I do remember seeing Mrs. Lawrence once. It was when we first moved in to our house. We (my dad and mom and Meagan and I) were standing in the driveway, when Mrs. Lawrence appeared from the woods. She must have come on horseback, though I don't specifically remember the horse. She was standing on
her property, right by the top of our driveway, with a broomstick in her hand. She then drove the broomstick into the ground and told us not to venture beyond it. That marked the property line, and we had better not come onto her land. She had silver hair, a blue shirt and a brown suede jacket, and she was very angry. I thought that that was what a witch must look like. (And probably, my mother was muttering "Witch!" under her breath.)
In order to get our car into or out of our garage, you had to do a three-point turn. And every time my mom or dad did a three-point turn, the car just managed to bump into that broomstick. In a matter of days, it was flat on the ground. I don't think we ever saw Mrs. Lawrence again, though I remember dreaming about her. I guess we didn't listen too carefully about staying off her property.
It does raise the question, though--does anyone know who owned the property that was sold to the developer (Vernon Fry???) who built Farmview and Green Valley? Do you suppose it was the Hodels? Or Mrs. Lawrence herself?
I do remember how close that property line was! And how important it was to always observe it. Especially when we were playing basketball with the hoop above your garage door.
ReplyDeleteI never met Mrs. Lawrence but we used to run into her son all the time in the woods. He was sort the gameskeeper and didn't mind us roaming around as long as we weren't shooting at stuff. But at least once, I saw an entire fox hunting group complete with hounds baying came riding out of the woods and into the upper area of Hodel's farm.
ReplyDeleteDavid Brady used to squirrel hunt out there a lot. I remember Wayne had to clean the squirrels for him. I am pretty sure they ate them for dinner. There ought to be some good Brady family stories out there.
ReplyDeleteAfter they moved up to Farmview, Randy Moore and Peter Halli used to hunt in Lawrences as well.
ReplyDeleteWendy's question about the developer and the original real estate transaction is interesting. It doesn't seem likely that it was part of the Lawrence property. Later, in 1969, Mary Flinn Lawrence made the deal with Allegeny County that would lead to the creation of Hartwood Acres park after her death in 1974.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the Hodils? Did they own the Green Valley and Farm View property and sell it to the developer. Vernon Fry--what a great memory. Does anyone else know more about him or the original development?
Doh. I now recall that I have seen blueprints of our house among Stan and Helga's papers. I still haven't begun to dig out boxes, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find that. (I'm now less hopeful on the original Green Valley Gazette.)
Wendy-I am completely shocked about this Mrs.Lawrence memory! I wonder if this is one reason we had so much trepidation to enter into the forbidden wood.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Linda, it must be. Meagan can speak for herself, but I know in my mind Mrs. L. was just a horrible person. The other factors contributing to the trepidation were the Trespassers Keep Out signs every few feet along the perimeter. And the fact that when we first moved there, the woods seemed so wild and dark. I think we were warned not to go in there (and once Meagan was playing in the basement and didn't hear my Mom calling her, and a number of the Dads were dispatched into the woods to look for her as evening fell...you can imagine the reaction when she wandered up from the basement!) The fact that Mrs. Bardello's father went the woods for mushrooms worried my mother a lot--she didn't want us to think it was OK to go in there and get lost.
ReplyDelete