Nostalgia can hit at anytime and can be activated by numerous triggers: revisiting a once-frequented place; seeing someone from the past; or viewing the frozen images portrayed in photos.

The latter recently created an explosion of memories for a group of cousins, grandchildren of Elsie (née Isaacs) Hill Logan (Wolf Clan). The photos belonged to Joe Logan (Wolf Clan), the cousins’ uncle, who had come into possession of the pictures when his mother, Elsie, passed in 1995 at age 91. Clint Hill, Turtle Clan Council Member, then inherited them upon Joe’s passing last year.

To clarify the relationships between the cousins and the faces in the photos, it’s best to climb the family tree. Clint and his half-brother, Oliver Hill Jr. (Onondaga), are the sons of Oliver Sr., Elsie’s son from her first marriage. Geraldine Feeley (Wolf Clan) is Catherine (Hill) Homer’s daughter. Kathy Kuhl (Wolf Clan) is Mary (Hill) Sequin’s daughter. Joe Logan was the middle son from Elsie’s second marriage to Irving Logan Sr. (Onondaga), which also produced Irving Jr. (known as Johnny) and Alfred.

Now, time to continue on...

Gathered around a table with their family history spreading across its breadth in mostly black-and-white shots, the four cousins digested the past. Slowly they began to explain the nuances that make up their family. As each cousin recalled different points of interest, another would chime in with their own anecdotes streaming forth, such as:

Geraldine’s first recollection of her grandmother was when she was 8 years old. She had been sent to retrieve some oatmeal for her mother on Thanksgiving. “Grandma was getting the turkey ready, so I just stayed to help her. One of my brothers came to get the oatmeal.

“But I also remember my grandmother boiling clothes on the wood stove to wash them. She could make a shirt without any pattern; she’d just whip it up. She lived close by to us on the Onondaga Reservation. I had a lot of good times there. I liked the whole atmosphere at Grandma’s; and I liked to help her.”

Kathy and her family lived above Elsie for a time when she was living in a two-family home by Hemlock Falls on the Onondaga Reservation. “When I think of my grandmother, I always think about the wood stove burning and the smell of coffee perking and something baking in the oven and how she’d re-use a tea bag three times.

“We’d go downstairs and she and my mother would always be playing bones. And it was so aggravating because they’d be talking in Indian all the time or they’d send us outside if they were talking about something little kids didn’t need to know.

“When I was grown and a mom, I went to see her one day and she was beading on a loom and had gotten dirt on her work. She took the whole thing apart calmly; she didn’t bother or fuss about it.”

Clint also recalls Elsie doing beadwork and always being in the kitchen. “We went to visit her whenever we were near her house. I remember having to feed the chickens, but mostly I remember everyone laughing and talking.”

Oliver said he remembers the yeast bread cooking in the old wood stove. “The bread was golden. Seems to me like she always had an apron on. I lived with her for a couple of years when I was a teenager. Joe and Alfred were still home then. Grandma ran a tight ship. She had rules, and you had to clean up after yourself and do your chores. And I remember every Friday she’d go to bingo.”

Oliver Sr. and Catherine were having children at the same time Elsie was starting a second family with Irving. Geraldine was only a year younger than her Uncle Joe.

Elsie and Irving began their life together in a little 10-by-10 foot home with a sleeping loft for the children. But Irving was a pile driver, responsible for placing the pile into the ground to offer foundation support for a structure. According to the cousins, the job provided the family with a comfortable living, and they eventually moved into a larger two-family home of their own. Elsie stayed in the home until she died.

“I remember the boys – Johnny, Joe and Alfred – had stilts and skis when they were living in the little house by the swamp,” said Geraldine. “Joe had all the Elvis Presley 78 albums. The boys did have everything when their father was working – he made good money.”

When the three Logan brothers were in their teens, tragedy struck the family. Their father was fatally injured in an accident on the job when he was hit by a hose blowing hot steam. After a week in the hospital, he passed.

Oliver recalled being with Joe when he found out the news.

“It had started out fun. Me, Joe and Checker (Eli Homer Jr., Wolf Clan) took our new three-speed English bikes and went down to Caledonia, N.Y., leaving from the reservation. We left at noon and got there at 2 a.m.

“Early in the day, we had been picking beans and somebody said let’s go see Tootsie (Catherine), who lived about 95 miles away. It was a straight ride on Route 5. So we decided to take off for a little trip. If I had known how far it was, I wouldn’t have gone.

“When we got there, she let us in and fed us. We stayed about three weeks. But we didn’t need to pedal back. Reynolds Homer (Onondaga, Catherine’s husband) came and picked us up because it was at that time that Irving Sr. died. He was only in his 40s.”

But Elsie still had three children to bring up. And she continued on, giving her children her best. Joe for his part went on to attend Brainerd Indian [High] School in South Dakota, where he was a student for two years, eventually becoming a certified mechanic.

“He collected everything from engines to golf balls,” said Oliver.
The golf balls can be explained by noting that Joe was an avid golfer. And it was his passion for the sport that led to his move to Georgia. But first a little background information.

Joe had a janitorial business. He had contracts with the Nation to clean the old bingo hall and another with Lafayette High School in Syracuse. On a golf trip to Georgia, he went to see the Masters’ Tournament in Augusta and decided to stay in the state.

“He befriended some Tuscarora down there and taught them the business and began again, taking care of hotels and golf courses in and around Warren,” said Clint. “He came back occasionally. He was a character. We missed him.”

Clint remembers his Uncle Joe as a giver, as a person always trying to help someone else.

“I just remember always being with them [the Logan boys]. I remember everything good about Joe,” said Geraldine.

Poignant testimonials all.