After my Uncle Dan (Daniel Beck Guion) passed away in 1997, I realized that first-hand accounts of this particular "Slice of Life" would only continue to diminish over time. I needed to record the memories of my Aunt Biss and her brothers and share them with the family. This culminated in the idea of a Blog so that I could share these memories with anyone who would be interested in the personal histories of some members of The Greatest Generation.
Over a period of several years, whenever possible, I recorded the memories of my Dad and his siblings.
I am beginning with the Memories of my Father, Alfred Peabody Guion, the oldest, and will continue each weekend with his Memories. Then I will share the Memories of his siblings, oldest to youngest.
Alfred Duryee Guion (Grandpa) holding Alfred Peabody Guion after his Christening.
I was born in New York City in 1914, then I lived in Yonkers for short time. When I was about one, we moved to 91 Dell Street in Mount Vernon, New York.
My mother, Arla (Mary Peabody), was nineteen years old when I was born and she was the oldest Peabody girl. Burton was ahead of her. Then there was Arla, Helen, Kemper, Anne, Dorothy and Laurence. There were seven of them.
By the time I was three, I was quite interested in mechanical things. I remember taking an alarm clock, taking it all apart and putting it back together, but I had one gear left over when I finished. It didn't keep very good time. It was fast. I never could find out where that year went.
We had a woman who did the cooking and took care of the house. One of the things we had in the kitchen was a dish washer that was hand operated. It had a big handle on it and we pushed and pulled, and I remember liking it, I enjoyed doing that.
I don't know why my father started calling me Lad and gradually it got to be my nickname.
I don't remember much about my Dad in Mount Vernon or Larchmont. He was always busy working.
Alfred Peabody Guion and Daniel Beck Guion
When I was five, Dad and Mom were building a house in Larchmont. They had a contractor build it and it was on Lansdowne Drive in Larchmont Gardens. I accompanied them, well, maybe three or four times when they went out to look at it. Mom told the carpenters what she wanted changed. She was quite conscious about what she wanted.
When we moved in, there were two houses on Lansdowne Drive, ours and another one at the top of the hill. When we left in 1922, there were probably eight or ten houses.
It took four days for the workers to build our garage. The neighbors put theirs up in one day. Later, a strong wind came up and blew down the neighbors garage but ours stood strong. Roger Batchelder was that kind of guy.
I think he had a garden in the backyard with green beans growing. Dan and I each took two or three green beans and we walked around and around his house, with the beans rubbing on the house, wearing them down until they got short. Then we threw them away and got some more beans. So Roger was kind of upset about that.
Tomorrow, I will post more Early Years - Memories of Alfred Peabody Guion - 1914 - 1922.
Judy Guion
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