My sister Rita with me holding Riley Gillis, more than 20 years ago in the great trophy hall of Litchfield Castle. Riley was yelling at the giraffe. Riley, son of Rob and Lisa, is now a graduate engineer (and Eagle Scout) on the staff of Northwood Engineering owned by my friend Joe Garso. Their daughter, Libby, graduated from the University of Vermont and is now in graduate studies at Paul Smith’s College. (Provided photo)

Last week this space covered a piece about John Stock, who had been superintendent of Litchfield Park, giving a talk at the Beth Joseph Synagogue about the history of Tupper Lake and Litchfield Park.

My nephew, Kevin Littlefield, has been superintendent of that park now for many years. The following will tell the rest of Stock’s presentation and my early ties to Tupper Lake.

Last week’s tale ended with lumber interests building a dam on Racquette River and flooding the Junction. The locals then blew a hole in the dam … but the lumber people added onto the dam and the locals blew it up again. The Litchfield family law firm took the lumber people to court and won. The ruling known as the Litchfield Injunction still stands today. Now the rest of the story …

“Litchfield then began preparations for a big mansion on the shores of Lake Madeline. The house would form the centerpiece of the estate. Hundreds of Italian stone masons were brought to the site, and quarrying of native granite to the house began in earnest in 1911. The walls of the house were made eight-feet thick, and the chimneys towered 80 feet high. The enormous building had no insulation, and in the winter the occupants burned hundreds of tons of coal to keep the building warm.

“The great hall in the chateau has dozens of animal heads mounted on the walls and other rooms are graced by huge fireplaces. Interesting paintings and sculptures are displayed throughout the house. Many wealthy visitors like the Whitney’s came great distances to visit at the estate, Stock noted. More than 60 people turned out to hear Stock’s lecture, which the tall and wiry Adirondacker delivered with characteristic good humor.”

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Tupper Lake family ties and more

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I mentioned last week that I had met Pieter Litchfield when I was at Paul Smith’s College and he was a member of the College Board of Trustees. He is now listed in the College’s Hall of Fame as Pieter V. C. Litchfield, Trustee Emeriti.

John Sparks was a friend of mine from our teenage years. Those who knew us back then, when we would honky-tonk our way from the Grand Union, [no, not the grocery store] the Grand Union Hotel Bar at 6 Depot Street in the Junction to the Waukesha Grill out in Moody probably would not guess that we would later hold the office of Mayor of our respective towns. John was also a former Marine and Franklin County legislator.

There are probably not many people around who were ever at the Waukesha but it was a popular place with a great band, and on weekends the place would be rockin’. The dance floor, always packed, would gently undulate so one could stand still on the dance floor and appear to be keeping time with the music.

Now stay with me here. My sister Rita, who died at age 101 on Oct. 4, was married to the late John Littlefield, WWII hero. John Littlefield and John Sparks were two of the nicest guys I ever met. Rita and John raised a beautiful, talented family; Lisa, Kevin, Peter and Tim Littlefield.

Patricia Sparks, daughter of my dear friend, the late John Sparks, is now married to Kevin Littlefield. Imagine my friend from our teenage years has a daughter who is now my niece.

Patti is a shy, retiring young lady (haha), a lot like her dad, and served many years as supervisor of the town of Tupper Lake. For instance, Patti Supervisor came over and joined us one year to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and, of course, won a prize for the Best Dressed Irishman (or something like that) in the parade.

Now Kevin and Patti have two offspring, Owen and Hannah. Owen has a successful land surveying company, Leifheit & Littlefield, located at 93 Park St. in Tupper Lake. How about this one? Owen has just been elected to the town board of Tupper Lake. So Councilman Littlefield, I am sure, may get plenty of advice from Mom Supervisor, whether he wants it or not.

It was my great privilege, when I was town justice in Harrietstown, to perform the wedding ceremony of Hannah Littlefield and Pete Torrance on the huge outdoor patio of Litchfield Castle. Pete has a very successful construction business and Hannah is on the staff of Merrill Thomas Real Estate in Lake Placid. Later Gillis Real Estate in Tupper Lake, owned by Rob and Lisa

Littlefield Gillis merged with Merrill Thomas. I have to keep going here because I have painted myself into a corner. Lisa Gillis, of course, is Hannah’s aunt. Oh, Pete and Hannah have two children, Meadow and Rollie, and Owen and his bride, Elizabeth, have two beautiful daughters, Eloise and Genevieve.

Let’s see … where was I? As the occasion calls for it, I will cover the history of the families of Pete and Tim Littlefield. Tim’s wife Rosie, the youngest of nine girls, all stood in a row at the wedding of their daughter, Shannon, while her mother regaled the audience with tales of their childhood … oh, wait, wait, wait, I have to stop …