K i l d a r e House (Also known as McCormick Place and The McCormick Castle) Major Michael O'Shaughnessy moved his wife, Anna, and their five children to Huntsville in about 1882. They moved from a lovely home in Nashville, Vauxhall Gardens, that had originally belonged to Colonel Nicholas Hobson, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's grandfather. Kildare, one of the finest new homes built in Huntsville was begun in 1882 and completed in 1886. The building techniques of the New York crew were extremely innovative and admired by many of the local workmen who often came to watch the construction. The Queen Anne architecture is one of the most popular styles of the Victorian era. The hallmark of the Queen Anne style is an irregular roofline and turrets. The Queen Anne style of home utilized contrasts in shapes, textures, and colors. It may utilize brick, shingles, and stone on the same house. They also used carved and relief decorations and large porches and verandahs. In 1889 the graceful hostess and gallant husband entertained at a brilliant reception, and the house was lighted by gas from basement to garret. As an article in the local newspaper the Independent stated in 1890 (misspelling and all); "Perhaps as fine a home as a gentleman of culture and artistic taste could desire is the home of Major M. J. O'Shaughnessy in the suburbs of Huntsville. The floors, casements, stairways, moldings and wood finishings of the house are of native wood that the major has picked during the past eight years and the sawings, dressings and mouldings are of his own designs and under his personal supervision. In the forty rooms, each is furnished in exquisite taste, and the native hardwood Alabama timber of different grains and kind. It is impossible to enter into elaborate detail, but all of the modern improvements, with many original ideas of the proprietor unite in making it a unique, comfortable and magnificent home. In the basement are the breakfast rooms, pantry, kitchen, boiler room, smoking room, etc.; solid oak and walnut doors, floors, ceilings, etc. On the first floor are parlors finished in ebony and gold and also with white and gold; another room is a symphony in brown. The ceiling decorations of hand painting, the stained glass of special shades and harmony, all unite in the arrangement in the arrangements to add pleasure to all the senses. The upper floor is conveniently  arranged in bedrooms, billiard rooms and observatories. Major O'Shaughnessy is a gentleman of culture and an artist. He has gathered some rare gems of ancients pottery and bric-a-brac. Around through the house are rare Japanese screens, plaques of enamel and gold, immense Chinese bowls, Hungarian vases, rare rugs, candelabra, and incense burner of the Fifteenth century and all that a refined taste could revel in abounds throughout the house. The massiveness of the house represents an ancient castle, and from its windows at any point is presented a pleasing landscape view. The major has a pack of English greyhounds, and as foxes and deer are in the neighboring mountains, it is grand sport over brush and brier, heath and cope in the wake of the hounds. The three story house called Kildare was built at a cost of $65,000 in the Queen Ann revival style that was extremely popular in Victorian times and sat on 75 acres. The house has about 40 rooms and encompassed approximately 17,000 square feet (including the English Basement). The drive-thru entrance porte-cochere arches at the front of the house are in the style of Richardson Romanesque after the work of the famous Chicago architect Henry Hobson Richardson. The home was originally called Kildare after the birth county of Michael O'Shaughnessy's mother in Ireland. In 1900 Mr. O'Shaughnessy had lost his sight, and his wife Anna sold Kildare to the trust fund established for Mary Virginia McCormick who inherited a multi million dollar fortune from her father Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the Reaper. Mary Virginia because of her unstable mental state was supported by a large staff under the guidance of Grace Walker. Although Mary Virginia only resided at Kildare for the spring and early summer, the acts of benevolence that flowed outwards to local people, churches and to Alabama A & M University were the greatest ever known in Madison County. In 1932, as Mary Virginia no longer used the mansion, it was sold by the trust fund. Between 1932 and 1975 the mansion entered a period of decline during which the gardens were sold off and several businesses of lesser and lesser quality that included a hotel and a beauty parlor were situated there. In total nine different people or institutions owned the property for various periods, some very short. By 1975 the house was in a terrible decline and during a period when the house was unoccupied many of the furnishings, mantels, stained glass windows and such were stolen by those who thought the house would be torn down. After it's purchase in 1975 the house was lovingly restored by the tireless work of the current owner, Mr. and Mrs. James Reeves. The daylight basement and first floor exterior walls of Kildare are of ashlar limestone; the second and third stories -- except for the circular tower and rectangular bay are of concrete surfaced with river pebbles and divided into panels by stickwork. The steep roof of irregular outline is covered with patterned slate and broken by dormers. The deep eaves are supported on decorative wooden T-shaped brackets. The massive brick chimneys are paneled on each face and taper to the top. The windows exhibit a great variety in size, shape and placement. Those on the first floor display stained and/or leaded transoms, while the upper sashes on the second story are edged with small square panes and those on the third story have upper sashes composed entirely of small panes. 1st Floor Layout Brickwork is used as quoins and to surround the first story windows, while decorative terra cotta appears on the front porch, in the gable of the rectangular front bay, and above the rear basement service entrance. On the first floor interior, the Great Stairhall with fireplace runs from the front entry to the Dining Room on the back of the house, which is entered through a door flanked by leaded glass side and toplights On the south of the entry hall is a ballroom that extends the full depth of the house and has a circular bay on the west et and a rectangular bay on the east end. Double parlors lie on the other side of the Hal. The wing on the northwest contains a library, breakfast room, pantry, and service stairs. Most of the wood in the Great Stairhall Foyer is walnut. The walnut double front doors are raised panel and have leaded and beveled glass in and above the door. There is wainscoting with raised panels below all around the room and up the Grand Staircase. Many of the electrical switches are the old push button style. There is a fireplace located at the west end of the Foyer. The fireplace surround has a ceramic tile surround with decorative tiles and figured brass surrounding the firebox. The paneled mantle has a beveled mirror above the fireplace and a carved lions head in the center of the mantel. The only major addition to the house was made by Virginia McCormick when she added the Conservatory for plants just off the Ball Room. The house, located at 2004 Kildare Avenue - Huntsville, Alabama 35810 is now on the market and offered at $499,900. Check out the listing by clicking here. By the way, the photo above is a McCormick Reaper ___________________________________

