Obituaries (June 16)

Dr. Joseph D. Bryant

Utica Saturday Globe, April 1914

 

Dr. Joseph Decatur Bryant

1845 - 1914

 

Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]:  News of the death of Dr. Joseph D. Bryant, in St. Vincent's Hospital in New York city, on Tuesday, saddened many hearts in Norwich, where the great and genial surgeon had many friends, among whom he spent a portion of last summer.  Dr. Bryant and Judge George W. Ray were boys together and their affection for one another seemed to strengthen with the passage of the years. When the message of death came, Judge Ray was holding United States Court in Syracuse and his son, ex-Postmaster J. Johnson Ray, left at once for New York to accompany the funeral party to Norwich.  The remains arrived over the Lackawanna on Friday afternoon and were taken direct to Mount Hope Cemetery [Norwich, NY], where brief services were held.  The death of Dr. Bryant was due to diabetes.  He had been in St. Vincent's Hospital since March 11, when his condition became very grave. The end came at 1 o'clock Tuesday afternoon.  With him at the time were his wife and only daughter Mrs. Fred de Peyster, of Chicago.  Funeral services were held from the Broadway Tabernacle on Thursday afternoon, Dr. Charles B. Jefferson officiating.  Dr. Joseph Decatur Bryant, one of the foremost surgeons in this part of the country, was one of the small group of intimates of the late President Grover Cleveland which included Commodore E.C. Benedict, the late E. Prentiss Baily, editor of the Utica Observer, and the late Joseph Jefferson.  Dr. Bryant was President Cleveland's personal and family physician and for many years his closest friend.  Dr. Bryant was the son of Alonzo A. Bryant and Harriet Adkins and was born March 12, 1845, on a farm near Troy, Wis.  When he was a small boy his father moved to New York State, becoming a resident of the town of Plymouth, Chenango county. The son was educated at Norwich Academy and the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he received his degree in 1868.  He was intern in the hospital for two years, when he became an assistant professor and lecturer in the medical college.  In 1877 he was appointed professor of general descriptive and surgical anatomy and in 1883 became professor of anatomy and clinical surgery and associate professor of orthopedic surgery.  In 1893 he assumed the professorship of the principles and practice of surgery.  He was appointed a sanitary inspector in the New York health department in 1873, serving most efficiently for six years.  In 1887 Mayor Hewitt appointed him one of the health commissioners and in the same year he was appointed a member of the State Board of Health.  He held two joint positions until March, 1893, when he resigned. As a health commissioner Dr. Bryant worked continually and effectively to protect the city from the dangers of the defective sewer system and from diseases brought over by immigrants.  He raised the standards in the health department and worked harder than any of his subordinates whose work he personally inspected at unannounced hours.  While at various times he was connected with numerous hospitals and dispensaries, his private practice was one of the largest in the city.  He received the honorary degree of LLD from New York University in 1908.  He was a fellow of the American Surgical Association and a member of the International Society of Surgeons and was an ex-president of the American Medical Association, the New York State Medical Society and the New York Academy of Medicine.  In his early years in New York Dr Bryant joined the Seventy-first Regiment N.G.N.Y.  He became a surgeon of the regiment in 1873, with the rank of major, and in 1882, Gov Cleveland commissioned him surgeon general for the State.  He held this post during the administrations of Gov. Hill and Gov. Flower. Among his published works are, Operative Surgery, in two volumes, and Bryant and Buck's America System of Surgery, in eight volumes.  He also was the author of many monographs on surgical and anatomical subjects.  He was married in 1874 to Miss Annette Crum, of Bath, N.Y.

 

M.S. Mandeville

Bainbridge Republican, April 20, 1883

An old citizen of the county [Chenango Co., NY], and one often seen upon our streets for more than half a century back, M.S. Mandeville, died at his home in Coventry [Chenango Co., NY], last week at the ripe old age of 84.  He was a firm friend of Oxford Academy in years gone by, nearly every one of his numerous family having at some time attended school here. --Times Oxford

 

George W. Fisher

Norwich Sun, February 10, 1933

Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY]:  George W. Fisher died Wednesday afternoon at the home of his son, Ray Fisher, on North Main street, following a long illness.  The funeral will be held Saturday afternoon in the funeral chapel of Colwell Brothers on West Main street.  Rev. G.H. Orvis, pastor of First Presbyterian church, will officiate, following which the remains will be taken to Afton for interment.  Mr. Fisher was born near Middlebrigde in the town of Afton [Chenango Co., NY] on July 18, 1856, the son of Clark and Katherine Burghdorf Fisher, and nearly all his life had been lived in Bainbridge and Afton.  He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Raymond Pixley and Mrs. Clarence Holdredge of Afton, and one son, Ray, of this village.

Lucy A. (Bradley) Bush

Oxford Times, March 23, 1910

Tuesday afternoon, all that was mortal of Mrs. Lucy A. Bush was tenderly laid to rest in the family plot in Guilford cemetery [Chenango Co., NY] and the grave covered with beautiful flowers.  By her death, which occurred Saturday morning March 19th, Guilford has lost not only one of her most respected citizens, but the most aged one.  Born August 13, 1815, she had nearly reached the age of ninety-five years.  In referring to her long useful Christian life, R.M. Pascoe, who conducted the services at her late home at 1:30 p.m., used the appropriate text--Job 5:26--"Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age, like a shock of corn cometh in his season."  The favorite hymns of the deceased were sung by a quartet, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," "A Few More Years Shall Roll," and "Asleep in Jesus."  Mrs. Bush was the daughter of Ira and Charlotte Mills Bradley and has been a life long resident of this town. She united with the Guilford Center Congregational church over seventy-five years ago and for sixty years has been a member of the Guilford Methodist church.  January 14, 1840, she was married to David Bush by Rev. J.L. James of the Congregational church and has survived her husband twenty-one years.  She is survived by one brother, Uri Bradley, nearly eighty-five; two children, Emory D. Bush and Mrs. Louise Bromley of Guilford; and three grandchildren, Mrs. E.H. Burlison of Unadilla, Mrs. Alfred Ives and Mrs. W.P. Shelton.  Owing to a fall seventeen years ago, which resulted in a broken hip, she has since been a cripple, but retained an active interest in home and church affairs.  On her 90th birthday she was surprised by a gathering of friends, but has gradually failed for the past few years.

Death Notices

Chenango Union, August 30, 1877

LOOMIS:  In this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], August 28th,  Mr. James P. Loomis, aged 68 years.  Funeral services will be held at his late residence on South Broad Street, Thursday, at 2 o'clock P.M.

MILLIKEN:  Suddenly, in this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], August 27th, Rovilla [Milliken], wife of J.L. Milliken, of Sherburne [Chenango Co., NY], aged 51 years.

ENSWORTH:  In this village [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], August 25th, Mr. Hezekiah Ensworth, aged 41 years.  His remains were taken to Guilford for burial.

BENEDICT:  In Sherburne [Chenango Co., NY], August 19th, Mr. Eri Benedict, aged 69 years and 5 months.

ALDRICH:  In Plymouth [Chenango Co., NY], August 23d, Mr. Asa Aldrich, aged 86 years.

FISHER:  In Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY] August 22d, Mary [Fisher], daughter of Charles and Maria Fisher, aged 3 years.

GILBERT:  In Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY] August 21st, Georgia [Gilbert], daughter of R.S. and Debbie Gilbert, aged 1 year, 11 months and 1 day.

HOLL:  In Lincklaen [Chenango Co., NY], August 12th, Jessie F. [Holl], son of Fred G. and H. Abbie Holl, aged 10 months.