THE BRIDGE, PART II

A local news item this morning informed us that the removal of the Canandaigua Road bridge will be finalized today.  Sections of the bridge will be placed on a barge and floated away on the Erie Canal.

Nettie Bullis was 21 when this bridge was opened to horse-drawn and pedestrian traffic, and her brother Charlie was 23.  We can imagine both of them watching the construction and  marveling at the completed structure. If she were present at today's final removal, we imagine that Nettie might discreetly wipe a tear or two from her eyes and then look forward to the construction of the new, safer bridge.

Here's the rest of Longfellow's poem. Enjoy!

The Bridge

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

How often, O, how often

In the days that had gone by

I had stood on the bridge at midnight

And gaped on that wave and sky.

How often,  O, how often

I had wished that the ebbing tide

Would bear me away on its bosom

O’er the ocean wild and wide.

For my heart was hot and restless,

And my life was full of care,

And the burden laid upon me

Seemed greater than I could bear.

But now it has fallen from me

It is buried in the sea.

And only the sorrow of others

Throws its shadow over me.

Yet whenever I cross the river

On its bridge with wooden piers,

Like the odor of brine from the ocean

Comes the thoughts of other years.

And I think how many thousands

Of care-encumbered men

Each bearing his burden of sorrow

Have crossed the bridge since then.

I see the long procession

Still passing to and fro,

The young heart hot and restless

And the old subdued and slow.

And forever and forever,

As long as the river flows

As long as the heart has passion

As long as life has woes;

The moon and its broken reflection

And its shadows shall appear

As the symbols of love in heaven

And its wavering images here.

THE BRIDGE

The bridge over the Erie Canal on Canandaigua Road (built in 1912) is being removed this week.  After a century of connecting local drivers with Route 31 and  Macedon Center Road, it's time for a new bridge to be in place to transport us safely over the canal waters.

Is it coincidence that just a week or so ago we found a poem among some Bullis documents that had recently been forwarded to the Bullis Room? And that it's a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Bridge?  The cursive looks similar to Nettie Bullis's handwriting, so we're also wondering if she's the scribe. If she was the copyist, was she thinking of the bridge within sight of her family home on Canandaigua Road? (We like to "suppose" so.)

Anyway, here's the first half of the poem. We'll post the remainder next week.

The Bridge

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I stood on the bridge at midnight,

As the clocks were striking the hour,

And the moon rose o'er the city, 

Behind the dark church-tower.

I saw her bright reflection,

In the waters under me,

Like a golden goblet falling,

And sinking into the sea.

And far in the hazy distance

Of that lonely night in June,

The blaze of the flaming furnace

Gleamed redder than the moon.

Among the long black rafters

The wavering shadows lay,

And the current that came from the ocean

Seemed to lift and bear them away.

As, sweeping and eddying through them,

Rose the belated tide,

And streaming into the moonlight,

The seaweed floated wide.

And like these waters rushing

Among the wooden piers,

A flood of thoughts came o'er me

And filled my eyes with tears.

HISTORY OF THE POPES

There is so much interest in Pope Francis's visit that we looked through the Bullis stacks for books about previous popes. And we found these two:

The History of the Popes During the Last Four Centuries

by Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)

Published by G.Bell & Sons Ltd., London, 1906

and

The Pope and the Council

by Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger (1799-1890)

Published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1870

These books cover a variety of topics such as:

Theory of Ecclesiastical Policy

Conflicts of Opinions

Latter Times of Sixtus V

Election and Character of Clement VIII

Jesuit Programme for the Council

Modern Civilisation and Constitutionalism Condemned 

Personal Attitude of the Popes

The "Curia"

Trials for Witchcraft

... and lots more!

Stop by and spend some time with these more-than-a-century old books. It'll be worth your while.

THE REST OF THE STORY

Subtitle: Some answers to the posts "LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!" and "WHAT'S IN A NAME?"

A member of the Bullis Committee did some more "digging" and found information that points to the identity of the baby girl whose birth announcement is shown in our August 26 post.

From the information we now have, it seems that Dorothy Josephine Knapp's family was living on Main Street in Macedon at the time of her birth, and her Grandmother Knapp lived close by on Bickford Street.

And ... here's the really big scoop: There is a family connection with the Nettie and Charlie Bullis.

That's all for now. We'll let you know more later ... honestly, we will!

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The birth announcement shown in our last post has generated several questions. Among them is the significance of the baby's given names--Dorothy and Josephine--and the year of birth.

Nettie and Charlie's mother was named Josephine, so it's possible that is the source of the baby girl's middle name. But what about that first name?  We have not found any Dorothy's in the immediate Bullis family tree.

Could the Knapps have been influenced by L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?  It was published in 1900, and the movie version premiered in 1939. According to the official website of the Social Security Administration, Dorothy was the second most popular baby girl's name in 1920 and the third most popular in 1930.

So, if the Knapps followed the "naming trend" of their time, was Dorothy Josephine born between 1900 and 1930? Perhaps ... but honestly, we can't say for sure.

And then there's that movie star, Dorothy Lamour, who was popular in the late 1930s through the 1950s. Hmmm - oh well.

It's fun to think about and to do some "what ifs,"  but when all's said and done, we have to return to our original premise: we do not know. However, this is the kind of thing that keeps us volunteers fascinated with the history of the Bullis family. So we'll keep on with our speculating and let you know when we come up with some answers.

LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!

Volunteers continue to sort through a group of documents, letters, and cards that found their way to the Bullis Room recently. And this week they found a birth announcement.  There is no year indicated, so we can't determine when this blessed event occurred. However, the parents were obviously very proud of the new addition to their family.

Inside, the card reads:

"My name is Dorothy Josephine

I'm the new Boss at

The Knapps

Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Knapp

are my new parents

I arrived on July 16th

My weight is 9 pounds

Come and See Me!"

(And you can "Come and See" the original card in the Bullis Room. Please stop by sometime.)

POSTCARDS

If you're  one of those people who remember when you could mail a postcard for one penny, then you'll need to take a look at the display case outside the Bullis Room.

(And even if you can't remember back that far, we think you'll enjoy spending a few minutes at the same place.)

The postcards displayed there were ones sent to Nettie Bullis from friends who were vacationing in: New York state; New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Canada. Most of them have very short messages, the "wish you were here" kind. All of them have beautiful photography on sturdy matte paper that seems to be just a cut above most contemporary postcards.

So please add "stop by MPL and look at Bullis postcard display" on your to-do list.  They are a reminder of what we miss out on today, with text messages and selfies.