Est. March 31, 2000                34,556 Previous Hits                         January 27, 2002 Editor:Tommy Towery                                                        http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964                           Page Hits This Issue     e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey,                      Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran Staff Photographers:  Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66

We Are Fami-Lee!

Est. March 31, 2000                34,556 Previous Hits                         January 27, 2002 Editor:Tommy Towery                                                        http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964                           Page Hits This Issue     e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey,                      Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran Staff Photographers:  Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66

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Last week's school supply trivia - Blue Horse! Did anyone ever get anything by saving the Trademarks? The trivia answer, I think, is Blue Horse - Jim Pierce Class of '64 _______________________________ Also in last week's trivia: Lincoln School was named after William Lincoln Barrell who created Lincoln Mill Village, not President Abraham Lincoln. _______________________________

Can you name this week's Mystery Classmate? He retired at the end of June last year as Safety & Security Director for Huntsville Utilities. He and his wife have a log home and a two acre stocked pond. At Lee, he tried out for football in his Junior year, but was disqualified due to a previous concussion and skull fracture. ________________________________

To continue our "Pre-Lee" memories, can you identify the school where this sign is displayed and do you have any stories to share? _________________________________

Lincoln Mill

Pre-Lee School Stories Continue Lincoln Laments I attended Lincoln School from the first thru the fifth grades.  I remember when the upper classes were transferred to other schools such as Butler or Huntsville.  Stanley "Shot" Statum and Brooks Gentle were two of the older students that I'll always remember among those that were transferred as they were two of the most popular football stars around during those days.  If I remember correctly my teachers were Ms. Larkin, Ms. Sibley, Ms. Blackburn, Ms. Sanders, Ms. Nelson and our music teacher was Ms. Graham.  I soaked up all the knowledge that I could from them and credit my enjoyment of reading and the arts to them!  Our gymnasium was above the old Lincoln Grocery Store just north of the school. My dad worked the graveyard shift at Lincoln Mill as a dolpher (whatever that was), he delivered furniture for Montgomery Ward during the daytime and still share cropped some for relatives out in New Market also.  Looking back, I don't see how he lived as long as he did.  My sisters and I were still helping with the farming chores on saturdays and during summer vacations during those times also.  When we moved from New Market to Lincoln Village we thought we were in heaven; we had running water inside the house, electricity and a bathroom right on the back porch!  We lived first at 118 Tracy Street.  Ronald Sisk lived right behind us, the McBrides lived next door, the Kennedys right across the street (Frankie, I believe) and Terry Davis lived right around the corner from us (you could see the ball field from his house).  We attended Lincoln Baptist Church every sunday and our preacher was Rev. J. Otis King (Patsy's dad). I also remember selling bottles to buy popsicles from "Condra's Ice Cream and Sundries" on the west side of Meridian Street.  If you held them up to the window just right (without getting caught by Mr. Condra), you might could see the occasional nickel that he would put inside one.  We had no television set back in those early days and I remember the first person to get one in our neighborhood was Jerry Nicholson.  His mom let us take turns coming to their home to watch Benny Carl and the Circle Six Ranch.  We later moved to 410 Hurst Avenue, next door to Red and Violet (Hillis) Smith.  More of our cousins lived down at the end of the street next door to Bob Naymon's Grocery Store.  I quess we were all sort of territorial during those days and still remember getting into rock fights with the kids on the other side of the railroad tracks in Dallas Village.  Those were really some hard times but, some very good times also.  Everyone on both sides of the track later became very close friends due to the kindred bonds we shared!  Well, I've rambled on enough even though I have many more memories; you did ask!  Johnny J. Sharp Class of '64 _____________________________________________ After a short bus ride from Lakewood, I walked into Lincoln Elementary School for  the first day of the 6th Grade.  After years one through four at West Huntsville Elementary and the fifth grade at Westlawn it didn't seem like such a big deal. Among those that accompanied me were Jim Harris, Johnny Boone and some others whom I will probably recall after I complete this note. Going in as a skinny 11 year old (new) kid was certainly not without challenges, especially from some of the more mature 6th graders who could have worn full beards if allowed. After adjusting to the new surroundings, it was business as usual... meeting new friends and trying to make the grades.  The daily bus rides to and from Lakewood, on city buses I believe, were part of what made the year unique. I along with most of my new friends moved to Lee Junior High the next year for 7th grade. After that, I spent the 8th grade at Meridianville, 9th grade at Hazel Green High, 10th grade at Huntsville High and then back to at Lee for my junior and senior years.  Eight schools in 12 years (same county) to graduate from high school.  