My first recollection of anything was watching teams of horses pulling wagon loads of sand and cement as Dada was having a reservoir built. It didn't hold water unfortunately, so it was abandoned for 20 odd years until I decided to make it into a swimming pool.

My brothers, Alex and Binks, and I put aside a full week to get the job done. I had a good workman on the place and his name was Willis. We slaved 12 and more hours a day all week and the final day it was at least 14 hours. I had rented a cement mixer and borrowed some wire with faulty insulation unfortunately. We had rigged up a couple of rails from the Upper House road to the pool. Then we had pulleys set up and my father drove Trina when we gave him the signal and this pulled up the heavy loads of sand and cement. Then we'd mix away and pour into a wood mold we had prepared. By this time because of the rain and the faulty insulation in the wire, everything became charged with electricity, even to the shovels. It was really tough work and Willis, who was a character, said to my brother "Mr. Alex, you boys must love to swim!"

After we finished we sang our way back to Five Oaks-Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go, etc.-, had some drinks and pretended to play bridge-sheer bravado. So now we had the pool.

Trina finally bit the dust. It had to be pushed out of the way so I could get up the driveway. Orrin Christy and Nick pushed it and it kept on going, crashing into the rocks and trees below. Chris claimed that you Nick (age 6 maybe) 'pushed too hard!"

Mother did not approve of the usual bridge cards so she'd get plain numbered cards and we'd play various games. One was "I Doubt It."

The point was to play a card and say one or eight or whatever. Sometimes we would try to get rid of several cards at once. If one were supposed to play a 7, for example, you might not have one but you would play another and say 7 just the same. If someone said "I Doubt It", then you had to turn the card over for all to see. If it wasn't a 7, then you had to take all the cards. One time Mother played and my turn was next and she said, "Take your time Henry." So all of us suspected her card and she had to take all the cards.

I forget how old I was but it was a 4th of July weekend and lots of guests. I overdid it with the watermelon and became very ill. Because both Alex and Marian had had to have their appendix removed, my parents recognized the symptoms and knew they had to get me to a hospital in NYC. There were four different cars there but something was wrong with each one.

I remember being in bed upstairs in Five Oaks and listen to all the men trying to take this part from one car and try it in another. Flashlights and lanterns made an eerie glow. Finally they got one car fixed and they took me to the Norwegian Hospital in Brooklyn. It was a rough trip as the first paved road wasn't until we reached Walden. Then we came to the Ferry and there was a long line of cars. But Dada waved a big white cloth and got us to the head of the line. He had a way of leading people - taking charge and having people like it. Anyway we got to the hospital early in the morning and the operation was a success but it was a dramatic and memorable experience.

Mother invited me to join her for a carriage ride to Mt. Mongola. Old Mrs. Brown was one of the three formidable and charming ladies who really ran Cragsmoor. She looked like Queen Victoria and the carriage ride to Mt. Mongola took all day but it was a thrill.

Several of us were walking along the old #52 road with Uncle Herman who had a wonderful sense of humor. We heard a car speeding up the road and Uncle Herman said, "Here comes Dada - quick get behind a tree."

Dada was famous for bad driving and for speeding. His car would turn over and he'd call the other drivers around and say, "Hey Fellows, give me a hand here," and they would get the car right side up and off he'd go just as fast.

One time Mormor, Mother, Wiggles and I were in an open Hudson touring car and we rolled off the road on a mountain near Tuxedo. We turned over 3 times and by a miracle no one was seriously hurt. Wiggles ended up between a car wheel and a rock and she said, "Did Dada want to die me?"

Dada let a group of Norwegian Nuns use the Lee Void one summer. The name Lee Void was my Mother's idea because it combined the family names of Dada and Mormor.

Anyway, we had a picnic at Lake Maratanza as we often did. The children would walk and the grown-ups would drive.

Well the Nuns were in a boat and said how much they'd like to swim. Whereupon my father and Uncle Herman proceeded to overturn their boat so they could swim.

