Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Obituaries (June 26) MHD Collection

 
Mrs. Frank Lewis, Sr., of Afton [Chenango Co., NY] died yesterday in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Demeree, Harpursville, following a serious accident suffered early Thursday when she was struck by an automobile, in front of which she had accidentally stepped.  Her advanced age of 65 years, from the first made her condition doubly serious.  Mrs. Lewis had come to Harpursville from Afton in the bus running between the two places, to visit Mrs. Demeree.  She alighted from the bus, paid her fare and turning stepped directly in front of an automobile coming from the direction of Binghamton.  The car struck her in the side, breaking one leg, bruising her severely and causing internal injuries.  Mrs. Lewis was carried into her daughter's house, where she was attended by Dr. Charles S. Butler of Harpursville and Dr. Dodge of Afton.  She is survived by her husband, Frank A. Lewis, a contractor of Afton; six children, Francis Lewis, Mrs. Gilbert Demeree and Thomas Lewis of Harpursville, Fred Lewis of Afton and Mrs. Clarence Hurlburt and Mrs. Harry English of Sidney and two sisters, Mrs. Charlotte Dawes of Windemrer, England and Mrs. Ben Davis of Philadelphia.  The funeral will be held in St. Luke's Episcopal church in Harpursville on Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, the Rev. Fred J. Davis officiating.  Burial will be in Nineveh cemetery [Broome Co., NY].  [Norwich Sun, Aug. 7, 1920]
 
Melvin L. Kilmer, an old soldier residing in Oxford [Chenango Co., NY], was drowned in the Chenango river below that village Friday night while fishing from a boat.  Between 7 and 8 o'clock that evening he had gone out in a boat to fish in the river opposite Newkirk's cove, which is at the bend in the river just below Oxford village.  During the evening his nephew and niece, Mandeville and May Crosby, also fishing, came upon him, and on leaving him they asked him if he was not going home pretty soon.  Mr. Kilmer responded that he was in a little while.  They were the last to see him alive.  The crew on a Lackawanna freight train, at about 7:30 a.m., saw a man and boat floating in the river opposite Mr. Stratton's farm below Oxford, on their way here Monday.  On stopping at Oxford they promptly telephoned Mr. Stratton, who with a party of men waded out into the shallow water of the riffs which had checked the drift of the boat.  They found the unfortunate man with his head and part of his body in the water, one foot having caught under the seat of the boat.  They loaded him in and towed the boat ashore.  One oar, the stake and fish pole were found floating about the cove.  Mr. Kilmer was subject to heart trouble and had suffered from a bad spell the night before.  It is supposed that in attempting to get out of the boat he was seized with heart failure, and when partly out had caught his foot fast under the seat.  Being unable to recover himself he had drowned in the position in which he was found.  Coroner Wilcox was called and pronounced the cause of death accidental drowning.  Mr. Kilmer was born in Binghamton October 11, 1849, and was the son of Louis and Emily Kilmer.  When 18 years old he enlisted in the army as a private in Company E, 111th Regiment New York Volunteer infantry and served faithfully for three years.  About 30 years ago he came to Norwich [Chenango Co., NY] and resided here for about 27 years.  He had been employed on the section gangs of both the Lackawanna and O.&W. railroads, and was also a stone mason.  For several years of his residence here he was a member of E.B. Smith Post, G.A.R.  For the past three years he has made his home on Cornell street in Oxford.  Deceased is survived by his widow, two daughters, Ella and Nettie, and two sons, Charles and Louis, all of Norwich, one sister, Margaret, and one daughter, Myrtle, of Binghamton.  The body was brought to this place Sunday morning, and the funeral was held from the home of his widow, 11 Scott Street, at 3 o'clock Monday afternoon, Rev. S.J. Ford officiating.  Interment in Mt. Hope [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY].  [Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, Sept. 16, 1903]
 
