Abraham Brown of Westchester County, NY, Scranton, PA, and Newfield, NY

My hubby finished a 94 page monograph on his Abraham Brown line early morning on January 24, 2021. A couple of hours later, while working out on his Nordic Track, hubby collapsed and was gone. My life changing event. We'd been married 52 years. One of the things I knew I had to do was to finish the monograph that he'd worked so hard on for years. The 94 pages is only the body of the document. There is also an appendix of all the obituaries and society notes. It has taken me a few months to be able to concentrate enough to tackle this project. I'm doing that now. When I finish indexing, the documents will be printed, bound, and sent to the usual respositoties. In the meantime, I thought I would share some of Ray's writing on this family through this blog. Abraham Brown was born in Westchester County, NY in 1772 before moving to the Scranton, PA area. From there his family moved north and settled in Newfield, New York. Here is an excerpt from that chapter. According to his sons, Abraham came north by horse and stone boat in 1809. He surely followed the Susquehanna River and perhaps took the Chemung River to what is now Waverly or perhaps Elmira, NY, before following the valley trails north towards Cayuga Lake. Land records indicate he first settled in the Town of Lansing but soon moved to what is now the Town of Newfield and was one of the first families to settle there. Their last two children, Adonirum and Holden Tripp, were born in New York and Abraham and Susannah remained in Newfield the rest of their lives. Running southwest from today’s village of Newfield, NYS Route 13 goes to Elmira through a valley locally known as Poney Hollow. The valley was originally called Saponey Hollow in reference to the Saponey Indians, members of the Iroquois confederation. By the mid-1800’s the valley was heavily inhabited with descendants of Abraham and Susannah Brown. Abraham’s homestead was located on what is now known as Sebring Road, just south of the intersection with Test Road . The barn still stands on the eastern side of the road and, according to Marc Whitney, who grew up in the Cape Cod style house across from the barn, the foundation stones from the original house are incorporated in the basement . According to the Agricultural Census of 1850, Abraham Brown’s farm consisted of 160 A., of which 70 A. were considered improved. His farm was typical of family farms of that time. He raised a variety of animals including milk cows and sheep and grew wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat and Indian corn. The Cash Value of the farm in 1850 was $7,000. Although an active farmer, Abraham Brown also established and managed a hotel located along the highway running between Ithaca and Elmira. Pictured below, the hotel was apparently quite successful. As noted in The Landmarks of Tompkins County, his youngest son Holden Tripp Brown said his father kept a hotel for thirty years. “His first hotel was a log house, but soon he built a frame house, and had a large patronage, often having twenty teams and their occupants to provide for at once.” The building is now a private residence located at the intersection of Sebring Road and NYS Route 13. Ray left organized files on this family, so if there are anyone researching this line and needs help, between Ray's paper files, and digital files, I should be able to answer.

Kenneth Cutter and George Gay reunite after Battle of the Midway

My husband recently acquired newspaper clippings and photos of his Uncle Kenneth Cutter’s World War II military service. The article shows Aviation Machinist Mate First Class Kenneth Cutter (at right) with Lt. George Gay. Although the news reported there were no survivors on the USS Hornet at the Battle of Midway, they were wrong. George Gay survived. From Ian W. Toll’s book Pacific Crucible; War at Seat in the Pacific, 1941-1942, he writes: “Ensign George Gay, lone survivor of Torpedo Eight, treaded water in the midst of the Japanese task force. He concealed his head under a float cushion whenever a ship came near, and rejoiced as he watched the enemy carriers burn.” The Squadron received the only Presidential Unit Citation ever given.

"Women as bright as Stars" by Rosemary Rowland

Researching female ancestors is a difficult task. Women are left out of the history books. Their busy lives and contributions to family and community oftentimes ignored. 

Thanks to Rosemary Rowland, the women of the small rural village of Newfield, New York are recognized and now part of written history. 

