Cinda Edwards Train Longstreth

1945-2024

Cinda Longstreth died on January 8, 2025 from a pervasive and persistent lung infection, while residing at Brighton Gardens in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She was the second child of Cuthbert Russell Train and Elizabeth Shouse Train. Her father's family had resided in Washington, DC, since the early 19th century. Both her grandfather (Charles Russell Train) and great grandfather (Charles Jackson Train) had distinguished naval careers, the latter serving as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Asiatic (now 7th) Fleet. Cinda's mother's father, Jouett Shouse, served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, as assistant secretary of the treasury under Woodrow Wilson, and later became a leading figure in the Democratic Party until Franklin Roosevelt's nomination, when he switched parties. Jouett Shouse's father-in-law, Rufus Eugene Edwards, was a descendant of Jonathan Edwards, and moved from upstate New York to western Kansas in 1875, where he amassed holdings totaling some 12,000 acres. Roughly half this acreage remains in the family, making them still the largest landholders in the county.

Cinda had two uncles. Middleton George Charles Train, whose wife, Audrey Campbell Train was a granddaughter of Lord Curzon and great granddaughter of Levi Ziegler Leiter, a one-time partner of Marshall Field. Russell Errol Train had a distinguished career in the then nascent field of environmental conservation, taking a leading role in an array of national and international organizations devote to the cause and crafting national legislation to protect the environment during the Nixon Administration. The Trains descend from John Trayne, who immigrated to Massachusetts from Scotland in 1635.

After attending Potomac School, then still in Washington, and Oldfields School in Baltimore County, Maryland, Cinda focused on her development as an artist. She studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, Signora Simi's School of Drawing in Florence, and, much later, pursued silk screening at the Department of Art at Kansas State University. She taught art to pre-school and elementary-school children in Washington, DC Since 1968 she participated one 116 group exhibitions and in 10 one- and two-person shows. She sold over 350 paintings to purchasers in 38 states and Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, and New Zeeland.

In 1971 Cinda married Richard Washington Longstreth, from Princeton, New Jersey. His mother's family had been friends with the family of Noel Hall Clark Train, who married Cinda's father a year or so earlier. Soon thereafter the newly wed couple moved to Berkeley, where he pursued a doctorate in architectural history at the University of California. In 1976 they moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where he taught in the College of Architecture & Design and she began intensive work in silk screening under the mentorship of Jack O'Shea. Seven years later, Richard was appointed a joint position in American Studies and City & Regional Planning at George Washington University. Cinda was delighted to return to her hometown.

When Cinda's father died, unexpectedly, in 1978 she gained half interest in the 12-acre parcel he had acquired in Keene Valley 33 years earlier. Two houses occupied the land, the oldest and largest of which was built in 1898. Before World War II it was occupied by the families of James Goodwin and Cynthia Lefferts, among others.Above everything else Cinda relished the time spent in Keene Valley since early childhood, and now that experience occurred in a house of her own. Many hours were spent at the Ausable Club playing tennis, and a day each weekend was devoted to fishing on the Lower and Upper Lakes. With numerous members as friend the club was her second home. She will be sorely missed.

A celebration of life will be planned for the summer of 2025.