Mrs. Jane W. Andrews, Widow of the late Elman L. Andrews, passed away at her home on North Main street, Tuesday, November 19, after a long illness.  Born in Coventry [Chenango Co., NY], July 31, 1853, Mrs. Andrews was the daughter of Franklin and Almyra Mudge.  On March 14, 1877, she was united in marriage to Elman Andrews at Coventry where they lived until 1902, when they moved to the present home in Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY].  They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1917 in the First Baptist Church, of Bainbridge.  She is survived by a daughter Mrs. Nellie Wakeman, two sons, George and Lester, all of Bainbridge.  14 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren, three brothers, Merton Mudge of Oxford, Ernest J. Mudge of Springfield, Mass., and Louis Mudge, of Johnson City; one sister, Mrs. Estelle Wilkins, of Binghamton and several nieces and nephews. The funeral services were held Friday, November 22, at the First Baptist Church, where she was an active member, with the Rev. R. Lewis Johnson officiating.  The church choir sang several hymns with Mrs. Ernest Hoyt at the organ.  The pall-bearers were Maurice Wilcox, Nathan E. Truman, Joseph Hitchcock, Albert DeGroat and Fred Robbins.  Burial was in Glenwood Cemetery in Afton [Chenango Co., NY].  [The Bainbridge News & Bainbridge Republican, Nov. 28, 1940]
 
Ray LeSuer, of Afton [Chenango Co., NY], was fatally injured on December 11, 1940, while working in the woods.  A tree, which he was cutting, fell on him crushing his skull.  He was taken to the Bainbridge Hospital, where he died Monday, December 16.  Born March 25, 1886, he was the youngest son of Nelson and Ida LeSuer.  His wife, Alice, died four years ago, leaving him with four children.  About 16 months ago, he married Leona Hastings, of Bainbridge.  He is survived by his widow, and four children, Raymond, Elbert, Elya and Vira; and aged mother; three sisters, Frances Prouty, Bennettsville, Mrs. Ruth Paltison, Brooklyn, and Mrs. Mable Norton, Nineveh; one brother, Harry LeSuer, Harpursville.  The body will remain in the vault until Spring when burial will take place in the East Side Cemetery at Afton.  [The Bainbridge News & Bainbridge Republican, Jan. 2, 1941]
 
Arthur Hendrickson, age 66, of Afton [Chenango Co., NY], passed away Jan. 3, 1941.  Mr. Hendrickson, who was a retired lumber dealer, was born in Doraville, June 28, 1874, the son of Levi and Emaline Ferguson Hendrickson.  the Funeral was held at Colwell's Chapel Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock with the Rev. Frederick Nichols, of Afton officiating.  The pallbearers were:  Ray Cass, Isaac Carl, Clarence Hendrickson, Earl Lyon, Ed Benedict and Lewis Corbin.  [The Bainbridge News & Bainbridge Republican, Jan. 9, 1941]


This community has lost one of its oldest and most prominent and highly respected citizens by the death of Charles W. Decker, which occurred at his home on the East Side Afton [Chenango Co., NY] on Sabbath morning, May 25, 1919, after a lingering illness.  Mr. Decker was the son of Mr. Selar Decker (one of the founders and charter members of the Presbyterian Church of this place forty years ago).  He was born in Eminence, Schoharie county, N.Y., on May 18, 1847, and had therefore just passed his seventy-second birthday.  The family came to Afton in 1866, and lived in the old home a short distance below the village on the east side of the river, now owned by his son, Frank H. Decker, of Colesville.  He was married to Miss Rachel A. BeVier, who survives him, as do also their three children, George F. Decker, Frank H. Decker, and Lillian May (Mrs. George W. McKee), and six grandchildren, and also by his only brother, Joseph A. Decker, all of Afton.  He was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church ever since his boyhood, and of the Church in Afton for nearly forty years, and a faithful and active Ruling Elder, in the Church during nearly all that period, and his benignant presence will be sadly missed by both the pastor and people.  His last days of illness were characterized by the quiet and unfaltering patience and faith in the Savior which had marked his life.  Like a tired child he fell asleep, passing away as sweetly and gently as he had lived, and in the first few moments of the Sabbath morning, with his beloved wife and children all by his bedside, he entered in the rest which remaineth for the people of God.  The funeral services were held in the home which he loved so well, on Thursday afternoon, May 29, conducted by his pastor, Dr. J.J. Francis, and attended by large numbers of his neighbors and friends.  Among the many beautiful floral tributes which lay upon his casket, brought by many loving  heats and hands, there were three which seemed peculiarly appropriate, one from "The loved ones of his own family", one "From the Presbyterian Church", and one bearing the card "From his Neighbors".  On the afternoon of an almost perfect summer day, beneath the blue sky and lovely flowers, we laid our dear old friend to rest in peaceful Glenwood Cemetery [Afton, Chenango Co., NY], overlooking his earthly home, and the beautiful scenes of the Susquehanna Valley, in the midst of which all the years of his manhood were spent; feeling that his life has been a blessing and a benediction to many of us.  J.J.F.

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