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Archiver > NJHUNTER > 1998-12 > 0913212752


From: Tom Rue <>
Subject: [NJHUNTER-L] Mart Holcolmb, Lambertville (Xmas story)
Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1998 09:12:32 -0500


Anyone here have any specific recollections of Mart Holcolmb who was
apparently an adult resident of the Lambertville area around the turn of
the present century?

William B. Cruise (1902-1984), a native of Lambertville, the son of Bartley
B. Cruise and Nellie V. Flood Cruise, recalled in an oral interview which I
conducted with him in 1979:

I wasn't any more than eight years old, I guess, when
my brother Tom and I went out in the country to get a
Christmas tree. This was where a man by the name of
Mart Holcomb lived. He was very upset when people would
go in and take down trees. However, we went in with the
ax, we cut down this tree, and started for home. Then
he came out and he called us all kinds of vile names.
It had been raining and the mud sucked off my rubber
overshoes. I had to stop, put the tree down, and put my
overshoes on. When we started back, we put the ax in
the tree, but the ax soon fell off. It fell down in the
mud. We had to stop and pick it up. When we finally got
it home, it was too big to take it into the house. We
had to take the top out of it. It was big enough for a
community tree. That was my experience of going and
getting our own Christmas tree. We didn't even have to
pay for it.

The above story is quoted, with photos and relevant links, on my page
http://www.catskill.net/rue/family/cruise/tom.htm . Any added details on
the identity of Mart Holcomb, or a description of his property, would be
appreciated.

Happy holidays,
Tom

--
TOM RUE | CARMEN RUE | Opinions are the writer's alone.
POB706 Monticello NY 12701-0706 | mailto:
http://www.catskill.net/rue/holiday/greeting.htm | c.1998
ICQ - 16506952

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