds in the garden in pm.  Linda and Wayne here in the evening.

Comment:  BTW:  11 days ago on July 1, 1963, the Zip Codes were established.  Visitors,  trips to town, and church meetings, seems like a lot was going on all the time......How Zip Codes Work:  

July 11, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 11, 1963

Thursday,  still cool and showers.  We went to Virginia's to missionary meeting.  Sue stayed over and Kristina came home with Carol.  Clifton and boys went to Castles in evening and got new T.V.  We went to prayer meeting.

Comment:  A new TV was a big deal, it must have been a black and white because color did not come out with affordable sets until the late 60's early 70's.  My favorite shows were Bonanza and The Outer Limits.  The news shows on ABC, CBS & NBC were all 15 minutes long but all went to 30 minutes later in the year. When the TVs first came out in the area there was an odd behavior that developed during that period.  Folks would just drop in an watch TV at an owner's house.   I remember Dad taking us kids over to watch television at Wild Bill Schemerhorn's  and just dropping in without invitation or letting them know we were coming.  We usually watched "rassling" with the likes of Gorgeous George or "Strangler Lewis".  Wild Bill would serve popcorn and drinks and it was almost like going to a movie.  The house was dark and everyone watched very intently.....

July 10, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 10, 1963

Wednesday, 50 to 63,  cool but warmer,  partly cloudy.  I did a big wash in am.  Wayne worked for Carlton.  Sue and I picked strawberries.

Comment:  I think they were picking wild strawberries that grew all around the back side of the house in the hay lots and pastures.  These were not the large and glorious ones from the truck farms but quite small and much more sweet.  There is a vast difference between strawberry short cake our Mom made from these berries and the one you can now get in restaurants... I talk about wild strawberries my Songpoemstory "The Spring Lot" performed by David Hubbard.....take a look:  Hubbard Music Mountain: The Spring Lot by Gerry Hubbard, David Hubbard Per...: 

July 9, 1963 The Frances Hubbard diaries

July 9, 1963

Tuesday, 38 to 60,  partly cloudy,  chilly and windy.  I finished ironing and sewed blue dress. Wayne worked for Carlton.

Comment:  38 degrees in July, very chilly..Wayne still "haying it".  Carlton was running a large dairy farm and so had all the latest haying equipment at the time, balers, side delivery rakes, bale loaders, elevators to put the bales into the hay mow.  But, it was still a lot of hot, dusty work to "put the hay in" so Wayne was probably earning his money.  This picture is representative of how our family did it with the bales being pushed up to the wagon by the baler action,  then grabbed by the "loader" to stack neatly on the wagon.

July 8, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 8, 1963

Monday, cool and mostly cloudy,  62 high.  Linda Kingsley was here.  Wayne worked for Carlton Hallock.  Gerald went to work again.  I ironed. Linda went home at night.  LaVerne and Roberta here a few minutes in evening.


Comment:  I think I started hauling clinker again from Cobleskill to a cement plant on the Hudson River for H B Moore.   Carlton Hallock owned a large farm in Flat Creek close to the Church and Wayne probably helped him with the haying.   There was a bridge across the Flat Creek just across the road in front of Hallock's and the stream had eroded out a fairly large swimming hole where we often went to swim.   The pool was only about 3-4' deep and I remember "shallow"  diving off the bridge into the pool, narrowly missing the large rocks that bordered the sides.  Shallow diving is when, as you hit the water,  you curved your hands abruptly upward and arched your back  and you only penetrated the water a couple of feet.  Another example of the wonderful luck we had of not breaking our necks.    I was also baptized  into the Church when I was about 10 or so at this location.  (By full immersion, of course, sprinkling or partial submersion doesn't work.  See below.) 


"Immersion baptism, understood as demanding total submersion of the body, is required by Baptists, as enunciated in the 1689 Baptist Catechism: "Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit",^[179] indicating that the whole body must be immersed, not just the head.  Hmmm, here is how Jesus Became White:  https://theconversation.com/the-long-history-of-how-jesus-came-to-resemble-a-white-european-142130

July 7, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 7, 1963

Sunday, mostly sunny, 70.  Thunder showers nearly all night.  We went to church and Sunday school and church at night.  Grandpa and Louise called in afternoon.  Took girls to Merel's to rides horses in afternoon.  Wayne did Kingsley’s car.  Doug went back.  David went to work at midnight.

Comment:  All day church activities.  Sounds like Wayne may have detailed Kingsley's car.  Here is another picture of the Hill in summer 2011 with Tara and children...

July 6, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 6, 1963

Saturday, mostly sunny and warm.  David picked Doug up in Albany, he called 5 am.  Clifton had to be at work 6 am.  Girls and I went and picked up Linda in pm and went to rally at church at night.

Ella

Comment:  Dad must be working at least 12 hours a day and now, church on Saturday too....Doug getting lots of weekends off...here is a picture of how the house looked in Summer, 2011, thanks to Tara Hubbard Newell, and Ella....Before Cousin Jeffery and Elizabeth started the renovations.

"And I often think of going back

but now the place is just a shack

and so I guess I probably never will.."  Hubbard Hill Memories

July 5, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 5, 1963

Friday, cloudy and showers in am,  windy,  50-66. I washed in am.  The girls and I went to Middleburgh in pm. I had cold in my head.  Went to business meeting at church at night.  Clifton home late.

Comment:  Mom was totally committed to the Flat Creek Baptist Church both in terms of attending every religious function but also was involved in every other aspect of the church from business meetings to pastor selection.  I guess at the time I did not appreciate how much time and effort she put into the church besides attending every Sunday service, every prayer meeting, every Missionary Meeting and any other function held.  Other functions included cutting wood for the parsonage, or any other maintenance required that the pastor could not do alone, ice cream socials, Bible school, Young People's Meetings, and rollerskating parties at the Cairo Roller Rink.  Not much went on in the church that did not have Mom's finger in it somewhere.....Here she is with Dac and her first child, LaVerne about 1935 or so..

July 4, 1963, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

July 4, 1963 

Tuesday, chilly and windy, 50's.  Mary Ann here for dinner.  Carol played and marched in school band in Grand Gorges in pm.  We all went over.  David went to work.  We went to fireworks at Grand Gorge at night with Wayne and Linda but didn't stay.  Girls stayed at Renz's with Roberta to see fireworks and stayed all night at LaVerne's. 

Comment:  Independence Day celebrations but kind of a miserable, chilly day.  Have no memory of the fireworks... America The Beautiful: by Ray Charles

America The Beautiful, Ray Charles

"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.

Bates originally wrote the words as a poem, Pikes Peak, first published in the Fourth of July edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. At that time, the poem was titled America for publication.

Ward had originally written the music, Materna, for the 19th century hymn O Mother dear, Jerusalem in 1882. Ward's music combined with the Bates poem was first published in 1910 and titled America the Beautiful.

The song is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs.^[1] From time to time it has been proposed as a replacement for The Star-Spangled Banner as the National Anthem.