52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Historical Documents - Pioneer Clevelands

The historical document that assisted me the most was The Pioneer Clevelands, from the Journal of Adeline Cleveland Hosner and the family records preserved by her granddaughter Mrs. Jessie Agard.

The journal entries of Adeline Cleveland Hosner provided information on how her parents, Josiah and Fanny Lathrop Cleveland of New London, CT migrated through New York State and then settled in Updike’s Corners, near Jacksonville, NY. Fanny is a descendant of the Rev. John Lowthropp of Barnstable, MA.

The journal provided birth, death, and in some cases cause of death of Fanny and Josiah Cleveland’s twelve children listed below:

Descendants of Josiah B. Cleveland b: 1774 and Fanny (Lathrop) Cleveland b: 1778;[1]

Gurdon Lathrop Cleveland b: 9 June 1801; d: 10 Dec 1825 Typhoid Fever

Julia Ann Cleveland[2] b: 12 Aug. 1802; d: 7 Feb 1825 Typhoid Fever

John Porter Cleveland b: 1804; d: 1825

Mehetable Cleveland b: 11 Oct. 1805; d: 1862

Nelson Cleveland b: 12 Nov. 1807; d: 12-13 Sept 1808Adeline Cleveland b: 6 May 1809; d: 1882

Sally Cleveland b: 23 Jan 1811; d: 10 May 1864; m: James Montgomery Case

William Johnson Cleveland b: 19 Aug 1813

Nelson Bliss Cleveland b: 13 April 1815

Adelia Cleveland b: 10 Mar 1817; d: 15 April 1838; m: 1837 Lewis VanWegner

Fanny Belinda Cleveland b: 12 Aug 1820; d: 1853;[3] m: Samuel Howard

Alanson Josiah Cleveland b: 12 March 1822

Through her diaries, Adeline Cleveland Hosner tells us of life during the 1800s. She details how diseases and fevers no longer common today devastated entire families. Diphtheria, typhoid, scarlet fever, malaria, smallpox, and pneumonia were all beyond the skill of the physician. Herbal remedies were widely used to treat those who were ill.

A deeply religious woman, Adeline agonized over the fact that they paid $300 for each son that was drafted to keep them from serving in the Civil War.  This option stated, “Persons furnishing a substitute or paying the above sum of money shall be discharged from further liability under the draft.”  Adeline knew that her decision, paying to avoid the draft, was not the Christian thing to do, and for this she carried an emotional and spiritual burden.

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[1] The dates for the Cleveland family are from genealogical information in The Pioneer Clevelands.

[2] Julia Ann is buried in Updike’s Corners Cemetery, Jacksonville, NY.

[3] According to Cleveland family genealogy, Fanny drowned in the ocean. She and her children were lost at sea while on route to join her husband in San Francisco. 

Talented Tuesday - Morse Chain Purchasing Department, 1950

From Left: Steve Morris, R.W. Appleton (Director), Ed Nunn

This 1950 August-September issue of Echo, a publication of the Morse Chain Company, a Borg-Warner Industry, features an article on Ithaca’s Purchasing Department. The headline reads, “Ithaca’s Purchasing Department Keeps a Weather Eye on the Markets of the World.”  The article further states: “In the course of a year, the Purchasing Department of the Morse Ithaca plant buys enough steel to reach five times around the Equator!”

My father, Ed Nunn's job was to be constantly alert to the quality and value in the materials he purchased for the company – don’t we wish there was more of that type of vigilance today. 

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Family Heirlooms

Merritt and Maude Agard with the Hutch

This hutch belonged to my grandparents, Merritt and Maude Agard.  I don’t know when it was purchased, but suspect it might have been after their new home overlooking Cayuga Lake was built in the mid-1950s.  Since then the hutch has stood sentinel over hundreds of family gatherings where delicious dinners were lovingly served and enjoyed.  

It is not an expensive piece of furniture, but it is one of my most treasured family heirlooms. When my grandmother passed away in 1996 the hutch came to reside with me in Newfield, NY.  Within a year it was moved to watch over us in Newtown, Connecticut, and now it is in storage awaiting its new home in Fredericksburg, VA. I have picked out just the right spot for the hutch, and it will enjoy a new responsibility of housing our daily use dishes and casseroles.  Can’t wait!