Vital Records, Madison (1822) & Otsego (1879) Counties, NY

 The Pilot, Cazenovia, NY, February 28, 1822

Marriage

Married in Nelson [Madison Co. NY] on the 11th inst. Mr. Thomas Swift of Huron, Ohio, to Mrs. Mehetable Covil.

The Pilot, Cazenovia, NY, March 7, 1822

Marriage

Married in the Village of Oran, Pompey [Onondaga Co. NY], on the 24th ult by the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Dyer Allen to Miss Laner Nemsen, both of this village [Cazenovia, Madison Co. NY].

The Pilot, Cazenovia, NY, April 4, 1822

Deaths

In this town [Cazenovia, Madison Co. NY] on the 24th ultimo, Mr. Oliver R. Borden in the 21st year of his age.

On the 26th ult. Mr. John Remington aged 67.

On Thursday last, after a painful illness, which he bore with Christian patience and resignation, Mr. Josiah Ellis aged 51.

On Friday morning last, Mr. Francis Benjamin of Manlius [Onondaga Co. NY] put a period to his existence by drowning.  Mr. Benjamin had been out of health for a considerable time and subject to fits and occasionally discovered symptoms of mental derangement.

The Pilot, Cazenovia, NY, April 11, 1822

Marriage

In this village [Cazenovia, Madison Co. NY] on the 6th inst. Mr. Elihu Williams to Miss Malinda Lyon, both of this town.

Morris Chronicle, Morris, NY, November 19, 1879

Marriage

At the home of the bride's parents, Morris [Otsego Co. NY], Nov. 12th, 1879, by Rev. J.S. Southworth of Westford, Mr. Walter H. Elliott of Morris and Miss Ida E. Davis.  A large company of friends assembled at the pleasant home of the bride to witness the solemnization of the marriage ceremony.  Many were the hearty congratulations extended to the happy pair for their future prosperity and that their voyage over life's ocean might be attended with continuous blessings.  The ceremony was followed by an earnest, appropriate prayer by Rev. William Edgar, that a kind Father would lead them in spiritual and temporal things and finally conduct them to the bright mansions awaiting God's children. Their many friends will earnestly pray the divine blessing to attend them.

News Item

Last Friday at about 10:30 A.M. Myron A. Buell was hung in the jail yard at Cooperstown [Otsego Co. NY] for the murder of Catharine M. Richards.  Two or three days before his execution, he made a confession and said he murdered the young lady.  He was hung in the jail yard enclosed with a high fence and guarded by sixty of the State militia, from Oneonta, and all the deputy sheriffs in the county.  Only a very few persons were permitted to witness the sad execution of this unfortunate young man.  And we are pleased to learn that but a very few persons were attracted to the county seat last Friday.  It speaks well for the morals of the County. The last execution before this in Otsego County, occurred nearly fifty-two years ago:  Levi Kelley was then hung for the murder of a Mr. Spaffard, a tenant on his farm, and there are now living in almost every town in the county persons who witnessed this execution.  John H. Hiser was then Sheriff, and the execution took place in an open lot just south of the Cooper House at which time two or three persons were killed and a number injured by the falling of the platform.

Myron A. Buell was born September 12, 1857, in the town of Plainfield, Otsego County [NY] and was therefore a little over twenty-two years of age.  Two of his birthdays were spent in the Cooperstown jail after his arrest for murder.  His early years were spent at the home of his parents and in helping them about farm work.  His religious and educational advantages were both very limited and he made no progress in either.  He is said to have been nearly grown up before he ever attended church. Then he went with his sister to Burlington Flats [Otsego Co. NY].

He was regarded after he grew up, as a very good farm hand and was able to find employment the year round.  He would have had, if he had kept on till he was twenty-one, about $500 saved, which is a pretty snug little sum for a farm laborer at that age.

He seems to have been possessed of more than ordinary courage.  His black crime, at first thought, appears to be of the most cowardly description.  Yet, a second thought will show one that it required a brute courage that would dare to execute any plot or at least any plot where his own danger would be immediate.  He must have known that his detection was sure.  Also, a boy who can face his mother and tell her he is guilty of such a crime and that he deserves to be hanged, exhibits a brazenness-if no more can be said of it-which shows that he is not entirely a coward.

His intellect was of a very fair order, but it could certainly not have embraced a thought of morality.  He was cunning in some things.  After blundering in the commission of a crime for which he had no ground even to hope to escape conviction and punishment, his secretiveness came to him, and not the least blush could be seen in his countenance, or a word heard in his conversation, or a motion detected in his deportment to indicate guilt.  He attended the funeral of his victim and mingled his tears with the tears of the mourners.  During his arrest, examination, and trial, the prosecution was unable to disturb or excite him out of a perfect composure, behind which he concealed his terrible guilt.