2014-07-28

Today has been a rainy day, so it is time to write a blog, especially since I have not written since the 21st.  We went to 4 more cemeteries to take pictures of headstones, and we went and did a little sightseeing.

When I did my last blog on the 21st, I forgot to include a picture of the Paper Mill covered Bridge and falls in North Bennington. Marilyn says the one with the falls is a perfect New England picture setting.

On the 23rd we went to Elmwood Cemetery in Schaghticoke to get pictures of Marilyn’s 1st cousin’s 1x removed ancestors headstones (Paul Gifford, a chapter 57 member).

Next, on the 24th we went to 3 different cemeteries in the Bennington, VT area. In the Grandview Cemetery we found Lyman Tombs and his wife Eleanor Stearns. Lyman was Marilyn’s 3rd Great Grandfather.   

At Kinsley cemetery, David A Rudd was another 3rd Great Grandfather of Marilyn’s.  

Our final cemetery of the day was Old Bennington, and the headstone of many in the Rudd family including Lieutenant Joseph Rudd who fought at the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War. In addition to family, This cemetery also contains the grave of Robert L Frost, who’s poems many of us read in school. 

 

When Marilyn and I were first married in 1967, our first apartment was in Schuylerville, NY (named after General Phillip T Schuyler of revolutionary fame, although at that time it was named Saratoga, not to be confused with Saratoga Springs located 10 miles away). Therefore, we had to get an updated picture of our apartment (lower front in the following picture) which, other than color is unchanged.

 

July 25th, we toured the Saratoga Battlefield in the Saratoga National Historic Park. There were actually 2 battles on September 19 and October 7, 1777. The defeat of the British here was the turning point of war. This monument inside the park was erected in 1931 by the NYS DAR to commemorate the unknown   soldiers of that war.   As we drove back through Schuylerville we stopped for pictures of the monument to the Battle of Saratoga.

 

July 26th, we toured the General Phillip T Schuyler house. This was his third house at this location. Number 1 was burned during the French & Indian War, and number 2 was burned by Burgoyne before his surrender. Because winter 1777 was coming General Schuyler had the 3rd house dried in in just 4 weeks. We were told that his primary house in Albany was more luxurious, so we will tour it sometime in the future.   That evening we joined the seasonal RVers at Lake Lauderdale CG for dinner of a dozen steamed clams, grilled sausage links, chicken thighs, potato salad, three bean salad and an ear of corn for $10 each. What a feast.

 

Yesterday, the 27th, we drove to Kinderhook, NY to tour the home of Martin Van Buren, the first president to have been born after the Revolution. We had a wonderful tour of a beautiful home.

Hugs, and Type at you later.