Gilded Age Fire Safety in the Thousand Islands

During the Gilded Age, the Thousand Islands emerged as a glittering summer retreat for America’s wealthiest families. Palatial riverfront “cottages,” grand hotels, and elaborate boathouses dotted the St. Lawrence River, affording leisure and permanence. Yet beneath the elegance lurked a constant threat: fire. In an era before modern building codes and professional fire departments, fire safety in the Thousand Islands was a daily concern shaped by geography, technology, and social class.

Most Gilded Age structures were built of wood, often richly paneled and finished, and heated by coal or wood-burning stoves. Open flames were everywhere—lamps, candles, fireplaces—and electrical wiring, when present at all, was primitive and unreliable. Add to this the isolation of many islands, reachable only by boat, and a small spark could quickly become catastrophic. If a fire broke out, help might be miles away across open water.

Wealthy homeowners responded with a mix of innovation and improvisation. Some estates installed early fire alarms or gravity-fed water systems, drawing directly from the river to supply hoses and standpipes. Stone towers, iron doors, and firebreak walls were incorporated into the designs of larger mansions, not only as architectural flourishes but as defensive measures. Boathouses often doubled as emergency response hubs, stocked with buckets, axes, and hand pumps.

Hotels and resorts faced even greater risks. With dozens—sometimes hundreds—of guests, managers enforced strict rules: no smoking outside designated areas, lamps extinguished at certain hours, and night watchmen tasked with patrolling hallways. Despite these precautions, devastating fires still occurred. Several grand hotels burned to the ground in a single night, their losses underscoring how fragile Gilded Age luxury could be.

For local communities and service staff, fire safety relied heavily on cooperation. Bucket brigades were common, with neighbors rushing by boat to assist when smoke was spotted. The river itself was both a hazard and a lifeline—isolating properties, yet providing the water that made firefighting possible at all.

Fire safety in the Gilded Age Thousand Islands was ultimately a blend of privilege and vulnerability. The same ambition that built opulent retreats also heightened their risk, reminding residents that even amid wealth and beauty, nature and chance could not be fully controlled.

ABOUT MARY'S MOMENT:
It’s 1912, and Thousand Island Park’s switchboard operator Mary Flynn is the community heroine saving dozens of homes from a terrible fire. Less than a month later, when another disastrous fire rages through the Park, Mary loses her memory as she risks her life in a neighbor's burning cottage.

Widowed fireman George Flannigan is enamored by the brave raven-haired lass and takes every opportunity to connect with Mary. But he has hidden griefs of his own that cause him great heartache. When George can’t stop the destructive Columbian Hotel fire from eradicating more than a hundred businesses and homes, he is distraught. Yet George’s greater concern is Mary. Will she remember their budding relationship or be forever lost to him?

ABOUT SUSAN:
Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than thirty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has sixteen in her fiction line. Susan is also a published author of two premarital books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan lives in Northern Virginia and enjoys traveling the world. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction.

A Steady Man in an Unsteady World

  by Tom Goodman

This month's entry at Heroes, Heroines, and History is a post from my monthly newsletter. I open each newsletter with a story from turn-of-the-century Texas, or a quick review of a book or film from that place and time. Train Dreams does not come from that place, but it comes from that time. If you love historical fiction, and if you aspire to write it well, Train Dreams its worth adding to your list of books to read and films to watch.

++++++++++++++++++

Robert Grainier is a steady man.

That’s the way the novelist, Denis Johnson, described him in his novella, Train Dreams. That’s the way he’s presented in the film by the same title, too. 

Much of the story revolves around his labor in the Idaho timber industry in the opening years of the 1900s. When he meets a woman (at church) and they have a daughter, he finds renewed purpose in his hard work.

A steady man, then. 

But a steady man in the midst of things beyond his control or comprehension.

In his own interior world, he can never quite resolve the regret for his role in an unjust act against a Chinese laborer. Nor can he settle his grief at losing his young family to a forest fire.

Things are beyond his control or comprehension in the world around him, as well. The stunning beauty and sudden danger of the forest in which he works is a point hard to miss.

In the film, he gains an ever-widening realization of just how vast this beautiful, baffling world is. 

In one scene, he stands with a friend on a forest service lookout tower and scans miles of the forest where he worked. 

In aother scene, he takes a single-engine plane flight to “see the world as only the birds do.” 

Then in 1962, as an old man, he watches through a department store window as a television displays John Glenn’s first images of Earth as seen from space. “Is that--?” he asks a stranger watching the television next to him. “That’s us,” she replies.

Train Dreams is the only book of Johnson’s that I’ve read, so far. I’m told many of the characters in his other novels and short stories are erratic and eccentric.  

Not Robert Grainier. He moves through all the experiences of his life with what one movie reviewer called a “strapping stoicism.” 

The fact that he cannot make sense of it all does not lead him to conclude that this life is meaningless.

The late Denis Johnson—a complicated Christian—once told a reporter for New York magazine, “What I write about is really the dilemma of living in a fallen world, and asking: Why is it like this if there’s supposed to be a God?” 

