About Jon Booth
Posts by Jon Booth:
A Windmill and the Advent of Indoor Plumbing
The Olcott School (built 1905) is conspicuous in this photo that depicts eight men astride a 60-foot windmill, which they likely had just erected at 20 Olcott Avenue in Bernardsville, NJ. The slatted fanwheel and tail are just out of view at the top of the frame. Windmills like these, a common innovation across the
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156 South Finley, Basking Ridge
In 1870, Mary (Lewis) Goltra (1832-1896), a recent widow, built the house at 156 South Finley Avenue, Basking Ridge, NJ, perhaps with the assistance of her father-in-law, James P. Goltra. A farmer and local builder, James constructed the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church in the late 1860s. Eventually, the house was owned by Mary’s daughter, Margaret
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Trapping Foxes in Basking Ridge
When my brother Stuart ‘Budge’ Booth (1939- 2002) was a kid in the early 1950s, he used to go across Maple Avenue and set traps over towards the Great Swamp. We lived on South Finley Avenue. In the morning before school he would check his traps, and if there was a fox caught, he would
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$15 each. Limited quantities.
I remember Byrce Carlswell Ray Moffett. Ray Moffett’s car dealership. Bryce Carlswell Kiwanis?
I’m a direct descendant from the original Moerlich family that arrived in 1720 at Philadelphia. Alas, my son and daughter…
I knew Mary well after she retired. In fact, I went to kindergarten the fall after she retired. She was…
Thanks for this story. Bob Craig
Roy, its always fun to read your historical notes.