Vital Records, Norwich, NY, January to March 1848

 Chenango Telegraph, Norwich, NY

Marriages

On the 11th inst. in this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], by Rev. J.S. Mitchell, Herkimer W. Brewer, of Plymouth [Chenango Co. NY] to Miss Harriet Aldrich, of Norwich. [Jan. 19, 1848]

On the 15th inst. by the same, Selwin Babcock to Miss Salina Bowers, all of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY] [Jan. 19, 1848]

At South New Berlin [Chenango Co., NY], on the 22d inst. by the Rev. J.H. Chamberlain, Mr. William Lewis, of New Berlin, to Miss Emma Gadsby, of Holmesville [Chenango Co., NY]. [Jan. 26, 1848]

In Pharsalia, Chenango Co. [NY], on the 20th inst. by Elder J.M. Crandall, Mr. Almon Benton, of Spencer, Tioga Co. [NY] to Miss Betsy F. Lewis, of the former place. [Feb. 2, 1848]

In Pitcher [Chenango Co., NY], on the 12th inst. by the Rev. W.S. Smith, Mr. Benjamin F. Baldwin of Butternuts [Otsego Co., NY], to Miss Amy R. Baldwin, of the former place. [Mar. 15, 1848]

On the 1st inst. by Rev. J.S. Mitchell, Mr. Phillip A. Sweet, of Otselic [Chenango Co., NY] to Miss Mary Williams, of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY]. [Mar. 15, 1848]

In this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], on Wednesday morning last, by Rev. S. Gondale, Mr. Edmond Tucker to Miss Eliza Roberts. [Mar. 22, 1848]

Also, by the same, on Thursday evening, Mr. Levi Brown to Miss Elizabeth Dyer, both of Sherburne [Chenango Co., NY]. [Mar. 22, 1848]

On the 23rd inst. by the Rev. S. Goodale, Mr. Charles L. Thompson of Oxford [Chenango Co., NY] to Miss Elizabeth A. Wait, daughter of Dr. W.C. Wait, of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY]. [Mar 29, 1848]

Deaths

In McDonough [Chenango Co., NY] on the 6th inst., Mrs. Lucy Barber, aged 59 years. [Feb. 16, 1848]

In Otselic [Chenango Co., NY], on the 2d inst., Mr. Samuel Thompson, aged 23 years.  The deceased was ever kind, amiable and exemplary in his deportment, and to his numerous brothers, sisters and other relatives and friends, and especially to his parents, his death is an irreparable loss.  He was generally known and highly respected.  Five clergymen and one of the largest congregations ever assembled at South Otselic attended his funeral, the meeting house being insufficient to accommodate them.  Sincere sorrow appeared written upon every countenance, and the tears which so freely flowed from the eyes of the young, many of whom he was instructing but a few days previous, proved that the remembrance of him was embalmed in their hearts.  May all the sorrowful be comforted by the sentiments there proclaimed, and the glorious prospect there presented of the final ingathering of a redeemed and purified universe in everlasting life, immortal youth and fadeless joy.  J.Y.G. [Feb. 16, 1848]

On the 30th ult., Mrs. Roxse Case, wife of Russel Case, Esq., of Smyrna [Chenango Co., NY], aged 56 years. [Feb. 16, 1848]

In Earlville [Madison Co., NY], on Thursday, the 17th inst., after a lingering illness, of consumption, John Burke, aged 19 years.  There is something connected with the decease of this unfortunate young man which strikes a deep thrill to the hearts of all within the circle of his acquaintance.  He came among us a short time since for the purpose of procuring suitable medical aid.  His history is fraught with the vicissitudes of life; in fact, he seemed from the beginning to have been a mark for the shafts of misfortune.  At an early age, he was deprived of all his connections by the ravages of the cholera.  His means of subsistence were wrested from him, and he was thrown, a helpless orphan, upon the wide and cheerless world.  He resorted to a trade for sustenance, but no sooner had he perfected himself in this, than disease commenced its ravages upon his system. After trying in vain all remedies which he could obtain, he came hither, hoping that the desired aid could be found.  But all of no avail.  Slowly, but surely did he fall before the stroke of death, and at length departed in peace from a world of woe and pain, we trust, to reign in another where joy and peace abound.  His peaceful disposition and sweetness of temper not only made him an object of generous sympathy but raised up a great number of friends who rendered his burdens light.  But his trials are o'er, and as noble a heart as ever beat sleeps in the calm of Death.  [Feb. 23, 1848]

