Obituaries (May 27)

William Earl

Utica Saturday Globe, July 28, 1906
 

William Earl

 

North Pharsalia [Chenango Co., NY]:  William Earl died at his home one and one-half miles west of North Pharsalia at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday, July 25.  Deceased was born on a farm at Hemmingport, P.Q. [Quebec], in 1841, where he resided until the civil war, when he enlisted in Company D, Ninety-sixth Regulars, New York Infantry.  He was a valiant soldier and well liked by all his comrades.  During the war he received injuries which affected him throughout the rest of his life.  In 1866, at Champlain, N.Y., he was married to Miss Rachel Jane Maken, and to them was born one daughter, now Mrs. Annie Phillips, of Rindge, N.H., who with her husband and several children, survives.  Mr. Earl came to North Pharsalia in 1870.  He married Mrs. Martha Hall, to whom was born one daughter, Mrs. Belle Bowers, who, with one daughter, is also left to mourn her father's loss.  He was an industrious citizen and was held in high esteem by his family and a large circle of friends.  Besides his widow and two daughters, deceased leaves two sisters, Mrs. Emily Sutton, of Gerald, Pa.; Mrs. Jacob Vreeland, of Lee, Mass., and one brother, Robert Earl, of Wood's Falls, N.Y.  Funeral services will be conducted at the home of Mrs. Belle Bowers, in the village of North Pharsalia, Sunday at 10 a.m.

 

Dr. Alexander & Lurey Purdy/Purdie

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, January 17, 1883

On Friday morning last the venerable Doctor Purdy and his wife were both found dead in their bed at their residence in Otselic [Chenango Co., NY].  When found they had apparently been dead for some time, and had every appearance of having died a natural death.  Surmises, however, were made that they died from suffocation by coal gas, or from the extreme cold.  Some were uncharitable enough to intimate foul play upon the part of someone.  Dr. H.C. Lyman, Coroner, of Sherburne, hearing of the circumstances, made investigation of it, and the case seeming to be so clear to him that it was a case of "visitation of God," he did not deem in inquest necessary, which decision was generally concurred by those most conversant with the facts.  The best accepted theory is that the wife died in a fit, which so excited the husband as also to result fatally with him.  Both were in extreme old age, and have been for some time in feeble health.

Utica Morning Herald, January 17, 1883

Curious Death of an Aged Couple:  On Friday morning last, old Dr. Purdy and wife, of North Otselic [Chenango Co., NY], were found dead on their kitchen floor.  They were living alone in a small dwelling near their son, Dr. Purdy, in the same yard.  The circumstances attending their death are obscure.  From appearances it is conjected that the old lady, before retiring, attempted to put some wood in the stove, and fell in a fit.  One hand was burned or blackened, besides several bruises about the person.  It is further conjectured that the old gentleman, who was almost blind, with one leg gone, in coming to the rescue of  his wife, who was nearly blind, from nervous excitement or exhaustion, also fell in a fit or swoon and died.  There were some cuts or bruises upon his body, showing that quite an effort or struggle of some sort had been made before he had become extinct.  The doctor was 84, his companion 76.  the house they occupied was formerly the office of the younger Dr. Purdy, a few steps from  his own dwelling, and had been fitted for the comfort and convenience of the aged couple, that all needed care and attention might be bestowed.  Further investigation may shed additional light, disclose other facts, or modify the statement made explanatory of this most singular and startling event.  The venerable pair, who in life were not separated, who mysteriously passed away, probably at the same hour, perhaps at the same moment, were buried side by side in the peaceful quiet of the Quaker cemetery at Smyrna, Sunday afternoon.