I may not hold a record for schools attended but it was a great way to meet new people and make many friends! Maybe this will prompt some of my buddies to recall interesting events from Lincoln or the other schools I have mentioned. Elbert Balch Class  of '65 ___________________________________ By coincidence, the stories about Rison stirred memories of Lincoln in someone else during the same week that I decided to write. I agree with Woody's description of the clash in cultures; in current times Lincoln would be very politically correct, as it was "promoting diversity." If I ever complained about any of the kids from the village, my mother explain to me how fortunate we were that my father was an engineer working on the Arsenal and that "there, but for the grace of God ..." Woody is most correct in that Lincoln was a rough school, where fights were commonplace. It was never even considered that anyone would ever bring a gun to Lincoln (or any other school, for that matter, in those more innocent of times ... this is more of a worry for the current generation of children), but there was no such thing as "Zero Tolerance" policies for knives, chains, etc. Having started first grade at Lincoln, I had some advantage over Woody in that I was not subject to a crash course in learning the ropes. By gradually growing up with peers from my neighborhood and simultaneously in school with the mill village kids, the lesson of when to be seen, when to be heard and when just to be (or as Kenny Rogers sang "know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em") came easier than Woody's sudden transfer to a new culture. I was in my share of school boy fights, but I also developed pretty good negotiating skills for what we call in the corporate world "win-win situations," where both sides walk away with ego intact and feeling good. I, too, knew Perry (even remember his last name ... won't give it here, but the first letter is "S"); while not best friends, we had a peaceful co-existence. Woody's observation that many of the girls were somewhat more developed rings true. More than a few of the girls and boys smoked at that early age and a particular incident in the third grade was permanently imprinted in my brain. Behind the school one afternoon two particularly comely young ladies from my class taught me how to inhale a cigarette, and let me in on some very interesting features of the female anatomy. Many of the boys were more mature because many of them had failed grades several times (this was before "self esteem" had been invented and the belief was that a student had to actually pass tests, etc. to be promoted to the next grade). It seems that the third grade was a pivotal point in my worldly education because I also learned new vocabulary words and new meanings for words already in my vocabulary. One day in class we were to read aloud a play about Robin Hood and his band of merry men. The teacher was assigning roles to be read by various students and she looked to the back of the classroom to a group of five such "older boys;" she asked Percy (can you imagine the stories that he had, growing up in Lincoln Village and being named Percy) to read the part of one of the merry men named "Dick." As she made this request, Percy's cohorts (Jerry, Merlin, William and Arthur, "but call me Booger") let out howls of laughter and Percy's reaction was to refuse to read the part; the teacher hardly missed a beat and assigned him to then read the part of "Peter." Obviously, this caused an even louder howl of laughter and Merlin said "it doesn't matter which one he is because they are both the same thing!" The five of them were practically rolling in the aisle while most of rest of the class was trying to figure out what was going on. I was tuned in to joke at lunch, later that day ... my education continued there for three more years and prepared me well for my entry in the U.S. Army, many years later! Random thought: Mr. Anderson was the principal and he lived in a house directly across the street from Woody's Drive Inn. The house had windows on the second floor that faced the movie screen and I often thought how great that would be to live there, if only there was a way to hear the sound. Mike Griffith Class of '66 ____________________________________________________ I remember Lincoln somewhat differently than the guys who wrote in did. I remember first grade in the house next door to the big school.  How many of you remember standing in line to get a polio shot?  I am very glad they decided to let parents do that.  I was scared to death.  I also remember getting into trouble for going to the store across the street.  The candy and popsicles had some kind of strange hold on all the kids. I lived in Colonial Hills and had to ride one of those wonderful buses, too.  Somehow, I was always one of the "standers."  The Blaise boys lived across the street, Iris Spencer down the street, and the Lamb boys also lived there.  Those are the ones who I remember without straining my brain. I remember Miss Chapman.  DO YOU REMEMBER HER?  She scared me by just seeing her. She was so feared that no one wanted to be in her class.  Of course, when I hit fifth grade, I joined the many others who had been so afraid.  She was so strict--gave paddlings everyone dreaded. She also made everyone sit in the order of their grades.  She started with the best grades facing her left and well, you just did not want to sit past the second row over.  There were five rows and it seemed that the same people always stayed pretty much in the same area.  Strangely enough, I probably learned more in her class than most of the others put together.  Miss Chapman was sort of like a drill sergeant.    When I was in her class, I won the spelling bee for the school.  When the county had the big one, of course J.R. Brooks won, but I came in second.  I didn't feel too bad--he was in eighth grade and I was in fifth.  He really was smart. I remember the mill children, too.  They came bare footed to school, and their clothes were pitiful. Most of my friends and I did not know them personally, but we did feel a childish sort of pity for them. I remember another teacher--Mrs. Collier--who decided we should all clean our plates and drink our milk.  She only did that to my class once.  She made the mistake of making us do it when I sat next to her.  I had never been able to drink milk or eat hot dogs.  Guess what we had that day? Yep!  My lunch landed in her lap.  I think that was a great learning experience for her.  We also had the tattletales.  To this day every one I talk to still does not have any great love for that person.  I realize it was the teacher who caused it, but the person didn't have to tattle either.  The lunchroom was in the basement and the cobbler dessert looked like glue.  Yuk! Some of the people I started school in first grade are my best friends today.  So I guess I did have some good experiences at Lincoln.  I remember being a leaf in a play we did.  What it was about beats me.  We also had a Christmas play and had to learn a bunch of Xmas carols.  I can't say that my time there was bad--most of it was pretty good, just being an ordinary school day. Paula Spencer Kephart Class of '65 ______________________________________________