At his residence, in North Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], on Wednesday morning, the 8th inst. of pulmonary apoplexy, Isaac S. Bockee, Esq., in the 61st year of his age.  The sudden decease of our worthy friend, whose obituary is just recorded, sensibly reminds us that "in the midst of life we are in death."  Although for some days previous to his departure from the scenes of earth, he was quite indisposed, no serious apprehensions were entertained as to his recovery, until there arose a new combination of symptoms, alike fearful in their nature, and fatal in their tendency.  The dead cannot profit by this solemn dispensation, but the lesson to us and to all of the too practical are ever to be forgotten, and the admonitory voice is "be ye also ready," as we have every reason to hope and trust was he whose mortal remains now lie moldering back to their mother earth.  Of the history of the deceased, the writer of this imperfect tribute knows but little; but from the happiness of a short acquaintance, and the information gathered of his character, and his virtues, from an extensive and exalted reputation, we believe we are more than warranted in saying the town in which he has so long resided, the church of which he was  a member, as well as others, and the immediate community where he lived, have sustained in him a loss which can never be made up. Many hearts have been made glad by the munificence of his benefactions.  He exhibited evidence of a sound judgment, a well-balanced, and a well stored mind and possessed qualifications of a superior order.  Home, with him, was the theatre of his fondest hopes, the domestic circle and the friends he loved, the center of his best affections, the extent of his ambition.  But he is now gone from amongst us and from our midst. And if missed so much by all, so much by those who knew him least, who can estimate the loss and the loneliness of the bereaved family of which he was the husband and their head.  [Mar. 15, 1848]

In Greene [Chenango Co., NY], on the 12th inst., Mrs. Mary A. [Chase] wife of Lester Chase, Esq., aged 21 years.  The deceased fell a victim to consumption, and although suffering the debility and languor which usually accompany that gradually wasting disease, yet she was sustained in an uncommon degree by the power of Christian patience and fortitude.  Possessed naturally of strong energy of character, she was enabled by reliance upon Divine strength, to bear up to the last with firmness and was confined to a couch of prostration but one entire day, and that the last of her existence. [Mar. 22, 1848]

At his residence in Ithaca [Tompkins Co., NY] on Sunday afternoon, the 19th inst., Ben Johnson, Esq. in the 65th year of his age.  Another of our distinguished citizens has departed.  He was stricken with paralysis on the Monday morning preceding his death and lingered almost wholly unconscious until the afternoon of the Sabbath.  In the midst of his family, and in apparent health, without warning or anticipation, the bolt of Death found and suddenly prostrated him.  Mr. Johnson was extensively known as an eminent lawyer.  The energies of his life had been devoted with great fidelity to his profession.  He was an early resident of Ithaca, and for kindness of heart, for unostentatious philanthropy, for active enterprise, and a uniform interest in the prosperity of the place, no man was more respected and beloved.  This was well illustrated by the anxious interest manifested by all our citizens when they learned that he was struggling with the great conqueror, Death. But he was deeply imbued with those principles which would insure to him the final triumph.  He was a Christian, humble and trusting, and has gone to his reward.  Ithaca Daily Chronicle, March 21. [Mar. 29, 1848]

At Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 25th Feb. Joseph B. Fenton, Esq., son of J.S. Fenton, formerly of this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], in the 33rd year of his age.  Mr. Fenton had established himself in that city in the practice of the law, and altho' a young practitioner, had acquired an enviable reputation for his critical understanding of the philosophy of legal science. Among the prominent lawyers of longer practice than himself in Cincinnati, he was recognized as one of their number.  He has fallen in the springtime of life, amid ardent aspirations for the future in the immaturity of his fame. [Mar. 29, 1848]