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

Volunteers Take Up Invasives War at Morton

Most people go to the Elizabeth Morton Wildlife Refuge in Noyac, part of the National Wildlife Refuge system, to feed the friendly birds. On Saturday, however, 15 people showed up instead to rip invasive plants out of the ground.

Apr 24, 2025

Item of the Week: Wild Times at Jungle Pete’s

A highlight among Springs landmarks, here is a storied eatery and watering hole that served countless of the hamlet’s residents, including the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock.

Apr 24, 2025

The Sweet Smell of Nostalgia at Sagaponack General

Stepping into the new Sagaponack General Store, which reopened yesterday after being closed since 2020, is a sweet experience, and not just because there’s a soft-serve ice cream station on the left and what promises to be the biggest penny candy selection on the South Fork on your right, but because it’s like seeing an old friend who, after some struggle, made it big. Really, really big.

Apr 17, 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.