From Our Mailbox Sorry for the last minute notice, but my email address is now ronhinge@mchsi.com .  Please discontinue the use of ronhinge@ioa.com. Reference old photos.  I have looked but I guess in the 8 or 10 moves since I left Huntsville, I have lost or misplaced the old negatives and extra photos.  As best I remember, the majority of the negatives and extra photos were left with the annual staff files.  The only other person that I remember that might have "a stash" of photos and/or negatives would be Don Alford.  I haven't been able to "find" him on the internet yet but I keep trying. It was nice to read Rainer's article about his meeting with Mike Acree and Brian Pfeiffer in California.  I was also a team member of the morning "game" played with the tennis ball on the tennis court at Lee.  My 11-year-old son tells me of his days at school in the sixth grade but he doesn't seem to have the freedoms that I remember having, both at Rison and at Lee, to do the various activities either on the playground or in school during the school day.  It seems that school days today are much more regimented even in a small town like Hendersonville, NC.  I don't see any children riding bikes to school and only some of those who live in sight of the school walk to school.  I am sure that part of this is due to security and that another part is due to the parents, myself included, that want more for our children than we had ourselves. Keep up the good work.  I do read each issue and I do appreciate the time that it takes you to put it together. Regards Ron Hingenitz Class of '64 _____________________________________ From our Guestbook Larry Seaver Huntsville, AL E-mail:                    LSeverino@yahoo.com Year of Graduation:  1965 _______________________________

