Happy and Contented Lives on Maple Lane Take an Unpredictable Turn


Excerpt from American Tapestry the Mowers of Maple Lane, Woodstock, NY  
By Janine-Fallon Mower

The happy, contented lives of John, Esther and their three young children, Allan, Priscilla and Anita took an unpredictable turn during the winter of 1925 as New York State was experiencing one of the worst measles outbreaks in reported history.[i] As one might expect with a highly contagious disease, in the spring of 1926, all three Mower children contracted the illness. The treatment for measles was simple, considering it had the potential to be life threatening. Mothers would treat the fever with bed rest, the sore throat with fluids, and the sensitivity to light by maintaining the sick child in a darkened room. Perhaps the most effective weapon against the spread of measles within a community was to quarantine the sick child until the fever was over. This would be difficult to do within a small household with three little children. Esther would spend Mother’s day, May 2, 1926, tending to a sick family.

Esther Jones Mower on Overlook
During the mid 1920’s, cases of influenza, German measles, and whooping cough were part of a group of diseases that state officials were beginning to document. Deaths in the state of New York from typhoid and diphtheria were unusually high, however, throughout the state, reports for 1926 indicated that there is a state wide epidemic of measles developing. Deaths from the German measles were reported to number 133 individuals as of April 28, 1926. When compared to the same time the previous year, only 8 deaths had been reported. Additionally, 14,000 cases of measles had been reported to state health officials by early spring of 1926. A significant increase when compared to 1,500 cases reported statewide for the year before. 

Unfortunately for the Mower’s of Maple Lane, John contracted the disease as well, a busy time for a man who ran a fresh fruit and vegetable business. There were fields to plow, seeds to be sown in the good fertile earth on Maple Lane. While exhibiting a work ethic very similar to that of his Palatine ancestors, diligent, hard working, self sufficient, John continued his daily routine until he was found prostrate with illness. Local doctors failed to strongly caution John and Esther as to the seriousness of an adult contracting a virulent illness like measles. By the time his sister-in-law, Ora Bell Jones, arrived from Boston to help nurse the weary family back to health, John was seriously ill with pneumonia. Ora insisted he be taken to the Benedictine Hospital in Kingston. There he was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and mastoiditis.

John D. Mower on Overlook
It was a beautiful day in May, the earth around the house on Maple Lane was coming alive, the air fragrant with the fresh smell of new grass, the colorful spring flowers in the round garden by the back porch door were ready to bloom. The chirping of birds greeted everyone waking to begin their day’s chores by the early morning light. The lilacs, light lavender and deep royal purple were wrapped by the tiny green leaves - protecting the buds peeping out. This was the land John loved so deeply.

His time of death was recorded as 3:00 a.m. on May 8 1926.
“Well known and highly respected.”[ii]
“One of the nicest guys you ever met.“


John was laid out at home on Maple Lane; the children were taken to stay in the house across the street with their Grandmother, Anna Catherine Jones. Now a young widow, Esther steeled herself in grief and began to go about the challenging process of raising a family alone. Times were tough for everyone in this small rural town, and her family pledged to give her what limited help they could.


[i] Undated, 1926, Kingston Daily Freeman
[ii] Obituary