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

 Chenango Union, Norwich, NY, July 6, 1876

Marriage

BUTTON - HOLTON:  At the residence of the bride's parents in Warsaw, N.Y. [Wyoming Co.], June 28th, Mr. Charles H. Button of Norwich [Chenango Co. NY] to Miss Clara D. Holton.

Deaths

REDFIELD:  In Waupacca, Wisconsin, April 17th, 1876, in the 49th year of her age, Lucretia Maria [Redfield] wife of Jared S. Redfield and daughter of Chauncey and Amy Smith, of McDonough, N.Y. [Chenango Co.].

She left a husband and two affectionate children to mourn her loss.  For the past few years, she has been in declining health, and after patiently enduring her affliction, departed, it is believed, in peace and happy in the comforts of a Christian faith.  Her sister in North Oxbridge, Mass., anticipating a visit from her, having been separate twenty-five years, but instead of that satisfaction, she received with         sadness the news of her death.  Her two remaining brothers and a sister in the State of New York have alike been bereaved and their anticipated pleasure turned into sorrow.  Family connections here are suddenly severed, and homes made desolate, yet the hope and expectation of meeting with the family of the redeemed, where separation never comes and sorrow is unknown, is a balm to the wounded spirit and brings joy to the disconsolate.  Losses are not without their compensation.  The works of faith shall find their reward in Heaven.   A Sister.

CHESEBRO:  Nathan R. Chesebro, aged seventy-one years, a native of Brookfield [Madison Co. NY], died on the 22d ult.  He was the inventor and builder of the celebrated automatic organ which has been exhibited for years past, in various parts of the country.

HOUCK:  In Guilford [Chenango Co. NY], June 29th, Mr. Josiah Houck aged 77 years.

News Item

Fifty Years Ago

Editor Union:   Some fifty-two years ago [1824], the writer of this article commenced to learn his A. B. C's in District No. 3 of the town of Guilford [Chenango Co. NY], of a worthy teacher, Josiah Houck, whose death is chronicled in your paper of today.

Looking down the vista of years, we cannot help noting the changes if not improvements the half century has produced.  Our temple of science then and there was a low frame building, 20x40 feet, with a large fireplace in one end, flanked on one side by an entry and the other by a closet, while around three sides of the building attached to the wall were permanent seats with a continuous desk in front on which the large scholars wrote or reclined; but for us, the smaller fry, our seats were made from some hard wood mill-call joists, about seven inches wide, the legs of which were so long that we could not touch our feet to the floor and no rests for our backs made the hours seem very long, the monotony of which was varied by being called down four times a day to take a lesson in the alphabet and then sent back to our perches again. Our fuel was furnished by each parent or guardian, usually at the rate of one cord of three-foot wood per scholar, and forty to fifty cords would be disposed of in a winter.

The teacher boarded with each family in proportion to the number of scholars sent and his wages were collected from those that sent them.  Discipline was strict; a scholar too large to be punished was too large to go to school.  The rod was constantly in sight, and no one disputed the master's right to use it.  We do not advocate a return to the old system again and yet it had some advantages. The parent who paid the expenses was more anxious that the child should profit by the outlay; the youth, realizing the burden the home circle was bearing and that each dollar expended for them must be earned, improved their limited opportunities to a greater extent and learning to help themselves was the best of lessons.

Fifty years have passed, and the old schoolhouse has disappeared and a modern one occupies the site.  The lands around it remain, but they are cultivated by other hands.  Of the sixty scholars then attending, less than a score remain; the teacher has gone to his rest; and one by one, teacher and taught, companions and landmarks, disappear.

Chenango Telegraph, Norwich, NY, July 6, 1876

Marriages

COOPE - HAYES:  In Norwich [Chenango Co. NY], at the residence of Mrs. M. Burrs, June 28, by Rev. H.M. Crydenwise, Mr. Adelbert F. Coope of Finishing, Mich., to Miss Anna Hayes of Coventry, N.Y. [Chenango Co. NY].

PEARSALL - DURHAM:  At the residence of the bride's father, Mr. Clark Minor, July 2d, 1876, by the Rev. George D. Horton of Bainbridge, Hon. Charles Pearsall to Miss Rebecca F. Durham both of Coventryville [Chenango Co. NY].

FAIRBANKS - POWERS:  In Preston [Chenango Co. NY], at the residence of the bride, June 14th, by Rev. T.Y. Dean, Mr. Charles T. Fairbanks of Pharsalia [Chenango Co. NY] and Miss Sarah E. Powers of Preston.

Deaths

On the 15th of June, a little child, eleven months old, was instantly killed near Portlandville [Otsego Co. NY].  Mrs. Georgie had been rinsing some white clothes in a washtub, which set on the doorstep and taking precaution she went into the room, took a chair and laid it in the door in such a manner that she thought her child could not possibly get out of the door. She stepped a few feet to the clothesline to hang out her clothes, only three pieces. She had placed only one piece on the line when she heard something fall into the tub of water.  She ran to the child's assistance and took it into her arms, but it was dead.  The little child had fallen into the tub and broken its neck by the fall.

Mrs. Schayver, wife of Rev. A. Schayver of the M.E. Church at Margaretville [Delaware Co. NY] on the 23d of June.  On Wednesday, Mr. and Mrs. S. started on a ride to Mr. Warren Dimmick's which on the way thither a whiffletree broke, and the team ran away.  Mrs. Schayver was thrown violently from the wagon, sustaining fatal injuries.  She lingered, however, until Friday, when she expired.