In revenge, the Sisters managed to get hold of Dad's bathing suit and knitted white lace on his suit. We all knew about it and couldn't wait for Dad to come out of the bushes we used as a dressing room. We waited and waited. Finally Dad came out but he had found a piece of glass and was able to remove the added white lace before he made his appearance.

Sometimes we would picnic on Tuttle Mt. We'd carry food, etc. and Dad was asked to carry a bucket of water so we could have coffee. It's at least a mile's walk and he got there but tripped and fell and there went the water. He had to walk back to get some more.

One Sunday we were driving to church in the Model T Ford and it was raining heavily; not only that, but the clouds set in so that you couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead. Well Dad saw a man walking with an umbrella so he offered him a lift. It turned out that this was the man's one day off all year, and he was hiking to Sam's Point to get the view!

Dada would sometimes hire a RR car and bring up 30 or 40 friends with him. They'd get off at Spring Glen and come up by car or carriage. Mormor, Mother, our maid Martha and sometimes Aunt Helen would have been baking bread, pies and cakes for days. They cooked on the old stove in the Upper House that was still there when I sold it.

Years later I was having the Highway Supt blacktop our driveway and he came up to see me, bringing his 'girl friend.' Well his friend was the widow of the former RR Station-master at Spring Glen. She said, "All these years I've been wondering if your grandmother had any notice that so many guests were arriving in his RR car." I am told that the Supt kept the Spring Glen road open mainly because it saved him time when he went to visit his 'girl friend.'

My father liked to work around Five Oaks and he built a dry wall stone wall to support a garden. I later put a stone and concrete one there. He wore a slouchy hat to protect his bald spot and rather bedraggled work clothes. One of his phobias was unwanted visitors on the way to Bear Cliff, for example. There was an old path from the water trough on the old #52 up to our house.

Well one day a man walked up and Dad let him have it about private property and privacy, etc. The man left.

A few days later Dad got an invitation from Mrs. Sturdevant (Cragsmoor Inn, Bear Cliff House and one of the three grande dames who ran Cragsmoor) inviting Dad to a reception in honor of the Head of the Music Dept at Columbia. Dad got all dressed up and went and who should the guest of honor be but the man Dad had given hell to for invading our privacy. Dad was sure the man couldn't recognize him but years later they were both at Carnegie Hall backstage waiting to perform. Then the man said, "Dr. Munson, do you remember the first time we met?"

Dada gave the Lee Void to Mrs. Anna Larsen. Her father was Dada's brother and he had been helpful years ago to Dada. Mrs. Larsen, her husband and daughter Marie ran it as a Boarding House and the guests were mostly Norwegian. The food was excellent - homemade bread, cake and pies and desserts. Sometimes they would have more than they could use and they'd come over to give it to us. Then so we wouldn't feel guilty or obligated, they would say "Ved only trow it avay."

When Mrs. Larsen died they wanted to sell and then I bought it back from them. I had it torn down after an architect recommended that I do so. I got back l/3d of the purchase price for the lumber.

Mr. and Mrs. Mumm were great friends of my parents and perhaps they were the reason for their first visit to Cragsmoor. They were very devout church-goers - the Congregational church next to the Library. But as they grew older, they stayed at home. Mrs. Mumm could hear the music from the church and the rather seedy choir. Mr. Mumm, on the other hand, was a nature lover and adored the birds, crickets, etc. One Sunday morning Mrs. Mumm was in ecstacy listening to the church music, and he was listening to the crickets. She said, "Isn't that music beautiful?" And Mr. Mumm said, "Yes, it certainly is, and to think they do it all with their feet."

Mrs. George Inness lived in great style. Three hundred acres, riding stables, greenhouse, swimming pool and gardens full of little fountains that flowed by gravity through a mass of luxuriant flowers.