I read Train Dreams while I was writing my forthcoming novel. Since my story is set in East Texas timber, it made sense to read Johnson's story set in Idaho timber during the same era. I’m editing the manuscript now, and it occurs to me that a version of Robert Grainier found his way into my story somewhere along the way. One of the characters has that same stoic steadiness. 

Give Johnson’s story a look (book; film). And be on the lookout for my novel, Through Many Dangers, later this year. To find out when it drops, subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook.

Fannie Farmer- the Mother of Level Measurements

 

 

Fannie Farmer

Did you know cookbooks weren't always as precise as they are today? For centuries, women learned to cook by trial and error, watching their mothers and learning to sense the right amounts and correct temperatures. And as in anything, some people aren't intuitive when it comes to cooking. In that case, your family ate your overcooked fare, because throwing it out wasn't an option.

Enter Fannie Merrit Farmer, and the world of cooking changed. Fannie was born on March 23,1857 in Boston. She came from the middle-class, was well-educated, and very bright. An illness that left her unable to walk for a few years stole her dreams of attending college. While she recovered her health, she learned to cook and so managed the household tasks for her family. Once she was well enough, she worked as a cook and domestic in several households. Her exceptional organizational skills in the kitchen made her a desirable employee.

In 1889, she entered the Boston Cooking School. In her early thirties, she was their oldest student. She chose this school for its scientific approach to cooking and nutrition, which was becoming a popular approach to cooking in the late nineteenth century. Rather than intuitive cooking, it strove to experiment with various dishes. They used measuring cups and spoons to ensure consistency. Their experiments were systematic, for example increase the salt, or add one new ingredient, then record the result and repeat with different measurements. Seeking to find the perfect combination. Using the scientific method provided more nutritional meals. The school focused on household management, especially in middle-class homes.

It wasn't long before Fannie was teaching there and then became its principal. Fannie had a heart to create a cookbook that would teach proper cooking techniques to anyone. The ones available had instructions such as "a large handful of flour, a glob of lard, butter the size of an egg, a pinch of a spice. The problem with them is hands and eggs came in various sizes. Teacups also came in a variety of sizes, and the recipes rarely specified the size. Fannie observed the wealthy had four ounce teacups. For other classes, their cups might be as large as twelve ounces. Therefore, one cook's bread failed while another's was light and fluffy. Not everyone used measuring cups or spoons, even though they were available. Even with proper equipment, recipes weren't specific enough.

She used the scientific method to create wholesome recipes and set about writing a cookbook with exact instructions. She explained each step in food preparation and how to do it. She is the one who insisted you use a knife to level a cup of dry ingredients evenly in a measuring cup.  

 

         When she approached a publisher with her cookbook, they were skeptical. So much so that they would only print 3,000 copies if she paid for it. She raised the money. The Boston Cooking School Cookbook sold out in a few weeks. The publisher had to hurry to print more copies for a second and third printing. It became the gift for new brides and a standard for every household. It changed American cooking forever. Her recipes used exact measurements, specified level cups and measuring spoons, precise cooking times, and explained techniques clearly, even including scientific information about food preparation. Fannie Farmer's desire was to see inexperienced cooks succeed consistently.

Fannie believed cooking was not only a practical household skill but a science that could improve health. She emphasized: cleanliness, nutrition, accuracy and efficiency. She also believed women deserved proper education in domestic management rather than being expected to learn everything informally.

In 1902 Fannie left the Boston Cooking School and opened Miss Farmer's School of Cookery. Not only did she offer housewife courses, but added nursing and dietitian training.

Perhaps her own poor health caused her to expand her interests to cooking for invalids and hospital patients. She added books on convalescent cooking to her publishing credits.

Fannie Farmer never married nor had a family of her own, yet she cared about families being healthy. Her life centered around teaching, writing and lecturing, sharing her passion not only for proper cooking techniques but also healthy living.

She died in Boston in 1915 at the age of 58 leaving a legacy as the mother of level measurements. Her cookbook continued to be sold for generations. The next time you use a recipe that insists you use a level measurement, you can thank Fannie Farmer.

What is your favorite go-to recipe book, and does it give specific instructions like Fannie?

I love Better Homes and Garden Cookbooks, I have two from different years.

 

Cindy Ervin Huff is a multi-published, award-winning author in Historical and Contemporary Romance. She’s a 2018 Selah Finalist. Cindy has a passion to encourage other writers on their journey. When she isn’t writing, she feeds her addiction to reading and enjoys her retirement with her husband of 50 plus years, Charles. Visit her at www.cindyervinhuff.com.

 My book Rescuing Her Heart is available in e-book for $1.99. Today is the last day for the sale. Delilah's mother was a cook in a grand house. Her mother taught her well, and those skills came in handy as she rebuilds her life after the trauma of an abusive husband. Click here to purchase.

 

YOUNG ELEANOR

 

By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

As a young bride, Eleanor Roosevelt never dreamt that she would someday play such a vital role in her husband’s success, her children’s lives, or her country’s growth.

