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Twitchell Lake

An Adirondack Surveyor’s Unpublished Work Reflects On A “Wild and Woolly” Career

January 14, 2021 by Noel Sherry 4 Comments

Two Topo Maps by TweedyFrank Tweedy’s four-years of Adirondack surveying under Verplanck Colvin prepared him for a 43-year career as Topographical Engineer with the US Geological Survey (1884-1927).

After completing his survey of the Beaver River Basin and the Totten & Crossfield Purchase’s western line (1876-79), Frank served as Sanitary Engineer in Newport, R. I. (1880-81) before signing on with the Northern Transcontinental Survey based in Newport (1882-83). His contributions to mapping the Rocky Mountains stand as a big part of his legacy. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Surveyor’s Unpublished Work Reflects On A “Wild and Woolly” Career

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Beaver River, Big Moose, nature, surveying, Twitchell Lake

An Adirondack Surveyor’s Basecamp At Twitchell Lake

January 7, 2021 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

The First Camp on Twitchell LakeAs Frank Tweedy approached the end of his four-year stint with forest surveyor Squire Snell on Verplanck Colvin’s Adirondack Survey, Southwest Division, he was no longer a tenderfoot, but a veteran surveyor and topographer, with many miles of survey work in the Beaver River basin and six expertly drawn maps to his credit.

His southern trek to finish the Totten and Crossfield Tract boundary line necessitated a new base camp well south of Beaver River. Twitchell Lake in Big Moose was the perfect location. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Surveyor’s Basecamp At Twitchell Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Beaver River, Big Moose, Fulton Chain, Native Plants, surveying, Twitchell Lake

Rediscovering An Ancient Adirondack Survey Monument

December 29, 2020 by Noel Sherry 7 Comments

C1 Colvin's TwnShp 42-41 Corner MapRight out of college as a Civil Engineer, Frank Tweedy spent four seasons as part of Verplanck Colvin’s Southwest Division, producing six  topographically accurate maps of the Beaver River basin and the important Totten and Crossfield Tract border with Brown’s Tract.

His maps and field books received high marks from his boss, and they recorded several moments of exciting discovery on his part, first as he closed ranks with the Eastern Division crew, completing a survey Line from Lowville to Lake Champlain; and then with shouts of victory at finding “The Great Corner” of Totten & Crossfield’s million-acre land Purchase. [Read more…] about Rediscovering An Ancient Adirondack Survey Monument

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Brown's Tract, hiking, John Brown Tract, nature, surveying, Totten Crossfield Tract, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin, Wildlife

A Twitchell Lake Love Story: Passing on a Family Legacy

June 14, 2020 by Noel Sherry 2 Comments

Norman and Lucretias first home in TroyThis is part three of this series A Twitchell Lake Love Story – part two can be found here.

After their marriage, newlyweds Norman and Lucretia Sherry moved into their first home. They brought four children into the world – Elizabeth (1910), Francis (1911), Norman, Jr. (1913), and Esther (1918). Lucretia (Lu, as she was called) had her piano shipped from Buffalo to Troy, filling their home with music and hymns, and teaching her children the keyboard. [Read more…] about A Twitchell Lake Love Story: Passing on a Family Legacy

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Big Moose, Big Moose Lake, Buffalo, Troy, Twitchell Lake

A Twitchell Lake Love Story: Norman’s Transformation

June 13, 2020 by Noel Sherry 1 Comment

Twitchell LakeThe first part of this series, A Twitchell Lake Love Story, can be found here.

On March 21 of 1908, Norman Sherry received an invitation from Lucretia Hayes:

“My dear Norman, thank you for your letter of yesterday. It was good to hear about your trip to Alaska. I would love to see the kodaks. I think I know the perfect time to view them. My family has summered on a lake in the Adirondacks called Twitchell for many years now. It is my favorite place in all the world. Could you arrange to visit me there? My parents can rent a cottage at Covey’s Inn where we stay. We will arrive there by Grand Central rail on Thursday, May fourteenth. Let me know if you could visit in May. Warmly, Lucretia Hayes” (This letter is constructed from entries in Norman’s Diary). [Read more…] about A Twitchell Lake Love Story: Norman’s Transformation

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Big Moose, Big Moose Lake, Twitchell Lake

A Twitchell Lake Love Story: The First Encounter

June 13, 2020 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

Little Beaver CampI am a fourth generation Sherry owning a camp on Twitchell Lake in Big Moose, NY, in the Adirondacks. with my wife Ingelise. We share ownership of “Little Beaver” with my three brothers and their wives. Four diaries from our second generation have helped to solve the mystery of how the family first came to Twitchell Lake. It turns out it all started with a love story! [Read more…] about A Twitchell Lake Love Story: The First Encounter

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Big Moose, Big Moose Lake, Genealogy, Troy, Twitchell Lake

Verplanck Colvin’s Survey of Twitchell Lake

May 12, 2020 by Noel Sherry 3 Comments

Verplank Colvin Memorial at Beaver RiverCamp owners at Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks have made a tradition of hiking the seven-mile trail north to the isolated hamlet of Beaver River for an annual Octoberfest celebration.

On our 2007 excursion, I stopped at a large stone with a bronze plaque reading: “In Tribute to Verplanck Colvin (1847-1920), Land Surveyor, Founder and Champion of the New York State Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park, remembered by his friends and admirers on the Centennial of the Adirondack Park, May 20, 1992.” [Read more…] about Verplanck Colvin’s Survey of Twitchell Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: Beaver River, camping, hiking, surveying, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin

Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake

May 5, 2020 by Noel Sherry 1 Comment

Burke Shanty on Twitchell LakeMany of the lakes in John Brown’s Tract had guides who took their sporting parties to their own fishing or hunting camps north and south of the Beaver River. This is how lakes like Hitchcock, Beach, and Salmon got their names. [Read more…] about Hiram Burke, Noted Adirondack Guide of Twitchell Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondack Guides, Big Moose, John Brown Tract, Lewis County, Twitchell Lake

A Mystery Writer’s Tramp to Twitchell’s Lake

April 25, 2020 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

Topographical Map of Lewis CountyOn July 8, 1874, The Lowville Journal and Republican ran an article about a party of six men who trekked to Twitchell Lake in Big Moose, NY, for a nine-day stay. They came by horse and buggy up the Number Four Road through Watson Township from some town to the west. [Read more…] about A Mystery Writer’s Tramp to Twitchell’s Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Big Moose, Lewis County, Twitchell Lake

Twitchell Lake History: ‘A Melancholy Occurrence’

April 21, 2020 by Noel Sherry 2 Comments

Pencil Sketch and Creation of Scene of the 1856 Melancholy Occurrence by Noel Sherry“Melancholy Occurrence” was a fairly common expression for a tragic event in the middle of the 19th century. A search of historic newspapers revealed the phrase was used some 250 times from 1820 to 1870. Several of these were murder cases, such as the son of the Spanish Consul being stabbed through the heart with a cane sword by an angry neighbor. But most were unexpected events such as a fatal strike by lightening, a young fire victim, or a drowning. [Read more…] about Twitchell Lake History: ‘A Melancholy Occurrence’

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Big Moose, Lewis County, Twitchell Lake

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