Maple Point: Keuka Lake, New York

On July 26, 1902, The Elmira Daily Advertiser described Maple Point as, "The cottage itself is a marvel of beauty, and the boat landing is covered by a neat pavilion, which makes it the handsomest dock on the lake." Patricia Taylor Wells delves into the history of a cottage called Maple Point, built in the late nineteenth century on Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. She had been lucky enough to spend summers at Maple Point for twenty-two years. Although she no longer lies in the porch hammock while watching boats glide across the lake's sun-glistened water, she often goes there in her thoughts. Wells relates how the lakes were formed and provides a snapshot of the indigenous people who first roamed the Keuka Lake area and gave it her name. She combines the historical accounts of three generations of the Gleason, Bush, and Wells families who owned the property between 1895 and 2005. Rachel Brooks Gleason, who was one of the first American women to graduate from medical school, and her husband owned and operated the Elmira Water Cure as an alternative to 1800s medical practices. Rachael delivered Olivia and Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain) four children, and the Gleasons were good friends with the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Patricia Taylor Wells takes the reader on a journey to Keuka Lake and the surrounding Finger Lakes area, one of the most scenic places in America. She gives a glimpse of the lives of those who had been fortunate to sit on the front porch overlooking Keuka Lake on a sun-soaked day.