What Snow Storms We’ve Been Having!--Blizzards of 2015 By Pat Kinsella Herdeg and Various Cousins

What a crazy few weeks we’ve been having here in New England. So, I asked cousins to weigh in from their parts of the country.

From around Cousin Country, we have all sorts of results— Read on!

Monday January 26^th was when our storm hit New England. After having almost no snow to speak off all winter (a few inches at Thanksgiving), we had finally gotten some snow the Saturday before the 26^th. 

I asked my immediate family to become Storm Chasers and tell us what the ‘Mighty Blizzard’ did to their parts of the country. I began my email thread with:

‘We should begin our storm Monday around 7PM. And, as Glenn just reminded me, if we lose power, our electric snow blower will be no help!! We are hearing anywhere from 12-30 inches.

 And, the Mayor of NYC--Be prepared for a 'storm like we have never seen'??!! Irresponsible!’

 Dad (In Greece, NY)chimed in at 12:36PM with –

 My Kindle said "feels like 6." Like hell, it felt like 10 below. --roads all dry though

I emailed back:

Getting ready. Brian (our son) has texted he is on his way over to fill up his truck with some of our fire wood. We have already taken in our pile as we have nine fresh inches of snow already from two days ago. Oil lamps are ready.

View Outside our Front Door Here in Acton, MA

Syracuse reporting here (my brother Tim and wife Rose):

4:30 PM   Gently snowing for the last couple hours, not much is sticking.  They are saying 1-3 inches tonight.  In the Syracuse world that basically means we aren't getting any snow at all. 

Then, the next day—Tuesday:

Northern Most Outpost reporting in (i.e. Pat in Acton):

The storm was slow to start, but every station said, 'Just wait, it will arrive.' So we waited. Glenn and I tag teamed--he went to bed and I stayed up. At 1AM I shoveled out three inches and the first of the snow plowed at end of street. Then I headed to bed.

At 6AM, Glenn snowblowed away 11 inches of light powdery stuff--no sign of snow plows since 1AM and Glenn went back to bed.

So, 23 inches so far!! A good size blizzard. And, yes, we still have electricity.

South reporting (My brother Tom),

Wow, what a let down here. I've got about 2 inches of snow on the ground and that is all. It is cold and the snowplows have been through the street about every 20 minutes, pushing around that said 2 inches. School has been canceled, but it wasn't much of a storm. By the way, our weather reporters have apologized for getting it so wrong.

Angela Kinsella, who is usually cavorting on the California beaches with her hubby and dog Riley, was in New York City for business. She tells us: Only 4-11 inches in NYC - hardly a "historic storm"!

Ted Lochner's Home, Spencer, MA

But, in Spencer MA, Cousin Ted writes:

The snow is still falling here in Spencer! Finally a respectable snowfall of 25 inches so far! Having grown up in Spencerport, NY, this is what I am used to. Love it, love it, love it!

 Jen Kinsella in Cicero, NY comes back with:

We have just about nothing here. Please feel free to keep it!

Cousin Diana—You have more snow than we do in Minnesota!

 Then, days later, Diana sent this picture and wrote: I was feeling left out cause we had so little snow that most of my yard was brown. Mother Nature gave us a couple inches dusting today.

 

Cousin Diana's Snowfall--Not Much for Minnesota!

That blizzard ended with Acton, MA getting 34 inches, the sixth highest in the state. Yes, winter has arrived!

Barely cleared roads and driveways and as you all know, Linus (since when did they start naming snowstorms?) was upon us. Acton got about 14 inches three days ago, which was not bad as long as our roofs all hold up under our 57 plus inches of snow.

Cousin Norma on the Youngs/Baker side lives in central New York and tells us that she got 15 inches and that was quite enough!

Jen Dalle Kinsella in Cicero, NY says they got 10-12 inches of snow which resulted in no school for the kids and dicey driving, and interestingly enough for this SnowBelt area, way more snow than they got all of January.

From Baker Cousins--Hi from Fred and Linda Emhof who are spending our winter in Lakeland, FL.  It’s tough to keep up with the shoveling of sunshine but we love every drop of it.

My brother Dan in Rochester wrote:  Looks like 10-15 inches here on Superbowl Sunday. (Editorial Comment—Superbowl—whole other subject—We are BIG Patriots fans, so much snow and much joy here in Patriots Nation. OUR 12^th Man?—Tom Brady! But, back to weather).

My sister Sue in San Francisco tells us even stranger weather statistics:

We haven't gotten rain since early December and San Francisco got zero--ZERO--inches in January, the first time that has happened since they began recording rainfall in the Gold Rush Days of the 1850's. 

Going into our fourth year of drought, the reservoirs are gasping, the countryside looks like ash, land in the fertile Central Valley is beginning to subside as the farmers pump out the aquifers to try to save their crops, many of the ski resorts in the mountains are closed because there's no snow, and the snow that does exist does not have sufficient moisture content in it.

San Francisco's Seal Rocks--No Snow Here!

One cousin in the mid-Atlantic states begged: Could you spare a few inches for the snow-deprived southerners in the family?

Meanwhile, Cousins Julie and Wes just got back to Colorado from a vacation in Mexico.

