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Robert D. Howell Oral History Based on interviews conducted 9/14 and 9/20/2011 Written by Susan Parsons February 23, 1932 was probably a typical winter day in Fair Haven; perhaps it had been days since anyone had seen bright sunlight or roads cleared of snow. Perhaps the townspeople were sick of the bone chilling cold and wind. The United States was suffering from mass unemployment. Tuberculosis was spreading throughout the country. On this day an important event occurred: a son, Robert Donald Howell was born at home to Robert Keene Howell and Lillian Sorensen Howell. Later, Bob’s sister, Iris (1935) was born in the same house, a place their mother referred to as “the rat hole,” even though it really did not have rats. The house which no longer stands was located on the west corner of West Bay Road and 104A. The family later relocated to Rochester, NY for a time; Bob started first grade there. Maternal kin Lillian Sorensen 9/9/09) was born to Einer Nicholas Sorensen, a Danish immigrant and Lillian’s mother, whom Lillian never knew because she died in childbirth. Though Lillian was born in Williamsport, PA, she was raised by another woman in Rochester, NY. Lillian loved horses, owning more than 20 during her lifetime. Lillian’s father, Einer Sorensen, was an inventor; he invented the sleeve type cylinder that is used in large trucks and an apparatus used in fuel systems for Model A Fords. Lillian’s brother, Edgar, lived in the everglades, poaching alligators for their hides. He would drag ‘gator hides out to spots near the road and people would leave money in cans for him when taking the hides. He hid the money in cans in various small islands that comprise the everglades. One day some of his money came up missing. He thought some Seminoles might have seen him hide it and then had taken it so he burned down their village. He went to prison for that crime. ---PAGE BREAK--- Lillian Sorensen Howell at the house on Richmond Paternal ancestry Bob Howell’s father, Robert Keene Howell (1901-1954) was born to Frank (1870- 1950) and Bessie Wyman Howell ( 1870- -1931). Robert K. had several siblings including Marion (Cooper), March, Donald, Virginia and Florence, all born upstairs over Frank Howell’s store. After a block fire in 1955, the remains were torn down in order to create a new grocery store farther down the block, now Bay View Grocery. Robert K. labored for his father and for other farmers in the area. He died young, in 1954, of coronary disease. Bob Howell’s grandfather, Frank, was a local farmer and undertaker. His dairy farm supplied Fair Haven’s milk. Bob’s daughter, Terri, (Frank’s great granddaughter) owns a milk bottle labeled F.B. Howell from the time period. The farm was located on Victory Street where Mert Mahaney now lives, with the barn located down the hill to the north, on the same side of the Street. One day the barn burned down because wet hay was put into the mow. After the barn burned, Frank sold the entire property to Paul Wilkinson who started Hillside Farms Dairy. Frank Howell also owned a chicken farm which was located across from the old water tower on the east end of Main Street at the top of the hill. From this farm Frank provided chickens for Mrs. Gardner’s Restaurant on Lake Street. The large barn at the chicken farm had two horse-drawn hearses and a 1932 Chevrolet Coupe stored in it. Bob can remember playing in there. Frank also owned an ice house that was located where The Little Sodus Inn now stands. He furnished ice for the village. ---PAGE BREAK--- Frank owned several houses in the village. Being the local undertaker, he would sometimes end up with properties in lieu of hard cash payments for funerals. Bob said that he did little upkeep on the houses, however, with many of them falling to disrepair. Though he owned several properties, Frank Howell and his wife, Bessie Wyman Howell, lived upstairs over his furniture store and undertaking parlor in the Lyon Block on the north side of Main Street. He stored caskets and funeral equipment behind the Post Office. Frank later rearranged the store and then showed silent films there, naming his establishment the Lakeside Theatre. Emma Ingersoll, Marian Ingersoll’s mother, played the piano for during the projection of the silent films. Bob’s Aunt Marion (Cooper) lived upstairs on the western end of the block. The telephone switchboard was located in her home, upstairs, before it was moved to where Hair Haven is located. Marion worked at the switchboard as did Lillian, Bob’s mother. Bob said that when his Grandmother, Bessie Howell, died, Frank was so distraught