Vital Records, Chenango County, NY, February 1876 (continued)

 Chenango Telegraph, Norwich, NY, February 17, 1876

Marriages

PHILLIPS - UTTER:  In Georgetown [Madison Co. NY] on the 6th inst. by Rev. Mr. Holroyd at the residence of Wm. Utter, Mr. D.C. Phillips of Otselic [Chenango Co. NY], to Miss Mary Utter of Georgetown.

"It's a long road that never turns" and so Mr. D.C. Phillips of our town almost an old bachelor has found a life companion in the bright-eyed Mary Utter of Georgetown, Friday night the 11th inst., they received a rousing serenade by some young friends of the neighborhood.  Blessings be upon them.

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North Norwich [Chenango Co. NY], Feb. 14th, 1875:  Messers. Editors:  Seldom it is that anything happens in this rural district worth noticing; but on Thursday evening Feb. 10th, about forty of our citizens assembled at the house of Daniel Cole, and then proceeded en masse to the house of Prof. O.D. Taylor, jr., that evening being the fifth anniversary of his wedding.  The object of the party was to surprise Mr. Taylor and family, as well as to add to the interest of the anniversary exercises.

As the intruders came filing in, one by one, each laden with baskets and pails, packages and pans of refreshments, the family stood there perfect pictures of surprise, until the entire company had entered the room.  When ex Commissioner Luddington introduced the party as friends, who proposed take peaceable possession which was freely granted.

The party soon settled down to the enjoyment of the occasion and what but a few moments before was a chaos of surprise and excitement was now a quiet circle of neighbors and friends.

This quiet, however, was of short duration, for some four or five who had quietly stepped out, came in bringing a neat stand and a fine set of cane-seated parlor chairs, which to add to the surprise already made, were presented to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor by M.B. Luddington, with appropriate and eloquent remarks.  Mr. Taylor who is ever ready, and equal to the occasion when a speech is required, responded to the presentation speech, in a very happy manner.  He expressed his gratitude to his neighbors and friends, for the many kindnesses shown him during his stay in our midst and especially this last token of friendship and esteem.

His remarks were so pleasing to the hearers that one speech would not suffice, so in a short time another party of three or four came in bringing with them twenty or twenty-five years of splendid carpeting, and table cloth, and some other smaller articles which were presented to Mr. and Mr. T., by Dr. Lewis, in a speech he knows so well how to make, always spiced with wit and humor, provoking his hearers to laughter, and at the same time impressing itself upon all who were fortunate enough to hear as just the thing for the occasion.

He expressed the mind of all present when he wished that Mr. and Mrs. T. might ever walk on carpets, and especially that their path through life might always be carpeted with mutual love and prosperity. And also, that wherever the path of duty might lead them, that the table of their hearts and memory might ever be as well loaded with the love and respect of their neighbors as now, and that it might always be covered with the tablecloth of virtue and self-respect, was the wish of all present.

Both Mr. and Mrs. T. expressed their appreciation of the presents, and assured their friends that it was the motive that prompted the act, that endeared the givers as well as the presents to them, rather than the value of the articles presented.  At the same time expressing the wish that they might prove themselves worthy of the confidence reposed in them.  At the conclusion of the presentation ceremonies, a portion of the company repaired to another room, where all who felt disposed united in singing with Miss Harris who presided at the organ with ladylike dignity and in her usual skillful manner.  Shortly the welcome music of the call from labor to refreshment, greeted the ears of all, and they quickly responded and fell to work to try to destroy the piles of "goodies" brought on, but the effort proved futile and had to be abandoned.  Mirth and music held the company until a late hour, and when finally it became necessary to leave, the reluctance with which the party broke up, was sufficient proof that all had enjoyed the evening.

Deaths

Samuel Potter died Feb. 7th, 1876, at the residence of his father-in-law, Abram Rogers in Cuyler, Cortland County [NY].  Potter was wounded, being shot by his wife's brother last summer or fall, from the effects of which he has now died.  The occasion of the shooting was that Potter was a trespasser on what his brother-in-law considered his inestimable rights in the domestic relation.

James Johnson the oldest citizen of Laurens [Otsego Co. NY], died last week at the age of ninety-one years.

Oxford Times, Oxford, NY, February 16, 1876

Death

VAIL:  In Grand Rapids, Mich., Feb. 10, 1876, Cora Bessie [Vail] daughter of George H. and Alice M. Vail, aged thirteen weeks.

News Item

Who Is It?

The following first appeared int he Mariette, O. Register, we copy it from another Ohio paper, sent to a gentleman in this village by a friend and former resident:

Over fifty years ago, there lived in Chenango County, New York, a family consisting of father, mother and two children.  the father left home when the youngest child was but two years old and five years later returned and remained a short time and went away again, never to return to his family.  The mother and two children subsequently came to Ohio, and settled in Washington County, where the children married and have families now residing.  The mother died a few years ago and the father was supposed to be dead, as nothing had been heard from him for forty-eight years.  And now comes the strangest art of the story.  A few years ago, an old man, who had for over thirty years resided in Union County in this State [Ohio], died at Marysville in that county, leaving a large fortune.  He had long lived in and near the town and was well known to the inhabitants as a quiet, reticent man, shrewd in dealings and never accustomed to talk, except on matters of business and no one knew from whence he came or could learn his family history. After his death, very little could be found to indicate where his relatives were, but a memoranda led to the belief that he had once been in Washington County and in fact someone had heard him say that he "married his first wife at Marietta, Ohio, who died leaving an infant son; that he gave the child to a man and wife who had no children, to bring up as their own, with this condition, that they were not to disclose who the father was; that he had improved a farm near Marietta, which he gave these persons.  He said his son had done business in Marietta; that he had visited him and talked with him without disclosing himself.

His administrator gave notice in our county that the heirs of Robson Lovett Broome were wanted.  No one seemed to know anything of such a man and along the old state road from Marietta to Athons none of the old inhabitants could recall such a mail carrier.  For a time the task of finding a clue seemed a hopeless one, but in a pocket diary was found noted down a description of certain farms lying in Washington and Athens counties, and upon investigation these proved to be farms owned by the two children long ago abandoned in New York, and further investigation revealed the fact that the old man had visited these farms and the families of his children a few years ago without disclosing his secret had gathered information and noted it down and left them none the wiser for his visit.

Why he did not disclose himself to them no one can tell, but it is positively known now that his assumed name, Robson Lovett Broome, under which he lived for over thirty years, bore no resemblance to his real name.  His estate of about $40,000 will doubtless be distributed to his heirs in this county.