Vital Records (June 28)

Chenango Republican, Oxford, NY, January 18, 1828

Married:  In Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], on the 1st inst., by the Rev. Mr. Rexford, David Buttolph, Esq., Counsellor at Law, to Mrs. Esther Kelsoe, all of that town.

Died:  In this Town [Oxford, Chenango Co., NY], on the 8th and 9th last, Hezekiah and Mary Wheeler, the former aged 81, and the latter 84 years.  Theirs was a rare case of longevity, having lived nearly 60 years together with reciprocal affection, and enjoying uninterrupted health, partaking of all the blessing and pleasures that honest industry, and hearts free from guile can afford.  Their deaths are lamented by numerous relatives and friends.  It was their wish that neither might long survive the other; that the tender affection and mutual love they bore each other might not be lessened by a separation.  Their prayers were heard; their feeble lamps became extinct together, and they now be shrouded in death beneath the cold clods of the valley in one grave together.

Died:  In this village [Oxford, Chenango Co., NY], on the 15th inst., Luther Newcomb, aged 36.

Chenango Union, Norwich, NY, September 26, 1878

Marriage Notice

FARNSWORTH-DeVOE:  In Afton [Chenango Co., NY], Sept. 11th, by Rev. N.J. Hawley, Mr. I. Burr Farnsworth, to miss Minnie B. DeVoe, all of Afton.

Death notices

INGERSOLL:  In this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], on Tuesday morning, Sept. 24th, after a brief illness of heart disease, Helen M. [Ingersoll], wife of Frederick W. Ingersoll, aged 52 years, 8 months.

THURSTON:  In this town [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], Sept. 21st, Oliva [Thurston], wife of William Thurston, and daughter of the late Benjamin Draper, of Morris, Otsego Co., aged 73 years, 2 months and 16 days.

FINOUT:  In Greene (Page Brook) [Chenango Co., NY], Sept. 11th, Mrs. Eunice Finout, aged 53 years.

DAVIS:  In Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], Sept. 15th, Mr. Henry Davis, aged 61 years.

NICHOLSON:  in Preston [Chenango Co., NY], Sept. 23d, Mr. Wm. Nicholson, aged 89 years.

WEAVER:  In Pitcher [Chenango Co.., NY], Sept. 19th, Mr. George M. Weaver, aged 41 years.

PECK:  In Albien, Orleans Co., Sept. 1st, Elizabeth McLane [Peck], wife of Elias B. Peck, aged 40 years, formerly of Pitcher [Chenango Co., NY].

ELKINTON:  In Philadelphia, Sept. 21st, Mr. George M. Elkinton, brother-in-law of B.H. and Henry F. Weeden of this village.

Chenango Union, Norwich, NY, October 17, 1878

Guilford News Items

Many changes have taken place among our fellow mortals and of those whom we saw in active and vigorous life but a few weeks ago, several have paid the debt of nature, and "gone to that bourne from whence no traveler returns."  Of those whose "sands of life were nearly run," or who were less firmly held by the silver cord, a number have been gathered to their final rest.  Of the former, and closely following the death of a devoted wife, is that of Philip Wheeler, just west of our place, who died on the 11th inst., aged bout 55 years.  An active, energetic farmer, Mr. Wheeler had accumulated a handsome property, and will be missed among a large class of business men.  With some failings, he also had many good qualities and the care which he bestowed upon an aged father and mother till their death go someway to mitigate the former.

Among the latter class are Lorenzo M. Belden, Charles Thompson and Roger Williams, all of them old residents of this vicinity.  Of Mr. Williams something more than a passing notice is due him.  Born at Gloucester, Providence Co., R.I., in 1790, he came to Guilford [Chenango Co., NY] in February, 1818, and settled just west of what was then known as "Cable's Pond"--the Guilford Lake now.  Hardly an attempt at a village was visible here then, and the surrounding country was dense, heavy forest.  His nearest neighbors, Stephen Isbell, Henry Wheeler, Caleb Winsor, Lemuel Jewell and Henry Abbey, who came into the country with him, lived distant a mile or more. At first their nearest grist mill was at Shaver's Corners (now East Guilford) but soon after a small, one-run affair, called May's Mill, was started at Guilford.  What would now be trivial were then startling incidents, and in one of them Mr. W. enacted the part of the hero. A rough looking man with a valuable horse and trappings was accidentally discovered secreted in the thick woods to the left of the Old Turnpike just above the Lake, under suspicious circumstances.  Of course the settlers were astir, and they decided to "interview" him.  On surrounding him, he attempted to escape, but was confronted by Mr. W., whereupon he drew a large pistol, leveled it at Mr. W,'s head, and pulled the trigger, but it failed to go.  In the language of Mr. W., "I didn't wait, but with the strength of a tiger, I seized him by the throat and choked him till he was black in the face."  The man was bound and retained, and proved to be a horse thief of the most desperate character.  "Uncle Roger," as Mr. W., came to be familiarly known, afterwards removed upon a farm between our village and the "Centre" where he resided till his death, on the 30th ult.

Mrs. Joshua B. Root

Chenango Union, Norwich, NY, October 17, 1878

The residents of our village [Guilford, Chenango Co., NY], were startled on Wednesday afternoon last, to learn that the wife of Mr. Joshua B. Root had committed suicide by handing herself in the barn, at their residence on Albany street.

The lady was first discovered by Mr. Root, who went ot the barn from a field where he had been at work to escape the shower that was coming up.  She stood in a natural position about midway from the door, and Mr. Root spoke to her in surprise at seeing her there, and receiving no reply, went up to her and found that she was suspended by a cord from her neck, which was attached to a spike in a beam near the center of the barn.  He immediately lowered the body and summoned assitance.  Dr. McFarland was called, but she was past all help, and must have been dead when Mr. R. entered the barn. Afterwards he made an examination and found that her neck was not broken, death resulting from strangulation. The cord was knotted about her neck loosely, and did not tighten with her weight, and was found to be loose when she was taken down. She stood on her feet in a natural positon, and it must have taken quite a determination on her part for her to have accomplished her purpose.  How long she had been in the barn it is not known, Mr. R. had left her in the house an hour or so before she was discovered, and Mrs. Hunt, who occupies part of the house, had not heard her leave the house, and supposed that she was taking her afternoon nap.

The lady was Mr. Root's second wife, to whom he had been married about ten years; she was mother-in-law to Rev. L.E. Spafford, a former pastor of the Baptist church in this village.  Her funeral was held on Friday.  She was of a nervous, sensitive temperament, and had been in poor health for a number of years.  Some months ago she had a partial paralytic stroke, and had been very low spirited, and at times her friends considered her insane, and there is no doubt of the face now.

Coroner Avery, of Norwich, held an inquest on Thursday evening, the jury rendering a verdict that she came to her death "by strangulation produced by her own hand while in a state of unsound mind, and no other way."