So a little background on me. I am a retired science teacher, never much liked history. Then just before I retired, we moved into a little town called Fish House. Part of our house was a 200 year old brick house that used to be a tailor shop and then a doctor's office. The history of the area intrigued me. I volunteered at the Fish House Community Center and organized a history tour in 2009 and 2012. The historian for the town of Northampton (Fish House is part of that town) asked me to be deputy historian of Northampton and concentrate on Fish House. You see, in 1930, when the Great Sacandaga Lake was made, Fish House was essentially cut off from the main part of Northampton. It is on the east side of the lake, most of Northampton is on the west side. So I gladly took on the challenge and started to really dig into the history. Houses had been moved in preparation of the lake, roads had been altered. The houses took up a lot of my research time. But I also am involved in the Fish House Community Center, organizing the annual rummage sale, cooking at their breakfasts. And since Fish House is seven miles from a tiny library, I started a Little Free Library. Suddenly my retirement years were full of things.
My latest project is cleaning the stones in the abandoned cemetery of the old Presbyterian Church. Forgive me if my Fish House posts are obsessing on this cemetery. I can't seem to find enough time to clean the stones and learn all I can. The good news, is hopefully the Town of Northampton will be helping me with some of the repairs. Fingers crossed.
I went up this morning to clean some more stones,,,had a little time between obligations. There is never a set time, just whenever. Lydia Tanner's stone is improving due to the D2 Biologic. Squire Maxwell's stone is getting more legible,, I applied more D2 on his. The sun was hot, so I went into the shade to work on some stones. I found this little one lying in the ground,,,hard to read, but I could read John H.,,,so after checking on the 1930's list of gravestones,,,I think it is the grave for John H. Fairchild who died at age 3. Some people think this project would make me sad. At times it does, when you realize how young these "residents" were when they died. I find the project fulfilling,,,giving people a look into what life was like in Fish House and learning who lived here. If you sneak up on me at the cemetery, you might hear me talking to the stones. Call me crazy...that is fine.
My latest project is cleaning the stones in the abandoned cemetery of the old Presbyterian Church. Forgive me if my Fish House posts are obsessing on this cemetery. I can't seem to find enough time to clean the stones and learn all I can. The good news, is hopefully the Town of Northampton will be helping me with some of the repairs. Fingers crossed.
I went up this morning to clean some more stones,,,had a little time between obligations. There is never a set time, just whenever. Lydia Tanner's stone is improving due to the D2 Biologic. Squire Maxwell's stone is getting more legible,, I applied more D2 on his. The sun was hot, so I went into the shade to work on some stones. I found this little one lying in the ground,,,hard to read, but I could read John H.,,,so after checking on the 1930's list of gravestones,,,I think it is the grave for John H. Fairchild who died at age 3. Some people think this project would make me sad. At times it does, when you realize how young these "residents" were when they died. I find the project fulfilling,,,giving people a look into what life was like in Fish House and learning who lived here. If you sneak up on me at the cemetery, you might hear me talking to the stones. Call me crazy...that is fine.
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