THE SCULLIN FAMILY AND FARM
Elm Hollow Road

by Jane Sokolow: From a letter from Paul Scullin, age 82 February 1992.
Paul was the nephew of Ed Scullin who owned the farm

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Scullin Farm

Enlargement

 

My great grandfather John Scullin, his brother Paul and sister Susan came to America from Ireland sometime before the Civil War. I understand my Great grandmother died at sea on the way over and that Paul, who was in the Civil War, returned to Ireland and died there in 1870.

The family had a place near Parksville, NY before grandfather John moved to Beaverkill and built the house.

My grandfather John married Catherine Devenny in 1873 and they had ten children. Their oldest son, Paul attended a college in Ohio, taught school and moved to Texas. He married and was employed by Texaco thereafter. Three other sons, my father and Uncles Matt and Gus moved to Ardmore, Pennsylvania and started a business selling butter, eggs and milk. They all married Ardmore girls. My father Tom died in 1910. I was one year old and do not remember him. My uncle Matt moved to Trenton, New Jersey and in 1915 my Uncle Gus moved to Roselle, New Jersey. He was employed by Texaco in the New York headquarters for the rest of his life.

I always had close contact with my uncles Ed and Gus and corresponded regularly with my cousin Margaret, uncles Paul’s daughter. Not too much contact with other family members.

In the summer the farm was always a gathering place for relatives and cousins of all degrees, especially the city folks.

Quite a number of boys from the Catholic Home Bureau in New York City lived at the farm after grandmother’s death. They provided much needed company and assistance.

RECOLLECTIONS

On my first trip to the Beaverkill in 1919, Uncle Ed did not yet have a car. He met us at the O & W railroad station in Livingston Manor and drove us to the farm in a horse drawn open wagon. We arrived at about 2:00 a.m. and my grandmother had strawberries and cream cake for us.

Uncle Ed’s wife, Lil was of French extraction from Cold Spring, New York. She was very good to Uncle Ed’s parents and an excellent cook and very hard worker.

The milk shed was attached to the kitchen. Here the milk and cream were churned, ice cream made and food kept cool. There was no refrigeration or ice. The milk was not sent to market. The cream was used by the family and the milk fed to the pigs.

Hay was a big crop. It was cut in June and several of the Dewitt neighbors helped out for a week or more. It was the busiest time of the year. The only other field crop was buckwheat which had a white blossom which could be seen in the moonlight.

The cow barn was the buidling furthest from the road. Uncle Ed has eight Jersey cows. Hay was stored in the barn. It was blown down in a windstorm—maybe in the 1960s. Attached to the cow barn was a sheep shed. There were about 40 sheep left to roam the hills. They were sheared and butchered in the sheep shed.

There was an unpainted shed across the farm road from the carriage barn. This was the shop for blacksmithing and mechanical work. Next to the shed was a tall painted building called the bunkhouse. It was built to accommodate the “boys” when there were too many to fit in the house. It was not there on my earlier visits.

MEMORIES

° The bracing air and cool spring water.

° The self-sufficient life style.

° Evenings in the kitchen, playing checkers by the light of kerosene lamps.

° The smell of wood fire in the big kitchen stove, which was well set out from the walls.

° Grandfather sitting in his chair tilted against the wall in the corner behind the stove.

° Grandfather out berry picking with his kettle and high wood staff taller than himself.

° Uncle Ed’s sense of humor and lack of hurry.

° Aunt Lil’s cooking.

° Butchering -- chickens, sheep, pigs.  Once a bull was butchered and this required outside help.

° The wild strawberries to be found near the shallow ponds.

° Woodchucks in the stone walls. Also porcupines and chipmunks.

° Chopping wood for the kitchen stove and the tools and wedges used.

° Pitching horseshoes.

° Trips to the Manor and the various stops including Johnson’s Feed Store.

° Reading matter—the Rural New Yorker and Walton Reporter.

° Traffic on the hilltop road—one or two cars a day.

° The climb up the drive to the road.

° Trips to the Beaverkill post office across from the covered bridge.

° Haying time.

° The fields were not plowed. The chickens roamed free and there would usually be a calf tethered in the small orchard behind the house.

 

Uncle "Ed" Scullin and Paul Scullin
 
Ed Scullin and Aunt Lil
   
 
Old Mr. "Ed" Scullin
 
 
James Scullin
 
 

 

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