Seneca Falls No More!

The Village of Seneca Falls was the site of the 1848 Women's Right Convention attended by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other movers of the women's rights movement. (Rochester's Susan B. Anthony did not attend the convention in Seneca Falls but attended the Rochester women’s rights convention held in August 1848, two weeks after the historic Seneca Falls Convention, and signed the Rochester convention’s Declaration of Sentiments.)  Apparently the Village of Seneca Falls may be on its way out according to the Democrat & Chronicle. By a vote of 1,142 to 1,037 the voters of the village voted to dissolve their municipality that has been in existence for 179 years.  Although there are some absentee ballots to be counted, it is possible that the village will be dissolved at the beginning of 2012. 

Johnny Antonelli vs Billy Allen

In 1948 there was a terrific high school baseball pitcher in Rochester, NY  named Johnny Antonelli.  Antonelli, in his senior year at Jefferson High School pitched five no-hitters and was actively scouted by major league teams.  But there was another ace high school pitcher that year and that was Billy Allen who pitched for West High School.  A number of people were of the opinion that Allen was as good or better than Antonelli. I, an unbiased observer, was in that group. Ok, so he lived on Flint Street down the street from us.

That year the Boston Braves were looking at both pitchers and decided that if Jefferson High and West High would play each other at the end of the high school baseball season they would sign the winning pitcher.  The game, played at Red Wing Stadium on Norton Street, was a sell out.  I don't recall the final score but do remember the winning team - West High School and Billy Allen!

So the Braves signed Billy Allen but also signed Johnny Antonelli.  Two high school baseball phenoms from Rochester went to professional baseball in 1948. Antonelli went on to play for the Braves and the Giants (both New York and San Francisco) and retired in 1961. He returned to Rochester and ran a chain of Firestone Tire stores in the Rochester area.

What happened to Billy Allen?  Billy never played in the major leagues and spent a number of years in 'D' league ball in the south. After that I don't know but for a while Flint Street had a star!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all, Irish or otherwise. I have the distinct honor of being named after the saint and also my great-grandfather, Patrick M. Eagan.  When I was very young I was not always pleased with the name chosen by my mother and father.  Being called Patty was not always appreciated to a six or seven year old.  Eventually I came to realize that I, and all Patricks, had something unique - everybody in the Western world (and probably portions of the Eastern word too) celebrated a day dedicated to our name.  One of my Italian friend when I was in my teens tried to argue that Josephs in the world were just as proud of their namesake as those named Patrick.  My question - how many celebrate St. Joseph's Day (March 19) other than the Italians?

After skipping two generations after my great-grandfather with no Patrick Eagan, my father and mother started it again when they named me. I, in turn, named my eldest son Patrick and he named his son Liam Patrick.  Let's hope that Liam Patrick will continue it.  (Listen up, Liam!)

Cozumel and Cayman Islands

Yesterday we were in Cozumel for the day. I, Roberta and Alexandra went kayaking and snorkeling while Nancy laid by the pool aboard the ship.  During the afternoon we did our usual Bingo session. Both Nancy and Alexandra won. The previous day Alexandra and Roberta won. Today Nancy won twice this morning. Not a bad day.

Today we were to stop on Grand Cayman but the weather (waves and wind) was such that were not able to stop. Tenders are necessary to go ashore from the ship so all the activities on shore were canceled. However, that meant more Bingo! Besides the Bingo we competed in a scavenger hunt were able to win third place. Not bad. Getting better right now for a cocktail party.

Costa Maya, Mexico

Today we are in Costa Maya, Mexico and will stay here until about 8:00 PM. Roberta and Alexandra are taking a catamaran ride, Sam (a/k/a Tucker) is touring the ship and Grandpa and Nana will probably walk into the small village nearby. As you can see from the photo Nana is enjoying herself!

Yesterday, a day at sea, we played trivia three times and bingo in the  afternoon. Came pretty close on the trivia sessions, didn't even come close in bingo and even farther away from winning in the casino! Maybe today will be our day.

Aboard the Liberty of the Seas

We are on the Liberty of the Seas and heading south to the Caribbean Sea. We left Boca for Miami about a half hour after Noon and arrived at the parking garage about 1:45 PM. Shuttle to the pier and checked in.  Had lunch with Roberta and Alexandra as Sam was unpacking. We wandered around the ship. It certainly different than the ships that we generally cruise on. The Liberty has about 4200 passengers and the Holland America ships we generally go on have about 1300. In a minute we will be heading for Martinis and then to dinner at 8:30.

Packing For a One Week Cruise

We are just finishing up packing for our 7 day cruise that starts this afternoon.  We have decided that we know how to pack for a one month cruise (or even a two month cruise) but are clueless packing for a one week cruise.  Our daughter and her two kids were able to pack everything in roller cases (those that will fit in the overhead bin on an airplane).  We have a huge suitcase and a stuffed garment bag! What are we doing wrong?

In May we will be taking a three cruise to Europe and stay another week and a half before we come home.  I suspect that we will have the same amount luggage then as we have for today's cruise!

The Eruvim in Boca Raton and Rochester

There is an interesting article in this morning's New York Times, A Jewish Ritual Collides With Mother Nature, dealing with eruvim.  You probably ask, "What the heck is eruvim?"  An eruv (eruvim is the plural) is an enclosure around a community within which Orthodox Jews may carry objects on the sabbath.  The eruv extends the boundary of one's home to the entire eruv. The boundary may consist of walls, wires and posts.  It is important for Orthodox Jews to know the boundary of the evru.  The Wikipedia article on Evru notes, "Without an eruv, Torah-observant Jews would be unable to carry keys or tissues in their pockets or push baby carriages on the Jewish Sabbath thus making it difficult for many to leave home."  The Times article describes the havoc wreaked among the orthodax community as a result of the recent blizzards in the northeast.

There is a Eruv in the Boca Raton area near our area (although we are not included in the Eruv) and I have noticed a wire strung from street light poles along Glades Road.  The Boca Raton Eruv area is this:

The Eruv for Rochester, NY is as follows:

A list of eruvim can be found at Wikipedia.

Rochester's 54th Regiment in Elmira, NY POW Camp

The following is extracted from "The Elmira prison camp: a history of the military prison at Elmira, N.Y," by Clayton Wood Holmes. It is the first instance in Holmes' history of the camp that he mentions the 54th Regiment from Rochester. The 54th left Rochester toward the end of July 1864 and would be there until November of that year as guards.

THE second month of the prison camp's existence opens with a list of about 4500 prisoners, enough to comfortably fill the barracks. During the month 5195 prisoners arrive and the prison is congested. The entire camp not occupied with buildings is covered with tents. The prisoners poured in so rapidly that it was utterly impossible to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demands made in every direction. While hospital buildings were being rushed as fast as possible, the enfeebled prisoners became sick so fast that adequate care could not be given, much as every one desired to do it. A calm and reasonable consideration of the facts gives the best answer to the unreasonable charges made on all sides, by the South, that the effort was not made to properly care for the prisoners.