Last Week's Photo Trivia The house (last week's trivia question) is the McCormick house and is located on Kildare, just north of Oakwood Avenue. Rick Edmonds Class of '65 The house depicted is the Old Kildare Mansion which is currently for sale. Jim Pierce Class of '64 Re the photo at the bottom of the Lee page - is that "Kildare?" Bobby Cochran Class of '64 The house is, in fact, the Kildare House, also known as McCormick House or the Kildare-McCormick House. Before we give all the details about this house, we have another part of the trivia question.  Before you read on, do you know what the relationship is to the house shown above and the photo below?

______________________________________________ Rison Ramblings I have few if any good memories of Rison, except Mr. Fain who was wonderful while I sat in his office so many times. The one armed teacher who paddled me because men teachers couldn't, (Mr. Kenermer). And sooooo, she could paddle, and hard to. She would take that arm back a give a good old swing. I never had a recess in Mr. Kenermer's room and wrote so many sentences I thought I arm would break off. I don't remember being that bad. I think he just hated me. Ted Penhall was pulled up from his seat and slapped in the face. I secret hope was that his Dad, being a big contractor would do something about him, but he didn't. It was my understanding that they were dismissed from a county school for abuse. He and his wife taught there. He let other students do the final grades for him. My mother had to take all the papers she had saved that indicated that my grades were much higher than my report card showed. The student or him had changed them. Mr. Fain got a visit from my Mother who spent as much time in the office as I did. In fact, Mr. Fain got to where he would let me go down and sell snacks at recess, when I was suppose to be in his office. Years later he told my Dad that he always really liked me. Ms. Kenermer, tried to get me to say I had stolen a pencil, when in fact my uncle had given it to me. She proceeded to knock me against the wall and take the breath out of me. Very few teacher in between them do I remember in a kind way either. Perhaps because of the beginning of my school year there. I lived behind the school and went home for lunch. There was always a few who had no lunch money and no bag. I often took them home with me to eat. I had few friends there however, it was not until I got to Lee that I had really close friends. Band helped me get to know many people some of us have become life long friends. Joan McCutcheon Baber jbdocdog@juno.com Class of '64 _____________________________________________ It has been so interesting to read other people's "Memories of Rison." I also attended Rison from grades 1-6. Ginger Gambrell was a best buddy. Bucky Hoffmeyer was my "boyfriend." Walt Cabe (where is he?) was a classmate and friend. Many of my teachers such as Mrs. Kennemer and Mrs. Pearson had also taught my father at Rison some twenty years before. I remember one teacher in particular...Ms. Monroe. She must have been 100 years old. She was such a strange little lady. She had us grade each other's papers and would give 5 extra points to anyone who used a red pen to grade the paper. She would save her unwrapped Christmas presents and put them under her bed...then pull one out to unwrap when she felt a bit "blue." My dad had her, also. I have often wondered if she had some order to those presents under her bed or if she ever pulled out a fruit cake that was ten years old! I now teach technology at an elementary school in Lawrenceville, Georgia (near Ranier's Snellville, GA) and reminisce at the stability of schools in those days. Teachers and students seem to enter and leave through a revolving door on a daily basis now. It seems to be a rare treat to watch a student grow from kindergarten through fifth grade in our huge county and school system here in Gwinnett County. There were so many of us who began school at Rison and then graduated from Lee together. What a nice way to grow up! Darla Gentry Steinberg Class of "66 ___________________________________________________ Does Anyone Remember The Ice Cream Man? My memories of Rison are all good ones, I had a brother Larry, who was in the 8th grade when I started 1st  grade so I had a guardian angel looking out for me. Larry was a special brother since there was such a difference in our ages. I was quite spoiled. My father, Charlie Brown, real name, was also the Ice Cream man,  