A Week with Bovina People - December 1899 - 125 Years ago from the Andes Recorder

 Here’s what was happening in Bovina 125 years ago, December 1899, from the pages of the Andes Recorder.

December 1, 1899

• Will Lambert was here Friday.

• Thomas Barrett has moved into Alex Hoy’s house.

• Mrs. Hunt has gone to work for Fred Bramley.

• J.W. Coulter was at New York city the past week.

• David A. Oliver, of Delancey, was in town Thursday.

• Elden Kaufman, wife and child were in town Monday.

• School commissioner elect Gow was at Walton last week.

• Mrs. Charles R. Lee visited relatives at Union Grove last week.

• Miss Kate Muller started for Denver Colorado, Monday morning.

• Mr. and Mrs. Otis McCumber were at Mrs. Muller’s over Sabbath.

• T.E. Hastings and Marshall Scott were at the County Seat Monday.

• George Hunter and wife, of Colchester, were guests in town over Sabbath.

• Michael Miller and wife, Jeremy Barnhart, Miss Bell J. Miller visited Delhi Friday.

• Among those at Delhi Monday were, James A. Gow, Lance Thomson and James Monroe.

• Rev. T.M. Slater has gone to Sterling Valley, on account of the illness of his father-in-law.

• Walter Oliver and wife and Mrs. James Harkness of Federal Hill, were in this village on Sabbath.

• Mrs. Archie Forman and son James, Mrs. George Currie, and Mrs. William Wight were at Delhi Friday.

• His many friends here will be pleased to learn that Thomas H. Lee has been elected District Attorney, of Rockland county.

• Thanksgiving services were held in the United Presbyterian church Thursday at 11 o’clock. Rev. H.F. Brown preaching the sermon. 

• William T. Black has sold his farm and stock to John A. Irvine, for $8,000.  Possession given January 1.  Mr. Black will remain in part of the house until spring.

December 8, 1899

• Wilson Scott had a horse die Monday.

• Merritt Reynolds was in town Monday.

• D.C. Worden was at Bloomville on Saturday.

• Mrs. and Mrs. John Storie visited Delhi Friday.

• William Archibald was at the County Seat Friday.

• In the spring James A. Gow will erect a wagon house.

• Miss Alice Oliver has returned from her visit to Pennsylvania.

• William Ceas and wife were in town on Sabbath, from Bloomville.

• Peter Gerry was up last week from New York on a hunting trip.

• Rev. H.F. Brown was at Halcottville on Sabbath and preached.

• Mrs. Ferris McPherson visited her brother in Margaretville last week.

• T.W. Miller of the Andes Recorder was in this place last Thursday.

• There was no preaching in the Reformed Presbyterian church on Sabbath.

• Thomas Hastings is building a cold storage and ice house, for use in his butter business.

• Professor Jencks, principal of our school, spent Thanksgiving at his home at West Oneonta.

• John A. Irvine moved Wednesday from the Lake to the Black farm recently purchased by him.

• John and William Smith, of Walton, visited their father, Richard Smith, in this village last Thursday.

• Mrs. Hamilton Erickson died at her home in the upper part of this town on Monday morning, aged about 80 years.

• Jennie J. Campbell of the Hobart High School faculty, spent the Thanksgiving vacation with her mother in this village. 

• Monday evening, December 4, was the tenth anniversary of the marriage of the Rev. and Mrs. W.L.C. Samson, and a pleasant surprise had been planned for them. Accordingly a large company gathered in Strangeway’s Hall, where a pleasant evening was passed. Rev. and Mrs. Samson were presented with a typewriter.

December 15, 1899

• A.B. McCune was in town Wednesday.

• Reed Dumond, of Andew was here on Thursday.

• Thomas H. Liddle and daughter, Etta were in town Thursday.

• Thoams Gordon and wife were down at the County seat Monday.

• Robert A. Thomson had one of his horses die Thursday.

