Skip to main content

Item of the Week: A Wintertime East Hampton Childhood

Wed, 11/22/2023 - 09:13

From the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection

Abigail Halsey (1878-1946) begins this 44-page book by describing the setting in which she heard the stories she shares — the Mulford Farmhouse, where the tales were told by Abigail’s 89-year-old friend, Mary Esther Mulford Miller (1849-1938), called Mollie. Mollie grew up on the Mulford Farm, and her stories recall her upbringing in East Hampton during the mid-1800s.

Mollie was born to Capt. Jeremiah Mulford (1815-1867) and Mary Miller Mulford (1818-1885). In the story “Snowed in at Hardscrabble,” Mollie recounts her experiences during the winter of 1856-1857 and the Great Freeze that gripped the Northeast, when the span of Long Island Sound froze solid enough to walk on, and heavy snow covered the streets and the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, isolating each settlement from neighbors. After more than a month, people petitioned the railroad to clear the tracks so passengers and supplies could move between the North Fork and New York City.

The heavy snow extended Mollie’s Christmastime visit with her Aunt Elizabeth (Bet) Dayton (1823-1906) and Uncle Edward (Ed) Dayton (1821-1911) from two days to two weeks. Mollie tells of snowed-in days full of work in and around the Dayton house and barn, and evenings spent in the warm family home playing games, singing songs, and reading Scripture.

Given that she wasn’t quite 8 years old at the time, it is unsurprising that Mollie reported bouts of homesickness, even with a goose feather bed and homespun linen sheets. Despite her homesickness and how she missed her Uncle John Mulford (1806-1893), Mollie felt that the isolation with the Daytons was “no hardship,” with two maids and plenty of food, firewood, and supplies to keep the snowbound family comfortable.

As we watch autumn shift to colder weather and we prepare for winter, we hope to avoid a winter as harsh as the one Mollie remembered.


Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.

 

Villages

Tariffs Are Sobering News for Liquor Stores

It’s not clear when, or if, President Trump’s European alcohol tariff will ever go live. Nonetheless, the threat is looming over South Fork wine and liquor retailers, who have been forced to react to the uncertainty. 

Mar 27, 2025

East Hampton Star Shines at Better Newspaper Contest

Durell Godfrey, The East Hampton Star’s longtime staff photographer and a fixture at community events from Montauk to Southampton, has once again been named one of New York State’s top photographers. At the New York Press Association’s annual conference last week in Saratoga Springs, The Star’s newsletter also repeated in winning first place in the Best Newsletter category, capping a successful awards season for the paper. 

Mar 27, 2025

A Short Parade That’s Become a Big Success

For the first Am O'Gansett Parade in 2009, the organizers jokingly promised Clydesdales, Macy's balloons, and floats. With good humor and an enthusiastic response from the community, the very short parade has been an annual event ever since.

Mar 20, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.