The following official communication explains conditions at the beginning of August:

Headquarters Draft Rendezvous,

Elmiraa, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1864. Brig.-Gen. L. Thomas,

Adj.-Gen. U. S. A., Washington, D. C. General : Since my last report I have the honor to state that 5000 prisoners of war have arrived at this depot and are quartered in barracks and tents at Barracks No. 3. All recruits, substitutes, and drafted men have been transferred to Barracks No. 1 excepting deserters, who are confined in the guard-house. The latter will be transferred as soon as the guard-house is completed at Barracks No. 1. The 54th Regiment N. Y. Militia, numbering about 350, arrived here on the 27th of July to serve as guard over prisoners of war. This regiment, with the six companies of the 16th V. R. C. [from Allegany Co., NY], furnish about 700 men for guard duty at the prisoners' camp. At Barracks No. 1 there are 200 colored drafted men and substitutes, organized into two companies, armed and equipped, doing guard duty there. Thirty of these are detailed daily as a patrol guard inside the enclosure at prisoners' camp. I have just received notice from Major-General Dix that two more regiments of militia from New York City will be ordered here for duty, and it is probable that they will arrive here to-night or to-morrow.

Owing to the number of troops to arrive here suddenly it became necessary to direct the quartermaster to lease some ground next to the prisoners' camp for an encampment, which I respectfully request may be approved. The new hospital is completed and occupied. The general condition of the post is excellent.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. Eastman,

Lt.-Col. U. S. A., Commanding Post.

The continued arrival of prisoners swelled the number so greatly that Colonel Eastman began to get nervous because the guard was so small. He made a telegraphic appeal for reinforcements. Two batteries of artillery, A and B of the 1st Battalion, Light Artillery, N. Y. N. G., arrived on August 3d from Rochester, 66 men and four guns. The 77th and 98th regiments State Militia also arrived. Plate No. 12 shows the artillery camp on the right, and the 54th N. Y. Militia on left. This camp was on the south side of Water Street, west of the enclosure. On the 16th of August, the force guarding prisoners consisted of the 28th [Brooklyn], 54th [Rochester], 56th [Brooklyn], 58th [Livingston County], 77th [New York City], 98th [Erie County], 99th [New York City], and 102d [New York City]regiments of N. Y. Militia, Batteries A and B, 1st Battalion N. Y. Light Artillery [Rochester's Union Grays], and six companies of the 16th V. R. C.

An Interim Cruise

It has been almost two months since our last cruise and almost three months until our next cruise.  The next one is a three week cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam, NL.  We have decided that five months between cruises is too long so we have booked a one week cruise in the Caribbean.  Our daughter booked a cruise during her kids' Spring Break so we decided we'll take our Spring Break and go along.  So we're off a week from Sunday.

Tiger Wood - Role Model?

All of the news channels keep reminding us that Tiger Wood will be apologizing at 11:00 AM for his terrible actions.  I ask, "Who the hell cares?"  Apparently some folks do but I ask, "Why?"   A number of people were asked their opinion on the apology and why it was important.  An interesting one I heard was, "It's important because Tiger is a role model for our young."  Huh!  Let me remind you, the man makes a living by hitting a little ball by a stick.  Let me repeat - the man makes a living by hitting a little ball with a stick!

UPDATE: I was just clicking through the channels and find that right now Tiger Woods was giving his apology.  This was not just on the cable news and tabloid channels but it was also on ABC, CBS and NBC.  Just another example that I am absolutely correct when I say that 'we are a nation of morons!'

The Spotlight Obituaries?

I was born and grew up in Rochester, NY so I still follow what's happening in Rochester even though I have lived in Florida for the last 40 years.  Probably every other day I read the on-line version of the Democrat & Chronicle and one of the first section I read is the "Irish Sports Page" (a/k/a the obituaries).  I think I got that from my mother who always read the obits first.  But, I digress.

When one goes to the D&C obituaries, the left most column is titled Spotlight and following are some of the obits for that day.  Why are these obits spotlighted?  Are these written better than others?  Are the pictures better than others?  I'm lost. Can somone help me out?

The Blizzard of 1966 (or Maybe 1967)

The current blizzards plaguing the middle Atlantic and northeast states remind me of a big storm in New York State that I lived through.  I thought it was the big storm of 1966 that happened in January of that year but it must have been in 1967 or 1968.  At the time I was living in Rochester and in December 1965 I had gone to work for IBM.

I was attending a class at the IBM Education Center in Endicott, NY but was home in Rochester for the weekend.  On Sunday it started to snow so I started the drive to Endicott early in the afternoon.  Because of the snow I thought I would take the NY Thruway to Syracuse and then go south on Interstate 81 to Binghamton.  (Endicott is just west of Binghamton on Route 17.)  Unfortunately, the snow storm got worse and the Thruway was closed so I had to find another route to Endicott.  I got off the Thruway pretty close to Waterloo and headed south on Route 96.  On Route 96 it just got worse as I went south.

When I got as far as the Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, I had been driving for probably four or five hours.  It was terrible and I could not see very far ahead of me on the road. Passing the Army Depot I spotted a car off the side of the road in a ditch and noticed it was a family with kids in it.  I stopped to help them and they said that they wanted to go back to the last town.  They got in my car, I attempted to turn around ended stuck in a ditch on the other side of the road.  Just great! The family I tried to help got a ride from another motorist going back north.  I stayed in the ditch with the headlights and heater on.

It seemed an eternity that I was in that ditch but it was probably only an hour or an hour and a half.  A road-grader plowing the road came by, pulled me out of the ditch and told me to follow him on to Ovid, a town about 25 miles north of Ithaca.  I tried to follow but the snow was filling in between myself and the road-grader.  He stopped and suggested that I park my car on the side of the road and I could ride in the cab with him to Ovid.  He told me not to worry about my car because they knew it was there and nobody would hit it.  (Yeah, right!)

I rode in the cab of the road-grader to a gas station in Ovid where I and a number of other folks stayed for Sunday and Monday night.  On Tuesday the stranded motorists, myself included, were able to sleep at the homes of a number of local families.  On Wednesday my car was towed into the gas station and the  engine was steam cleaned of all the snow.  In addition to the snow, the driver side of the car had been caved in by (what else) a road-grader!  Another car that had been abandoned was worse off than mine.  That car was pushed down a hill. I was still able to drive the car so I proceeded south to Endicott. 

That was the saga of that snow blizzard.  To this day I can still remember how uncomfortable it was trying to sleep between two folding chairs in the gas station in Ovid.

Rochester's 19th Ward: When Was it Created?

In an earlier post, Rochester, NY's 19th Ward, I described that area of Rochester and how its boundary differs from that of the current Community Association.  Since then I have asked myself, when was the ward established? Searching the City Directories give us a fairly good idea when that happened.

Between 1891 and 1892, the city took portions of two other wards, the 8th and 15th, and created the 19th Ward.  It took that portion of the 8th Ward from Genesee Street east to the middle of the Genesee River and that portion of the 15th Ward from Genesee Street west to the Erie Canal  to create the 19th.  The 19th Ward and these boundaries lasted until about 1967 when the city wards as political entities no longer existed.

As an aside, that area west of Genesee Street that was part of the 15th Ward was previously a part of the Town of Gates.  It was annexed into the city in 1874 and at that time the City Charter was amended to reflect the new city boundaries.

Nana and Alexa

100_3296
Originally uploaded by pjeagan2001

Yesterday we went down to Fisher Island to see Julie, Bill and the kids. We hadn't seen Alexa (and Will) since before we went on our Christmas vacation/cruise. Boy, is she getting big.

