I’m on a genealogy kick, and some of the stories I’m finding about my ancestors are really quite amusing. Take, for example, this news story about my great-great-grandfather, Fisher Blakely.
From the Ticonderoga Sentinel, Thursday, July 2, 1942
Fisher Blakely An Interesting ‘Rock’ Workman
By GEOFFREY WILSON
Rogers Rock has had many interesting people work for it. Among them was Fisher Blakely, the gardener. I owe thanks to my brother Sloan for stories about him.
Fisher was a short, powerful man with a mane of white hair and tanned skin. Many people believed he had Indian ancestry. Fisher sometimes became quite frank with his employer. One day he walked up to Mr. Williams, on the front porch, and said, “Sir, you need a hair cut.”
Mr. Williams was taken aback by this but he replied “Thank you, Fisher, but I believe that I’m quite capable of judging when my hair needs cutting.”
Fisher lived on the road to Hague. Every evening, after work, he would walk across the mountain, through the woods to his home. The older he got the more people marvelled at this. Then, one evening, someone started driving when Fisher started walking. When they got to Hague, Fisher was there before them! This started everyone thinking that the old gardener had found a cave, through which he could walk to Hague. Scouting parties were sent out to search for the cavern but they never found it. To this day the mystery of how Fisher went over the mountain so quickly remains unsolved.
They just don’t write newspaper stories like this anymore.