Helen Flanders Farmer and her husband, Bob, now call Erie, PA their home. Helen and Bob were early residents of this village and maintain a summer home here and, in case you haven’t already met these charming octogenarians, I would like to briefly introduce you to them and at the same time relate a little bit about Helen’s favorite uncle, who old timers (like me) knew as A.B. Flanders.
After having moved to Pennsylvania to pursue their respective careers, the Farmers found their family grown and themselves in retirement. They became world travelers — Europe, Asia, South America, etc. — their favorite visit being Ireland, where Helen, pursuing her Irish roots, got to kiss the famous Blarney Stone.
They never forgot, however, the memories of Tupper Lake, where they were born, grew up, graduated from high school and were married.
As the Farmers visited many of the old-world countries, the rivulets of history and tradition they encountered coalesced into a configuration and a pattern emerged. The pattern was the pride that those countries had in their past. Helen and Bob soon found themselves students of history, and with it came the realization that their own home town also contained a rich history, and they became anxious that it would be noted and preserved.
The Farmer family were early settlers in this community and were involved
with the growth of railroading. The Flanders family were also pioneers. Helen’s
father, Bill, owned a grocery store (burned in the 1899 fire); Dan Flanders,
an uncle, owned the Prince Albert Hotel and another uncle, Allen, was known
as the “dean” of building contractors and at one time owned 556 building properties
in Tupper Lake, according to Leo Dayhaw, his former bookkeeper.
Lumbering and railroading, two of the very real reasons that this village was
established, survived and prospered. With that realization came also what Helen
describes as the verity of impermanence.
As she told me one day recently: “We have both seen so many changes in our lives, traditions lost, scenic places destroyed, a home no longer there, and a lack of interest on the part of the young people in their community’s past. We are also well aware that we are nearing the end of our lives. After all, we are both in our late 80s and in our own small way we hoped before we died that some token of recognition might be given to the lumber finishing mill and the important railroad spur that serviced the mill and provided access to uptown.
“With that idea in mind,” she continued, “we approached the village board
with the request that we be allowed to erect a simple historical monument designed
by Mike Richer to be placed on an existing large stone in what is now a mini-park
where the uptown train station existed (until 1932, when it was destroyed by
a fire and never rebuilt) and near my Uncle Allen Flanders’ finishing mill.
We also requested and were given generous approval for a small park bench and
a flag pole. The marker will bear an inscription noting that this is a historical
site, and we feel strongly that it will be an enhancement with significance
for residents and visitors alike.”
This writer agrees. History, after all, adds to the knowledge of our past and
allows the present a better perspective. As a travel in time, history provides
a connection and markers such as the one the Farmers wish to endow, while it
is only a punctuation to the real text, shows that the community has pride
in its past. Most residents, I’m sure, will welcome this effort.
Allen Flanders, in whose memory the historical marker is dedicated, arrived
in Tupper Lake in 1899, lured no doubt by the prospect of the opportunities
available here at the time.
What had been only a cow pasture and clearing belonging to old Bill McLaughlin,
the pioneer settlement was growing overnight into a boom town with the result
of being a terminus for Hurds Railroad and also because of the enormous railroad
and lumber mill that Hurd had erected where the ball diamond is now located.
In a memoir written in July 1981 by the late Tom Fortune who knew A.B. (as he was called) described him this way: “When I came to Tupper Lake in 1917 as a young man 22 years of age to work, I became acquainted with Allen Flanders, who was then in the building business on the lake shore of Tupper Lake. He had an office (Dave Johnson’s law firm building, Lake Street), a bookkeeper, building supply and lumber and everything. I was told at the time Allen had only a team of horses and a wagon when he came to Tupper Lake. He built more houses, I dare say, than any other firm and continued all his life building and selling houses. I would not attempt or guess how many he built during his life. I do know he had 125 houses when he died. Allen was always ready for a deal when a purchaser was short on cash for a down payment. Allen would accept a horse or a cow or model T Ford car to close the deal. He was a man full of business until the day he passed away.”
Editor and historian Louis Simmons also noted that “a $400 loan to a Tupper Lake man, who subsequently ‘went broke’ in the logging game and settled his debt with a carload of building material, started Mr. Flanders off in the construction business here.” He erected some of the first buildings on Whitney Park, and among other constructions jobs were the Kildare Club and Read and Strange Park. Later, in association with Octove Frechette, he built the US Bobbin Mill and the Lake Colby School in Saranac Lake.
A capable and hard-working businessman, he was a sound judge of character, and it is said of him that he extended a helping hand to many a Tupper Lake resident by giving him the opportunity to purchase his own home in the form of rent without a down payment.
The village should be commended for their cooperation and response to a loving niece who sought recognition for a significant individual who was an important part of this town’s history.