Saturday Afternoon at the Madison Theater

Probably once a month or so my wife and I will see a Saturday or Sunday afternoon movie at the Muvico Theater on Airport Road. Being seniors, we pay the same as our youngest grandchildren - $6.50. Such a deal!  But I remember the Saturday afternoon movies in Rochester when I was growing up.  The Madison Theater on Genesee Street.  The building is still there at 300 Genesee Street but it is no longer a theater. 

The Saturday matinee at the Madison was a real bargain, although I'm not sure that I realized that at the time.  Admission was $.16 - that's right, sixteen cents!  And for that you got two feature films, cartoons, coming attractions, news and a serial.  That was a bargain.  In addition, there may be something like a yoyo contest.  Can you imagine a line-up like that today?  I don't think so.

Pronunciations

The United States has been carrying on a war in Iraq since 2003 and at the least the promoters of that war should pronounce the name of that country correctly.  It is not 'Eye-rack' with the emphasis on the second syllable but it is "I-rak' with a short 'I' and the emphasis is on the first syllable.  The same is true of Iran.  It is not 'Eye-ran.'  It is 'I-ran' and and the emphasis is on the first syllable.

Along the same lines, don't confuse the people of Afghanistan with their currency.  This morning on the news I heard Secretary of Defense Gates refer to the people of Afghanistan as the "Afghanis."  The people of Afghanistan are Afghans and the currency of that country is the afghani.

Now I feel better!

Hazel's Sweet Shop (a/k/a Mike's)

On Genesee Street in Rochester and right across the street from West High School was a soda shop.  Even the name on the fron of the building was Hazel's Sweet Shop, everybody called it Mike's.  In that same block was (moving south from Hawley Street) was Connor's Drug Store, Red & White Food Store, Decker's Card Shop, a Dry Cleaner Shop and Mikes. Looking at the 1929/1930 City Directory I find: Ballagh, John, druggist (probably preceded Connor's); Flickinger Stores, Inc., grocers (when I worked at the Red & White Flickinger delivered the goods for the store); Spector, Charles, tailor (probably preceded the dry clean shop); Poulis, Michael, confectionery.

So, after all these years I finally know Mike's last name.  On page 1205 of the same City Directory is listed the following:

Poulis, Michael (Hazel), confectionery, 488 Genesee, h[ouse] 352 do

So Mike and Hazel lives just up the street on Genesee St.  In addition, Mike probably had a brother named George (with a wife Helen) that also had a sweet shop on Monroe Ave.  It is amazing what you can find from old City Directories!

My Train Travels

Last week I was reading the Rochester Subway blog about the New York Central station on Central Avenue.  The station was demolished in the late 1960's and has been replaced by a 'modern' Amtrak station.   The original was a classic building and listed by the Infrastructurist blog as one of the most beautiful rail stations to hit the wrecking block. 

 

 I remember the station and can recall my first acquaintance with it.  It was probably in 1948 or 1949 when my Aunt Mae (Mary Eagan O'Brien) took me on my first train ride.  We rode to either Buffalo or Syracuse and then back to Rochester. The high point of the ride - after just being in that huge station - was lunch in the Dining Car.  I don't recall anything about the ride itself but I do recall that lunch.  Imagine eating on a train!

After that inaugural ride from the Central Avenue station there are a few rides that I do remember.  There was a ride to Cleveland when I was in the Little League to see a double header between the Indians and the Yankees.  This was probably in 1951.  Another was a trip from Rochester to Erie, PA to see an Aquinas football game.  (In those days Aquinas did not play any of the Rochester public high schools.)  I seem to recall that the game was called after we were in Erie because of the weather.

My most memorable ride happened in the late 1960's when I was working for IBM in the Rochester branch office.  In addition to programming support I gave to local IBM customers, I also provided area support for customers in western New York with specialized computers (IBM 1800 data acquisition and control system).  The specialist for the eastern portion of the state was in Syracuse but was away at the time.  The customer with the problem was IBM in Poughkeepsie and the weather was terrible.  It was snowing, windy and portion of the NY Thruway was closed so I decided to take the train to Poughkeepsie.  The ride to Poughkeepsie and back was uneventful until we were nearing Rochester late at night.  The conductor talked to me and let me know that the train was late and they would sure like to make up the time before the train reached Buffalo.  He also noted that I was the only passenger scheduled to get off in Rochester.  Then he asked me, "Do you mind when we reach the Rochester station if the train just slows down rather that stop?"  At the time I was in my late 20's so I said, "Sure, I can handle that."  I don't know how slow the train was going when I jumped off but I do recall that I kept running when I hit the platform before I could slow down.

When I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1961 (I already knew that I was going to be drafted but did not want to go in the Army) my trip to Boot Camp in Parris Island, SC and when Boot Camp finished I took the train from Jacksonville, NC to New York City.  I was with a Boot Camp friend from Kingston, NY and his folks picked us up in NYC and I spent the night at his home in Kingston and then went on to Rochester.  I'm not sure how I got to Rochester.  I may have hitchhiked.  After my leave in Rochester I had to go to San Diego for electronics school so I took the train cross-country to California.  Six days if I recall.  Six days of boredom and beer.  Not an enjoyable trip.

Since those trips I have not taken a train ride (with the exception of the south Florida Tri-Rail) in the US.  My lovely wife and I have had a number of train rides in Europe. In Europe you can go anywhere, at any time and at a reasonable price. Not at all like the States.  Maybe one of these days we will catch up with the Europeans when it comes to transportation systems.

On the Way Home

Today is the last day of the cruise from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale.  We expect to arrive in Port Everglades at approximately 8:00 AM.  One thing that I am looking forward to is the cold.  The weather forecast calls for an overnight low of 38 degree.  This means it will be cold in the morning.

Today we played two sessions of Bingo; one in the morning for a cruise in the Caribbean and the other big jackpot game in the afternoon.  The jackpot game was for $4831 - a nice piece of change.  Unfortunately, we did not come even close on either game.  Maybe we'll be luckier on out May cruise to Amsterdam.

We did pretty good in the Casino last night.  We came away winning $157!  Not as much as we lost overall but not bad.  That's it for now.

Cartagena - Part Two

Apparently the low-frequency noise blasters on the deck yesterday worked the trick.  Not a single pirate approached the m/s Amsterdam.  Good job, mates!

We spent most of the day yesterday (in addition to keeping a close watch on pirates) we took a four your tour of the city of Cartegena.  We started by troopsing up a mount to probably the highest point in the city to the La Popa Monestary.  Pictures from there and other sites will be posted on my Flickr site when we get back home on Wednesdat.  From the monestary we traveled to the San Felipe Fortress where the photo above was taken.  It is a huge place with myriad of tunnels and secret places.

From the fortress we traveled to the city's old dungeons.  These were incorporated in the city's wall.  No longer the dungeons they are a series of craft shops.  From there we visited to the Church of San Pedro Clavel where the remains of Peter Clavel, a 17th or 18th century Spanish monk, is in a glass coffin in the high altar.

After visiting these sites we had the mandatory shopping period at a shopping plaza.  Big deal!

Today is a very laid back day.  Not very much going on with the exception of two (count them two) Bingo sessions.  Maybe today is the big day!

