Saturday, June 30, 2012

Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - A.T. Strangeway

Andrew T. Strangeway was born in Bovina in 1839, the son of Christopher Strangeway (1814-1890) and Margaret Thompson (1815-1875).  He was a business agent for a company called Gregg and Company before partnering with John Hilson as a merchant.  The partnership was dissolved in 1872, the same year that he married Maggie A. Doig.  In 1874, he built his store which still stands in the hamlet of Bovina Center and is now owned by Tom Hetterich.  Strangeway built onto the back of his store a hall in 1888.  Strangeway’s Hall was used for town meetings and other public events until the Bovina Community Hall was built in 1930.  He operated the store until his death on May 28, 1907.  The store had several owners after Strangeway’s death, including at one point his two competitors – John Hilson and A.T. Doig.  The building was sold to Arthur Hillis in late 1923 and was converted into a garage.  Several owners operated it as a garage, including Clayton Thomas, who ran his garage there for over 20 years. 

From Munsell's 1880 History of Delaware County
Andrew Strangeway and his wife had four children, including a daughter, Margaret Doig Strangeway, born in 1873.  Margaret married Walter Coulter and was the mother of Ruth Coulter Parsons and M. Celia Coulter.   They lost an infant and their son Harvey died when he was eight.  Andrew’s marriage was brief, his wife dying in 1878.  He never remarried.  As well as being a merchant, Strangeway served several terms as Town Clerk and was active in the Bovina United Presbyterian Church. 
Photo courtesy of Ed and Dick Davidson.

An interesting side note:  Just over a month before Andrew Strangeway's death, his store was burglarized.  Fortunately, he had removed all the money so that the burglars who broke in on April 24, 1907 got only some change, a few cigars and a few other articles.

Monday, June 18, 2012

War of 1812

It's been 200 years since the start of the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.  How did this war impact Bovina?  That's harder to determine than with the US Civil War.  The town of Bovina did not even exist during the war, though the area that is now Bovina was being rapidly settled.  There are no records related to what happened in the area during the war, but we can talk a bit about three men with Bovina connections who did serve in the war - specifically three men who are buried in the Bovina cemetery - Truman White, James Hoy and Close Light.

Close Light is a name that always fascinated me when I saw it in the cemetery as a child.  I wondered if it was native American, but his origins appear to be European.  Born around 1792, he lived in the Lake Delaware area, very near the Bovina town line.  He was married to Melinda Simmons in 1813 and had several children.

Light served as a private in a company commanded by Alexander McPherson in a Col. Putnam Farrington's regiment of militia.  Enlisting in September 1814, he served for three months.  He was paid $24.77 for his service, which ended December 10, 1814.  The Treaty of Ghent which ended the war was signed in late December 1814 but word did not get to the United States until February 1815. 

The State of New York passed a series of laws starting in 1857 to address lack of payment for expenses to war veterans that had originally been ordered in 1818 and 1819. Many veterans of the War of 1812 filed claims under these acts.   Light filed his claim for expenses on June 29, 1857.   He claimed that he was owed $73, itemized as follows:

1 hat - $5
1 ordinary coat - $12
1 vest - $3
1 pair pantaloons - $5
1 overcoat - $15
1 blanket - $5
1 knapsack - $3
1 canteen - .62
2 pair stockings - $1.50
2 shirts - $3,00
1 pair suwarrow boots - $6
1 neckerchief - $1.50
Cash pd for transportation to Catskill from Delhi - $5
Cash paid for transportation to return home - $8

Light's claim was paid on September 26, 1860 for $56.  It is not clear what expenses for which he claimed reimbursement were withheld. Close Light died in December of 1864.

Truman White's Bovina connection may only be that he is buried here.  Born around 1792, he was living in the Town of Middletown in the 1820s and 30s.  By 1840, he was in Andes and by the 1850 census, he was in Meredith.  In 1856, White lost his Meredith farm due to foreclosure.  He appears to have moved to New Milford, Pennsylvania, possibly to live with or near one of his children.  It is not clear when and where he died, but I've speculated that he may have been visiting his daughter, Hannah White Rutherford, who lived in Bovina, and died during the visit.  It probably was easier to bury him near where he died instead of shipping the body back to Pennsylvania.  I was unable to locate any records specific to White's service in the war.  He did not file a claim for expenses as did Bovina's other two War of 1812 veterans, though it might be because he died before the 1857 law was passed allowing these claims.