Every Tuesday from 5-7 o'clock she was "At Home". All her friends were invited to visit for tea or coffee, cake and goodies, and then a visit to Mr. Inness' studio. I remember he was painting a series of murals for a church in Tarpen Springs, Fla. The series was called "The Holy Temple" and consisted of a series of beautiful scenes of nature, mostly trees, and suffused with a magic sunlight.

We'd often visit and use their pool and, in fact, I was swimming in his pool the day he died. Mrs. Innes once told mother she wanted to give her a memento of what I thought was a picture, but it turned out to be a Meissen pitcher.

At one point Dad asked old Mr. Marl to build a tennis court for us children. The estimate was $100 and it became $200 because of all the shale. We had fun with it and Alex elected Binks to search out and return the tennis balls that went over the fence, etc. He used good psychology and he'd call Binks the 'best tennis ball finder in all of Ulster Co.' We all loved Binks and he was clearly Dad's favorite. He was a sweetheart.

Once when one of us made a face on being asked to empty his chamber pot (number one), Dad said, "That's so pure you could drink it."

I later made a croquet court where the tennis court had been.

My Uncle Henry was my real favorite in the family and he was Mother's favorite too. He owned the major share of Lee & Simmons, the biggest Lighterage firm in the NY harbor. He was almost as successful as Dada . He didn't have the dynamic leadership qualities that Dada did. On the other hand, he was much more aesthetically aware and had a genuine sense of style.

For example, he was the only one in the family to use "finger bowls." I did too as long as I could. I even had some porcelain decorative flowers to put in the finger bowls that I bought from Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's estate as I admired and loved her.

Uncle Henry had a wonderful camp in Canada which I visited when I was only 11 years old. The Pullman sleeper was exciting and scarey because it was the first time for me. I got off the train early the next morning at Vanceboro, Maine. Uncle Henry had sent a boat to meet me and we went many miles up the lake to his Island. A most comfortable log cabin - fresh bread every day, guides and all the comforts. The fishing was great and I caught a land-locked salmon.

I heard my first Loon - very scarey and saw my first Moose.

We drove back to N.Y. and stopped at some great hotels - Poland Springs and Bretton Woods, Mt. Washington, etc. Later he told me that he had two daughters but no son and that he would like me to come into his business and eventually take over from him. I was thrilled but overawed. He said with my name I could easily establish a good rapport with his customers. I agreed and settled on a date when I would commence.

Then he had to make a trip to Washington B.C., I think it was. He had a bad sinus attack and had an operation. He died I think on the operation table and was only 58. It was only a few weeks before I was to start at Lee & Simmons.

I went to see Mr. Simmons but he was more interested in his family than in me so that was that.

In his will Uncle Henry left each of us children $500- of Lee & Simmons stock. Well, there had been a corporate reorganization since he made out his will and his Executors decided they did not have to honor share bequests.

Well, one of the good friends I made at Rutgers was Mrs. Roger Hull and her daughter Barbara. I told her about this development and she was outraged. She instructed her own law firm - a well-known Wall St. firm - to take up my case at her expense.

After her law firm looked into it and made their presentation, Uncle Henry's Executor reversed himself and each of my brothers and sisters and I did get our $500.

After Mom and I were married, she held the wedding reception at her apartment at 876 Park Ave.

In NYC's old Board of Alderman, Joe was the only Republican member with 94 Tammany Democrats. They joked that he held his party caucuses in a phone booth. He led the fight to get NY State to investigate the very rotten administration of Mayor Jimmy Walker. The Seabury Investigation resulted and a Fusion Mayor - La Guardia was elected and a new NYC charter was approved: Joe was well publicized for his role. I remember seeing streamer headliner about him in the NY Times years before I met him. He had a great sense of humor and it was always more fun where he was.