that made me pretty popular. Daddy would pick me and Larry up in the mornings and bring us to school. He  never had to carry one box of ice cream in the building, there would be a whole gang of kids outside waiting on us. I got to pick out who would carry the boxes in and of course they got a free ice cream. Sounds cruel now, but I usually got around to everyone. The ice cream box was in Mrs. Kennamer's classroom. She was also my teacher. Daddy also left me my very own box of fudge bars and I was very generous in handing them out. Since I was very shy this was a good way of being very popular. I never got out of being shy, so it was a rude awakening when I went to Lee and they didn't sell ice cream. Winona Brown Turner Class of '65 ___________________________________________________ Reading the latest issue on Lincoln School and the references to Rison really brought back some memories. My Dad got a job on the Arsenal in the Spring of 1958 and we (me, Mom and my younger brother) followed him down in August of that year, just a few days before school started. I was 11 and just starting the 6th grade, which put me at Rison. "Mizz" Lee was my teacher and I remember that Tommy Esslinger and DeeDee Locke were also in that class. Being a Yankee (we moved from Berwick, Penn.), it took me a while to not only understand my classmates, but my teachers, too! I remember Mr. Simms was the principal and he immediately put me on the School Patrol and by the second semester I was in charge of it! On rainy days, we would get to miss part of homeroom and first period and were allowed to go down into the basement in the boiler room to dry out after patrol - I can still clearly remember the smell of the coal tar used to heat the school. I also remember the assemblies in the auditorium - one was a traveling strongman show and I was brought up on stage to examine a steel bar before he bent it like a pretzel - that made quite an impression on an 11-year old! And I seem to remember that we had Chapel in there once a week (how politically incorrect that would be today) . Rick Edmonds Class of '65 ___________________________________________ Happy New Year to all! I was reading several of the posts regarding the old Rison School. I happen to remember it with much fondness -- not because I went to school there, but because my father, Alva S. Simms, was principal there. He went from Rison to Chapman -- and retired from there. In fact, he served as principal at Hazel Green, Riverton, New Market -- then in Huntsville he was at Lincoln, then Rison, then finally Chapman. He was an educator for 45 years in Madison County. I grew up on Ward Avenue, except for a six year break when we lived in New Market. I have a bible that Daddy was given by one of the 6th grade classes at Rison -- and they all signed it. Some of the names I remember (without having to look at it) are Jimmy McBride, Carole Ann Bradshaw and Tommy Esslinger. I have a story to tell about my Dad -- I've recently been "bitten" by the genealogy bug and have spent numerous hours poking around the cemeteries in Lincoln Co, TN. Most of my family came from Lincoln County. On my first visit back to Lincoln, I stopped at one of those gas station/stores in Hazel Green to make certain I knew just where to turn. There was an old man in overalls there. I was talking with the young clerk and mentioned that my dad had been principal there many, many years ago. The old man started telling me that when he was in the 3rd grade, my dad spanked him for some sort of misbehaving -- and as he was being spanked, he swore that he would get even with my dad. Later in his life, when he was much older, he was working as a driver for one of the soft drink distributors. My dad was retired by that time and teaching GED classes at the Board of Education. Anyway, the guy recognized my dad but before he could say anything, Daddy came over to him, put his hold on the man's shoulder and said, "I don't know your name, but I believe you're 'one of my boys'". "Could you tell me where you went to school?" The old man in overalls said he could no more carry out that threat he had made as a 3rd grader. By that time, the old man had tears running down his cheeks -- and so did I. My dad died in 1970. My children never got to know him. I just hope there is enough of him in me so that they get a glimpse of who he was.   Merideth Susan Simms Springfield, Virginia merisusan@earthlink.net Class of '65 _______________________________________________________

