Fearless Females - How they met at Taughannock Falls State Park

Edward Nunn and Carol Agard
abt 1940

Because he matriculated at Cornell University, my uncle, Harold “Bus” Nunn, not only secured a lifeguard position at Taughannock Falls State Park for himself, but he also succeeded in getting a lifeguard job for my father, Edward Nunn.

With their two sons employed upstate, it made sense for Harry and Mary Nunn to leave the Bronx for the summer and camp in the Finger Lakes Region.  After setting up tents at Taughannock Falls State Park, and having his family settled in, Harry drove the windy two-lane Route 17 back to the city to work for New York City's Public Works Department.

In the meantime, Maude Agard worked at the park’s bath house, and her children, Carol and Richard rode their bike (Carol on the handlebars) down the steep hill each day to bring their mother her lunch.  It wasn’t long before 14 year old Carol noticed the handsome 17 year old lifeguard from New York City.

Fun at Taughannock Park
Carol in dress; Edward standing, facing camera

The park was a gathering place for young folks and the summers were filled with fun. The above photo is an example of that! I am so thankful that I, too, spent my summers enjoying the park, and swimming in Cayuga Lake.

Edward Nunn
abt 1940

As for Carol and Ed, Carol later admits that he chased her until she caught him!

Those Places Thursday - Coldwater, Michigan

Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck intertwines the story of the unlikely murderer Hawley Crippen of Coldwater, MI and Guglielmo Marconi’s invention of the telegraph.  As I got into the book, I said to my husband, “Don’t you have an ancestor in Coldwater?”  His answer, “Yes, why?”  “Well, because it says here that there’s a picture in the Coldwater library of early settlers.”

Dr. S.S. Cutter - middle row, right

Dr. Stephen Starr Cutter was born June 9, 1819 in Enfield, Tompkins County, NY. In 1842 he moved to Coldwater, MI where he continued to study and practice medicine, as well as being involved in educational, town and state affairs.  He served on the Special Commission on Penal, Charitable, and Reformatory Institutions that produced as one of the recommendations for a State Public School at Coldwater for pauper and indigent children.

A call to the Coldwater Library resulted in the librarian knowing exactly which photo my husband referred to, and she put him on hold while she went to retrieve it from the wall. Yes, Stephen Starr Cutter was one of the photos.  Did we want a copy sent? “No,” my husband replied, “I think we need to drive there and see it ourselves.” And that is how we ended up visiting Coldwater, Michigan.

Since we are from the Finger Lakes Region of New York it was interesting to discover that a large number of Coldwater’s early settlers were from the Rochester, NY area.  We enjoyed our stay and genealogy research experience in Coldwater, and of course had to drive down Cutter Street.  If you have ancestors who lived in Michigan, you are in for a research treat.