Maude Agard's Dream

In October 2001, Carol Kammen of the Ithaca Journal highlighted in her column the family business oral history I had produced with my mother. The title of her column was, “Now is the time to record the history of our institutions.”  She encouraged local businesses and historical societies to document those operations before their participants were no longer around to ask.

Taughannock Farms Inn

Maude Agard's "tea room"

My grandmother, Maude Agard, loved to cook. Her dream was to have her own “tea room,” and on her 40^th birthday, May 16, 1946 she realized that dream with the purchase of a summer home, owned by a Philadelphian Robert Jones, that overlooked Taughannock Falls State Park. According to the oral history my mother recounted, “The first night they were open to the public…they served less than twenty people and ran out of food! Mother had no idea how many people to prepare for. But, word got around, so Taughannock Farms grew and grew.”

There were no printed menus; the extensive list of appetizers, main dishes, and desserts was recited by the waitresses. Dinners were served family style. The rolls were made on the premises each day, as were the salads, pies, and other desserts. Soon after my parents became partners in the business and so that is where I grew up.  Anyone growing up in a family business knows that everybody works. And we did. But we, including our employees, were all “family,” and that is a special attribute of a family run business. 

Taughannock Farms Inn - The Early Years is archived and can be accessed at the Ulysses Historical Society in Trumansburg, NY. I encourage everyone who is part of a family business to document its history; it is too precious to lose. 

Nurturing the Land

I love this photo of my great-grandmother, Jesse May Tucker Agard (b: 1876), her sister, Adelaide Tucker (b: 1871), and Honey, the dog (birth date unknown), because this photo explains from where I inherited my need to be close to the land. Each spring I can’t wait to get out in the garden and turn over the soil, even though it is months before it is safe to plant.  Like Jesse I am driven to plant seeds and seedlings of various vegetables, always excited to try something new.

The Agard farm, overlooking Cayuga Lake, was worked by Jesse’s husband, Arthur Agard (b:1880), and his father, John Wesley Agard (b: 1857), and then later with Art and Jesse’s son, William  Agard (b: 1914).  While the men farmed and sold crops from their many acres, Jesse lovingly tended her smaller garden that provided food for her family.  She also grew various flowers in gardens around the yard.  Jesse tends her garden in a dress – she never wore slacks. With corn growing in the back of the garden, I suspect the spiky leaves towards the front are gladiolas. 

Jesse’s sister, Adelaide Tucker, remained single and taught school in Asbury Park, NJ. During school holidays she rode the train from New Jersey to Willow Creek to spend time with her family. 

The Hale Collection - An Interesting Discovery

In a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness request, I was asked if a Lawrence Bolan who died 9 Aug 1877 in Watertown, CT was buried in Newtown’s St. Rose Cemetery near his first wife, Mary Ann Dempsey Bolan, or his second wife, Catherine Lillis Bolan.  The only Bolan in the Hale Collection index was Catherine. There was no Mary Ann or Lawrence found in the listing for St. Rose Cemetery.

The Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions was a W.P.A. project that recorded headstone inscriptions of over 2,000 Connecticut cemeteries during the early-mid 1930s. The entire collection is available at the Connecticut State Library. The C.H. Booth Library in Newtown has this list for its local cemeteries.

Several years ago I had fun transcribing the Irish Tombstones in St. Rose Cemetery where the stone mentioned the parish or county the deceased was from. That database is on the Genealogy Club of Newtown website  [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ctgcnc/] and that is where Mary Ann Bolan was found by the family researcher.

A drive to the cemetery confirmed that not only was Mary Ann Bolan’s stone there, but right beside her was her husband, Lawrence.  For whatever reason the W.P.A. folks recording this cemetery missed this couple. But now they are found.

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY

In the 1905 NY Census viewed at the Westchester, NY Archives, I found five of my grandfather’s (Harry Nunn) siblings at St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY – Emma Nunn, Emilie Nunn, Joseph Nunn, Katie Nunn and George Nunn. There, also, I found a 1946 doctoral dissertation by Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman, FMSC on St. Joseph’s Home.  I learned from that dissertation that this home began in 1879 when the New York Department of Public Welfare requested the Franciscan Missionary Sisters accept orphans at their property in Peekskill, NY. During the mid-1800s many children lacked family support.  By 1899 St. Joseph’s was similar to a small city housing 1,100 residents. The nuns at St. Joseph’s offered traditional education, becoming one of the first institutions to be placed under the New York State Regents, as well as technical training, carpentry, sewing, shoemaking, etc. According to the “Notice of Discharge, Transfer, Home, or Death,” document, Harry had been placed on a farm in Middletown, N.J. on May 12, 1904.

In 1979 an arson fire destroyed the buildings, and the school was taken down in 1980. However, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters continue to have a small office in Peekskill, and therein are where the records of the Department of Public Charities Out-Door Poor children are kept. I am forever thankful that the Sisters keep these archives safe and shared the documents with me. 