The saying, “Behind a great man is a great woman,” highlights the admirable characteristics of the woman spoken of in Proverbs 31:10-31. “Virtuous, strong, and wise” are just a few attributes we could use to describe Eleanor. But this analogy would not be what Eleanor’s mother would use to describe Eleanor.

Her mother’s ideas for her eldest daughter were hardly those of a highly capable woman, as described in Proverbs 31. Her daughter preferred shadows over limelight. Staying home with a good book over partying. As a young girl, Eleanor was often withdrawn. So, what caused this change in Eleanor’s character?

Born on October 11,1884, in bustling New York City, Eleanor’s father was Elliott Roosevelt, the youngest brother of President Theodore Roosevelt. Her mother, Anna Hall Roosevelt, came from a wealthy New York family of the upper class. They had high ideals and even higher standards for their aristocratic children.

Though the oldest of her two siblings, Eleanor was timid and awkward in her demeanor. She was told that, unlike her mother, she was not a natural beauty. She would have to work hard. Her mother constantly criticized her because of her shyness. Anna desired for her daughter to follow in her footsteps, be more outgoing, like herself. Drawing attention to what her mother thought were Eleanor’s faults only caused Eleanor to become shyer and shrink further into herself.

Then tragedy barged into the regimented Roosevelt household. The year was now 1892, when Eleanor was the young age of eight years old, Anna, her mother, died of diphtheria. Then her youngest brother, Ellie, also died of diphtheria in 1894. Her father passed away a year later because of his drugs and alcohol addiction. At ten years old, Eleanor had lost both her parents and a younger sibling.

The one thing she recalls her mother spoke to her about is what happened in 1886. She was two, and her future husband, Franklin, was four. Her parents decided to visit Sara Delano and James Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York. She and Franklin were fifth cousins once removed.

After the death of Eleanor’s parents, she and her brother moved in with her maternal grandmother, Mary Livingston Ludlow Hall.

Grandmother Hall had a trunkful of her own problems. Nine years younger than her husband, he ran a stern household and had strict rules that had to be followed relentlessly.

         Unexpectedly, her husband died. Grandmother Hall felt she was ill-equipped to face life without her domineering husband.

Eleanor soon learned she was more like her grandmother than her mother. Her grandmother had a quiet nature. She was a mild and submissive woman. Her husband, the direct opposite, had ruled her and his household with an iron hand.

Valentine, Grandmother Hall’s husband, lived off the family fortune and treated his wife like he treated his children. He devoted his energy to studying the Puritanical age. Valentine demanded complete control. He ran the family, which consisted of four daughters and two sons, with an iron hand and practiced self-denial.  Mary Hall was deeply religious; however, her faith was rooted in the God of love and joy. She had a deep appreciation of life and nature.

Her husband consistently overruled her. He told her what and when to buy food and household items. He even picked out her dresses! And when he suddenly died, fifty-year-old Mary Hall could not even manage the household budget. Anna, her daughter and Eleanor’s mother, became her anchor. She gave her mother a household budget and disciplined her rowdy siblings, who became even more rowdy after their father’s death.

After Anna’s death, Mary Hall struggled to cope with her sons, Valentine, and Edward, who had serious problems with alcohol. Now Eleanor and her brother, Hall, enter the already distressed household. Grandmother Hall had only her deep-rooted faith in God to rely upon.

Grandmother Hall’s homes were in secluded areas, often semi-barricaded. The shades were pulled tight against the sunlight, and the doors between the rooms were tightly shut. All visitors were carefully screened.

Eleanor grew to love her grandmother dearly, for she understood. She could recognize a hurting soul. The night of her grandmother’s death, Eleanor wrote in her diary, “a gentle, good woman with a great and simple faith.”

Yes, she understood her grandmother and purposed in her heart not to make the same mistakes as Grandmother Hall had. “Her willingness to be subservient to her children isolated her, and it might have been far better, for her boys at least, had she insisted on bringing more discipline into their lives simply by having a life of her own.”

Eleanor used her grandmother’s mistakes as a catalyst to ensure her own happiness. “My grandmother’s life had a considerable effect on me, for even when I was young, I determined that I would never be dependent upon my children by allowing all my interests to center on them.”

Look for part 2 of Eleanor’s story in June.

Wilted Dandelions: Rachael is ready to leave her luxurious life in Buffalo, New York, to share the gospel with the Native Americans in the Oregon Territory. But the Missionary Alliance requires its missionaries to be married. Rachael agrees to a marriage of convenience with a man she hardly knows and learns God doesn’t create coincidences—He designs possibilities. “I loved this quote… ‘I’m still such a babe in Christ. Will I ever stop seeking my desires and reasoning it is God’s will that I satisfy my own whims?’ Can you relate?” Grandaddy A.

Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-three years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, two dogs, one cat, six chickens, and a bunny who thinks it’s a dog! See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.

https://wams.nyhistory.org/life-story/eleanor-roosevelt/