that he just closed the door to the apartment, leaving the entire contents, and never living there again. Bob can remember that at age 12-14 his father took him upstairs to the apartment where Bob also saw how his grandparents had actually lived. The dishes were on the table, clothes hung in the closet and even his grandmother’s hairbrushes lay on the dresser. Downstairs behind the Post Office they found a silent film projector and an 1850 ball and cap pistol. Bob’s Grandmother Bessie, who was interested in women’s suffrage, came from the Wyman Family. The intersection of West Bay Road and 104A in Fair Haven was once known as Wyman’s Corners. William Wyman, Bessie’s ancestor, had become Postmaster in 1847, so he moved the post office to his store that was located in what became known as the Wyman House at Wyman’s Corners. ---PAGE BREAK--- Bob Howell’s Grandmother, (From top left) Wyman, Bessie, Bessie Wyman Howell Robert Bob’s Father (Front row) Donald, March (Wyman died of TB. at age 19) Frank and Bessie’s daughters, Marion, Virginia, Florence Married life ---PAGE BREAK--- When Robert Keene Howell and Lillian Sorensen were married in 1929 they took a six-month honeymoon, driving a 1928 Chevrolet around the country. The adventurous couple would stop at various places to work and raise money for food, tires and gas. Upon returning, they moved into the Wyman House, “the rat hole,” Lillian’s reference to the house because it had no indoor plumbing. Bob refers to her as a “city girl” who came from Rochester into a house without a bathroom. Water had to be gotten out of the well with a bucket. Bob recalls that another bucket was placed behind the wood stove to catch the creosote because the family burned green wood. To cut the wood an old crank automobile and a belt were used to run a buzz saw. His mother, Lillian, once broke her wrist on the crank. Bob can also remember his dad backing over his tricycle at “the rat hole.” Later the family moved to Frank Howell’s chicken farm on East Main Street across from the old water tower (known as Wilde Hill). After that they bought a house on Richmond Ave. (now the Burlew home). This house had both a furnace and a bathroom. As a child, Bob can remember his mother sending him from this house to the Phillips and Silliman Store (variety store) on Main Street to buy her a spool of thread. They did not have the thread she wanted so young Bob spent the money on a toy truck. His mom made him take it back. One of the favorite things Bob’s father, Robert K. liked to do was deliver milk. When he had spare time he loved professional wrestling and paint-by-numbers. Bob’s mother, Lillian, besides loving horses, worked at S.T. McArthur’s grocery store (later Fessenden’s) and Smith’s Hardware Store. ---PAGE BREAK--- Robert K. and Lillian Howell “The rat hole,” where Bob was born ---PAGE BREAK--- Bob, in the yard of the” rat hole;” Turner Hill in background Bob’s childhood At some point Bob’s family moved to Rochester for a time but returned within a year or two and moved into the chicken farm on Wilde Hill. Iva Wright, who taught first and second grades, became Bob’s teacher. He had Dorothy Ingersoll for grades three and four and perhaps Gertrude Kellogg for grades five and six. Ida May Hill was his seventh and/or eighth grand teacher. Lytle VanPatten owned the school bus and he took Bob to and from school. Bob’s friends were Billy Galloway, Gladys Dowd, Alan Reed, and Mimi (Marilyn) Longley. By grade nine Bob was attending Red Creek Central School where he became friends with Robert Hulse, Chuck Viele and George Howland. Bob’s father, Robert a hard-working man, worked for his father, Frank, and for Paul Wilkinson doing farm work. Young Bob can remember working for his dad and for Paul Wilkinson getting the cows for Paul. The cows might be all the way down to the area opposite West Bay Road. The land where the homes and wooded area spans the right side of Victory Street looking south was corn field and pasture ---PAGE BREAK--- land. Bob was probably 8-10 years old then. Bob also mowed the lawn for Congdon’s, now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jay John Sawyer on Main Street. It would take two days to mow that lawn with a hand mower. For this task he was paid 75 cents. Bob can remember during World War II going with his father to the small shelter on Victory Street to look for enemy planes. Inside the shelter was a poster diagramming various allied and enemy aircraft which Bob looked at carefully while his father scanned the skies trying to keep us safe. He also remembers the practice black-outs where families would draw the shades and put blankets