Nelson House Warming - 1957

Nelson House Warming - Bainbridge

The Bainbridge News , Nov. 7, 1957

 

A very calm Mr. and a very delighted and surprised Mrs. Harrison W. Nelson last Saturday greeted some 75 friends and relatives into their home for a house-warming party.  The fete, arranged mainly by Mrs. F.A. Demeree and Mrs. Haskell Moats, assisted by Mrs. Edward knight, Mrs. Harold Payne, Mrs. Kenneth Eldred and Mrs. Harold Sherman, and numerous other people was a complete surprise to the honored hosts. 

 

At approximately 7 p.m., cars from all over the village, the county, the state, and one from Massachusetts, started converging on the corner of West Main and Juliand streets [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY] as the flood of well-wishers gathered on the sidewalk.

 

First surprise of the evening occurred when Mr. Nelson walked calmly among the crowd greeting the "surprisers" and inviting them into the house.  His grasp of the situation was not shared by Mrs. Nelson, however, who answered the doorbell and was overwhelmed by a stream of humanity flowing into the hallway.

 

Appropriate toasts by F.A. Demeree and Mrs. Danforth, whose toast was a reminiscent one of when Ben and Harrison Nelson as little boys ran up the front steps to visit, with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, who lived in the house previous to the Nelsons, and Borden Getman, president of the First National Bank in Sidney, were followed by a responsive toast by Ben Nelson, the host's brother, in appreciation of the entire family for the warm-hearted welcome to their new home.

 

Guests were then invited to the dining room and filed past the smorgasbord table filling their plates with ham, lobster, shrimp and other delicacies.  After this delightful repast Assemblywoman Janet hill Gordon added to the pleasure of the evening by reading an original and most amusing satire.

 

Mrs. Herman Newell, one of the oldest and best loved friends of "Bud" and Louella, in behalf of the guests presented a gift to them in her usual gracious manner.  The gift so beautifully wrapped by Mrs. Ben L. Dodge and Mrs. Paul Burrows, was a set of door chimes just perfect for the hosts as they had been without a doorbell since July 3 when they moved in.  The "bell out of order" sign was immediately removed from the front door and discarded forever.

 

Greetings were received from the Rev. and Mrs. James E. Wolfe, of Waverly, and Dr. Jean S. Caul, of Cochituate, Mass., who were unable to attend.

 

Finale of the evening was a brief history of the house by Dr. Edward Danforth, who is the only living person to have participated in the building of the house which the Nelsons now occupy.    He told the guests that the house was built in 1884 by Gervais Prince and his son-in-law, Elliott Danforth, grandfather and father of Dr. Danforth.  The Danforth family formerly owned and lived in the house now occupied by Vernon Gould, Juliand Street.  All of the adjoining land now owned by the Johnsons, the Nelsons and the Colwells was formerly a spacious lawn, enclosed by a white picket fence.  A large lily pond and fountain, gravel paths, flowering shrubs, flower gardens and a clay croquet court added to the beauty of the grounds. the present Nelson house was erected on the portion that was then the croquet court. 

 

The Danforths moved into the house in 1887 and lived there only about four years.  Part of that time was spent in Albany where Mr. Danforth served as state treasurer.   

 

An interesting fact regarding the house is that all of the owners have been bankers--Dr. Prince, Mr. Danforth, Ralph W. Kirby (to whom the Danforths sold the house) and now Harrison (Bud) Nelson.  Too, Mr. Nelson's father, the late George R. Nelson, was a banker.

 

The most outstanding social event to take place at the house was the time the Danforth family entertained Governor Flower, during a Firemen's Celebration, the largest event ever to be held in Bainbridge.  Governor Flower, with General Slocum, accompanied by the Burgesses Corps, a military group of 100 men in bright uniforms and high fur chapeaux, came to Bainbridge to participate in the parade.  The Governor, Frank Phinney, a local G.A.R. veteran, and General Slocum sat on the front porch of the Danforth home to watch the long parade.  After the parade the Burgesses Corps members stacked their arms on the lawn and all formed a line to a window next to the bay window in the dining room, where cool drinks were served.  There was a choice of lemonade and "iced tea."  Dr. Danforth then a small boy, couldn't understand why most of the Corps wanted "iced tea."  Dr. Danforth concluded his talk by saying that when Louella and Bud look through the bay window, to think of the guardsmen and then go into the kitchen and make some cold lemonade.

 

Not told at the time by Dr. Danforth but most interesting, is the fact that a steamboat was named after General Slocum and in 1904 more than 1,000 children on the boat were lost in a terrible accident in the East river in New York City.  Dr. Danforth, who was then an internist at Bellevue Hospital, was in charge of the dressing station at the heart-breaking disaster.

 

To make the evening completely perfect for Mr. and Mrs. Nelson was the arrival of their son, George, a student at Colgate.  He and his brother, Ben, had been most instrumental in helping those who planned the joyous occasion without giving the surprise away.