People

Memories of a Spring Duck Hunt

This was 1944, so even shot gun shells were rationed because of WWII, and there were no choices in the store as to size or brand. When we needed supplies, we would travel to Clayton and visit Nunn’s Hardware Store.

Volume 17, Issue 3, March 2022
Manley L. Rusho

Rock Island Lighthouse, Part II

William (Bill) Johnston has a storied history in the Thousand Islands, and it is sometimes difficult to separate the man from the legend – or from the mythologized “pirate” celebrated at the annual Alexandria Bay “Bill Johnston Pirate Days” festival.

Volume 17, Issue 3, March 2022
Mary Alice Snetsinger

Clayton's 150th: The Life of Simon G. Johnston

The Life of Simon G. Johnston - Shipbuilding was the major industry and largest employer in Clayton, NY, from the early 19th century to well into the 20th century. . .

Volume 17, Issue 3, March 2022
Richard Palmer

The Ice Harvest

Before electric power was expanded into the Thousand Islands, there was a small, but brutal business called ice harvesting. Basically, it consisted of cutting large chunks of ice from the frozen St. Lawrence River . . .

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 2022
Manley L. Rusho

A Kingfisher Tale

One day we received a call from Kit Chubb. She had just received a clutch of seven kingfisher fledglings. They had been rescued from a deserted nest tunnel. It had been wrecked by road construction work along the high sandy road bank.

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 2022
Ralph Boston

Remembering GBL’s Wilfred Bilow, A Diamond in the Rough

I’d heard of this guy. He had a reputation as being ‘tough as nails’. Everyone in the local marine industry from Picton to Prescott either knew him or of him. Most feared him. But everyone . . .

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 2022
Brian Johnson

Taking the Trolley to Alexandria Bay

One of the first electric trolley lines in northern New York was a line built from Redwood to the village of Alexandria Bay. It was only seven and a half miles long and was built by a group of local investors . .

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 2022
Richard Palmer

Rock Island Lighthouse, Part I

Rock Island is most likely the most famous light station on the River. Read all about it!

Volume 17, Issue 2, February 2022
Mary Alice Snetsinger

News From the Editor January 2022

A tribute to the 300+ authors who have shared their articles in TI Life; Boat Shows; several winter photographs and we remember Dr. David Kendall who wrote When Descendants Become Ancestors, Genealogy in 2014.

Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2022
Susan W. Smith

The Grindstone Island Skating Trip

Manley Rusho is home from Korea and spends the day on newly formed ice, skating around Grindstone Island. From Rusho Bay past Ken Deed's house, around Point Angiers and more.

Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2022
Manley L. Rusho

Winona Circle Quilt Returns to Gananoque

The story of Gananoque’s Grace United Church's WWII quilt, a Joanne Dermenjian a Queen's Masters Student, and Jo Andrews' who produces a British Podcast . . ..

Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2022
Paul Scott

Meet Ross Rowland, Train Engineer par excellence

Meet the River Rat who is committed to bringing the history of the United States to the people through railroads . . .

Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2022
Susan W. Smith

Steamboat Lady of the Lake Sailed Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River

One of the most popular steamboats on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in the 19th century was the "Lady of the Lake," of the Ontario & St. Lawrence Steamboat Company.

Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2022
Richard Palmer

The Christmas Play

Somehow, I ended up with the role of Bob Cratchit, the father of Tiny Tim, although I don’t remember how this happened . . . I was embarrassed and I tried to avoid my role but to no avail.

Volume 16, Issue 12, December 2021
Manley L. Rusho

Books by Neville Johnston

Thank you Neville, writing three novels in a lifetime is an achievement but in less than three years is an accomplishment, indeed.

Volume 16, Issue 12, December 2021
Susan W. Smith

Wreck of the Steamboat "Martha Ogden" in 1832

The "Martha Ogden", enroute from Oswego to Sackets Harbor on November 12, 1832, was hit by a northwest gale and sprang a leak.

Volume 16, Issue 12, December 2021
Richard Palmer

The Dobbs

My father obtained the boat, which we called the Dobbs, in 1945 or ‘46. The boat was a 21-foot launch-type boat, built in Morris Heights, New York City, around 1904. A quaint little boat, she was narrow, maybe 6 feet wide, with a round bottom.

Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2021
Manley L. Rusho

From the Editor - Sad News and Good News

We say a sad goodbye to Bill Stallan, our "TI Life Comma Guy". We celebrate Covid Vaccination statistics and the US Border opening and meet the new TI Life Team!

Volume 16, Issue 10, October 2021
Susan W. Smith