over the windows to block the lights from the potential enemy planes. Bob recalls that at age 13, on Victory in Japan Day, he rode through the village on his bicycle pulling tin cans on behind the back wheel in celebration. He painted that bicycle “every other week” always “Chinese red.” Bob used to love hunting rabbits and deer. His first gun was a 22 rifle, a Remington Target Master that he got at about age 14, about the time he went to Leroy. He bought it at Jackson’s Store in Sterling. His first shotgun was a 12 gauge Winchester single shot that would obliterate rabbits. Nothing was left. The Frank L. Gould Bus Line’s route was from Buffalo to Watertown; “Ride the Short Route,” it proclaimed. The bus out of Oswego would stop in Fair Haven to pick up passengers to take to Wolcott so they could go to the Palace Theater. Bob remembers taking that bus to the movies. He would sometimes go to Oswego to the present theater as well as another up the street—the Strand. Bob loved movies but especially liked Roy Rogers and Gene Autry western movies. Bob took that bus line to Rochester to see relatives. In about 1948 or 49, Bob bought his first car, a black Chevrolet, the last Chevy model with running boards. He purchased the car from Hadcock Motors. Bob’s father Robert K. worked for John Phillips as did Bob and his son Bobby. Robert K. did not like milking cows, so at one point he rented out their house on Richmond Ave, to Jean Turner, and they moved to Leroy, NY where Robert K. worked as an orchardist. They lived in the fruit farmer’s tenant house which was even worse than the “rat hole.” It had no indoor plumbing and no furnace and any wind would whistle right through the house. Bob can remember coming to visit his family at Christmas only to wake up to find a snow drift under his bed! Robert K. promised that he would stay one year and the farmer promised to fix up the house. Though the farmer did not live up to his promise Robert Lillian, and Iris ---PAGE BREAK--- stayed there one year to the day before moving back to Fair Haven. Bob, however, moved back to the village as soon as school was out. He began working for Rob Ingersoll on his farm on West Bay Road. Rob Ingersoll was married to Emma, the silent movie piano player; their two daughters were Dorothy and Marian. Bob took care of the horses and 12 cows for $12 per week plus room and board. Bob worked here at the Ingersoll Farm after returning from Leroy Bob’s sister, Iris, standing in front of Bob’s first car, 1950. The Presbyterian Manse stands in the background. Note the running boards. By this time Bob was in the Navy. ---PAGE BREAK--- Bob did not return to his parents’ home in Leroy at the end of the summer. Mert Mahaney talked to Dorothy DeMass about letting Bob stay at her home while he attended school in Red Creek. Dorothy DeMass’s home was located where Gary and Linda Sweeting Smith now live, on 104A, east of the village. There Bob milked the two cows before and after school and helped care for Hallie DeMass’ (Sweeting’s) horses in exchange for room and board. Bob worked for Ross Griggs for $16 per week plus room and board. He also helped his father at John Phillips’ farm driving a tractor and driving the horse team during haying times. In 1950, Bob enlisted in the Navy so he would not be drafted into the infantry. He thought that since he had a hernia he would be rejected. After making arrangements for his parents to pick him up and then all go to the movies, he took a train to Albany, where he was to report for duty. He had to call home to tell his parents he was on his way to Great Lakes, IL for training. (A Navy surgeon repaired his hernia while they were off the coast of North Korea on board a battle ship on firing missions.) He perhaps came home for a short time after 14 weeks of training, and then took the train to Norfolk, VA. He got onto his battleship there: the USS New Jersey. It became his home for the next four years. He became a boiler man on ship. The craft had eight boilers and four engine rooms. He helped maintain the boilers, controlling the amounts of oil entering them. When the ship had to speed up, more oil was needed. He also helped to maintain the proper level of water in the system to keep it running properly. The ship could store 2,225,000 gallons of fuel on board. At 15 knots four boilers used 350 gallons per hour each. At maximum speed of 32 knots all eight boilers were in use, burning 2000 gallons of oil per boiler per hour. Thus it would take 16,000 gallons of oil per hour to keep up with the air craft carriers. 