The third War of 1812 veteran buried in Bovina is James Hoy.  He was born in 1791 in Washington County but lived much of his life in Bovina (his farm was where Jack and June Burns farm).  His service in the war appears to have been very short, though it is possible that this claim was for only one part of his service.  Some family information indicates that he saw additional service and was a lieutenant.  The service for which he claimed payment many years later came in the 1814.  He enlisted in Plattsburgh the first of September 1814 in the 114th Regiment of New York Militia under the company commanded by Henry Price.  He was discharged on September 18, after participating in a march to Burlington, Vermont.  His service was said to include the time needed to return home.  For that service, he supposedly received 160 acres of land, but did not receive the money promised under laws passed in 1818 and 1819.  Hoy filed a claim in December 1859 for $64, itemized as follows:

1 hat - $5
1 ordinary coat - $11
1 vest - $4
1 pair pantaloons - $5
1 overcoat - $10
1 blanket - $4
1 knapsack $1
2 pair stockings - $1
2 shirts - $3
1 pair suwarrow boots - $5
1 neckerchief - $1
Cash paid for transportation to and from Burlington - $14

Hoy was only allowed $17 of his claim and, apparently, the state was lax in paying that.  Hoy filed a further claim on June 11, 1869, requesting his payment.  He died only two days later on June 13.  After his death, his lawyers contacted the state and requested payment of the $17 to his estate.  Hoy's estate was probated in Delaware County. From a review of the probate file, I could find no evidence that the payment that Hoy was still seeking just two days before his death was ever made.  One of his sons, also named James, wrote to J.S. McNaught in May 1873 asking if his father was ever paid the money.  Apparently, he had a warrant in hand but wanted to know if it was genuine.  He noted that "this country is full of counterfeit and bogus articles of that kind."  No response to this letter was in the file. 

Unlike Truman White and Close Light, we actually have a photograph of James Hoy, thanks to his great great grandson, David F. Hoy III.  It is believed that he is wearing his uniform from the war.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies VI

Darius Hadley was born in 1836.  Hadley appears in the 1860 federal census for Bovina enumerated with Jonathan Adee.  He enlisted in the 8th NY Volunteers Artillery in October 1861 and was discharged on February 14, 1863 at a convalescent camp in Virginia after he was wounded in the right foot.  After his discharge, he came back to Bovina to live with his mother Elizabeth and filed a pension claim as an invalid in January 1865. Not long after this, he married and settled in the Town of Colchester where he remained the rest of his life. By 1900, he and his wife Priscilla were living with their son.  Darius died in the fall of 1904 and is buried in Downsville, NY.  His widow filed a pension claim in November 1904.


Robert Halsted was born in Bovina in October 1842 in Bovina, the son of James and Phebe Halsted.  Enlisting in August 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers as a private, he was paid a bounty of $150.  Robert was discharged on July 12, 1865.  Halsted survived the war by less than a decade, dying in February 1874.  He is buried in Bovina.

Henry Hogaboom was born in the town of Rockland in Sullivan County in 1836.  By 1850, he was living in Bovina with his widowed mother, Elizabeth.  Henry enlisted in August 1864, joining the 144th NY Volunteers as a private.  He mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865 and returned to Bovina, living there at least through 1890.  That year, he was living in Lake Delaware and reported a 'general disability' due to an 'injury in service which is not overcome.'  By 1910, Henry had moved to Ohio and was living in the National Military Home in Jefferson, Ohio, near Dayton.  Dying there in February 1921, his body was brought back to Bovina for burial.

John R. Hoy was born in Washington County, NY in 1831, the son of James Hoy and Elizabeth Robertson.  By 1850, the family was living in Bovina.  John married Isabella Wilson Miller in 1854 and they settled in Bovina as farmers.  Active in his community, when he enlisted in the 144th New York Volunteers in September 1864, he was the tax collector for Bovina.  Because of his absence, the town in December had to appoint Joseph Raitt to fill the position.  John mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865 in Hilton Head, SC.  On his return to Bovina, he continued serving his town, becoming the commissioner of highways.  John and Isabella Hoy had eight children, including David Fletcher Hoy, the man to whom we are indebted for his research into Bovina families.  John and Isabella's daughter Margaret Jane was married to Douglass Davidson.  Margaret Jane is the mother of H. Fletcher Davidson and Vera Davidson Storie.  John R. Hoy died September 1901 and is buried in Bovina.

Edward Kennedy, also sometimes listed as Kenneday, was living in Bovina in the 1890s.  Otherwise, little is known about where he lived.  Born in Tyrone, Ireland in 1838, he enlisted in April 1862 in New York City in the 4th New York Volunteers.  He mustered out in May 1863 and in December that same year re-enlisted in the 16th New York Heavy Artillery.  On February 1, 1865, he deserted his unit while in New York City.  Apparently, he was never punished for it - it appears he was collecting a pension in 1890 for his service in the 4th New York Volunteers.  He is on the 1890 military census for Bovina, listing his post office in 1890 as Lake Delaware.  No further information on Kennedy has been located.

Louis Knapp's time in Bovina was relatively brief.  He was born in Dutchess County in 1830 (though another source says Delaware County).  At the start of the war he was living in Hamden but by the time he enlisted in February 1864, he had been widowed and was living in Bovina as a boarder of Walter D. Miller.  Knapp joined the 144th and was mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865.  He settled in the Shavertown area after the war and at some point remarried.  He filed a pension claim in 1890 and died around 1898 in Dunraven.