August 1991

About this Issue

Note from the Editors

This month's issue begins with two articles about Greek-style houses. Mrs. Gloria S. Tillman writes about Hampstead, the house built by her grandfather's uncle near Branchport in 1840. Mrs. Tillman's great-granduncle was a member of the Rose family that had come to New York from Virginia. Hampstead must have been designed for summer living and the entertainment of guests. Its rooms are arranged for the greatest exterior exposure and for the seclusion of the working areas from the relaxing areas, with little consideration for housekeeping convenience—there was no doorway between the kitchen and the adjacent porch.

Mrs. Louise Stillman writes about Montour House —subsequently a hotel, but it was for a time the residence of its owner, Charles Cook—completed in Havana (now Montour Falls) in 1854. Cook's "Montour House" was more suitable for New York winters by its blockiness, yet intentionally elegant inside and substantial appearing outside to attract commercial visitors. "Shudder the thought," you can imagine the Roses exclaiming.

Warren Hunting Smith tells the stories of Catharine Montour, Jemima Wilkinson and Louise March, three women who had great influence within their communities in this part of New York. Mr. Smith lives in Geneva and involves himself in projects like making sure the design of the Geneva library addition will be compatible to the old building and to the site.

Professor Robert Koch from Pittsford writes about milking cows and dairying in and around Rochester years ago.

We present the third installment from Will Gerity's diary of camping along Keuka lake in 1870. Herbert Wisbey, Jr. has punctuated Gerity's stream-of-thought longhand. Professor Wisbey is Professor Emeritus of American History at Elmira College.

Professor Wisbey also contributed the article by Rufus Wilson about Robert Ingersoll that appeared in an 1890 issue of the Elmira Telegram.

Our selection this month from Ed Harris's book, Harpending's Corners is about how Ed gets his first job with real responsibility, marries, and sets up housekeeping in Rochester.

This month's chapter from Caroline Kirkland's 1839 book, A New Home, is about a spectacular political party rally on the Michigan frontier.

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