Notes
collected by Anne Willis
From Vern Pope:
Horseblock Point got its name because the
carcasses of the horses that fell through the ice during the winter when ice
was being cut for summer use ended up at "Horseblock Point". The men would cut the ice in front of the
town and haul it ashore and store it in icehouses. They covered the ice with sawdust to keep it from melting.
Horseblock Point was the spot where cattle
were herded to swim to Downie, Hickey and Stave. They would tie the lead cow to a horse and lead the horse into
the river at Horseblock Point. The men
would guide the horse from a rowboat and lead the herd across the water. The cows would follow the lead cow.
Notes re: Downie Island
In October 1985 Bruce Kelsey put in our
septic system. One of the machines he
used was a small grader with a pushing blade on the front. The motor broke down and a mechanic from
Newell's Garage in Lansdowne came to fix it.
He had not been to Downie Island since early 1950's. That year he was part of a gang of workers
who were destructing the hotel. He said
they threw toilets out the window plus other things. They had brought a dump truck out here (don't know how). The truck got stuck in a mud hole east of
the chimney and they had something else (a tractor maybe) trying to pull the
truck out. They both got stuck. It was a mess - eventually they got the
vehicles out of the mud.
History of Downie, (formerly Float Island)
Notes made by Jack Schottmiller August 23, 1983 from
conversation with Karl and Betty Nelson, 48 Sachem Road, Weston, CT 06882
Karl and Betty Nelson were vacationing at
the Glenn House, rented a canoe and paddled around Downie. Jack and Anne Schottmiller were sitting on
their dock and talked to them. The
Nelsons came ashore and Betty Nelson took a brick from the fireplace home to
Connecticut with her. She sent two
pictures of Downie - one a panorama view of the hotel and one a view from the
hotel to the Schottmiller’s that they had framed and hangs in their cottage.
From
Betty Nelson:
At the turn of the century and before there
was a boy’s school approximately at the back of Buggie/Schottmiller lot. When the school closed the island was
purchased by a Scotsman, Mr. MacFarlin, who converted it into the Float Island
House. People came from Baltimore and
the east coast by train to Clayton, and Mr. MacFarlin picked up guests by boat
the “Princess” and brought them to the dock on what is now Willis’ beach. Baggage - steamer trunks were pulled up the
hill by horse - on a vehicle on a trail.
College boys - very nice - unloaded and loaded baggage. No electricity on island. Water came from area in front of was Cleland’s
and is now Hamlin’s. A windmill brought
the water up. There were cows and goats
on the island and they kept grass down.
The best view was from East Rock at eastern tip of island on what was
Dixon’s and now MacPherson’s lot.
Rowley was called Crow Island.
Swimming was good at Sheep (Popham) Island. Men Swam at one end and women at the other au natural. People who owned Rich Island were from
(Rosebrugh) Syracuse - Boesberry (?)
Young girls would go over there for tea. They would have marshmallow roasts and make fudge at west end of
island (where Cooks are now). Front
porch of hotel had best view on island - approximately the same as from
Schottmiller’s cottage. Betty’s aunt
(Marjorie) bought Owens Island for $150.00 and later sold it to the Jordan’s (who went to a lot of cocktail
parties).(Good for them!C.T.)
Mulcaster was used by rum runners during
Prohibition. One time they broke into
main house and built a bonfire on the dining room table.
One time Betty’s little sister cried too
much and Mr. MacFarlin, Owner of the Float Island House, made the little sister
sleep in a tent outside with her mother.
The hotel sewage went out by Willis’on the
east side if the peninsula, while swimming took place on the west side
(Dowling’s) where there are sandy beaches .
Women wore bloomers when they went swimming. There were many birch trees particularly at west end of the island.
Women and children came up for two months but men came up for only two
weeks.
From the hotel porch they could watch
storms coming. There were many
loons. One night they saw a shadow
gliding over the water - it was a rum runner.
Girls would swim from Downie to Rich Island. There were sandy beaches all along west side of peninsula
(Dowling’s). No other structures were
on the island except the hotel and its buildings.
September 17, 1987
Betty Nelson’s sister, Peg Weikart and her
husband Jack visited Toad Hall (Willis’) on their visit to this area, on
September 17, 1987. Wilson Goff was
driving them around to see Rich Island, Float Island and Owen Island. They stopped at Toad Hall and Peg, Jack and
I walked up behind Schottmiller,s cottage.
We peeked in the window at the framed pictures that Betty Nelson had
sent them - one of the old hotel, and one of the view from the hotel. Then we walked to the old chimney and Peg
took a broken brick from the fireplace.
I mentioned that she had been sent to sleep in a tent because she cried
at night. She said that it was her
young brother. She thought her sister
Betty and her brother had all the old photos taken on Float. Her brother was living with their parents
when they died and closed up the old home.
The last time Peg came to the hotel was in 1938 (or so). They were about the only guests who
came. By 1938 the hotel was on its last
legs I guess. Peg mentioned that it had
been very prosperous in its day, with many prominent guests.
The fireplace was the only heat. The only
light was by oil lamps. There was a
bathroom at the end of each floor.
There was a wide stairway or steps from the water level to the hotel.
Peg and Jack Weikart
R.D. #2 Box 315E
Chestertown, Maryland 21620
Note: Jack Weikart was employed by Exxon in
alternative energy research as was Peter at G.E.
August 28, 1989
Information from Margaret Reid that she got from Olive
Shipman week of August 21, 1989.
