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Post by fiona on Jan 19, 2010 23:45:45 GMT -5
Thanks, Dave. the maps are fantastic. Clipper : the Teamsters Building no 5 Rutger Park was designed and built by Jacob Agne, Utica architect and the style is Richardsonian Romanesque. I would say it was probebly built around 1880. I have some scant info on the inside of the Conkling House, and before I write the scene I am going to call the OCHS and also Utica Landmarks.Society.
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 22, 2010 11:36:22 GMT -5
Where is/was the Conkling House? Rutger Park?
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Post by fiona on Jan 23, 2010 19:46:34 GMT -5
dave: I am currently under the weather. I have all that info and more for your viewing pleasure. will be posting again soon.
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Post by fiona on Jan 28, 2010 18:54:43 GMT -5
Dave: looks fabulous! I feel like a real author!
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 28, 2010 19:56:02 GMT -5
Fiona, I hope you are well soon! I really like "Sarah's Decision," which I just put up on the Workbook webpage. A corseted woman! What a great symbol! It appears that for a woman of her class and social station, Sarah had few choices. There's a certain sadness to Sarah pursuing a man whom she had spurned and who then went elsewhere. And I like the letter having a life of its own. Most, but not all, readers will impute the actions of a real person getting the letter out of the box and opening it to lie on Sarah's desk. And maybe that's true. Or maybe it's not.
Great piece of writing!
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Post by fiona on Jan 29, 2010 14:51:12 GMT -5
Dave: Be it as it may, Sarah locked the door to her chamber using a skeleton key. As we know, these keys are universal, especially in an old house. Perhaps someone did enter the bedroom while she was at tea. Perhaps not. She told no one about the letter, but it was brought to her by the parlour maid. Servants know everything. Do we have a rat in the woodpile? perhaps our readers will decide. About the class and social distinction, I think you are right. A question about corseting... do you think her character will change as she becomes more aware of the Rational Dress Movement? I focus a lot on the women's clothing because what you wore and how you wore it was one of the absolute markers of social class distinction. I also do think her choices were rather limited, but perhaps not. Perhaps it is wishful thinking on my part simply for the sake of the story. In the upcoming piece where she goes to Utica I will have her thinking more positivily about her many talents and accomplisments, but also about her fears and also about something she wanted to do, an act, a decision that would have taken her life in a whole different path, (during the Civil War) had her father allowed her to do it. There is almost nothing written about her that I can find and I have been searching for over a year. If it were not for her terrible untimley death we would never know she exhisted, other than her name in a list of names of the children of Rutger B. Miller. As far as I can tell, she is not "buried" in Utica, in Forest Lawn, in the family plot. There is no stone there for her or Mary. Nor are there stones in any of the Morristown Cemetaries for them. I can find no mention of her wedding in any newspaper archives. I am much better, thank you. I may not have told anyone, but I had "Le Grippe "in September and am just now getting over it. Workbook looks great. When I finish the next piece will you please put up that beautiful photo of Julia Conkling as well as a photo of the Miller Conkling House at 3 Rutger Park?
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Post by fiona on Jan 29, 2010 14:56:06 GMT -5
Go to the Utica Landmaks Association website and there you find a wealth of photos and information. or just google Rutger Park. I have been in touch with Mr. Bosak, the Director of Landmarks who told me he would show me the house any weekend. I am going to wing it until the weather breaks. I think I have enough info to go on. Be well. Fiona
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 29, 2010 16:37:33 GMT -5
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Post by fiona on Jan 29, 2010 19:28:05 GMT -5
Dave: Those look great. Beautiful. Clear as a bell. We'll have to move them to the Sullivan when I finish the next chapter, OK? Here's an update: I have been in touch with Linda Pugh, wife of the Mayor of Whitesboro and she is helping us with our research re: the Whitesboro home of the Miller's. They lived in the old " Judge Fortune C. White" residence at 46 main Street. They were there in the 1870's until around 1897. She has no idea if this home is still standing, so can you or Jon map it, and then when we locate the house, I will let her know and we can carry on from there. Thanks again.
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Post by fiona on Jan 29, 2010 19:33:00 GMT -5
That large pic must have been taken about 1890. The West wing of the house is gone and theyr'es a bicycle on the front steps.
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 29, 2010 20:01:18 GMT -5
That large pic must have been taken about 1890. The West wing of the house is gone and theyr'es a bicycle on the front steps. Could be. Actually, the caption appearing under the photo on the Utica Landmarks site says "circa 1880." I didn't catch that when I posted. |
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 29, 2010 20:47:56 GMT -5
I'm not coming up with anything worthwhile so far regarding old maps. More up to date, Google Map's Streetview often gets the street number wrong, but it is indicating that 46 Main St., Whitesboro, NY TODAY is either this empty lot opposite (south of) the intersection of Main and Ablett, or the house directly to the east, still standing. Unless I'm reading it wrong, there appears to be a street ... not indicated by Google Maps ... that runs down the west side of the vacant lot. From the aerial view, there may be a school down that street or driveway.  |
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Post by Clipper on Jan 29, 2010 22:17:03 GMT -5
If I am not mistaken Dave, that roadway to the left of the picture is the Main Street entrance to the Whitestown Shopping Center and that is the shopping center in the distance, not a school. I could be wrong, as I have not been up that part of Main St in a couple of years.
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Post by fiona on Jan 29, 2010 23:43:24 GMT -5
There are two signs , one near the house and one in front. Can anybody read them?
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 30, 2010 9:43:58 GMT -5
If I am not mistaken Dave, that roadway to the left of the picture is the Main Street entrance to the Whitestown Shopping Center and that is the shopping center in the distance, not a school. I could be wrong, as I have not been up that part of Main St in a couple of years. That would make sense, Clipper. In the aerial, below, it's across the road from the high school, as I remember it, and it appears laid out with parking like a strip mall. My memory of WB isn't all that great.  |
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