Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe
Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe
Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe
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Meanwhile, Daniel, Floyd <strong>and</strong> their mother Mary<br />
(widow of William M. Hungerford) resided at 823 W.<br />
Second Street. The 1930 federal census actually listed<br />
three sons, machinists Daniel, Floyd <strong>and</strong> William J., as<br />
living with their mother at a house which was valued at<br />
$8,000. The oldest brother, the widowed William, who<br />
did not live long in that house, 58 was employed by an<br />
auto manufacturer (likely Willys-Morrow) while the<br />
younger brothers operated the garage.<br />
In 1992, Shirley Hungerford Hyde wrote about her<br />
parents <strong>and</strong> the Hungerford family:<br />
Daniel D. married Jessie M. Hopkins on August 7,<br />
1918. I am their daughter. I was born on May 21,<br />
1923 (so I was six years old [when the rocket car<br />
was built], not eight as reported by Mr. Marvin’s<br />
article.) 59 They separated when I was about five<br />
<strong>and</strong> divorced when I was in my late teens. Neither<br />
ever remarried. It was not a traumatic family break<br />
for me since Dan <strong>and</strong> Floyd were always deep into<br />
some project at their garage or the house on W.<br />
Second Street [,] where Floyd <strong>and</strong> their mother<br />
lived (<strong>and</strong> Dan after the break-up). I never lived<br />
there as reported. During the five or so years of my<br />
life prior to the separation, Dan, my mother <strong>and</strong> my<br />
maternal gr<strong>and</strong>mother always had a home of our<br />
own. I cannot remember the circumstances as to the<br />
time when he returned to live on W. Second Street.<br />
I have only vague memories of his ever having<br />
lived with us. I cannot remember his EVER being<br />
home to have lunch or dinner or participating in<br />
any family-oriented activities.<br />
Both Dan <strong>and</strong> Jessie were soft-spoken people. He<br />
did not, as the articles indicate, ever swear, drink<br />
or smoke. There were never any harsh words<br />
between them in my presence <strong>and</strong> we saw him on<br />
occasion after the separation <strong>and</strong> divorce. Dan<br />
was a very h<strong>and</strong>some young man. This fact did<br />
not escape the notice of women other than my<br />
mother. Nor did he discourage them. I can<br />
remember one with whom he tried to promote<br />
friendship with me. I have a fine studio portrait of<br />
him taken probably in the ‘30’s.<br />
I was told that Floyd was engaged to a girl as a<br />
young person but she died <strong>and</strong>, as far as I know, he<br />
was never involved with anyone else. His weakness<br />
WAS drinking, I guess. I generally could smell<br />
it. He was always very nice to me. I have the feeling<br />
that both he <strong>and</strong> Dan <strong>and</strong> their mother were<br />
amused by my occasional presence, but they were<br />
not involved in my life in any other way.<br />
My mother was Deputy County Clerk of Chemung<br />
County <strong>and</strong> Naturalization Clerk. She was with the<br />
Clerk’s Office for over 40 years. She maintained her<br />
own apartment in Elmira until November of 1980<br />
[,] when she came to Hendersonville [North<br />
Carolina] to make her home with us. She had a<br />
massive heart attack in January of 1981 <strong>and</strong> needed<br />
round-the-clock care until she died (on my birthday)<br />
May 21, 1981. 60<br />
Shirley Hungerford in 1945 married her “childhood<br />
sweetheart,” Norman R. Hyde, a fighter pilot in World<br />
War II. The Hydes left Elmira, although on visits to their<br />
home town, Shirley would “occasionally take essential<br />
supplies to Dan <strong>and</strong> Floyd on W. Second Street. It<br />
grieved me to see how they lived. Mother would go<br />
with me once in a while.”<br />
David Smith, who in the early 2000s researched the<br />
Hungerfords with an eye to making a documentary<br />
movie, related to me that Shirley Hyde told him of her<br />
estrangement from her father. She said he was a h<strong>and</strong>some<br />
man, <strong>and</strong> the women in Elmira knew it. His phil<strong>and</strong>ering<br />
for which Shirley Hyde did not forgive him<br />
precipitated the failure of their marriage. When Daniel<br />
asked her for money to pay past-due real estate taxes,<br />
she refused him. 61 In 1979 Schuyler Lathers related he<br />
knew Hungerford was “friendly” with Dr. Miller, a<br />
chemistry professor at Elmira College. He “kept her<br />
company some”. 62 Lathers told another writer that he<br />
was attending the college, where the “woman science<br />
Figure 11. Mary Ward Hungerford <strong>and</strong> her three sons, left to<br />
right Daniel, Floyd, <strong>and</strong> William, probably were photographed<br />
ca. 1940.<br />
16 Daniel <strong>and</strong> Floyd Hungerford: <strong>Rocket</strong> Power, Interstellar Travel <strong>and</strong> Eternal Life, by Geofrey N. Stein