My great grandfather was born on 1April 1878. Yesterday would have been his 140th birthday. I consider myself blessed to have known him quite well. He lived a long life. He was ninety when he passed. Although as a young man I didn't ask nearly the amount of questions as I wish I now had, he did tell me a lot of things. It is really quite an amazing thing if you give thought to it, all the things he saw come into common usage that we take as always being there. Consider this, Great Grandfather Lester was the owner of the Maidstone Taxi service. What's unusual about that ? It was a horse and buggy operation ! That's correct, I have a newspaper clipping showing him driving that " taxi " down the main street. Yes, Gramp, as I called him, was around before automobiles. He saw the first ones all the way up to the '68 Camaro. Radio, television, all manner of technology he saw ushered in. Ah, the history he lived. But, being a child I just never asked much about that stuff.
I did post a photo of him yesterday. It was a photo taken for his " chauffer " license. Back in the day in New York state, if you drove a vehicle for hire you had to have a chauffer license. That license included a photograph. All other drivers' licenses had no such requirement. It was that way when I was young. My first drivers license didn't have my picture on it. New York didn't make that requirement until 1976 when the drinking age was raised to 21. Great Grandfather Floyd would have read about the wright brothers at Kittyhawk in the weekly newspaper. He would have been 25 years old at the time. HIs grandson, my father, would fly B-24 Bombers over Europe. Yes, Gramp saw some changes take place in the world.
Growing up in the town where he was born he lived there his whole life. I can find no record of him ever having travelled farther than 25 miles from home. In fact I have a postcard, sent by his daughter, my grandmother Clara, to him while he was away. He was in a place called Montauk, a distance of 18 miles from his home, for what reason I don't know. On the post card she writes, Dear Papa, when are you coming home ? We all miss you and will have a surprise for you. Love Clara. It was, after all, a days travel to Montauk in those days. Great Grandfather is buried at Cedar lawn, along with his family where they will rest eternally. He has been in East Hampton for 140 years now. That was my thought yesterday after posting that photograph.
As I said, being young I didn't ask him much about the old days. I expect he was no different than you or I taking everyday life for granted. I wonder how much he was paying attention. What I mean by that is, how much did he pay attention to current events outside his little world ? Oh, the big things, like the invention of an airplane or a war I'm certain was of interest but what of other less significant events ? Things like music, or moving pictures ? All the technology going on around him ? Was he paying attention ? I have to say there is a lot I'm probably missing. I don't pay attention to everything happening in the world, although just by virtue of mass communication and social networking I'm certainly more aware than great grandfather would have been. That is no slight on him just the availability of information is so much easier now. The newspaper he would have been reading was a local publication. The news, and the reporting of it certainly had to be slanted in favor of local sensibilities. I'm certain The New York Times was available a few days after its' publication as East Hampton is only about 100 miles from New York city. East Hampton has always been an attraction to the wealthier folks seeking refuge from the city as well. So, I'm guessing he would read that every now and again.
I sure wish I could sit and talk with him today. I wonder what his take on current events would be. What would he think of all this ? What pieces of history would he recall ? What policies and practices would he advocate for ? During his lifetime he surely read about the Indian wars. Indians wouldn't have been given any favorable press. He would have read about WW1, WW2, and the Korean war. What was his take on all of that ? Living history is certainly different than reviewing it ! In my limited experience I have discovered that history is pretty much what you remember it to be. Will my history be the same as what is written down ? Depends upon on who's doing the writing and upon current sentiments. We are constantly told , not to judge ! Well, it's alright to judge the past, just not the present is what the real message is. The past, is subject to revision.
I did post a photo of him yesterday. It was a photo taken for his " chauffer " license. Back in the day in New York state, if you drove a vehicle for hire you had to have a chauffer license. That license included a photograph. All other drivers' licenses had no such requirement. It was that way when I was young. My first drivers license didn't have my picture on it. New York didn't make that requirement until 1976 when the drinking age was raised to 21. Great Grandfather Floyd would have read about the wright brothers at Kittyhawk in the weekly newspaper. He would have been 25 years old at the time. HIs grandson, my father, would fly B-24 Bombers over Europe. Yes, Gramp saw some changes take place in the world.
Growing up in the town where he was born he lived there his whole life. I can find no record of him ever having travelled farther than 25 miles from home. In fact I have a postcard, sent by his daughter, my grandmother Clara, to him while he was away. He was in a place called Montauk, a distance of 18 miles from his home, for what reason I don't know. On the post card she writes, Dear Papa, when are you coming home ? We all miss you and will have a surprise for you. Love Clara. It was, after all, a days travel to Montauk in those days. Great Grandfather is buried at Cedar lawn, along with his family where they will rest eternally. He has been in East Hampton for 140 years now. That was my thought yesterday after posting that photograph.
As I said, being young I didn't ask him much about the old days. I expect he was no different than you or I taking everyday life for granted. I wonder how much he was paying attention. What I mean by that is, how much did he pay attention to current events outside his little world ? Oh, the big things, like the invention of an airplane or a war I'm certain was of interest but what of other less significant events ? Things like music, or moving pictures ? All the technology going on around him ? Was he paying attention ? I have to say there is a lot I'm probably missing. I don't pay attention to everything happening in the world, although just by virtue of mass communication and social networking I'm certainly more aware than great grandfather would have been. That is no slight on him just the availability of information is so much easier now. The newspaper he would have been reading was a local publication. The news, and the reporting of it certainly had to be slanted in favor of local sensibilities. I'm certain The New York Times was available a few days after its' publication as East Hampton is only about 100 miles from New York city. East Hampton has always been an attraction to the wealthier folks seeking refuge from the city as well. So, I'm guessing he would read that every now and again.
I sure wish I could sit and talk with him today. I wonder what his take on current events would be. What would he think of all this ? What pieces of history would he recall ? What policies and practices would he advocate for ? During his lifetime he surely read about the Indian wars. Indians wouldn't have been given any favorable press. He would have read about WW1, WW2, and the Korean war. What was his take on all of that ? Living history is certainly different than reviewing it ! In my limited experience I have discovered that history is pretty much what you remember it to be. Will my history be the same as what is written down ? Depends upon on who's doing the writing and upon current sentiments. We are constantly told , not to judge ! Well, it's alright to judge the past, just not the present is what the real message is. The past, is subject to revision.
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