Rosemary starts her books with a quote from author Donald Dean Parker, who wrote Local History, How to Gather it, Write It, and Publish It. Mr. Parker states: It is not, after all, the highly trained historian who will write the local history of each community in this vast country. If the local history of the United States is to be written at all, it will have to be done by an interested, if amateur citizen or citizens in each community."

I would not say Rosemary is an "amateur," because she has published a well researched and documented book. But she does fit into Mr. Parker's category as an interested citizen of the community in which she lives.

To give a glimpse of the scope of her research into the women who called Newfield home during the 1800s, there are nine pages, two columns of names in the index.

This book is not just for those who have female ancestors in the Tompkins County, New York area. Rosemary divided the chapters into categories, such as Land, Farming, Business, African Americans, The Arts, Education, etc. Consequently, any family historian can learn the issues of the day, can learn what daily life was like for women everywhere during the 19th century.

Her book, recently published, has garnered much interest. Bravo! Rosemary. A job very well done.

To order your copy email Rosemary at: fnrland@gmail.com

 

Funeral Card Friday - Richard Payne

Funeral Card Friday - Lottie Williams Tompkins

Wordless Wednesday - Newfield, NY Chapter Future Farmers of America 1939

Photo from the Newfield, NY Central School 1939 Annual

Funeral Card Friday - Evelyn V. Drake

Funeral Card Friday - Edith May Payne

Funeral Card Friday - Ethel A. Taber

Funeral Card Friday - Harvey O. Williams

Funeral Card Friday - Dorothy Brink

Funeral Card Friday - Gertrude S. (Howell) Decker

Sunday's Obituary - Anders Bennett Hansen

Andy Hansen

Last week I posted the obituary of Andy's mother, Alice Hansen.  It is only appropriate that I follow up with Andy's obituary. 

A year before his death Andy was interviewed by Ithaca College Gerontology student Peter Reilly.  Peter visited Andy twice a week and then wrote up a paper describing their conversations. But in the course of that assignment, Peter and Andy became good friends. When Peter arrived at Andy's house located on the highest hill in Newfield, he found a 78 year old disabled man who had just lost his wife to cancer, was homebound during cold weather, and who had to have an aide come in twice a week to bath him. But what Peter learned through his assignment was that Andy Hansen had a love of life, animals, God and people. And that is exactly the person we came to know and love.  We miss you, Andy.

Obituary for Anders Bennett Hansen

Newfield – Anders Bennett Hansen, a resident of Newfield for almost seventy years (sic) [Andy was 79], died peacefully on Feb. 20, 2001 at his home on Barnes Hill Road. He was born in Edgewater, NJ on November 9, 1921, son of the late Jens J. and Harriett Alice Hardman Hansen. He lived with them and his brother, Harold on Seeley Hill for many years and graduated form Newfield Central School.

He married Natalie Elaine Bonfilio on March 12, 1966 and lived with her on Barnes Hill Road until her death in November 1998. He worked in many farming and lumbering jobs as a young man, also for the Tompkins County Highway Department for more than twenty years, and later for private employers.

He wrote for local newspapers during his long life in Tompkins County, first as the Mule Skinner and more recently, a column called “Looking Back” in the Newfield News. He was writing an article and preparing another at the time of his death.

A memorial service and burial will be announced in the spring. Bangs Funeral Home will be in charge of arrangements.

Source: http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20010224/obituaries/309103.html

Sunday's Obituary - Mrs. Alice Hansen

I didn’t know Alice Hansen.  But the reason this obituary is meaningful to me is that I did have the honor of knowing, for just a bit, her son Anders. 

I met him in his later years because his late in life marriage prompted him to convert to Catholicism, and that is when we ran into him at church.  Andy and his wife Natalie lived in the sparsely populated hills of Newfield, NY.  We visited them on occasion, and then him a little more often after Natalie passed away.  He proudly showed us the variety of vegetables and berries growing in his garden, and always insisted we take something home with us.

Andy had some disabilities that I suspect provided him many challenges in his life.  We enjoyed the company of this kind intelligent person; a person who didn’t let his disabilities deter him from enjoying life.

It is interesting how these distant memories are invoked by reading an obituary of a person I never knew. 

