MVLS I Spy Oral History Interview

Flint House, Glenville, NY
Audio Excerpts | Current Photo | Historic Picture

Transcript of audio excerpts

Speaker: Michelle Norris

I'm in 9th Grade at Scotia-Glenville High School and I'd like to introduce Michelle Norris from the Flint House who has agreed to be interviewed for us today.

Q: What do you remember about the Flint House?
Norris: Well, when we first moved in I was out raking the front lawn at our house, we live right around the corner, and Lillian Flint came over . And she looked at me and said, "My God, you were one of my students!" I said , "Yes I was as a matter of fact." And she said, "I want you to come over and have tea." So I went over the next day and we had tea. And that was my first introduction to the Flint House. And she took me for a tour and it was really - it was a great little house. And so once she passed away she decided that she wanted the village to have the house. And right now we're working on it, but it has quite a varied history.

Q: What kind of things happened in the house history?
Norris: Well, the house was built on a foundation that was built there in,. The house was built in 1735, by Gysbert, -- I brought my notes-by Gysbert Melsert. It was bought in 1820 and owned until 1871 by the Reese family.

The Reeses, when they owned the house, um, it was a little village. It actually was a little village and it did have a school and it had a school. Scotia did not have a school at the time. Maalwyck School? On the corner of Sacandaga. And, um, they had their own doctor and their own pharmacist. So they were a pretty thriving community, for the broom corn -- during the broom corn industry.

The next person to own the house was David Reynolds. And he was The Village of Scotia's garbage collector and he ran a farm down there. And one day he went out in his barn to get his horse ready for work and get the wagon set up and he was bludgeoned to death in the barn and no one knows who did it. It's a mystery.

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