Cartagena, Colombia

This morning we are approaching the port of Cartagena in Colombia and as everyone knows Colombia is not the safest country in the world.  So as not to take any chances, the Captain has had low-frequency noise blasters set up on both the port and starboard side of the ship on the outside deck.  Take that uou pirates!

This is not the first time that extra safety precautions have been taken place on our cruises.  While cruising dwon the west coast of Africa a couple of years ago, officers walked the deck all night long.

We are taking a tour in the city of Cartagena and we shall see how things are there.  The unfortunate thing about taking a tour of the city is that we will miss Bingo.  Such is life.

Panama Canal - Part Two

We have finished transiting the Panama Canal and are now in the Caribbean Sea.  Also finished Bingo and no winner again.  (Did I mention yesterday that I won $66?  Well, I did.)

I sat down in our cabin to compose this post and found that now about a half-dozen keys on my netbook are dead!  What a pain in the arse!!!  Right now I am in the library composing this on one of the ship's computers.  Luckily (maybe) I made a mistake and signed for a 500 minute plan for Internet rather a 100 minute plan so I have plenty of on-line time left.  First thing after we get home is to take my brand new netbook to BestBuy!  (After moving the photos to my other laptop.)

Panama Canal

This morning we have just entered the first of the two Miaflores Locks
in the canal. I am in our cabin on deck one and out the window all I
see is the stone wall of the lock. After the ship is completely in the
lock water will fill the lock and we will rise to the next level. To
completely transit the canal takes about eight hours.
We have risen to the next level and now I can see out the window. It is
quite different from the locks that we went through this past summer on
the Rhine River. On the Rhine we could go through a lock in 10 minutes
or so. Because these locks are so much bigger it takes quite a bit longer.

New Years Eve

Last night was New Years Eve on the m/s Amsterdam and again we had one

of the ship's officers at our table for dinner. The beauty of having a

ship's officer at dinner is that he (or she) signs the check for wine

after dinner. Last night's officer was Mark from Mumbai, the ship's

Security Officer.

After dinner, we (as in Pat finally won something at the Roulette
table. It was only $50 but better than nothing. Who knows maybe this
is the start. This afternoon's Bingo session will tell.
At around 4.00 PM we will reach Amador on Flamenco Island where we will
stay until 1.00 AM on Saturday morning. Later in the morning we will
begin our transit of the Panama Canal. As we have seen in the past,
there will be close to a hundred freighter waiting to be let into the
canal. It is necessary to pay the transit fee prior to entering the
canal. Cruise ship companies pay the fee well before arriving at the
entrance. Freighter companies generally wait until the ship arrives and
pays the fee based on its weight.

Antigua, Guatemala

Yesterday we were in the port of Que_____ in Guatemala. The port itself
is for the most part a commercial/industrial area so we took a bus to
the city of Antigua. This was about a one hour and a half drive but the
drive there was pleasant. We had been to Antigua in a previous Panama
Canal cruise but we went there anyhow. We visited the two large
churches and also meandered through the narrow streets and the plazas.
On the way to Antigua there is a volcano that is somewhat active. As we
passed from the top of the volcano we could see either small clouds or
steam/smoke from the crater. Hard to tell which it was.
Today we had a Mariner reception for cruisers who had 100s of days on
Holland American cruise ships. We talked to a couple from Wyoming who
are on their seventh World Cruises. The World Cruises usually last 110
to 120 days in length. One of these days we'll take one of those suckers!
Just before sitting down to write this post there was an announcement
from the bridge that a large school of dolphins were along side the
ship. I ran to the outside deck to take some pictures but by the time I
got there they were nowhere to be seen. Maybe next time!
Tonight is New Year's Eve so festivities aboard the ship. Should be fun.

Puerto Chiapas

Today we are in the port of Chiapas and it is another beautiful day in
Mexico. This morning we stayed on the ship and in the afternoon we took
a bus to an archaeological site at Izapa. The tour guide for this
outing is also an attorney so if any of our family needs a fall-back
profession they can start tour guiding. (ATTENTION - Julie and Bill!)
The archaeological site is not that large but there are others in the
same general area. The site is believed to be a part of the Olmec
civilization and before the Aztecs and Mayas.
After the archaeological site we traveled to the city of Tapachula, a
city of over 250,000 people. There we visited the archaeological museum
which holds a number of steles, pottery, etc. some of which from Izapa.
In Tapachula we also visited the Church of St. Augustine, the Culture
Center and the City Hall. I could not ask why the city hall was so
quiet and then realized that this was a holiday week. Even though it is
December, it seems like Summer.
We missed Bingo and will probably miss it tomorrow. As a result, we
have to make up for that in the Casino. (Yeah, lots of luck!) Because
we are not leaving the port until 7.00 PM the Casino will not open until
then. We'll just go to one of the bars and wait for the Casino to open!

Huatulco, Mexico

Today we are in Huatulco, Mexico and the weather is beautiful - the Sun
is shining and the temperature is in the 80s. This is another Mexican
town that its main industry is tourism. The m/s Amsterdam is not the
only ship in port as a Amazura ship is tied up right next to us. In
fact, when my notebook attempted to connect to a wifi port it chose to
try to connect to the Amazura wifi system as it was a stronger system
than that of the Amsterdam. Of course, I don't have an account on the
Amazura ship so I could connect to it but do nothing else.
Earlier Nancy and I walked off the ship to the small town and looked
around but not for long. Back on the ship was much pleasanter was
reading and relaxing. Right now we are heading up for an ice cream cone
and I'll finish this there.
Well, we finished the ice cream and we are just looking down on the
boats in the bay. As I noted it is very warm and up here by the pool it
seems like it is the 90s. Maybe not but it is very warm. Bingo starts
in about an hour - the high point of the day. Let's see what happens today!

On the Way to Huatulco

Today is a leisurely day at sea as we cruise toward the town of Huatalco
on the Mexican coast. Although yesterday was warm but overcast, today
was in the 80s and sunny. A very nice day to sit on deck and read so I
did. Rather than eat lunch in the dining room or the buffet on the Lido
Deck we ate in the Pinnacle Grill. The Pinnacle is very elegant and the
food is excellent even for lunch. We have also made a reservation for
dinner there one night during the week.
Tonight will be another Casino, dinner and then the show. It is
difficult to determine how long we will stay at the show as the
entertainer is a singer. Some we stay for the entire show and at other
times we sneak out early. We shall see.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Today we are in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a typical tourist town on the
west coast of Mexico. We took a walk from the ship into town and walked
quite a way up the main road. We were going to walk to the old town and
realized it was about 5 miles. Five miles is not bad but it would also
require another five miles to get back.
Just finished Bingo and again no winners among the Eagans. In fact, we
have not won anything yet - no Bingo, nothing in the Casino. Maybe
tonight we will be lucky in the Casino. Even if we do not win anything,
it should be a nice evening. The entertainment is a woman comedian.
Give me a comedian, magician or juggler any time. I do not care for
the singers and dancers.