 Harry Nunn - 1950s

Oral Histories

I have had the honor of working on oral histories for the Newtown, CT, Ulysses (Trumansburg), NY and Newfield, NY historical societies.  The stories are always fascinating and capture that person’s memory of time and place.  My husband and I have captured our mother’s voices and their oral histories. This excerpt from my mother’s, Carol Agard Nunn (b: 1924) oral history opens a window for me into what it was like to grow up on a farm in rural Willow Creek near Jacksonville, NY:

“Baths – showers were unheard of – baths were water heated in a big pan, usually an enameled pan – we called it a tub – on the stove, and on Saturday nights - it was one bath a week, we would put that in front of the stove and take our baths. During the week you would have what we called the sponge bath where you took a damp washcloth and went over your body. That was about it. You washed your hair once a week also.”

                                                    Agard Homestead early 1900s

Nunn Family - The Thrill of the Search

Nine years I searched for information on my grandfather, Harry Nunn. His marriage certificate states his father was Joseph Nunn; mother Catherine “Stiebert.”  Searching the 1910 Census, I found Nunn children living with their sister, Elizabeth “Siebert.” Since their mother had been placed in Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital, I realized my grandfather had used his sister’s married name – misspelled – on his marriage certificate. My grandfather was born in 1890; why couldn’t I find this family in the 1900 Census?  It wasn’t until I found an article in the Historic New York Times (April 19, 1905) about how Elizabeth Siebert sued her neighbor for the $300 she had placed in trust with her, and the neighbor, Mrs. Helene Louis, no longer had. The article was written because although the jury found that Mrs. Louis needed to repay the amount, Mrs. Louis’ circumstances were so distraught, the jury wanted to raise the $300 to keep her out of jail.

Using HeritageQuest and the Louis (Lewis) name, we searched for German men, age 50s, in Manhattan.  Within a few clicks, we found this family and next door to them was a family labeled “Joseph [scribble] Catherine” with both documented on the same line. Below them was a list of their children.  The reason I couldn’t find this family was I hadn’t looked under “Joseph” as the last name.  In this census Catherine states she has had eleven children; eight living. And there was my grandfather, then called Henry. 


Desperately seeking information on this family, especially from relatives of Evelyn "Eva" b: 1908 and Regina Siebert b: 1907, as their mother holds the key to this family. Happy to share.

Writing Your Family History

Turning research into an interesting and readable format is possibly the most difficult part of the process for genealogists.  At a Connecticut Society of Genealogists seminar in North Haven, CT on Oct. 16, we had the opportunity to hear Leslie Albrecht Huber speak on just that. Leslie’s new book, The Journey Takers is an enjoyable read. Leslie is a gifted writer and determined researcher.  We encourage you to visit her website, www.understandingyourancestors.com


By nature I am a very organized person. But, when it comes to genealogy, keeping information and family lines organized has been the biggest challenge. I now keep my information in three formats: a three ring binder that has all my family lines that have been researched and written up; a binder for each family line, with research material in plastic sleeves for easy on-the-go research trips for that particular line, and then names and dates in the Apple Reunion database file.  I have always felt that genealogy was much more than names and dates. You will never hear me exclaim that I have this many names in my database. That is not important to me. What is important is to fully flesh out my ancestors to learn more about them and what their lives were like. And this is where the Fulton County History website has been so important. By reading newspapers of our ancestors' time, researchers can find out the social and political history that impacted their lives.


I begin each family line with a descendant chart, giving parents names and birth dates, followed by the children with their birth and death dates as known. My direct ancestor is indicated in bold. Each family member is featured with as much information as I can gather for where they lived, who they married, their occupation, etc.
For one line of the Hardenbrook family it looks like this:

Descendants of John Hardenbrook b: 1820 (NY) and Anna E. Crisfield Hardenbrook b: 1824; m: 19 June 1847

Washington Hardenbrook b: 1848 (Lodi, NY) d: 14 Jan 1904 (Willard, NY)

Enoch H. Hardenbrook b: 4 May 1852; d: 2 December 1905[1]

Frank Hardenbrook b: 1853; d: 1932 

John Hardenbrook was a farmer, whose property bordered the Crisfields in the Town of Lodi, Seneca County, New York, and is how he met Anna E. Crisfield. They married on June 19, 1847 at the Dutch Reformed Church in Ovid, NY by Reverend John Liddell.  Their witnesses were Mr. and Mrs. Hunt.[2] John and Anna Hardenbrook had three sons, Washington, Enoch, and Frank.[3] 

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[1] For purposes of this genealogy, I will use the name “Enoch’ born 1851 and will call his son,” Enos,” born 1882.  Death date from Interlaken Index compiled by Diane Nelson.

[2] Ulysses Historical Society

[3] 1860 and 1870 Census of Seneca County, NY.  (HeritageQuest)