After I joined him in his Public Relations business in 1937, I was campaign manager to elect him as a member of the New City Council. It was a Manhattan wide campaign and I got to know the city in a new dimension. From the famous Father Devine in Harlem to the Lower East Side. It was fabulous - all these people of all kinds and races and I never felt more alive. It was successful and we set up an office in the basement of City Hall. We had two full time volunteer workers in the office. One was a granddaughter of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, Sarah Alden Derby and the other was Sumner Gerard, Jr. David Rockefeller was then working as Mayor La Guardia's secretary.

The City Hall is a beautiful building and the City Council has its own chamber there. A friend of mine, Bobby Straus was also elected to the Council. One day he took me aside and said "Joe makes me mad" he said. "I work for weeks on a bill and Joe just walks in and right away he puts his finger on the crucial point. Joe did have that quality of knowing the jugular of most issues. It is a quality that has always eluded Claiborne Pell and also it seems Walter Mondale even though he is a Norwegian. He told about a meeting when a Lower East Side politician introduced him as Alderman Joseph Clark Baldwin the "Toid." Joe couldn't resist saying that since his father had died, he had dropped the "Toid."

Joe and his wife would have "At Homes" every other Thursday evenings. Much of NY Society turned out as well as visiting celebrities. One time Walker Buckner said "Someone told me that Winston Churchill was in NY but I knew he couldn't be or he would have been at Joe's "At Home" last Thursday. Churchill called Joe "Horatio" at the Bridge because of his lonely but successful fight to clean up NYC. At the same election Joe was elected as a Delegate to the 1938 Constitutional Convention in 1938. I managed a campaign to reelect him to the Council and later to elect and reelect him to Congress where I served as his Congressional assistant. He was very astute although extravagant until WW II. He was a great friend and was as long as he lived which was until 30 years ago. I was an usher at his funeral. His wife was Marthe Guillon Verne, a grand niece of Jules Verne, and they had four children. There wasn't much money left but the Taylor family - old friends of the Baldwins arranged for a lifetime income of $250- per month for Marthe.

I asked what was her biggest need and she said "it's for Steve's education, I don't see how I can do it". Steve was their youngest child. I asked how much she would need for it and she said at least $1,700-. So I went to Ronnie Tree and he agreed to sign a letter, if I would write it, to a couple of dozen rich friends and over $2,000- came in and Marthe was very grateful.

Later when I was National Director of "Recordings For The Blind" I got Marthe a job there and she loved it and they loved her. The last time I heard of her she was still working there.

Joe Baldwin often came to Cragsmoor and loved it. His brother Sandy did too and Dad liked him because he loved croquet as did Dad. Dad was also called "Boom Boom" I guess he tried to get Bink's attention as a baby by saying boom boom boom. Any way it stands. Dad and Joe Baldwin were both good at writing poems and limericks. I still have a lot of their odes. I remember one that Joe wrote starting out "Who made a bum out of Boom Boom" and Dad would come back with a good one too.

Dad used to love croquet and he and Alex, Capt. Larsen and Dadahad some stormy games first on the Lee Void court and later on ours.

Most weekends I would invite one, two or more friends to Cragsmoor for the weekend but only if they'd agreed to help clear fields or paint, etc. One time there were 5 of us and including Joe Baldwin and I decided to burn off the field above Five Oaks and below the Upper Prod. We planned it carefully to minimize spreading and stationed ourselves on all sides. The fire got going well and no problems except there was a hell of a lot of smoke (I can remember Dada doing the same thing).

Suddenly a strange car drove up so I went to see who it was. He introduced himself as the Assistant Game Warden Lloyd Greer. He said "I saw all the smoke and wanted to see if you needed help and to see your fire permit." Well I didn't know then that that was needed. Joe Baldwin came up and introduced himself. Lloyd said "Well, as a Senator you should know the law better than others'."

Anyway we became good friends and I had him build a new gate on #52, the deck around the pool and a new porch for the Upper House. When I last visited John Bradley's place at a Lake Awosting there was Lloyd looking great and L. working full time for John.