Christmas Day

Today - Christmas Day - the ms Amsterdam is on its way to Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico which we will reach tomorrow morning about 8.00 AM.
Santa Claus visited the Amsterdam at 10.00AM for all the kiddies (young
and old).
We made an unscheduled stop at Cabo San Lucas as one of the crew was in
infirmary and needed to go to a hospital. Yesterday the doctor
determined that the facilities on the ship were insufficient for the
patient so the Captain looked for a a place to make an evacuation.
Helicopters both military and civilian were not available so over night
they ship headed for Cabo and took the crew member via a tender ashore
to meet an ambulance to a hospital. From there we took off again to
continue south for our next port.
Today more Casino and Bingo to see if we can pay for this cruise! (Lots
of luck!) Oh, also this morning we booked our next cruise. We are
scheduled to take the ms Prinsendam on a 21 day transatlantic cruise
from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam, Netherlands in May. That should be
fun as we can flu or train from Amsterdam to Florence, Italy to meet
Julie, Bill, Will and Alexa for a bit.

Christmas Eve at Sea

This morning we are sailing south along the Mexican Coast and it
certainly doesn't seem at all like Christmas Eve. The ship is decorated
for Christmas, the Atrium has decorated Christmas trees and some of the
waiters and stewards are wearing Santa Claus hats but it doesn't seem
like Christmas when you look out the window and see nothing but water.
This afternoon we are going to a wine tasting session. After that it is
bingo - the main reason we cruise! Dinner tonight is listed as "Formal
Optional" and I don't have the faintest idea what that means. I am
assume that some folks will be wearing tuxedos and others Dockers and
Izod shirt. I will opt for the latter because tomorrow is a Formal
night (no option).

Aboard the ms Amsterdam

We are now on board the ms Amsterdam for our two week cruise through the
Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale. Because this is a holiday cruise, the
ship is full and all cabins are occupied. We have a problem with mold
in the bathroom (the 'head' for you sailors) so the cabin steward gave
it a thorough cleaning. Let's hope that that takes care of the
problem. Otherwise we are screwed as there are no other cabins.
It is 6.15 PM [the colon key on the keyboard is dead, hence the period
in the time rather than a colon] and after a shower we will head for a
Martini before dinner. We have requested fixed late seating at 8.00 PM
and a fixed table rather than the "as you please" dining. That
requires that you call every day and make a reservation or just go to
the dining room and wait in line. I don't like to wait in line for
anything!
That's it for now.

It's Cruise Day!

After four days with our daughter Colleen and her family and four days with our daughter Laura and her family, today our Panama Canal cruise starts from Long Beach.  Right now it is 7 AM here in Oak Park and it is about 45 degrees.  I must point out that this is California.  You know, warm, balmy weather.  What the hell happened! I hope that as we cruise south along Mexico and Central America it is warmer.

Even though it has been cold in both Eureka and Oak Park, we still had a great time.

In Oak Park, California

Since Saturday evening we have been visiting our daughter Laura and her family in Oak Park, CA.  Yesterday evening we attended a performance of Nutcracker Suite ballet which starred our granddaughters, Maris (Raggedy Ann) and Lily (a mouse).  Below is Maris as we head off to the Performing Arts Center.

 

Unfortunately, it is a bit cool here (hell no, it's cold) and here's to hoping that it warms up.

At the Beach (Samoa Peninsula)

100_2924
Originally uploaded by pjeagan2001

After breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse, we went to the beach for pictures. These were for Colleen's Christmas pictures to send out. This picture I thought was great.

Eureka, CA

After all day yesterday in airplanes, we are in Eureka with Colleen, Robb and the twins.  The little ones are really getting big and on the move all the time.  At first they were a little bit (well, maybe more than a little bit) leery of Grandpa and Nana but that will eventually get over that.  I have found that tweaking and honking noses goes a long way to get to small kids.  We'll see.  Here is a picture of the darlings with their Santa Claus hats that Nana brought along.

On the Road

Tomorrow we will fly to Los Angeles and then north to Eureka were we will spend four days with Colleen and her family.  This will be the first chance to see the twins since they were in Florida last spring.  Then we will fly back to Los Angeles and spend four days with Laura and her family and on the 23rd we will start a cruise on the ms Amsterdam to get back home.  We are taking this cruise through the Panama Canal because we only had enough frequent-flyer points to fly First Class one way to California.  Therefore we had to cruise back!  We will add details on the trip and cruise here as we progress.

A Rochester Landmark

The railroad station above, located on West Main Street just west of Broad Street, was the passenger station for the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad (BR & P). This railroad came into existence in 1885 when the Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad was split into the Pittsburgh & State Line Railroad Company and the BR & P.  The BR & P was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1932 and I can recall seeing the B&O sign on the building when I lived in Rochester.  The building is no longer a railroad station but is even more famous as it had ever been.  Today it is the home of internationally famous (well, maybe not internationally) Nick Tahou's and the equally famous garbage plate. Quite a place!

King Ferry, NY

Above a screen capture from a Google Maps view of the rectory of Our Lady of the Lake Church in King Ferry, NY.  I'm sure that my sisters and cousins will recognize this from summer visits to our Uncle Joe - Rev. Joseph T. Maloney when he was the pastor there.  Behind the trees on the left is the church and behind the church is the cemetery.  Before looking at the photo, my memory had a picture of a much bigger house.  I guess it wasn't that big.  Too bad there is not a side view from the right so we could see the pump on the side porch.  I guess there was running water in the house but drinking water came from the well via the pump.  Does that make sense?  It was a long time ago.

As far as I know there is no longer a priest in King Ferry.  Like a number of churches in the Diocese of Rochester they have combined with other churches with one priest.  In the case of King Ferry the priest is located in Auburn at the end of the lake.

Rochester Telephone Book for 1910

The Monroe County Public Library has an ongoing project to digitize local books for the area.  This is a part of its Local History work.  Among the newest books to be digitized are the Bell Telephone Directory for 1910 and 1912 and on page 68 of the 1910 version we find my great-grandmother:

Eagan, Patrick Mrs., Res. 108 Atkinson . . . . . . Main 690

She is also found in the 1912 version on page 70 at the same address and the same number.  I suspect that numbers that have a number followed by a letter were party line.  Those without a letter were single lines.  I remember that our number on Flint Street was Genesee 5577-M.

St. Patrick's Cemetery

In October I posted an account of Cemeteries in Rochester, NY.  In that post I noted that a number of siblings of my paternal grandfather were originally buried in the cemetery associated with St. Patrick's Church and later reburied in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.  Recently I came across a portion of a plat for the Pinnacle Hill area that shows St. Patrick's Cemetery.  Note that the city line goes through the cemetery.  In addition, note the location of St. Boniface Cemetery at the corner of Highland Parkway and Clinton Ave, South.

My Christmas Present

Here is my Christmas present from my lovely wife.  This is for our travels and will be inaugurating it on our California/Panama Canal trip starting two weeks from today.  You will note that the operating system is Windows XP but it will be changed to Linux (the Ubuntu version).

Thanksgiving in Scottsdale

Nancy and I spent six days over Thanksgiving in Scottsdale, AZ with three of our daughters and their families.  Here is a video of some of what we did.  The best part is the beginning with my grandson, Will, doing some of the driving.

Off to Scottsdale, AZ

This afternoon my lovely wife and I will be flying to Scottsdale to spend a week with some of our children and grandchildren.  And, by the way, today is our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  And some people thought that it wouldn't work!

Rochester Civil War Camps

In the summer of 2004, the Rochester History, a quarterly publication done by the Rochester City Historian had an article titled, "Campgrounds of the Civil War" by George Levy and Paul Tynan.  This piece describes three camps found in Rochester during the Civil War for assembly and training in preparation for shipping to the war sites.  These camps were Camp Hillhouse, Camp Fitz-John Porter and  Camp Genesee.