Mr. Goodwilly owned Ivy Lea Inn and
subsequently bought O’Connor Island. He
bought O’Connor Island so he could sleep there, because he snored so much and
kept the guests awake as well as his family.
Mr. Goodwilly was involved in the Otis Elevator Company.
Esther Pennington and her new husband are
on O’Connor Island now (1989). Esther
bought O’Connor Island from Goodwilly’s son in 1956.
Re; Downie Island: Mr. MacFarlin, from the hotel, met
the guests with a horse and cart and drove them to the hotel from the dock.
May 29, 1990
Margaret Reid and her brother came to their
island in 1940 and tented on the east side of the island that they called
Chingaucousie, now called Potato island on the charts. At that time Owen Island
was owned by the Meyers. They had a
mahogany inboard boat and each noon they went from Owen Island to the Glenn
House for the noon meal. The Reid’s
could see this from their tent location.
The following information is from Olive Shipman via
Margaret Reid:
- Dr. Meyers sold Owen Island to the Jordan’s
- Moonies had a general store and gas dock at the present
public dock ant Ivy Lea. A stone
building that is still there was the store.
One day Dr. Meyers went to Moonies to get gas for his boat. He pulled the flag out of its socket and put
the gas pump nozzle in the flag socket and started to fill it with gas. There was an explosion and Dr. Meyers was
thrown into the water and suffered some
burns. Olive Shipman did not say he had
been drinking but Margaret felt that she inferred it.
Mrs. Meyers had the kitchen built away from the main
cottage because she did not like the smell of food cooking.
September 1990 from Margared Reid
Re: bootlegging.
Andy Truesdale had a large mahogany boat that had doors in it. If he was stopped by the police he could
open the doors and let the bottles sink in the water and be “clean”.
Margaret said that when leaves were off the trees they
could see the river from their house and could see boats in the river and the
comment would be made “There’s the rum runners”. The Reids lived on King Street West at the foot of Princess
Street in Gananoque.
From Marion Brennwald:
(Daughter of Verina and Henry Tauber,married to Heinz
Brennwald)
Henry Tauber came to the states in 1936 -
came through Ellis Island by mistake, because he had a job to come to when he
left Europe. Was rescued by an
acquaintance from Gloveresville who is celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary
on September 20, 1990.
From Henry
Tauber, July 14, 1992;
Re: “Injun Joe Island” or Upper Twin Island (on maps)
The Bourguets owned Collier Island. Mr. Bourguet put a teepee and an indian
mannequin on the small island off the point of their island. The island is sometimes referred to as the
“Devil’s Oven” or Flower Pot Island. If
you sit in a boat and drift you can drift right around the island. Apparently Mrs. Bourguet did not like having
the Indian and teepee on the small island and complained about it to Mrs. Kuntz
on Muslcaster Island. Mrs. Kuntz took
the Indian and teepee and put them on Injun Joe Island (or Upper Twin
Island). The tour boat operators of that
time 1950's and 1960's would tell the tourists that the manequin was a
petrified Indian chief known as Chief Running Water.
When we were first on Downie Island, 1965
the remains of the Indian and teepee were still on “Injun Joe Island”.
Mr. Tauber also told us that the Bourguets
owned Hickey Island and sold it to the Whites. September 1998
The well on Rowley Island is 168 feed
deep. The man who drilled the well told
Henry that they would have to go down at least 100 feet.
August 1998
Verina Tauber died August 22, 1990.
In 1881, artist Frank H. Taylor made skethces of this
area for Harper’s Weekly. He had property on Round Island. He sketched , and wife and son added the
water colors. The Finmore Art Gallery in Booneville has some of his prints.
Marion bought a page for her mother at Finmore’s
There are several paintings of Stave Island by Taylor
in the Fallon cottages on that island.
The Taubers were
at Mulcaster from 1954 for 3 years, then bought Rowley Is.
The Mange’s on Spilsbury Is. have been coming since
the mid 1930's.
From Marion
Brennwald;
IN 1878 the Hon. John Haggart, M.P.,and a senior executive of the CPR, bought Mulcaster Island and had a cottage built. The cottage was beautifully finished inside with diagonal boards of clear cedar. I was in the cottage before the government tor it down.
Stave
Is.; The Shack was owned by A.B. Chafee
and Arthur Lyman from Montreal
Castle Rest
from Pictorial History of the Thousand Islands. Editor Adrian G. Ten Cote (around 1977)
Mr. George M. Pullman purchased an island
in 1862 and construction began on what is now known as Castle Rest. Initially he erected a very small cottage on
the property. In 1872 he invited
President Grant and General Sherman to spend a week at the island; this visit
gave the region its first extensive publicity.
The old cottage was later demolished and the structure in the photo
(which is similar to the post card that Lee Sabine bought in an antique store)
was erected on the same site. Presently
(1977) only the front section of the building remains.
There is a picture of the dining room with the
following caption: An interior view of the dining room at “Castle Rest”, many of these finer summer
homes were expensively furnished and decorated. Many species of fish, probably caught in the Thousand Island
area, are hanging on the walls. (Town Historian, Alexandria Bay).
Caption with picture of Castle Rest states: This
overall picture indicates the size and splendor of “Castle Rest”. Ca 1912. (Town Historian, Alexandria Bay).
We would love to have your input! Please feel free to send us any text or photographs that we could add to this site. CHEERS, CHUCK.