600 pounds of steam pressure was needed. (Water at 600 pounds pressure boils at 489 degrees Each boiler had five burners. Each burner had various sizes of nozzles for use at various speeds. ---PAGE BREAK--- Offical Navy Photo: Robert D. Howell Servicemen Gilbert Scott, Robert D. Howell, Don O’Brien The New Jersey left port heading for Guantanamo, Cuba for a shake-down cruise. The ship’s 16 inch guns were fired for the first since World War II; the boilers were tested. At “Gitmo” a rum and Coke was 15 cents. Many drank “Hotoui,” the Cuban name for “One-eyed Indian” because the on the label was a half-face of an Indian. It was an interesting drink—the alcohol content was never the same. ---PAGE BREAK--- After a trip back to Norfolk, the ship took on supplies and the 2600 men headed for the Panama Canal. The New Jersey was 889 feet long and 108 feet wide. Since the Panama Canal was only 110 feet wide, the ship would inevitably scrape through. Afterward the sides of the ship would be repainted. After reaching the Pacific through Panama, they sailed to Long beach, CA, and then to Hawaii. Bob noted that when the ship passed the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor they all stood at attention. That ship is still in commission requiring this. The tourist walkway was not there at that time. While in Hawaii, Bob swam at Waikiki, gorged on pineapple and toured Oahu. Then they sailed to Japan and relieved the USS Missouri at Yokosuka Harbor. When one ship relieves another they tie up together and the flag goes from the retiring ship to the relieving ship in an impressive ceremony. ---PAGE BREAK--- ---PAGE BREAK--- USS New Jersey passing through the Panama Canal The USS New Jersey (at top) and USS Missouri tied up for flag exchange (note the numbers on the right of each ship. #62 was the New Jersey; 63, the Missouri) (Bob repeated this tour of duty two years later in 1953, again relieving the USS Missouri at Yokosuka Harbor.) The ship would move with the fleet to the coast of North Korea where the ship would fire at railroads, bridges, highways, etc. The helicopter “Jersey Bounce” would fly out to see where the shells were landing. When they ran out of ammunition and food they would return to port at Sasabo to reload and then return to the war zone, moving with the task force during the night. The guns could fire about 20 miles, each shell weighing about as much as a Volkswagen. The firing of the big guns would shake the ship. The walls of the boilers were constructed of firebrick which at least once caved in from the shaking of the gunfire. As soon as the boiler cooled enough the men had to get inside and build a new back wall. The boilers were huge, twenty or more feet on each side. The water was heated to 489 degrees but the 850 degree steam would clear out the moisture preventing rust. Because of his skill, training and experience, in time, Bob became a Second Class Petty Officer and was put on top watch. ---PAGE BREAK--- B Division; Bob is sixth from left, second row from the top Bob, with a pensive look He said that they used to cook chickens inside one of the drum covers in the boiler room. ---PAGE BREAK--- One fatality occurred on that ship: Robert Osterwin was killed when shore fire hit a turret and one piece of shrapnel hit him. The ship had gotten too close to the shore batteries. They experienced some near misses as well. No sailor was killed on that ship during World War II. The New Jersey became the most decorated ship of the four (USS New Jersey, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri) in the American fleet. She had the best record and went through the most battles. (Even The armistice ending World War II in Japan was supposed to be signed on the New Jersey in 1945, but since President Truman was from Missouri, the truce was signed on the USS Missouri.) After about half a year the ship returned to Yokosuka Harbor to be relieved and then returned to Long Beach, through the Panama Canal and to Norfolk. Bob came home for a short leave before returning to Norfolk for maintenance and repair work onboard ship. Bob said he got seasick just once, during a hurricane off the US coast, perhaps at Cape Hatteras. He never knew waves could get so high at 25 to 30 feet. Bob said he could handle a rolling ship but a ship has to head into those high waves; he would be walking along and the deck of the ship seemed to drop out from under him. That sort of weather made it difficult to keep the water level system correct. Water that was too high in the steam drum would ruin the engines, too low would ruin the boilers. The water level in the glass tube gauges would change dramatically when the ship was rolling so much that the sailor had to try to guess