Professor Cadbury gave a lecture to his Harvard Divinity School class in which he told the story of a luncheon guest remarking about his father's carefully landscaped property with which he concluded, "Isn't God wonderful!" To which his father added "But, you ought to have seen the land when God had it alone."

The lesson for us students was that God leaves some things to man as his agents.

With this in mind, let us look at the post-Sanford stage of land development on Assembly Point. We've seen the Point grow from to large farms and a sheep meadow to Dr. Sanford's skillful accomplishment in making "West Point," which he changed to Assembly Point, a place to which New Yorkers could escape for a summer vacation in one of a over a dozen lakeshore hotels. (See Apppendix)

Now we turn to a new stage when neither God nor Dr. Stanford has the Point alone. This is the period after the deaths of George Lee and Jonathan Coolidge III, and T.S.’s real estate experience in enlarging residential areas in Glens Falls was at its height. It was the period betweeen 1914-21 when T.S. Coolidge and Harold Adamson, with their keen respect for well thought out real estate development redesigned Forty Acres and brought hometown America with its fathers and mothers and children to their own summer homes -- not hotels -- on the shores of Lake George.

Referring to the map completed by Ernest Meyer in 1914, we can see challenges presented and how the three designers solved them.

1. the size of the lots to be deeded on the shorefront was to be where possible, 100' wide by 150' deep.
2. the paths in front of the lots were to be discontinued and a 16' wide road was constructed behind the lots.
3. Some 650’ of shorefront property at the tip of the point remained with the corporation: for public assembly, the community store, the Post Office and in time, a place for evening dancing to music played on a victrola.
4. The southern half of the roughly 17 interior acres encircled by a mile of dirt road (where the lectorium had been) was designed for a number of lots for less expensive cottages. The northern half of interior continued as property of the LGA.
5. Five rights-of- way were provided for the use of cottagers buying interior lots for access to the lake. :

The directors authorized Harold Adamson to prepare deeds for the sale of land for cottages that would include sensible concern for neighbors and visitors. Harold accepted the unpaid role of overseer for the LGA property and responsibility for instructing a new caretaker who was soon selected.

Sales began at once. Before 1914 finished, the first llot (Lot # I)was deeded to Howard Pearsall. By the summer of 1915, Harold Adamson's wife, Ernestine, had decided to invest some of her small inheritance to build the first cottage in Forty Acres on Lot 29 which he had carefully selected. Understood as possibly a cottage that could be sold, alas, his wife fell in love with it and the idea of spending time at the point (which she had never before been too enthusiastic about) changed. They decided not to sell. Even though World War I should have slowed down sales’ potential, the sales surprisingly went forward, and by 1923 all the shore lots designated on the Meyers map, with minor exceptions, had been sold. The reader may turn to the appendix to see the date of sale and buyer of these lots.

My mother by this time was enjoying her summers except for, the stream of people walking on the paths across her front yard and she anticipated with dread a future day when people would be coming down the alley next to her house to swim in the lake. The privilege of access was beginning to be abused and she encouraged Harold not to sell the center lots. By this time other cottage owners were beginning to feel a need for privacy and began to put up fences on the original old Sanford promenades along the lake shore to block the flow of traffic. Mr. Cullough, one of the residents (on the Knox property), however, still wanted access by the shore path to walk the beautiful promenade to the store. A big fight ensued that summer of 1923 prompting the Stanton Lawsuit. The statute he had to contend with stated that if the public uses something for 20 years, the right to trespass was grandfathered. It was unclear whether the pats had been used for 20 years. Harold, representing the corporation, handled the situation with his natural diplomacy and the promenades were shut down.

That same summer, Dr. Hunt said "Bob looks pretty, anemic. What's he drinking for milk?" My father said I was just getting "regular" milk. "That's it," said Dr. Hunt. "No more of that. He's got to have goat's milk. "My father said, "Where do we get goat's milk?" ."Buy a goat," said Dr. Hunt. My father said he didn't know how to milk it but Dr. Hunt told him he darn well better learn. So we got Netty and my father put up two acres of wire on the vacant land, behind the cottage to house her.

When I was a child, in those endless, idyllic summers, the Horicon docked every day at 10:30. The two Cross boys who camped on South Island would swim across the channel and help Mr. Ellsworth, the caretaker (who also ran the Post Office and store), catch the ropes and bring the boat to dock. People disembarked from; carrying picnics and tennis rackets, eager to spend the day on this beautiful piece of land.

Dr. Sanford always liked Emily and me. Every year for Christmas he gave us $5 each which he put in Mr. Ellsworth's care with the specific understanding that we might have an ice cream cone every morning and every afternoon during the summer. But if, for any reason, we didn't get to the store in the after noon, we couldn't have three the next day.

Up until 1920 Harold represented Ernestine who had the largest share of stock in the corporation but, in those days before women’s suffrage, as a "second class citizen," she had to be represented by a man. The ratification of the 19th Amendment, which finally admitted that women were equal to men inspired Dr. Sanford to write a letter stating he would resign as president. He nominated T.S. Coolidge as his replacement. As Director, he named Ernestine F. Adamson, feeling now that she had equal rights under the 19th Amendment.

In 1923 President Harding died. Everyone on the point gathered near the big dock. for a memorial service. Emily and I got there early and put up the seats. All the cottagers joined in the flag ceremony and came together in great sadness.

In 1929 the stock market crashed. It didn't affect me for the first two years. I made $1,000 just on commission by selling boats and Johnson outboard motors.

Ten years after Harding’s death, my father died suddenly of a heart aattack. He had given up golf, finding it more exciting to spend time at the lake with his children and the outboard motors he loved so much. I inherited this love.

In 1935 I began the business of liquidating land in Glens Falls owned by my father’s real estate corporation. My mother had 200 shares; I had 600 and Mr. Dube had 200. I began to buy shares. Coolidge Sherman, always the businessman, said "Give me $1000 for my stock. There's only one condition: you have to pay me $10 on the first of every month and if you miss one month I get everything back."

By----- I owned . including the property at the end of the point. In 1936 Emily and I went to Vancouver to visit our father’s sister, Ethelwyn, a graduate of Smith (1906?) as was my mother. On the way, we stopped in Wyoming to visit Frank Bosler, an Andover friend of mine, and his mother. Their home was a large museum-like, spacious log cabin with a feeling of roots. Emily and I were enthralled with the majestic, ranch structure and started talking about building a home like that at -the end of the point. We would put a road down the middle of the point, have the log cabin and acres to use as a ranch, perhaps even with horses.

The road down the middle never materialized. (Explain about road and town of Queensbury etc.) We decided we didn't want the place. I offered it to Mr. Buddy for $5,000. Mr. Dube, Dr. Sanford's son-in-law said I couldn't sell it because he needed access to the Long Island. Negotiations followed and I offered him 125 feet on either slide for a right-of-way but by that time Mr. Buddy was no longer interested in buying it. We divided it into two areas -- one, a lot to the north of what is now the Lester's and the other lot which is now Mr. Ross'. We offered it to two very interested people -- Mr. Yaffee and Mr. Pert who worked for the electric company, and wanted to use the place to entertain business associates. They bought the point, the dock, the Post Office and store for $7,500. My suspicion is that my sister, Nesta, having been a classmate of Mr. Yaffee, showed him the picture of the Bosler Ranch and quite possibly it was the root of his selection of the log cabin, now the home of the Stewarts.