Hon. Jacob K. Lull

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, January 20, 1883

Another of our honored citizens has passed to his rest.  On Tuesday  morning, Jan. 16th, 1883, Hon. Jacob K. Lull died, at the ripe age of 88 years and 4 months, being born Sept. 12, 1794.  His parents were Joseph and Martha Lull, who came to this town before the Revolutionary war, in 1773, and settled upon the farm now occupied by C.L. Whitcomb.  Jacob K. Lull was the tenth child of a family of sixteen children.  When he was 17 years old he went to Hudson to learn the tanner's and currier's trade.  Having finished his trade, at the age of 24 years, he built a tannery on the homestead farm, where he carried on the business twenty-one years.  He then suspended that branch of his business, and gave his whole attention to the manufacture of boots and shoes, which business he established in this village, occupying the stone shop, opposite his residence, on East Main street.  Mr. Hull was a successful business man, and at different periods of his active business life, was called to fill positions of trust.  In the fall of 1873 he was elected to the State legislature.  After the expiration of his term as Assemblyman he returned to his home and attended to his former business.  For the last twenty-five years he has lived a retired life, among those who have ever respected him.  In his death, passes away the last of the old settlers of this town--Morris Chronicle.

William Fielden

Afton Enterprise, January 29, 1891

A very pathetic incident occurred at the funeral of the late William Fielden.  Mr. Fielden has no relatives in this country and his faithful dog was the nearest mourner.  When the neighbors gathered to pay their last respects to the deceased they found the dog sitting at the head of the casket where he was allowed to remain until it was carried to the hearse.  The dog walked beside the hearse to the cemetery, some 3-1/2 miles and when the casket was taken into the vault he was allowed to follow. After the brief service there he returned to the old home with the neighbors and has been taken by Thomas Ball to whom Mr. Fielden gave him before he died.  It was stated by those who attended the funeral that the dog seemed to realize what was taking place and really exhibited signs of genuine sorrow--Morris Chronicle.

Mortuary Statistics - Mount Hope Cemetery, Norwich, NY

Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, January 3, 1883

The following mortuary statistics are kindly furnished us by Mr. Thos. Doughty, the keeper of the Norwich cemetery.  The entire list of interments in the cemetery during the past year [1882] is as follows, all residents of Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], except as indicated:

Abel Breed, brought from Butternuts
Sarah K. Gould from Preston
Harriet L. Randall from Canandaigua
Sarah H. Thompson,
Austin Case, Preston
Jerome W Davis
Thomas H. Prentice
Mary Aldcorn
Rosalia E. Spafford
Rev. Lorenzo Burdick
Esther A. Hickok
Henry L. York
Charles S. Cornwall, from Kansas
Hannah A. Messenger
Betsey Steere
Smith Steere
Adelbert Smith's child
D.C. Grover, Rockwell's Mills
Amelia P. Phelps
Edward O. Hale
Ella H. Hovey
Arthur E. Smith
Nath'l Eggleston
Joseph C. Allen
Luella Shepard
Ellen R. Lewis
Oritta Haxton
Kate N. Mead
Lucy M. Cox
--- Sholes, infant child
Mary E.Cornwell
Norman Cox,
D.R.Wells
F. Sherman's child from Kings Settlement
Ellen P. Gilbert
Charles Clarke from Preston
David B. Grifling from New Berlin
Emma A. Browning from Pharsalia, died while visiting here
Henry Close
Edward H. Blanchard --?- at Pennellville, resided here
Skillen's child
Frances J. Schrom
Emma Miller
Samantha S. Roberts
Kelly child, infant
David Maydole
Rhodes Merrithew
Polly Williams
Taber child from Sherburne
Mary Esther Breed
A.L. Burr
Almanda Cox
Eugene Lewis
Sarah Brooks
Neish's infant child
Alice G. Adams from Oxford
Mary C. Bosworth
Mrs. J.Salsman
Lowenbeck's child
Mary Pell
Lucinda Pellett

Of the above named, four were above eighty years of age, eight were in the seventies, thirteen in the sixties, seven in the fifties, four in the forties, four in the thirties, five in the twenties, two in the tens and ten under 12 years old, remainder not ascertained.  Five were brought from other cemeteries during the year and there have been eleven removals within the grounds during the past year. This record of course does not include the interment sin the Catholic cemetery, but these also have been exceedingly small in number during the past year.