https://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/2cabd1dc687c887ecf7df08df94c779e.pdf feb2597c13363f958b0ba096a3897c19 PDF Text Text THE COTTAGE IN THE • GARRI~QN ROAD-1893 -1900 The cottage on the Garrison Road ·A b ·1. . . r?1./f_;a--/---·/W ';/T/"'-r~v· property i ~ on the so~therly side of t~!s ro~~ ~b~:t t~~o s~~~ ng of 1893. '.he . of Fort Er1e, about f1ve acres of almost level farm land ~~ f~om ~he Village then a dirt road, was dusty in the summer and hub deep i..n mu de.1n arrison ~oad, the spring. property was whose the southeast · ing toTheWally Schisler house corner of a _one hundred acre farm bel~ng~ west on the same side of th~ road an~ ~~rns were several hundred feet to theSchisler Road. The propert was , a . e corner of a cross road named the farm, Mro Cruickshank, my m~ther'~p~~~~~~ ~~~r~a~~e~!~ end ~f the Cruickshank summers... .The land was open except for several lar . previously spent . ~emnant of an orchard in about the middl f th ge old apple trees, the· . JU~t back of these trees, about one hund~e~ fif~ t~ac~.b T~e house was built This gave a very large degree of seclusion T Y ee ac ~ram t_~e road. back on the property . There was an old . h~ barn was bu11t still further -alol')g the easterly boundry.. Father had :a:~r~a}lence fencbeu1_a,nd_ a growth of trees t along the ·other _;,.1 three sides. A driveway was built some seventy-five feet in from the westerly boundary; it entered the property through a gate in the fence. My mother was the architect for the house; I remember her studying the design of the house and supervising its construction. The house was one story and an attic in height. There was a small vegetable cellar under the southwest oorner of the house" Otherwise the building was supported on stone piers; the space under the house was unexcavated. The building was of frame construction, the exterior wall material was shingles while the exterior walls were covered with sheatfng and building paper. The shingles were stained red. There was a large fireplace in the living room but no heating system in the house. This was a summer residence, but the building so constructed that it could be converted for all year use. There was no plumbing in the house; water supply was a well and cisterns.. There was .a privy near the barn. Father planted trees along the westerly boundary and along the banks of a small creek which flowed through the Cruickshank property, crossed the ·Garrison Road and ran easterly through our land a short distance in from the road.. Back of the house, to the east of the drive to the barn, father planted a vineyard and to the west of the drive a vegetable garden. A flower garden for mother was laid out at the east side of the house. About a half acre of land around the house was in lawn. The land, not otherwise used, was sown to timothy and a crop of hay harvested each year. The farmer next door, Wally Schisler, from whom father had bought the property, cut the hay.. Weather permitting, the hay was cut on the fourth of July . This being an American holiday, father was at home. Some years there was a second cutting tn September. The hay which we didn 1 t·need for our own horse, Wally Schisler bought or sold as father's agent. �., Built for us kids was a playhouse, west of the drive in front of the vegetable garden. The building was a single room about 8 x 10 feet in dimension with a narrow veranda. The outside was vertical boarding and battens. It was stained the same red as the main house~. The door opened from the veranda. In this wall, the wall opposite and one end wall were windows. The south wall toward the vegetable garden was blank. On center out from this wall, with stove pipe through the roof, stood the small three legg~d ~ast iron, wood purning stove, which had been in the original log cabin 6n the Seib farm in the Town of Tonawanda which father remembered as· a boy. Cozy Corner was another favorite play area. Cozy Corner was a v shaped recess in the old rail fence along the east boundary, under a big tree. A path-was kept cut through the hay field from the house lawn area to Cozy Corner. . Fa~her must have carried out the development of the property completely shortly after the house was built. My recollection is of a finished and mature property. A unique character, Dutch Frank, worked for father much of the time. Dutch Frank was of very indefinite age, neither young nor old. He had a wooden right leg. Dutch Frank lived alone in a shack on the next crossroad to the west, the Schisler Road. His "house" was on the west sipe of the. road a few hundred feet south of the Garrison Road. He had~r~arden for vegetab 1es and a few f1 owe rs., Very honest and re 1iab1 e, he worked hard all week. On Saturday he would walk the two miles to Fort Erie for his next week's provisions and a few d~inks. When the neighbors saw him coming up the road on Sunday morning with a hemp sack containing his provisions over his shoulder, they knew that the Fort Erie Village Police had been very willing to· let him sleep it off Saturday night in the Village Jail. During the summer months at the cottage, each business day morning, father and mother drove to the ferry landing in Fort Erie. Mother drove ·back there to get father at the end of the day. On the American side father used the New York Central commuter trains stopping at Ferry Street and the Terrace Station in Downtown Buffalo or he could use the Niagara Street t:rolley cars . This was travel of about eight miles a cfay, good exercise for the horse. We had the cottage on the Garrison Road only seven years. I was tent years old when it was built in 1893 and seventeen in 1900 when it was sold~ • _/ Father and mother decided that they would no longer have a winter and summer r:esidence, that they would live year round out of the city. It was at this time that the property at 96 Niagara Boulevard in Fort Erie was purchased . : . ~ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis McDermott Collection Subject The topic of the resource Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area. Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Louis McDermott Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Cottage In The Garrison Road (1893-1900) Description An account of the resource Listed here is a document pertinent to Garrison Road and a cottage property located along it. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis McDermott Collection 1800s 1900s Fort Erie Louis Mcdermott Collection