No. 30

The Elders in 1817 Henry Takes a Job in Geneva

 Dear Stewart,

Henry Brother, the father of your uncle, the Civil War Marine Charles Brother, decided to put off Tom Dudley’s offer to go into business. This delay, Henry understood, would keep him from seeing what traffic was coming.

But after spending a summer on Sodus Bay, Henry was glad to be home and fix things here. He knew who built these roads, steps, and planks. He walked with his father’s grit. His own skin was now part of the dams and bridges.

Henry determined that he would bring the excitement to him. Turning his back on his youth and playing in the mud and streams, he took a job as a clerk for the Colt & Bailey store in Geneva with fine outfit and vest. There he was able to follow construction and infrastructure news, including a contract given to tavern operator Thomas Metcalf and Ira Pratt, both of Bath, New York, to build a dam across the Canisteo River in Steuben County, south of Geneva.

Their scheme would open a line from Pen Yan down over the Keuka Lake or Crooked Lake, moving goods in and out of Geneva.

One day Henry rode down to Bath on the Sabbath. He waited for a good weather day to avoid the dust. He wore his best suit, attending the first church that looked to be overflowing. Although he grew up with the Presbyterian Church, he was much relieved to find a crowd entering the Episcopal Church, which had dry planks wide and clean. Also, Dudley said these Episcopalians were orderly, not particularly passionate for or against Freemasonry and open with their beer. A strange path, perhaps, to track down where Metcalf and Pratt might be, but it worked and soon enough Henry was enjoying pleasant introductions after the service.

Running into Pratt’s daughter again, Henry smiled. Mary Ann lifted her shoulders.

— Miss Minnie

2025 Copyright Christine Friesel