Camp Hillhouse was located at the Monroe County Fair Grounds that today is the site of of the Nursing School at Strong Memorial Hospital on Crittenden Blvd.  Camp Fitz-John Porter was located on Cottage Street on the corner of Cottage and Magnolia Street.  Camp Genesee was located at Maplewood Park on Lake Avenue.

Camp Hillhouse was looked at in 1862 as a possible site for a Prisoner of War camp.  At that time the exchange of prisoners between the North and South had ceased and additional facilities were needed.  As a result, Col. William Hoffman, in charge of prisons, detailed a Capt. H. M. Lazelle to visit camps at Albany, Utica, Rochester and Elmira and to report on the feasibility of using any of these camps as Prisoner of War camps.  We know that Elmira was chosen and in 1864 Rochester's 54th Regiment of the NY National Guard spent 100 days there as a guard unit.

The following from The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. ; Series 2 - Volume 4, pages 74 thru 77, is the report that Capt. Lazelle sent to Col. Hoffman concerning Camp Hillhouse in Rochester.

DETROIT, MICH., June 25, 1862.

Col. WILLIAM HOFFMAN,
Commissary- General of Prisoners, Detroit, Mich.

COLONEL: In compliance with your order dated Washington June 12, 1862, requiring me to visit the permanent camps at Albany, Utica, Rochester and Elmira and the U. S. barracks at Buffalo to ascertain their capacity for quartering troops and to make to you a written report thereon accompanied by a general plan of each camp, I have the honor to submit the result of my examination of the camp so specified at Rochester, N. Y., as its condition when visited by me on or near the 22d instant.

This camp is known as the Camp of the State Fair Grounds. The grounds were rented by the Government at $100 per month for the first three months occupied; after that period at $50 per month. It erected on them quarters for 1,000 men, mess hall, kitchen, guard-house, stables, officers quarters, sinks, & c., and for a considerable period occupied them with volunteer troops. Within a few months, however, the buildings so erected and the furnishings contained in them have been sold, and they together with the grounds are now in possession of the authorities of the State Fair who contemplate holding there a fair in September next.

The barracks, mess halls and kitchens are now being removed of their furniture for that purpose. It occupies a fine situation, being located on an excellent road about two miles southeast from town on a plot of ground gently sloping, of a rectangular shape, being 400 by 800 yards. The soil is firm and hard at all times--is composed of gravel covered with sward. The camp at present contains no troops. The ground is quite as high as the surrounding country and there is not in its vicinity either marsh, standing water or forest or any locus of malaria or disease. The camp is abundantly supplied with pure limestone water from never-failing wells on the ground. The Genesee Canal [Genesee Valley Canal] passes within a few hundred yards of the west side of the camp and the New York Central Railroad lies very near it. It is surrounded by a high, close, board fence of about 8 feet.

The buildings Were all, with the exception of that formerly used as a hospital, erected by the Government. They are all new, of one story, of wooden frames, with rough board coverings both on the sides and roofs. These boards are matched and the seams again covered with outer boards. The roofs are pitched and are, at the ridge poles of the buildings used as the mens quarters, mess halls and kitchens, about 2O feet high and at the eaves 10 feet. The buildings used as officers quarters, hospital and guard-house are about 15 and 8 respectively. They all have firm floors of planks and are well ventilated. In two long buildings built closely together and parallel with each other, each 280 by 40 feet, are the quarters for the men and mess halls. At the south end of these two buildings and abutting against them is the kitchen, whose extreme length is, together with a small shed at one end, just equal to the united width of the two larger buildings plus the interval between them, viz, 90 feet. The kitchen is 30 feet wide and contains but little of ordinary cooking apparatus, most of it having been removed. In one of the large buildings above mentioned is a mess hall 130 by 40 feet and in the other another hall 70 by 40. They will comfortably seat 1,000 men, but most of the tables and benches have been removed to the outside since the sale
of the buildings.

There are two sets of quarters, one in each of the large buildings, each 40 feet wide and 150 and 210 feet long respectively. In each the bunks are placed end to end and are arranged in 5 rows of double bunks, the outer rows of 3 tiers and the 3 inner ones of 4 tiers each. By this arrangement the larger set of quarters will readily accommodate 600 men and the smaller 400, 1,000 men being the original adaptation of the buildings. There are sufficient bunks for the reception of this number but no ticks for straw. The hospital is 60 by 30 feet with an L of 20 by 10 feet. The guard-house is 20 by 15 feet with an addition for cells and prison rooms of 30 by 10 and is not sufficient but for temporary occupancy of the camp. There are 4 small buildings of 15 by 10 feet each, of 1 room each, used for officers quarters. There is no bake-house but the rations are furnished, cooked and placed on the tables, and furniture supplied for the tables, at 22 cents each, the contractor furnishing his own cooking apparatus. The sinks are filthy and out of repair. There is a good bath-house at the northwest end of the ground 70 by 15 feet. On the south side are stabling sheds for 100 horses, and on the north side of the grounds stabhing sheds for 50 horses.

Hard wood is delivered at the camp for $4 per cord and soft at $3; coal at $5 and $6 per ton. Lumber can be purchased at $9 and $10 per 1,000 feet. I was informed by General John Williams, of Rochester, under whose care these grounds formerly were, that at Le Roy, a point thirty miles west from Rochester, is a large stone building formerly used as a car depot, completely fitted with furniture and ready for the reception of 1,000 men; that the Government formerly hired and placed in this building its furnishings but that it has now sold them, but that they can be had complete at present if
desired as they are not in use, and have not since being occupied for military purposes been disturbed.

 I am, colonel, with the highest respect, your obedient servant,

H. M. LAZELLE,

Captain, Eighth Infantry.

Mad Dog's Device

This I think is neat:

Why I Love Rochester

This morning's Democrat & Chronicle carries an article concerning entitled "6 injured, vehicles struck by erratic driver, police say."  The lead paragraph pretty much lays it out:

A 27-year-old man is facing a slew of traffic tickets and felony charges after he allegedly drove his car into pedestrians, a bicyclist and a vehicle on South Plymouth Avenue Thursday afternoon before leading police on a chase through residential and commercial streets.

While doing doughnuts in the lot, the vehicle struck a bicyclist, another vehicle and about three pedestrians in the parking lot area of the gas station.

The article concludes with the following comment from the police,"[Police Officer] Markert said several alcohol containers were found inside the Maxima, which might have been a contributing factor to his erratic driving."  Brilliant!

UPDATE:  The following is from WHAM:  "According to court documents, Muthana allegedly got intoxicated and was seen going into the Kennedy Towers with a transvestite. It is not clear whether the suspect knew he was with a transvestite.

When someone on the street confronted Muthana with that information, it is alleged that Muthana became enraged and began intentionally running people over."

Rochester and the Railroads

 

I guess that all boys (and old men) are fascinated by trains. I remember my first train set I received on Christmas probably about 1948. It wasn't a new set. It had belonged to my cousin, Jack O'Brien, but he grown out of the set. (Jack was 17 years older than I.) For a number of years the trains - a Lionel set - was set up around the Christmas tree for a number of years. I suspect that when we moved to Trafalgar St. in 1950 the train set was packed up and was among the 'junk' in the attic there.

