Edward C. Randall, along with his wife Maria, were the first 'summer tourists' to build on Blackstone Lake in 1897 on land he purchased from John Jennings. He was born in Ripley, New York, becoming a successful general lawyer in Buffalo. Edward was called to the bar in Rochester at the age of 23, relocating in 1885 to Buffalo to broaden his field of possibilities. At an early age, Edward rose to prominence especially after his defence of a man charged for murder 1887. More influence and financial success followed as he expanded into being a businessman as a president of three industrial companies involving ships, power and gas. In 1897 Edward not only bought the small peninsula that jutted out into the eastern limits of McRobert Bay but he …show more content…
Upon investigation he found a little child sleeping in a hammock which was being gently swayed by the breeze. The sound made by the rusty hook appealed to him and he immediately jotted it down, and then and there composed the “Cradle Song.” It will be readily noticed by those who have again the pleasure of hearing the “Cradle Song” that the opening bars closely resemble the sound made by a rusty hook swinging in the ring. The other strain pervading the composition is one which the composer has always had in his …show more content…
The lake facing the summer home where he visited is ringed with small islands, three of which are so situated that they reflect sound in triple echoes. Evenings when all was still and the home quests did a rowing go, Mr. Marcus would remain on shore and play the violin and the islands would take the music and echo and re-echo and once again echo it, as the listening guests were held spellbound by the beauty of it all. There are of course only the two islands, Kelly Is. and Phoenix Is. so a third echo must have come from one of the mainlands on either side of the island depending on where the canoe party was. Nevertheless, it must have been uniquely beautiful. Sometimes, as in 1904, Randall and his party of friends, all Buffalo élite, arrived first at the well known Rose Point Summer Resort in Parry Sound before embarking for the cabin. By 1925 he was still inviting a guest or two up with him. On this later occasion the guest, a fellow lawyer Josiah Boardman Scovell and historian of the Niagara area, enjoyed the hunting and fishing. We have Edward's own words that describe a bit of his Blackstone 'camp' (from his spookily titled book 'The Dead Have Never Died' 1917. More on that