Melanie H. Sheldon - 101 Years With Frank A. Doolittle: Lessons of Hard Work and Perseverance In the Life of a Local Centenarian of Bainbridge, N.Y. a Memoir

101 YEARS
with
FRANK A.
DOOLITTLE

a memoir

Lessons of hard work and perseverance
in the life of a local
centenarian of Bainbridge, NY.

Melanie H. Sheldon

Copyright 2015 Melanie H. Sheldon.

Freedom Way Publisher

1503 Freedom Way

Hubert, North Carolina 28539

(910)353-3840

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any meanswhether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronicwithout written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-0-6924-6062-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-0-6924-6063-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-3440-7 (e)

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Freedom Way Publisher rev. date: 07/13/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

My Early Years

School and Farming Years

Early Work Years

Trico Handle and Lumber Company

Someone Most Important to Me

5 Kirby Street

Brackett Lake Cottage

The Tex Gas Company

The Snowbird Years

Always a Garden

Together with My Family

Historical Topics

A Case Study for Longevity

Lyon Ancestry

The Doolittle and Lyon Family Tree

Dedication

To Frank and Wilma Doolittle, who always were there for their family and for each other.

Acknowledgements

This book required the assistance of many others and without their help, could not have been completed. I would like to thank my husband, Charles, for his daily patience and support; David and Sharon for the interviews; Al and Pam for proofreading; Fern and Ralph for typing support; Franks friends, neighbors and cousins for their caring love for Frank and the Lyon and Doolittle family; and to our dear Uncle Frank a huge Thank You for sharing his life story with us.

Preface

Shortly after my retirement as a public school teacher, I began publishing various documents. These were recollections and oral histories of several individuals in my family who had lived long and full lives. This led me to publish a family cookbook that included history, genealogy and family photos. These endeavors were all well received by family and friends.

Then as Uncle Frank Doolittle, who I consider my uncle is actually my husbands uncle, approached his 100th birthday there were pleas by various family members to interview and to write Franks life story. Frank himself began to relish the idea of telling his life story. It was then that I decided to take on the challenge. Our family is very supportive of one another, so I knew they meant it when they said they would help me.

I have been a member of this family for over 50 years and feel it a unique privilege to tell the story of Frank and Wilma using his recollections. At 101 years of age Frank has a most wonderful memory that seems as clear as the day these things happened. The most amazing thing is, my husband, his family and I were all witness to many of these events. This memoir is an account of the experiences that Frank has accomplished in his life and is a testimony to his strong work ethic instilled in him by his parents. His dedication to family, community and business has remained steadfast throughout his life.

Introduction

This memoir is a cooperative effort by Franks nieces, nephews and their families to present Uncle Franks life in the personal way he has responded in various interviews. A special effort has been made to omit any personal opinions that might distract from his story. His story is mostly written in first person because the speaker is Frank Doolittle himself.

These recollections come directly from Frank Doolittle, as do many of the photographs. Various pictures were also supplied by scans from family albums of Dick and Margaret Doolittle, Ruth Doolittle Sheldon Hendrickson, and his mother Mabel Doolittle. One photo is provided to an illustrate item of the times that Frank alludes to such as his 1929 Dodge Victory six car.

Frank has had an amazing life of experiences starting with his farm chores as the oldest of four siblings, as a bar keeper and bouncer for his in-laws in Twin Rivers Inn in the late 1930s, and to being a long time President of the New Jersey-New York Club in St. Cloud, Florida.

Settle back now and travel through ten decades of time with Frank A. Doolittle and his amazing life of jobs, adventures and a dedication of always caring for others. He will introduce you to many unique personalities and friends that will become part of what we learn has shaped him and also help us understand what has made him into the person we have come to know and love. The love of his life and soul mate Wilma died in 2006 at the age of 89.

Frank will be 102 years old October 2, 2015.

Mabel with baby Frank

My Early Years

I was born October 8, 1913, in Enfield, N.Y., in Tompkins County near Ithaca, N.Y., which today is Truman State Park. In 1913 it was known as Enfield Glen. I was the oldest son of Jesse Richard Doolittle and Mabel Ette Doolittle. I lived most of my life at 5 Kirby Street, Bainbridge New York, from the year 1940 until today.

My mother Mabel was born 15 August 1882 and grew up in the Bainbridge, New York area. My father Jesse was born 6 November 1886 in North Afton but spent his early years with his parents in Lopez, Pennsylvania, at a saw mill camp.

The grandparents on my fathers side were Arthur Miles Doolittle and Phebe Jane Yale known as Jennie, both of Bainbridge.

It was about 1901 when Arthur and Jennie Doolittle moved down to a lumber camp of the Jennings brothers. Today this place is a town called Lopez, Pennsylvania. There were a few company cottages, a hotel, a schoolhouse, a church and three saloons. They had their own company store and railroad to bring logs to the mill. The workers who had families lived in the cottages owned by the company.

My grandfather Arthur went about cutting timber, while my grandmother, Jennie, worked in the hotel. The family actually lived in the hotel. My father Jesse was about fifteen years old at that time and worked at the sawmill with his father.

Up above this lumber town was a coal mine. My father used to tell the story that he and about fifteen others decided that they didnt want to work at the mill anymore. So they went up to the coal mine and were hired to drive the mules that pulled the coal cars up out of the mine.

My father became friends with an old Irishman down in the mine. He had a spot carved out in the sidewall where he kept his tools and stayed in this little room. He took the boys under his wing and helped them. After some time passed there was a cave-in and the Irishman was killed in his room. That was the end of their mining. Jesse and the others didnt want to be down in there anymore.

The Jennings brothers moved to up-state NY in the Buffalo area when they finished the timber and lumbering in Pennsylvania. Thats when my grandparents moved back to Bainbridge. Some of the people who lived in the cottages bought them from the company and stayed there in Lopez.