Obituary of Mrs. Alice Hansen

Mrs. Alice Hansen, 61, of Seely Hill, Newfield, died unexpectedly Saturday, Jan 24, 1953 at Tioga General Hospital, Waverly.  She is survived by her husband, Jens Hansen of Newfield: two sons, Anders and Harold Hanson, both of Newfield; two sisters, Mrs. Corine Brennan and Mrs. Muriel Curry of Sebastopol, Calif; two brothers Louis and Fulton Hardmann of New York City; a half sister, Miss Everetta Waters of Montreal, Quebec, and 4 nieces. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Allen Funeral Chapel, Newfield, with John C. Booth, Jehovah’s Witnesses, officiating. Burial will be in Jehovah’s Witnesses Cemetery, Lansing Road.

Bearers were Andrew Patana, John Goodwin, Wesley Crance, Waino Knuutila, George Ruuspakka and William Brashear.

Sunday's Obituary - Gertrude S. Decker

Gertrude Howell Decker
Cutter Farmstead, Newfield, New York

My husband’s great-grandmother was Gertrude Howell Decker. She was an interesting lady. One story told about Gertrude was that when she didn’t get her own way, she threw a tantrum, even as an adult  One time when this happened she threw herself on the floor and appeared to be passed out. At that point the housekeeper threw a bucket of cold water on her!  That got Gertrude’s attention. 

Gertrude, born 4 November 1872 in Sullivanville, New York, was the only daughter of Isaac Howell and Mary Bates Howell. Maybe that is why she always got her way. Of her four brothers, one, sadly, committed suicide. 

Gertrude’s obit reads: Mrs. Gertrude S. Decker, 79, widow of Arthur Decker, died at her home on the South Road, Newfield, Wednesday afternoon, September 10, 1952 after a short illness.

She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Marie Cutter, 2 grandsons, Kenneth and Paul Cutter, all of Newfield, 2 granddaughters, Mrs. Elmer Maki of Newfield and Mrs. J.R. Maki of Ithaca; 10 great grandchildren; a brother, Frederick Howell of Syracuse, nieces, nephews and cousins.  She was a member of the Newfield Baptist church and the Tompkins County Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Burial in Woodlawn Cemetery. 

Funeral Card Friday - Angie May Starr

Angie May Starr resides in my hubby’s family line; consequently Angie’s funeral card was in his mother’s possession.  Information on Angie’s life is sketchy and my husband would love to have more information.  We do know that Angie was the third child of John and Harriett McDaniels Harker. She had a brother Fred and a sister Ella Maude.  She married William Miller and in 1902 had a daughter Harriett.  In 1900 William Miller taught school in Newfield, New York.  Angie then married Edwin Wallace Starr on 20 October 1914; it was his third marriage.  Edwin was 65 years old when he married Angie; she was twenty-six years younger. 

Sunday's Obituary - Dr. David Abisch

Ouch!
Dr. Abisch poses with school school nursing staff
Agnes Piscopo, Susan Mosher, Sylvia Kent, Mrs. Barnstone
Photo from 1962 Newfield High School yearbook

Dr. Abisch is warmly remembered as Newfield’s town physician.  He understood the complexities of the small farming community and he served that community by fitting into their schedule and not forcing them to fit into his. He made house calls, he had nighttime office hours, and he was always accessible to the community. He served as the school physician, making sure the students were healthy and fit to participate in sports.  His obituary gives the rest of his story:

Dr. David Abisch, 85 of 28 Pearl Street, died Friday, December 21, 1990 at Tompkins Community Hospital. Funeral services were held Sunday, December 23, 1990 at Temple Beth-El with Rabbi Scott Glass officiating. Dr. Abisch was born on January 1, 1905 in Austria. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Berlin in 1930 and practiced medicine in Germany until 1939 at which time he fled from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, China. During his twelve years in China, Dr. Abisch was active as chief resident of the Isolation Hospital for Infectious Diseases and as a private practitioner. Upon arrival in the United States in 1951 and completion of residency at the Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, Dr. Abisch established himself as family physician in Newfield where he served the community for over thirty years. Dr. Abisch was a member of the Tompkins County Medical Society, the Medical Society of the State of New York, the American Medical Association and was a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Abisch is survived by his wife, Martha Abisch of Newfield, a daughter of Ithaca, a son-in-law and two granddaughters, several nephews and nieces. 

