Obituaries (August 23)

Anna Robinson Ingraham

1873 - 1928

Mrs. Anna Robinson Ingraham of Oxford [Chenango Co., NY], wife of Alvin Ingraham died at her home on Butler street Friday morning, March 23.  She had been in poor health since the first of the year, but death was due to pneumonia which developed about two weeks ago.  Mrs. Ingraham was the daughter of Irving and Lucy Steele Robinson and was born February 14, 1873 at Forkston, Pa.  She was married to Alvin Ingraham December 31, 1892.  Twenty-eight years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Ingraham moved to a farm about three miles from the village of Oxford where they remained until about five years ago, when they moved to the present home on Butler street.  At the age of eighteen, Mrs. Ingraham united with the M.E. Church at Afton. During the last weeks of her life she found increasing comfort in the quiet reading of the Bible.  Mrs. Ingraham is survived by her husband, two sons, Ira and Irving, and one daughter, Miss Mae Ingraham, all of Oxford; also thirteen grandchildren.  Another daughter, Mrs. Eugene Diamond, died in January of this year.  The funeral services were held at the Undertaking Parlors of Seymour & Son, Monday afternoon, with Rev.  H.E. Weavers officiating. Burial was made in Riverview cemetery [Oxford, NY].

John H. Petley

1879 - 1939

Funeral services for John H. Petley were held at the family residence at Rockdale [Chenango Co., NY] at 2 o'clock, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 26, 1939.  Rev. Norman B. Graves, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church of West Endicott, N.Y., formerly pastor of the Mt. Upton M.E. Church, conducted the service.  The house was filled to over flowing by relatives and friends, showing the esteem in which the deceased was held.  He was a member of the First Methodist church of Guilford; a member of the Board of Education of Mt. Upton Central School, and a member of the P.M.E. Club of Mt. Upton.  He had been active in various group projects for dairy and other farm work and had been associated in several committees in and around Mt. Upton.  John H. Petley was born Sept. 21, 1879, in the town of Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], the son of Thomas H. Petley and Betsey Hamilton.  He attended school in Bainbridge High School.  On Feb. 20, 1901, he was untied in marriage to L. Viola Sackett, daughter of the late Rev. Charles H. and Belle C. Sackett.  She survives her husband, as do also one daughter, Mrs. Clifford A. Tuckey of Sidney, and one son, Ralph Sackett Petley of New Berlin, N.Y. and three grandchildren of New Berlin, N.Y.  He is also survived by two brothers and two sisters.  Henry and Herbert of Bainbridge, and Mrs. Nancy Blencoe of Guilford and Mrs. William Northrup of Bainbridge.

Stephen Homa

Richfield Springs Mercury, July 29, 1943

Stephen Homa, eleven years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Homa of Barstow's Corners, four miles west of Richfield Springs, was instantly killed shortly after the noon hour Thursday of last week when a 12-gage shotgun he was carrying on his lap while operating a tractor, accidentally discharged its contents into his head.  Doctor Harris V. Frink of Richfield Sprigs, Otsego County Coroner, said the gun was discharged close to the lad's head and that death was instantaneous.  Coroner Frink issued a verdict of accidental death and gave permission for the removal of the body to a Utica funeral home.  Mr. and Mrs. Homa were in Utica on business when the mishap occurred. They were found by Utica police and notified of the tragedy, second to occur in the family in two years.  An infant daughter was killed when she was run over by a gasoline truck in 1941.  A 14-year-old brother of the victim told Dr. Frink that Stephen was killed while trying to back the tractor out of a shed. The boy had operated the tractor on the family farm for some time.  "Stephen said he was going hunting, but I told him that he was too young and to leave the gun at home as it was loaded," the older brother told Dr. Frink.  After telling his brother the gun was unloaded, Stephen started the motor of the tractor and attempted to back it up. The machine stuck and as the boy raised himself to operate the gear shift lever, the gun dropped from his lap and discharged. The brother grabbed Stephen and turned off the ignition.  Stephen Homa was born on February 22, 1932, He had passed to the sixth grade in school last June.  In addition to the parents there survive five sisters, Amelia, Lorraine, Sophie, Wanda and Joan; two brothers, Robert and Joseph; the grandparents in Utica, four uncles, three of whom are fighting for Uncle Sam; and two aunts in Utica.

Horace Merithew

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, December 11, 1897

Rockdale [Chenango Co., NY]:  Horace Merithew died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Francis Owen, in Sidney [Delaware Co., NY] on Friday last, and the funeral was held in the Union church at Rockdale today.  The deceased had been a consistent member of the M.E. church at this place for the past thirty years, and his many friends and relatives completely filled the church edifice to show their esteem and respect ot the memory of the departed.  Rev. Mr. Blair of Mt. Upton, preached the sermon from the text, "If a Man Die, Shall he Live Again."  A passage of scripture that the deceased had long since selected for the occasion. Burial was made at Mt. Upton [Chenango Co., NY].

William W. Sackett

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, December 11, 1897

Rockdale [Chenango Co., NY]:  W.W. Sackett died at his home in Sidney [Delaware Co., NY] last Wednesday.  The deceased died quite suddenly and the news of this death came very unexpectedly to his former friends and neighbors in this place. He had been closely identified with the Grange, of which he was past master, and it has been said in keeping up the order, he had shown great liberality.

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, December 11, 1897

William W. Sackett died at Sidney N.Y. on Wednesday December 1st at the age of 63 years.  He was ill but a few hours, death resulting from a complication of asthma and heart disease.  He was a life long resident of Chenango county and was born in the town of Plymouth [Chenango Co., NY], receiving his education in the common schools.  In his early manhood he was a successful teacher. At the age of 25 years he was united in marriage with Mary J. Boyd and purchased a farm.  Together they worked year after year, until success crowned their efforts and a competency was secured.  In 1881 he removed in the town of Guilford and purchased one of the finest farms in the Unadilla valley.  He was a progressive farmer, adopting modern ideas and applying them in cultivation of his crops and in the care of his stock.  He was considered a representative man by the community in which he lived and his advice and counsel were sought after in all matters pertaining to the farm.  He was an enthusiastic member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry.  At the time of his death he was one of the directors of the Patrons' Fire Relief association.  He leaves a wife and three daughters, Elida, the wife of Charles Preston of Sidney, and Mae and Pearl, who are at present students at the State normal school at Oneonta.  He was an indulgent husband, a kind and loving father and in his death the community loses an honored citizen and the grange a worthy member.  -- Henry A. Bradley, Rockdale, N.Y.