Historic photos

[JClearwater]

For those of us interested in such things attached area few pictures of my grandparents from 100 years ago. Unfortunately the scans of the pictures are not as clear as the original photos. The first picture is of my Grandparents Raymond and Adelaide Burgess Clearwater on the Morris and Essex Canal in NJ. They were married in 1922. The second, which may have been taken the same day, shows my grandfather in the bow and his brother Winfield in the stern. Their passenger is not identified on the back. The third is of my Grandfather Raymond pushing the canoe up one of the canal planes from one water body to another. Visible is one of the rails and the tow cable. The barges were maneuvered onto a cradle then with the barge on top was towed up the slope. The rails were about 15 ft. apart with the tow cable in the middle. It was faster and easier than the usual lock system. The canoe looks to be a Kennebec with the short rail caps on the bow and stern visible(at least on the original picture). The fourth picture shows their 1914 Ford towing their canoe along the canal near Dover NJ. My grandfather is driving and his friend Fred Blanchard riding on the canoe. The photo is not dated but must have been taken before WW1. Fred died in the service in France. How the canoe is attached to the car is not clear. The canoe dolly has a number on it suggesting that it was a rental. The last photo is of my grandfather behind the wheel of his 1920 Chevy 490 Roadster. Cars like this one is one reason for the decline in canoeing and canoe clubs. For example the Dedham Boat Club near Boston was dissolved and the building torn down in 1935. A newspaper article at the time gave the reason for closing as the lack of interest in canoeing caused by the increase in motoring. The land was donated to the Dedham Historical Society. A bronze plaque on a boulder was erected on the site and is still there today. Photo by Bill Conrad.

Enjoy,
Jim

 

[dtdcanoes]

Jim, I bet you have a chromosome site in the form of a canoe, no ? Which is to say you are a respected member of the doomed -to-repeat class , who have as their defense of the affliction, " I have no choice ! " That is Family history of which you can be very proud. I love the Ray and Addy pic.

 

[JClearwater]

Most of these pictures we didn't know existed. My father died last year at 100 and in cleaning out the house we found them along with a bunch of other family pictures. Shockingly most were actually labeled!
I don't know if it was the Chevy Roadster or another car that grandpa had in 1929 when the stock market fell but he was working for the Rutherford Trust Co. in Rutherford, NJ at the time and lost everything. He was so depressed that he drove his car to the town dump, left it there and walked home. Couldn't afford a car anymore. We don't know how lucky we are.

 

[dtdcanoes]

GEEZ, I know the story. A little earlier my dad auditioned for the BPO when Toscanini was there and just couldn't accept it. He and the family would have starved. So they made it through WW1. then the crash, then WW2 and with some semblance of normalcy life continued with an illustrious career in music education. But it was nearly half a century of unimaginable turmoil and uncertainty. The music gene , that's another story. History can repeat itself , but not always and lucky doesn't hurt. Thanks again for sharing .
Dave