Carraige House Loft Repairs

Some progress on the loft windows and door repairs. We hired a local contractor to do this work. Too high up for old folks. We are about at the point where we have to wait for the new custom window sashs that had to be ordered.

Before......................................... During

Carraige house stable repairs underway

Today was the start of jacking up the walls of the stable corner of the carraige house. George and I are helping John Ford. He's the brains, we do the grunt work.

Before ...................................... After about 3" of lift
After we got up about 3", the upper left corner where it attaches to the main structure began to separate. It had a small gap before but it began to open quite a bit. We attributed this to the resistance of the new plywood roof that was put on two years ago. So, we had to stop lifting and put some carraige bolts (very appripriate for a carraige house!) connecting the roof rafters to stabilize it. Tomorrow we lift some more.

After the Storm

The bleakest of times always give way to God's beauty:

Words To Live By

I found these words among Mom's things:

"Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprint of your ultimate achievements."

I discovered that this is an original quote by Napoleon Hill.

Autumn at Elmcroft

A rainy and foggy day turned windy and cold with occasional streeks of sunlight just before dusk.

Elmcroft - Leaky Bathtub Door & Other Repairs

Today John Ford (George's friend and local retired builder) and I installed a new tub/shower door on the bathtub. In removing the old door we found the source of the leak that would wet the floor after a shower. The bottom track was corroded so that water was not draining out the drain holes. The tracks would fill with water and spill over. Also, the tub surround to tub joint was not caulked under the door track. That meant that water could leak behind the tub. It's all better now. The new door does not have a track on the bottom, just an aluminum sill. So, the water just sheds back into the tub.


Yesterday, John Ford repaired three doors. The door from the living room to the terrace now closes a little better but it is warped at the bottom and really should be replaced. The double doors to the music room now close properly. And, the front door was planed a bit so it now opens and closes without having the force it. I could just see a realtor bringing a prospective buyer in the front door and having to lean into it with a shoulder to open it.

The front steps are falling apart and I have a mason coming Friday to look at it. I will also have him repair the rear steps where one flagstone is loose.

John Ford will be replacing the door to the cellar of the coach house next week. Then he and I will start on repairing the stable section of the barn. That corner has sunk about 4-6 inches so that the clapboards on the walls are sloping. It will have to be jacked up and concrete piers put into the ground for permanent support. The outer walls are just on the dirt.

We also have an estimate from a builder to repair the rear loft area of the coach house. Three windows will be replaced and some of the clapboards replaced and repaired.

We hope to get all the work done by the end of November but the painting of the rear of the coach house will probably have to wait until spring.

It's too bad that these repairs couldn't have been done while mom was still alive. She would have really appreciated it.

Congdon Family Reunion - Wallingford, VT

For a great narrative of the Congdon Columbus Day weekend reunion, see the Andy & Dorinda link. I will add a few comments about the family genealogy.

James Headley Congdon, born July 20, 1779, came to Wallingford, Vermont in 1804 from North Kingston, RI. He had three wives; Lorenza Ives, Lorana Phillips, and Lydia Brock. He settled on the Sugar Hill section of town and there raised a goodly family of children. It has been said that during the haying season it was quite a sight to see 'Uncle Hadley,' as he was called, walking toward the hayfield, followed by nine sons, each over six feet in height, with sythe upon shoulder. 'Over fifty-four feet of Congdon was the common way of expressing it. [Thorp's "History of Wallingford" 1911] This is a picture (left) of his grave marker in the East Wallingford Cemetery on Sugar Hill.


James Headley's father James Congdon (born 1741 in North Kingston, Rhode Island) was on a trip to Wallingford, Vermont in February 1829 at the age of 88 to visit another son Peleg. He took ill and died in Wallingford and he is also buried in the Sugar Hill cemetery on the Congdon farm. Above to the right is his grave marker.

James Headley's fourth son by his former wife Lorana Phillips was James Headley Congdon, II. His ninth child by his wife Artemisa Dawson was Delia Congdon:
"Delia she used to make cookies to give to the children after school. Having suffered a crippling illness in her youth (perhaps scarlet fever), she was deaf and mute. On July 24, 1908, she was murdered in the milkhouse of the farm on Sugar Hill by Elroy B. Kent. He was the last person to be hanged in the state of Vermont. He had to be hanged twice because the rope broke on the first attempt."

James Headley's second child by Lydia Brock was Charles Henry Congdon (b. 1820).
Charles Henry Congdon moved to Danby from Wallingford, Vermont. He had two wives; Anna Smith and Adelaide Tuton. He was a school teacher for many years, and was very successful in that calling. Although starting life with limited means, he had, by possessing good natural abilities, and much activity, succeeded in acquiring a good property. Being a man of intelligence, he had been called upon from time to time, to fill various positions of trust and honor. He had been selectman four years, lister six years, long a Justice of the Peace, and was a member of the Legislature in 1854, in all of which he served with credit and ability. He was a good writer and debater, a friend of education, always having maintained an independence of character, and at the time was ranked among the leading, influential and enterprising men of the town.
Ch 1881-82: Wallingford, lawyer, surveyor and civil engineer, owns farm 365 acres, in Danby 988 acres, Mt. Tabor 560 acres, h Main

Charles and Adelaide Tuton lived in Danby, Vermont but the story is told that Adelaide didn't like living out in the countryside and she insisted that her husband provide a proper home for her in an urban setting. They moved to what is now 30 Main Street in Wallingford. The Danby farm (Cornalwin Hall) is show on the left circa 1860 and the Victorian home in Wallingford is shown on the right circa 2006. Standing in front are Andy, Dorinda, Barbara, & George.


Charles and Adelaide Tuton had two children; William Tuton Congdon and Clara Ann Congdon. Clara died at the age of 42 from rheumatoid arthritis. She is buried in Scottsville Cemetery in Danby, Vermont. William T. married Charlotte Clift and they had four surviving children; Clarence, E. Lester, Edythe, and Adelaide. Clarence was born in 1898 and Adelaide (my mom) died in June 2006 - a 108 year long generation. On Adelaide Tuton's death in 1933 the home in Wallingford was given to her oldest son Clarence for his lifetime use. Upon his death in 1949, the home was sold.

William T Congdon had been sent to live with an aunt in New Jersey after his father died in 1891. It was in New Jersey that he met his wife Charlotte Clift and they were married in 1896. He died of a ruptured appendix in 1917, just two years after his daughter Adelaide Frances Congdon was born. Because there was no money, the family was broken up. Clarence moved to Chicago, Lester sought work in the area, Edythe studied nursing and Adelaide was taken in by her grandmother's sister Grace and they moved to Glendale, California. Eventually, Lester started and ran the E.L. Congdon & Sons Lumber Company in West Orange, New Jersey which is still operated by the family today. His son Lester (Buster) eventually bought some of the old Congdon farm on Sugar Hill and built a log home. It is this home that now draws the family in the fall for reunions. There is usually a visit to the cemetery just below the log home to see all the Congdon headstones.

Now Finished!

And you thought I was done?
The guy wires were added today to train the wisteria up on the new trellis.
You will have to squint to see the wires.

Trellis - Finished!

I'll bet you're happy that you won't have to hear any more about this!
Top braces and flashing all done. I will run some string from the rear top to the wisteria bush to train the vines for next spring.