Papa and Mom, 1942
Mom, Grandma and Alice
visiting Papa's parents in
Windham, NY, ca. 1947
Below, Left to right: Papa's father Romaine Washington Law, Papa's brother Bernard Law, Papa's mother Fannie Drum Law, Alice, Mom and Papa
Taken in Windham, NY, circa 1952, in front of Romaine and Fannie's bungalow
behind the home Papa grew up in on RT 23. (The house in Aunt Sandra's painting)
Uncle Bernard's Notebook was one of the Main Family Sources for my research
Below: Romaine Law and Fannie Drum Law, ca. 1950
Below is what used to be the General Store on RT 40 in Maplecrest (known as "Big Hollow" before 1921) as it appears today and as it appeared in 1915. We were surprised to find out that RW served as the town's postmaster and ran the general store for a few years, around 1925.
The 1915 photo is from the book "Big Hollow" by Elwood Hitchcock.
This is Hough Hill, where Samuel Law settled in Big Hollow, NY around 1805 after moving from Connecticut. Samuel was Mom's Great Great Great Grandfather. Mom's line of the Law family remained in Windham, NY for almost 140 years, until Papa moved to Massachusetts in the early 1940's.
Grandma (Aleta) with her parents
Jesse Griffin Christian and Howard Merrill Christian
ca. 1940
Grandma and Papa with Grandma's Brothers:
Arthur and wife Pauline on left
Fred and then girlfriend Cindy on right
Above left is the house Uncle Merrill spoke of and probably where Aunty Alice was born. Mom says she's the only one who was born in a hospital. Date of photo is probably between 1936 (year Aunty Alice was born) and 1942 (year Mom was born in Springfield).
Above right is Janet Dodd Cole standing on Jensen Rd across from where the house once stood. Mom and Janet ventured into the brush a little and found an old piece of farm equipment.
Aunty Alice was Janet's maid of honor. Janet's parents, with whom Grandma and Papa were very close friends, are buried in the cemetery just up the street from this spot.
Mom says Uncle Merrill used to say that from the home in Vestal that Grandma and Papa lived in along with him, Phil and Aunty Alice, they could look across the valley and see where Grandma's friends, the Dodds, lived. Today, the valley is thick with trees and is possibly in line for additional dormitories for the local college. This photo is from the driveway of what is now a church, but used to be where the Dodd's lived. Above the red dot, you may be able to see the top of a water tank. The water tank marks the spot where the home was that Uncle Merrill spoke of. Mom always knew it as "Bunn Hill". The road the church is on is Bunn Hill Rd. The road Grandma and Papa's house was on is known as Jensen Rd.
Janet Dodd Cole showed us this home, 75 Vestal Rd in Binghampton, New York, as what she knew to be the house Howard and Jessie Christian lived in. When and for how long, I don't know. Howard and Jessie are on the 1920 Ashland, NY census, but not the 1930, and Grandma is on the 1930 Windham, NY listed as a boarder to a family.
ca. 1950
Christian Family
To see more photos of interest for the Law Family line Mom descended from, check out "Law Family Sites in Acton MA"
and the "John Law House Built ca. 1737"
Here's where detective work comes in!
To the left is Papa in 1927, about 14 years old.
Above, is a home the Windham Town Historian, Pat Morrow, said Papa's parents lived in around 1925 on RT 40 near Maplecrest. Is it the same house?
Notice the stone chimney in the new photo.
RW Law was a stone mason, as well as an
organist and teacher in the church he belonged to.
Left: the Stone in the wall at what was
the Sugar Maples Resort in Maplecrest,
crediting RW Law with the stone work.
The best we could tell, the stone says:
"19-- RW LAW 1952
Hand laid these stones
as far as you can see"
His handprint is on the right. We tried to take a rubbing, but the paint made that too difficult.
RW and Fannie Law's 50th Anniversary Party
Held early, the Summer of 1951
Below: Fannie and RW at the end; to the left of Fannie is Papa; in the foreground right is Grandma and above her head is Bernard Law. Others are unknown at this time.
Right: To the left of Grandma is Merrill; behind Grandma to right is Stan Searles, Alice's future husband
and next to him, top of head only showing is Alice.
Others are unkown at this time.
Right Bottom: In the backyard; Merrill on left standing, Papa kneeling, RW and Fannie sitting, Grandma standing with her head turned, Mom in her arms on left.
Others are unknown at this time.
The Law Family, 1967
Springfield, Massachusetts
Back: Phil and Merrill
Middle: Aleta Christian Law (Grandma) and Arthur Romaine Law (Papa)
Front: Alice and Linda (Mom)