Julie writes:

 My wardrobe filled one suitcase. Wes's consisted of 1 pair of socks, 2 pair of undies and 1 pair of flip flops.  We caught snatches of the Superbowl game in Spanish (interesting) and continued our plight to empty the resort of rum drinks and margaritas at the swimming pool.

Judy Taylor Alberts writes: It has been chilly in Sarasota -- mid 60's -- we are getting to use our sweaters and jackets, while including this picture of their swimming pool to pour oil into the wound!

 Life is Tough at Judy and Jimmy's in Florida!

Jim Kinsella tells us:

Buffalo was hit by the storm of the century early this winter.  Syracuse was pummeled by several succeeding snowstorms.  Rochester, sandwiched between the two, got nothing!  Up until this past Sunday/Monday we had a paltry few inches.  Then the snow came...and it came...and it came.  It even resulted in a snow day, not something that comes often in Greece NY.  So what did we do...we skated on our enlarged ice-rink, built snow forts, and then cross county skied (first in our yard, then around the neighborhood).  We had school today but, upon coming home, we repeated the same things today.  It's been wonderful.  We LOVE winter (bring on the snow)!!!

So there you have the round up of cousins. I think over all, most of us DID grow up in wintery country, so we are used to it and enjoy it. As Ted Lochner said, it reminds us of our youth.

Just shoveled another three inches of fresh but wet snow and this weekend brings another 18 inches?! Truthfully, THIS time round, Acton could use what New York City got last time—not much!

Stay safe and warm around Cousin Country!

Mary Waller Seager and her Husband Richard Watson Seager and Other Threads of Family History By Pat Kinsella Herdeg

I was trying to come up with another story to tell about our Taylor-Baker Family. A while ago, my sister Sue had given me a Reader’s Digest story about how families who knew their history, their family stories that made them uniquely ‘them’,  tended to be more resilient as adults. Perhaps knowing all of the hardships of earlier generations helped them when they faced their own sorrows, perhaps knowing the adventures their ancestors braved made them braver as they plunged forward.

And, Mom had sent me a letter tracing her theory on how her mother got some of the Waller-Carson journals. With the letter, she sent a news article and in it, a town historian recounted the importance of journals—sometimes they are the only places that earlier births and funerals were written about. How true, I thought. I have found many deaths not found in newspapers from Cordelia and Emma’s journals.

So, searching for what to write about, I looked through Cordelia’s diaries, focusing on January as we just had our first true snow storm of the season (nine inches with perhaps two feet in two days to round out our ‘beginning of winter’). I did find references to sleigh rides and snow, but in January of 1892, I found Cordelia writing about her sister Mary’s death.

Cordelia’s sister, Mary Waller (six years younger than our Cordelia) married Richard Watson Seager. Mary died on January 9^th, 1892 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here is from Cordelia’s diary:

Sunday, Jan. 10^th: How true it is that we know not what the next moment may bring. While Daniel was teaching his class (Sunday church school class), a telegram came with the, to us, sad news that dear Sister Mary had “gone home”. Lord, keep my heart from breaking.

Monday, Jan. 11^th: A sad, sad day, & yet I know it is well with her. I weep over my loss. They lay the precious form away this p.m. & I am there in spirit & see it all.

Jan. 12^th: Go up home for a change. The dear children divert my mind. Little Clara preaches me a little sermon I shall not soon forget & I can but smile through my tears. “A little child shall lead them.”

Jan. 13^th: Letters come with details. So her death had no fears. To die was going home. In deep sorrow our hearts are comforted. Thy will, O God, be done.

Jan. 14^th: Must take up the burden of work, & keep hands & thoughts busy. Go to evening meeting—with a full heart. Sympathy of kind friends is appreciated.

Jan. 15^th: A lovely day, & sleighing perfect. The jingling of bells is almost constant. Daniel draws wood. I go on with guilt & have pleasant memories. Write notice for paper.

Jan. 16^th: Wash out a few things, & prepare for Sabbath. I keep very busy & rejoice that I am able to do so. Think much about dear Sister.

 Richard and Mary Seager had four children, two girls and two boys. As I googled to find out more facts, I came up husband Richard’s obituary in 1913. He was ‘a musical composer of note’ and was most famous for his cantata of Queen Esther. Wow! Intriguing! I can see that Richard WAS a singing teacher and musician in the census’ over the years, but now Mary Waller Seager springs to a more full picture in my mind—she must have spent her life surrounded by music.

Looking further, I can see Richard’s cantata—‘Esther the Beautiful Queen’.  Thanks to the Boston Public Library trying to put as many of their and all Massachusetts libraries and historical societies items on line, you too can see it:

https://archive.org/details/estherbeautifulq00brad

The cover of the music shows that Richard worked on this cantata with other people, but one website implied that Richard’s changes made it the popular show it became. He certainly gives precise notes—on page three of the booklet, he goes into specifics: “In the course of the first evening, ascertain, as far as possible, the quality and caliber of voices adapted to various solo parts, but don’t positively assign any solo parts till sure you are right” and “Don’t try to go through the book at any one rehearsal” and “One week before the concert commence the advertising. It pays to ‘pay the printer’.” 

 Page from 'Esther the Beautiful Queen'

So, both Sue and Mom’s ideas came together, adding yet more levels to our family history as we know it—by digging into Mary Waller Seager’s death, I found more of our family’s history I had never known. A composer in the family!