My grandson, Liam, had a train set around their Christmas tree when he was about three years old or so. My grandson, Will, has probably every train and accessory possible with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. In addition to my Lionel train set on Flint Street, I also had a grandfather, Frederick Maloney, an engineer on the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. Here is my grandfather, second on the right. The fellow on the right was my grandfather's fireman, Harry Hook.

I guess that today there are a few short line railroads in the Rochester area but not at all the number of main railroads that once served the Rochester area.  An interesting web site showing the Railroad History of Rochester from 1825 up to 2009.  The Rochester City Directory for 1900 shows 16 railroads, some sharing the same tracks and the same stations.  These were:

• Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway Co. - Passenger and freight stations, West Avenue and Oak Street.
• Erie Railroad Company - Passenger station on Court Street.
• enesee Falls Railway Co. (Inc. 1886) - Road leased in perpetuity to the N.Y.C. & H.R.R.R.
• Irondequoit Park Railroad Co. (Inc. 1896) - Station Main St. E. corner Chamberlain
• Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad (Inc. 1852) - Road leased to Erie Railroad Co.
• Rochester & Suburban Railroad Co. (Inc. 1900) - Office and station Portland Ave. opposite Bay Street
• Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad - Station 434 State St. Road leased in perpetuity to the N.Y.C. & H.R.R.R.
• West Shore Railroad - Station Central Ave. Road leased in perpetuity to the N.Y.C. & H.R.R.R.
• Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway - Station 81 West Ave.
• Lehigh Valley Railroad - Passenger station South Ave.  corner Griffith Street.  City office 13 Main St. E.
• New York Central & Hudson River Railroad - Passenger station Central Ave. corner St. Paul St.
• Northern Central Railway - Penn. System - Trains arrive and depart from N.Y.C. & H.R.R.R. station Central Ave.
• Rochester, Charlotte & Manitou Railroad Co.
• Rochester Electric Railway Co. (Inc. 1888) - Leased to Rochester Railway Co.
• Rochester Railway Co. (Inc. 1890) - (Street) - 267 State St.
• Rochester & Sodus Bay Railway C. (Inc. 1898)

It certainly changed in the last 109 years.

Happy Birthday - United States Marine Corps

Today is the birthday of the nation's oldest branch of the armed serves, the United States Marine Corps.  Older, in fact, than the United States.  The Corps was founded in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia on November 10, 1775.  My active duty in the Marine Corps was from December 1961 to December 1964.  That three years saw me at: Parris Island, SC; Camp Lejune, NC; Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA; and Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC.  Semper Fidelis!

Sgt. Patrick J. Eagan, USMC (Ret)

(Ok, I didn't retire but it looks nice!)

The Underground Railroad to School

Ok, I didn't really take the Underground Railroad to school. In fact, the Underground Railroad was not a real railroad system but rather a system of secretly moving slaves to the north during the nineteen century. However, on my way to St. Monica's School on Genesee Street in Rochester I had to pass a house that everybody (well, not everybody) said was at one time a station on the Underground Railroad. At the time (in the late 1940s and early 1950s) we took these rumors only half serious. Only much later did I learn that this house probably was a part of the Underground Railroad.

The house was located at 669 Genesee St. on the corner of Elmdorf St. and in the 1850s it was owned by George H. Humphrey, a Rochester attorney and active abolitionist.  Humphrey and his family owned the house for only a couple of years and in the Rochester City Directory the house is referred to  by its name, 'Elm Grove,' rather by its street number.  (This may be because the west side of Genesee St. was not a part of the city but was in the town of Gates.  That land west of Genesee St. was not a part of the city until about 1893.) The house no longer exists and since 1968 the location is the site of a apartment house owned by the Rochester Housing Authority.

In the nineteen century Rochesterians was very active in the abolitionist movement and it looks like the 19th Ward was a part of that history.

Daylight Savings Time

Although I'm not a farmer (although I do play one on TV) I do like Daylight Savings Time but with the change I'm able to start my daily bike ride at 6:30 AM with the sun up. However, it is now 5:40 PM and the sun went down 3 minutes ago! That I could do without.

Rochester's Subway - An Interesting Blog

In July I wrote about the Kodak Park Athletic Association (KPAA) and the Rochester subway. Since then I have come across the Rochester Subway blog, an interesting site dealing with Rochester's long-gone subway. Anyone with even a tad bit of interest in Rochester history may want to look at it.

Grandpa Mack's 101st Birthday

Last weekend we were in Michigan for my wife's father's 101st birthday. The pictures are found here and a video is found here.  We had a wonderful time in spite of the miserable weather - cold, windy and rain.  I'm at a loss as to how anybody can live there year round!

On the Road

Last week Nancy and I were in Miami Thursday thru Saturday babysitting our granddaughter, Alexa. Today we are off to the Detroit area for my father-in-law's 101st birthday and we will be back home on Monday afternoon.  (By the way, the temperature in Boca Raton right now is 79 with a high forecasted of 86; in Detroit it is 56 with a projected high of 59.  Just lovely!) After that we will be home for four weeks and then we will off for a week in Scottsdale, AZ with three of our daughters and their family for Thanksgiving.

Cemeteries in Rochester, NY

For the thirty or so years that I lived in Rochester, I knew that Rochester had two large cemeteries: Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on Lake Avenue for Catholics and Mount Hope Cemetery on Mount Hope Avenue for everybody else.  I guess that I may have heard of two smaller ones, the Rapids Cemetery and Riverside Cemetery, although at the time I probably couldn't tell you where they were.  I have subsequently learned that the Rapids Cemetery was located in my neck of the woods, the 19th Ward.  It is on the north side of Congress Avenue just about seven lots from Genesee Street.  Riverside Cemetery in located on the east side of Lake Avenue just north of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.  I suspect that if I had gone north on Lake Avenue I would have assumed that Riverside was just a continuation of Holy Sepulchre.  Looking at a map the two abut each other.

When I started looking at my family's history I found that some of my Eagan Grandfather's siblings had been originally buried at St. Patrick's cemetery located on Pinnacle Hill.  When the large plot of land on Lake Avenue was purchased by the Diocese of Rochester for a cemetery (and also St. Bernard's Seminary) all bodies from Pinnacle Hill were removed to Holy Sepulchre.  Also were removed to Holy Sepulchre were those buried at other Catholic cemeteries that I did not even know about.

Here is how William F. Peck describes the Rochester cemeteries in his History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York: From the Earliest Historic Times to the Beginning of 1907.