K i l d a r e House (Also known as McCormick Place and The McCormick Castle) Major Michael O'Shaughnessy moved his wife, Anna, and their five children to Huntsville in about 1882. They moved from a lovely home in Nashville, Vauxhall Gardens, that had originally belonged to Colonel Nicholas Hobson, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's grandfather. Kildare, one of the finest new homes built in Huntsville was begun in 1882 and completed in 1886. The building techniques of the New York crew were extremely innovative and admired by many of the local workmen who often came to watch the construction. The Queen Anne architecture is one of the most popular styles of the Victorian era. The hallmark of the Queen Anne style is an irregular roofline and turrets. The Queen Anne style of home utilized contrasts in shapes, textures, and colors. It may utilize brick, shingles, and stone on the same house. They also used carved and relief decorations and large porches and verandahs. In 1889 the graceful hostess and gallant husband entertained at a brilliant reception, and the house was lighted by gas from basement to garret. As an article in the local newspaper the Independent stated in 1890 (misspelling and all); "Perhaps as fine a home as a gentleman of culture and artistic taste could desire is the home of Major M. J. O'Shaughnessy in the suburbs of Huntsville. The floors, casements, stairways, moldings and wood finishings of the house are of native wood that the major has picked during the past eight years and the sawings, dressings and mouldings are of his own designs and under his personal supervision. In the forty rooms, each is furnished in exquisite taste, and the native hardwood Alabama timber of different grains and kind. It is impossible to enter into elaborate detail, but all of the modern improvements, with many original ideas of the proprietor unite in making it a unique, comfortable and magnificent home. In the basement are the breakfast rooms, pantry, kitchen, boiler room, smoking room, etc.; solid oak and walnut doors, floors, ceilings, etc. On the first floor are parlors finished in ebony and gold and also with white and gold; another room is a symphony in brown. The ceiling decorations of hand painting, the stained glass of special shades and harmony, all unite in the arrangement in the arrangements to add pleasure to all the senses. The upper floor is conveniently  arranged in bedrooms, billiard rooms and observatories. Major O'Shaughnessy is a gentleman of culture and an artist. He has gathered some rare gems of ancients pottery and bric-a-brac. Around through the house are rare Japanese screens, plaques of enamel and gold, immense Chinese bowls, Hungarian vases, rare rugs, candelabra, and incense burner of the Fifteenth century and all that a refined taste could revel in abounds throughout the house. The massiveness of the house represents an ancient castle, and from its windows at any point is presented a pleasing landscape view. The major has a pack of English greyhounds, and as foxes and deer are in the neighboring mountains, it is grand sport over brush and brier, heath and cope in the wake of the hounds. The three story house called Kildare was built at a cost of $65,000 in the Queen Ann revival style that was extremely popular in Victorian times and sat on 75 acres. The house has about 40 rooms and encompassed approximately 17,000 square feet (including the English Basement). The drive-thru entrance porte-cochere arches at the front of the house are in the style of Richardson Romanesque after the work of the famous Chicago architect Henry Hobson Richardson. The home was originally called Kildare after the birth county of Michael O'Shaughnessy's mother in Ireland. In 1900 Mr. O'Shaughnessy had lost his sight, and his wife Anna sold Kildare to the trust fund established for Mary Virginia McCormick who inherited a multi million dollar fortune from her father Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the Reaper. Mary Virginia because of her unstable mental state was supported by a large staff under the guidance of Grace Walker. Although Mary Virginia only resided at Kildare for the spring and early summer, the acts of benevolence that flowed outwards to local people, churches and to Alabama A & M University were the greatest ever known in Madison County. In 1932, as Mary Virginia no longer used the mansion, it was sold by the trust fund. Between 1932 and 1975 the mansion entered a period of decline during which the gardens were sold off and several businesses of lesser and lesser quality that included a hotel and a beauty parlor were situated there. In total nine different people or institutions owned the property for various periods, some very short. By 1975 the house was in a terrible decline and during a period when the house was unoccupied many of the furnishings, mantels, stained glass windows and such were stolen by those who thought the house would be torn down. After it's purchase in 1975 the house was lovingly restored by the tireless work of the current owner, Mr. and Mrs. James Reeves. The daylight basement and first floor exterior walls of Kildare are of ashlar limestone; the second and third stories -- except for the circular tower and rectangular bay are of concrete surfaced with river pebbles and divided into panels by stickwork. The steep roof of irregular outline is covered with patterned slate and broken by dormers. The deep eaves are supported on decorative wooden T-shaped brackets. The massive brick chimneys are paneled on each face and taper to the top. The windows exhibit a great variety in size, shape and placement. Those on the first floor display stained and/or leaded transoms, while the upper sashes on the second story are edged with small square panes and those on the third story have upper sashes composed entirely of small panes. 1st Floor Layout Brickwork is used as quoins and to surround the first story windows, while decorative terra cotta appears on the front porch, in the gable of the rectangular front bay, and above the rear basement service entrance. On the first floor interior, the Great Stairhall with fireplace runs from the front entry to the Dining Room on the back of the house, which is entered through a door flanked by leaded glass side and toplights On the south of the entry hall is a ballroom that extends the full depth of the house and has a circular bay on the west et and a rectangular bay on the east end. Double parlors lie on the other side of the Hal. The wing on the northwest contains a library, breakfast room, pantry, and service stairs. Most of the wood in the Great Stairhall Foyer is walnut. The walnut double front doors are raised panel and have leaded and beveled glass in and above the door. There is wainscoting with raised panels below all around the room and up the Grand Staircase. Many of the electrical switches are the old push button style. There is a fireplace located at the west end of the Foyer. The fireplace surround has a ceramic tile surround with decorative tiles and figured brass surrounding the firebox. The paneled mantle has a beveled mirror above the fireplace and a carved lions head in the center of the mantel. The only major addition to the house was made by Virginia McCormick when she added the Conservatory for plants just off the Ball Room. The house, located at 2004 Kildare Avenue - Huntsville, Alabama 35810 is now on the market and offered at $499,900. Check out the listing by clicking here. By the way, the photo above is a McCormick Reaper ___________________________________

