A glance at Uncle Noah’s yearbooks gave teenage Chester a new out-look on his out-of-the ordinary uncle.
The Hermit and Us – Our Adirondack Adventures with Noah John Rondeau
Uncle Noah’s Yearbooks
An excerpt from “The Hermit and Us”, Starting on page 311
A glance at Uncle Noah’s yearbooks gave teenage Chester a new out-look on his out-of-the ordinary uncle.
Chester probably laughed if he read Noah’s July 11, 1952, comment about his younger cousins.
A hot summer day after rain At Hill Top. I work on Poultry yard. Hoe beans…An American hawk got one of my prize white leghorns…Give Potato Bugs drink of Paris Green. My first spinach from garden. Evening I go to Cadyville with Payro [Sic. Parrow] Family* and Sister Priscilla. The Trip was spoiled by 3 fool kids raising Hell in the back seat.
[*The “Parrow” family Noah refers to in this entry, according to Shelby Payro Richardson, “must be my sister Mariam and the two foster boys Grandma Priscilla took in. My mother would occasionally bring the boys home. My brothers, Francis, and Lauren and I, were quiet kinds of kids; Uncle Noah must have been referring to those three.” Shelby was emphatic: “My brothers and I did not get into trouble.” She laughed, thinking how long ago the event took place, and yet she did not want any guilt by association.]
The two foster boys Shelby referred to were Kenneth and Clayton Burnah. Judy Sorrell, Kenneth Burnah’s widow, credits Priscilla McCasland with al-ways being there for Kenneth and Clayton. It was her hand-up that helped the brothers become survivors in an otherwise hard childhood situation.
“Over the years Ken had related a few stories about Uncle Noah coming down out of the mountains to visit Aunt Ceil, as Ken and Clayton called Priscilla. Ken never forgot Uncle Noah referring to him and Clayton as two brats who were fighting in the back seat of Priscilla’s car on a trip back from Plattsburgh to Au Sable Forks. He recalled thinking they felt they could get away with being bad because Aunt Ceil was busy talking with Uncle Noah, whom she didn’t get to see very often. Ken was very impressed with Uncle Noah and would mention that he might like to live that life himself, but he remained in society and just thought about being a hermit.
“Unfortunately, Clayton has also passed away. I wish I had snapped some pictures of Uncle Noah, but at the time I was very young and was mostly interested in Ken. Life goes by so fast and now I seem to have time to think back about so much. We have four children who are very interested in the outdoors and reading about Uncle Noah.”
Recalling the code Noah used in his diaries, Chester said, “All my brothers and sisters were just as curious about Uncle Noah’s secret writing as I was. There wasn’t ever much time to snoop in the journals, because if mother caught us there would be trouble! I did think, however, that I would like to have been able to take my time thumbing through all the pages.”