The Belvidere Plain Revisited

by Gus Widmayer

Overview

A retrospective on the families and homes on the Belvidere Plain in Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is a look back on the many colorful lives of a small summer community as told from the author's perspective. From the whaling days and salt works of the early nineteenth century to the playful summer escapes of the twentieth century, there are dozens of stories of love, ambition and heartache in a community where residents come from all walks of life. There are a over 175 pictures with many of historical significance. The story is presented as a walking guide with several maps and an itinerary for canvassing the neighborhood on foot or from the comfort of your reading chair. In addition to 202 pages, reference materials include a Table of Contents, Table of Illustrations, Bibliography, Index and Endnotes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780978816759
Publisher:	Asgard House Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/2018
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Youth and education: Widmayer is the 2nd son and fourth of five children of businessman Francis J. Widmayer II and Gertrude Marie (Catanese) Widmayer. Born in Brooklyn, the brick front Bushwick townhome at No. 142 George Street was also his mother's birthplace and the childhood home to his maternal grandfather and namesake, A. G. (Gus) Catanese whose parents arrived there in 1906. That home has since been taken down. Widmayer grew up in Acton, Massachusetts and Falmouth, Massachusetts where he followed his pursuits of writing, genealogy and sailing. As a boy, he suffered a three-year bout with Legg Calvé Perthes syndrome, affecting his right hip and incapacitating him from the age of four until the age of seven years. He trained at public schools in Acton, studied abroad in 1977-78 at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, and received his B.A. in Business Management and French from University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana with the Class of 1980. Professional life: Since university, Widmayer has worked in the semiconductor industry, focusing on import/export of electronics materials used in the transport, handling and storage of electronic components. In 1991, he initiated a management buyout of a division of his father's firm, now OX3.com. He developed the five story, ten room, brick front townhouse at No. 51 Appleton Street in Boston's South End, which included excavating a cellar below the Back Bay water table. Widmayer has developed other residential and commercial real estate in Falmouth and Ayer, Massachusetts. He is a partner in Orion Park, Ayer, Massachusetts. He founded the Vineyard Sound Land Company that oversees protected shoreline with a view shed to Martha's Vineyard from the Belvidere Plain in Falmouth. Biographer: A lifelong genealogist, he has penned several books to date. His first work on the Widmayer family history was completed in 2003. The Widmayers arrived at the port of Philadelphia in 1826 from the farming community of Strumpfelbach in Wurttemberg, Germany, which today is a part of the town of Weinstadt. They quickly made their way to Manhattan where Gus's great great grand uncle established the family in the (Uppertendom) of New York society. That man, George Adam Widmayer, (1803-1886), developed much of W. 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. In 2005, Widmayer published his second book Herbert Searvant In The Trials of Cora Chapman. This history recounts the sensational trial of Searvant's attempted murder of actress Cora Chapman in Manhattan 1891. It is a compilation of news items that appeared in the local papers of Brooklyn and New York City. The scoundrel Searvant is one of Widmayer's maternal great-grandfathers. In 2006, A Gentleman's Guide To The Belvidere Plain In Falmouth, Massachusetts was released. That book is a monograph on the history of the seaside community in Falmouth, Massachusetts known as the Belvidere Plain, highlighting its people, history, and homes. From 2010, Widmayer has published travel diaries of his visits with his young daughter Sophia Louise to Dublin (2010), Los Angeles (2011), Washington, D.C. (2012), Berlin to Budapest (2013), Paris (2014), Tokyo (2015), Sicily (2016), and a 38-state U.S. Grand Tour (2017-18). Family Life and Affiliations: From 1986 to 2008, Widmayer made his home on Appleton Street in Boston's South End before moving to Indian Hill House in Groton. His only child with Luisa M. C. P. R. is a daughter Sophia Louise, born in 2007. He is a member of the German-American Heritage Foundation, the National Trust of England, Groton Historical Society, Belvidere Plain Association, Falmouth Historical Society, Friends of Nobska Light, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Groton Conservation Trust.