The haves and the have-nots. Compare the Mill Village homes above to the Kildare- McCormick house located less than a mile away.

This week's issue is being published a little early so that I can start on a well needed vacation. If you did not get to read last week's issue, it is a simple click of the mouse button away - using the box above. Thanks to all of you for your participation in last week's Reader Survey. We will analyze what you have to say and report the results in a few weeks. We had a great participation rate for a survey - which most people hate as much as telemarketers and spam e-mail. I am sure that some of you cannot relate to the recent Pre-Lee school stories we have featured in the last few issues, but next week I will give an idea of how they all realte to you. It's a "think piece" on the subject which I hope you enjoy. By the time you read this, I should be on my way, or already at, the Disney Vacation Club on Hilton Head Island. If you are in the neighborhood between now and February 6th, drop in for a visit. On the way Sue and I will be spending our second anniversary at the Antebellum Inn Bed and Breakfast in Milledgeville, GA. We still plan to publish Lee's Traveller next week, but the size and content of that issue will depending upon the capabilities of the dial-up connection I will have to use. T. Tommy __________________________________

NEW SOBIG VIRUS WARNING There is a new virus going around via an e-mail from <big@boss.com> which contains the SOBIG virus.  It will contain these: From: big@boss.com Subject: The subject will be one of these: Re: Movies Re: Sample Re: Document Re: Here is that sample Attachment: The attachment will be one of these: Movie_0074.mpeg.pif Document003.pif Untitled1.pif Sample.pif DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT, NO MATTER HOW INTERESTING IT SEEMS.

Several of our classmates wrote earlier about this poor part of Huntsville. Here is a photo from Booger Town, taken in the 1950s.