Barrington, RI

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Eleanor Raymond cooking dinner - Hurricane Carol style

Hi Greg - Greetings from me and my former neighbor, John Eldert. He and I met in my backyard at 56 Jennys Lane when we were two, and we (and our wives) are still friends 56 years later. I found your site when it occured to me that it was the 50th anniversary of Carol, and I shared it with John, my sister, Sally, and brother Chip. Great photos! I have very vivid memories of Carol, and Diane in 1956.

The attached photos were taken with a Kodak Brownie. Although we had a "modern" kitchen, we also had a working gas stove and icebox in the basement, which came in handy when the power went off. That's mom, Eleanor Raymond cooking dinner (she and my dad Charlie were good pals with the Rohdes. Hawkins and Stewarts), Chip next to the fallen tree, and Sue (Sudie) Cummings sitting in a chair in our back yard. We were about 100 yards from the river.

Thanks for doing this, and all the best. - Alan Raymond, Marblehead, MA

Later Alan forwarded these thoughts penned by John Eldert - following them you'll find the rets of the pictures Alan mentions.

John:

We had just moved into 39 Mathewson Road, at the corner of Jenny's Lane, from 17 Mathewson.

My mother, Carol, sister Dianne, and I were going to drive to Westport Beach to visit the Colbys that morning, but bailed out about 9am, having no clue that there was a hurricane on the way - just based on the rapidly deteriorating weather. My mother was worried about being blown off the Mount Hope Bridge (which was pretty accurate, as it turned out).

Back home, as the wind rose, the double front doors of the house kept blowing open, so we emptied a bookcase and dragged it over against the doors, and then loaded it up with Encyclopedia Brittanicas - the sheer weight of knowledge did the job nicely.

Probably the most graphic memory was the wind-driven water squirting up about 12" from between where the window sashes overlapped. We rolled up towels to cover that up. Oh, and looking down the cellar stairway from the back pantry, and the water stopping about 1" below the floor level.

As you remember, Mathewson Road was lined with stately elms, probably 100' high, and as they toppled one-by-one, our real concern was whether they'd land on the house. Came close, but not quite. When the tide went out, we did have a great crop of horse chesnuts blown off the tree between us and the Waterman's. (I guess they didn't float?)

The other major drama was which boat in the river out front would be driven into the house. One ended up in the front yard, but grounded out just shy of the porch.

For several weeks, I remember most yards along the river were filled with stuff drying out from flooded basements, and in the case of the Flanagan's, the whole house! The older houses had been built well above ground level and surrounded by porches - remnants of a much wiser era!

I also remember us all going around in the cast off Civil Defense gear thrown out of the police station basement - that pretty well kept us going all winter.

John Eldert

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Crunch zone - Corner of Mathewson Road and Barrington Bridge with old Police Station in background.

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Tree down - Jennys Lane

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Sue (Sudie) Cummings sitting in a chair in our back yard on Jennys Lane.  We were about 100 yards from the river.

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Ruffffffffff! (Roughly translated - hey this wasn't here yesterday!)

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Chip Raymond next to the fallen tree on Jennys Lane.