One of the first duties of the new common council was to provide a suitable resting-place for the dead. The early settlers had used for that purpose a half-acre lot on the corner of Plymouth avenus and Spring streets, by permission of its owners. Rochester. Fitzhugh and Carroll, who finally deeded it, as a free gift, to the village corporation in 1821. Three months later it was exchanged for a lot of three and a half acres on West Main street, where the City hospital now stands, and all the bodies were removed thither. This was always known as the Buffalo street buryingground, while a smaller one on the east side of the river was called the Monroe street bury ing-ground. But both together were too circumscribed and too near to a growing population, so in 1836 the common council, approving a selection unofficially made by a committee of citizens, purchased of Silas Andrus a piece of ground comprising the first fifty-three acres of what is now Mt. Hope. Fortunately for posterity Silas Cornell was the surveyor of the city at that time, to whose rare skill as a landscape architect, and equally perhaps to his wise forbearance in altering as little as possible the undulations of the ground, it was owing that Mt. Hope has always been one of the most beautiful resting-places for the departed in nil the land. The spirit of the original design has been adhered to by successive superintendents, notably by George D. Stillson, who held the position for sixteen years. Additions were made to the necropolis from time to time, the largest being in 1865, when seventy-eight acres were purchased, so that it now contains about one hundred and eighty-eight acres. The first interment, that of William Carter, was made on August 18th, 1838; on the 1st of June, 1894, the fifty thousandth burial took place and up to this time some sixty thousand have been laid away there, a veritabla city of the dead, a silent city.

While there were some few Catholics interred at Mt. Hope in early days, the great majority of that communion, practically all of them, preferred to bury their dead in ground consecrated by their church, and so the trustees of St. Patrick's bought an extensive tract on the Pinnacle hills, southeast of the city, in 1838, and for the next thirty-three years the interment of English-speaking Catholics was made in the Pinnacle burying-ground, as it was always called, since which time much of the light, sandy soil of that eminence has been removed for building purposes. The German Catholics have had three cemeteries—that of St. Joseph, on Lyell avenue; of Sts. Peter and Paul, on Maple street, and of St. Boniface, on South Clinton street—but almost all the bodies have been removed from these and deposited in the Holy Sepulcher cemetery. This comprises about one hundred and forty acres, situated on Lake avenue, north of the city line, in the town of Greece, and extending to the bank of the river. The location is a most desirable one, and since it was opened, in 1871, it has been increasingly beautified, so that it has become very attractive to all visitors.

Perceiving the advantage that the Holy Sepulcher had over Mt. Hope in being located so far from the dwellings of the living, several persons formed themselves into a corporation in 1892 and bought one hundred acres of land just north of the former, where the grounds were at once laid out in a suitable manner and were tastefully decorated, the result being that lots were speedily purchased and interments are very frequent in the lovely Riverside cemetery. One other place of the dead might have been mentioned before, on account of its antiquity. Although within the city limits, near the southern end of Genesee street, it was doubtless intended for the use of the dwellers ir Scottsville and Chili, for it is said to have been established in 1812, when there were no residents here. It has always been known as the Rapids burying-ground. 

Trafalgar Street in Rochester, NY

Yesterday we looked at my home until 1950 on Flint Street.  Here you see my home from 1950 until 1961 when I enlisted in the Marine Corps.  While in the Corps I was married and when I returned to Rochester at the end of my enlistment my wife and son moved into my father-in-law's house on  Shelbourne Road.  Originally when we moved here the front door was in the middle of front with a window on the right.  Inside there were relatively small halls/rooms and the living room.

My father wanted a large living room so he (with my help) tore down the walls for the smaller halls/rooms and made one large living room.  I'm surprised that the second floor didn't fall into the first floor and then into the basement as at least one of those walls that were taken down was a load bearing wall. To take the place of the load bearing wall, my father laid two very long "two by tens" against the studs and up against the ceiling and then cut the studs.  After some time he also had to but a jack in the basement to keep the first floor living room from sagging?

The details of the house at the City of Rochester property site note that there are seven rooms.  I guess that they don't count the three rooms in the attics.  Also it lists one bathroom but no mention to the toilet ("the throne") in the basement; the one that my sisters and I painted!

The house on the right was the Websters and on the left were the Hartwell.  Next to the Hartwells on the corner of Trafalgar and Montgomery were the Griffins.  If you look at a map of this area of Rochester you will note that we were three houses from West High School (now Wilson Magnet High School). My sisters could leave for school minutes before it started and be there on time.  Not me, I went to Aquinas Institute on Dewey Avenue.  For me to get to school I took a bus downtown to the Four Corners (Main and State) and transfer to the Dewey Avenue bus (number 10 bus if I recall).

Flint Street in Rochester, NY

Here is the house I lived in on Flint Street in Rochester until 1950 when we moved to Trafalgar Street. This wasn't very far as you can see on a map of Rochester. It was just the other side of Genesee Street.

The small stoop at the front door is not the way it was when we lived there.  Then there was a porch with railing that went the entire front of the house.   One spring just before Easter (I think) we were getting ready to take the bus downtown to shop for Easter outfits.  Because the railing was to walk on (what else would they be there for) my sister, Kathy, fell.  Naturally, she broke her arm.  I don't for the life of me recall how she got the break set and the cast put on.  If I had to guess she went to St. Mary's Hospital just up Genesee St. at Bull's Head.  (I'll talk about Bull's Head and other locations in Rochester at some other time.)  I'm pretty sure we didn't go downtown that day!

It's funny but I can remember more of the neighbors on Flint Street than I can on those on Trafalgar Street.  The neighbors to the right of our house was the Trimbles (Herb and his wife) and next to them was Mr. Trimble's mother and sister.  As I recall, the two houses were always painted the same and had shared garage in the back.  (In those days almost all garages were detached from the house.)

On the left was the Dipples.  I don't think I ever knew Mr. and Mrs. first names but I just looked in the City Directory for 1929 and Mr. Dipple was George.  Mrs. Dipple was a regular crone.  Their back yard was a regular jungle and if anything went over their fence you had to hunt for it.  More often or not Mrs. Dipple saw you and she would come out the back door screaming.

Next to the Dipples were the Schwartz (I think that was the name).  They had a garage in their back yard where my father kept his car.  Next to them was the Porters.  They had three older girls, an older boy and Billy.  Billy was probably five years older than I or more and quite stocky.  No, not stocky, he was fat.  He was taking flying lessons when he was in high school (Edison High) and crashed and died.  I don't recall whether it was at the Rochester Airport or Hyland Field, a small air field in either Brighton of Henrietta.

Next to the Porters, at 502 Flint St., were the Neary family: Jim (a policeman) and Helen, and Fred, Barbara and Bob.  They were probably our closest friends on Flint Street.  Until about 1944, the grandfather, Patrick J. Neary, also lived there.  I recall when he died as he was laid out at home (as was common then) during a terrible storm.  That was probably my earliest recollection of Flint Street.  Quite a neighborhood.

At another time I'll introduce you to the Denices (assholes), Johnny Montuli (or as my father called him, Johnny Ma-got-no-teeth), Annie Conner, and the rest of the crew on Flint Street.

Ireland Does Not Have A Prime Minister

This morning's New York Times had an article relating to Secretary of State Clinton and her visit to Ireland accompanied by a photo with Brian Cowen. Although the article refers to Cowen as the Irish Prime Minister, the Republic of Ireland has no Prime Minister. The head of government in Ireland is the Taoiseach, an Irish term meaning Chief. 

President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

I'm not sure that he has done anything yet to warrant that prize but one thing is certain. It certainly will piss off those cretins on the right!

Heat Index 104 in Boca Raton

Right now (noon) in Boca Raton it is about 90 degrees and the heat index stands at 104. That has been the norm for the last five days or so. As a result, after my morning bicycle ride and a shower I strapped my beach chair and umbrella on my back, hopped on my motorscooter and headed to the beach. Breakfast at the beach was Gatorade, a bagel and the New York Times. It doesn't get any better than that!