Funeral Card Friday - Eva Nara Maki

The spring of 1945 was late coming.  Snowfall had been relentless and may have played a small part in Eva’s steadfast decision to remain at home when she contracted pleurisy.  But in reality, her concern was most probably the cost of hospitalization; a cost that would have been prohibitive for this subsistence farm family.

Eva Nara was born in Tornio, Finland to Iisakki and Kaisa Kreeta Alanara.  Eva’s nine siblings were: Hilda Maria (died age of two years), Hilta Karoliina (died at one year), Hans Wiljami (died at 6 months), Hans August (died at five years), Anna, Alma, Iisakki Wilho, Juho Petteri, and Kreeta Amanda.

Eva emigrated in 1906 on the SS Victor out of Liverpool, England when she was twenty years old.  By 1907 she was working at the Spaulding Hotel in Duluth, Minnestota where she met her soul mate, Emil (Tenkula) Maki. They were married on July 14, 1908.

Eva Nara and Emil (Tenkula) Maki
abt 1908

Eva’s sister, Anna, married John Helsiva and they settled just several miles away from Eva and Emil on Van Kirk Road in Newfield, NY.

So on March 13, 1945, the family took Eva's body by sled to the point where the Town of Newfield had brought out men to shovel the road in order to remove Eva’s body. 

Sunday's Obituary - Impi Mustonen

Or: Do you know the people in your neighborhood?

We moved from Chicago, Illinois back to our hometown of Ithaca, New York in June 1970. City living wasn’t for us rural kids, so we used the excuse of attending Cornell grad school to move back onto home turf.  As we finished the two years master’s program, we started looking for a house to buy. Next door to my in-laws was this cute little house with a cute little price. But a price a bit beyond starving grad student reach, and the house needed a lot of renovation and updating.  The house was owned by Einar and Impi Mustonen.  They married about 1930, never had any children, and lived on their small subsistence farm in the hills of Newfield, New York.  In the 1930 census Impi was forty years old and a servant in Chicago; her husband, Einar was a painter in a Chicago hotel.  Although we decided not to buy their house, we did purchase their wringer washer and used it in our apartment.

Menanga, Minnesota - Mrs. Impi Mustonen, 87, a former Newfield resident, died Saturday, July 30, 1977 in the Green Pine Acres Nursing Home here. Born September 28, 1889 in Pomarkku, Finland, Mrs. Mustonen was the daughter of the late Jacob and Selma Makela. Mrs. Mustonen had resided in Minnesota for the past seven years. She had been a resident of Newfield for more than 40 years. She was the wife of the late Einar Mustonen, who died in 1970. Mrs. Mustonen is survived by a brother, Jalmari Makela of Pomarkku, Finland.  Burial will be in LaRue Cemetery [Van Etten, NY].

Mystery Monday - May Cooper - Elmira and Newfield, NY

May Cooper

The story handed down about a black woman named May Cooper who lived with Frank and Delia McAllister on Van Kirk Road in Newfield, New York, was that someone found this little girl as an orphan during the Civil War and brought her to the north. The McAllisters, who had no children, took her in, and treated her almost like a daughter.

Delia McAllister

However, through genealogy research, we found the story about May’s arrival in Newfield wasn’t quite true.

May Cooper was born in 1874, first appearing on the 1880 census as a niece living with Charles and Sarah Smith of Elmira, NY. Charles was a minister. That census indicated that May’s mother was born in New York, but her father was unknown.

May lived with the McAllisters from at least 1892 until her death in 1929. She is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Newfield, New York. 

The mystery yet to be solved is the circumstances in which she came to the Smiths in Elmira, and who her parents were?