the actual water levels, a tricky proposition. While Bob was on his second tour to Korea the armistice was signed at Panunjon, located at what became known as the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. After the signing of the truce, the New Jersey sailed to Hong Kong for three weeks before heading back to the States. A new assignment was to take a group of midshipmen, who were not quite officers as yet (referred to as “90 day wonders” since they were just out of college) on a cruise to help them get used to sea duty. The New Jersey took them to Vigo, Spain, near Gibraltar, and then to Cherbourg, France, near Normandy. Bob had an opportunity to go to Paris for three days where he went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and to Versailles. After the end of the Korean War all four battleships went out of Norfolk together and operated in the Atlantic for the first time in their history. VIPS were taken aboard; they did a speed run. It was very impressive to a sailor, said Bob. They ---PAGE BREAK--- put on quite a show for the public. (The New Jersey is now a floating museum in Camden, NJ, not far from where it was built. Bob’s father died in 1954. Bob came home on a leave and went to the funeral that was held in the house that now belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Jay John Sawyer, where he had mowed the lawn so many experiences ago. By 1954 The New Jersey was in dry dock and Bob’s military obligation was complete. Upon discharge he drove straight home in his first new car, a brand- new beige and Bermuda green Chevy, that he had purchased from Colonial Chevrolet. The dealership is still there. He married Shirley Barcley exactly one year later. He had met Shirley at Mary’s Restaurant where she was working for her step-Aunt, Mary Lombardo, at the time. The bride and groom were married at St. Thomas Church in Red Creek on September 10, 1955, with Father Tobin officiating. The reception was at the back of the Blue Bell Restaurant. “Ma” Gardner, of Mrs. Gardner’s Restaurant cut the wedding cake. ---PAGE BREAK--- The couple lived in a cottage on the bay at the bottom of the hill on Fancher Ave. Later that building was moved to the south where it became the home of Ken and Janet Van Graafeiland. Their next home was John Phillips’ tenant house while Bob worked there. Finally, in 1959 they bought their present home from George and Eva Meade, located on Platt Street. Bob went to work for John Phillips. He milked cows seven days per week at $50 per week and housing, with every other Sunday afternoon off. After three years and three months, Ken Fisher took his place. Bob, Bert McIntyre and Bob MacArthur all went to work driving for Marcellus Casket Company. They worked in two-man teams, rotating so each man had every third trip off. They earned $50 per trip for almost two full days of work. When the three asked for $5 per trip more the company refused so they all quit. Bob went to work for Ormie Green doing body work. Soon he was driving asphalt and/ or petroleum product tankers ---PAGE BREAK--- for Bonded Freightways. The company was bought out by Matlack in 1970. Bob retired from there in 1992 on his 60th birthday. In September, 2002, Bob and Shirley went to see his ship at Camden, NJ. Bob “begged” to go down into the old boiler room to see his old haunt. Eventually he was allowed to go, but Shirley was not. The ladder seemed steeper to him than it had in earlier years. He certainly educated the guides while he was down there! Unbeknown to Bob and Shirley, the next day was the shipboard reunion so the two spent the night in the area in order to attend. Then Bob finally was able to take Shirley down the ladder so Shirley could see where her husband had spent so much of his military time. Bob is a ham radio operator and talks to the New Jersey. While he was at the reunion he was allowed to operate the station. He said everyone wants to talk to a battleship. Those two days onboard ship constituted an overwhelming and meaningful experience for Bob. Dick Hilton of Fair Haven worked to get Bob into the American Legion. Bob went to his first meeting and came out as Commander! He said “I lived in mortal fear of Memorial Day!” Stage fright and public speaking may have scared him more than his Korean War experience. Today, Bob and Shirley have been married more than 56 years and have had three children: Terri, Karen and Bobby. Their seven grandchildren include John, Kelly, Hannah, Betsy, Carrie, Michael and Sandra. The family tree will carry on with six great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Mitchell, Lilly, Mark, Alexandria and James.