• James Aitkin, an old resident of this town, has been here on a visit.

• John Irvine is attending the meeting of the Board of Supervisors this week.

• Alexander Myers has the job of papering the Reformed Presbyterian church.

• John Beekan was in town Thursday.

• Bert Elliott and Mary Schultz were here on Saturday.

• A.C. Seacord, W.T. Black, Mrs. Archie Maynard and son, William, were at Delhi Monday.

• Andrew Sanderson, of Elk Creek and Miss Middlemast, of the Beaverkill, were married by Rev. W.L.C. Samson last Wednesday at his home.

• Marshall Dean and Barna Johnson were in town last week; the former as appraiser of the John Bramley estate on account of inheritance tax, and the latter representative of the Comptroller.

• Samuel McCune, a native of this town and at one time engaged in the mercantile business here and Bloomville, died at Jefferson last Tuesday, aged 76.  He was twice married and leaves four children – Samuel, who is interested in the mercantile business at Richmondville; Ralph, a druggist at Oneonta; John, a carpenter and contractor at Jefferson, and Kate, who lived with her father.

December 22, 1899

• Ed Hanlon was in town on Monday.

• Elmer Close was over at Andes on Saturday.

• William Armstrong was at Hamden on Sabbath.

• William Crosier was at Bloomville on Thursday.

• Robert Mable was in town Sabbath from the Little Delaware.

• Mrs. Frank Gownlock went to Cannonsville Tuesday for a visit.

• Bert and George Elliott have been cutting wood for Frank R. Coulter.

• A Christmas tree is to be held Monday evening in Strangeway’s Hall.

• Rev. Samson preached in the Maynard school house Monday evening and at Francis Coulter’s on Coulter Brook, on Thursday afternoon.

• G.D. Miller and wife, Charles Palmer and son, William, J.H. Johnson, Frank Gowanlack and John A. Irvine were among those at Delhi Monday.

• Presiding Elder Philip Germond, N. D., will hold the fourth quarterly conference in the parsonage of the Methodist Episcopal church, Saturday, December 23 at 2 p.m.

• Supervisor Irvine has selected the following as liable to grand jury duty for the ensuing year: James W. Coulter, George Cable, E.G. Gladstone, Lancelot Thomson, Alex. Burns, John M. Miller and Charles A. Tuttle.

An Old Inhabitant Gone.

Mrs. Martha McNair died at the home of her son in law, James Thompson near Tunis Lake, Sabbath evening December 17. She had been ill since April with dropsy and had she lived until the 21st would have been 94 years old.

Her maiden name was Martha McKenzie and Scotland was the country of her birth. With her people she crossed the ocean, when 14 years old, and landed in Nova Scotia, where they remained until 1840, when they moved to New Jersey and in 1842 came to Delaware county and has since been a resident of Andes and Bovina. Over 70 years ago she was married to Archibald McNair, who died in 1854. Nine children – seven girls and two boys – lived to grow up, and of these six girls and one boy are now living, and they are James McNair, in Iowa, Mrs. James Whitson, Mrs. Walter Amos, Mrs. Daniel Calhoun, Mrs. John Glendening, Mrs. D.M. Coulter, Andes, Mrs. Jame Doig, Bovina.

The funeral was held at 12 o’clock Tuesday, Rev. W.L. C. Samson preaching the sermon. Interment was made in the lower cemetery. 

Why Not the Andes Road

Something is always astir in regard to the Sidney-Franklin trolley. Why not with the Andes-Bovina enterprise? It has advantages certainly superior for it has no competition was with Franklin as that village lies within four miles of two great roads and from Sidney to Unadilla there seems to be all the railroad facilities needed. Not so with Andes or Bovina. They need a road and they have a large amount of business for the road as soon as it is completed—Gazette.

Notice

The annual meeting of the Bovina Co operative Fire Insurance Company will be held at Strangeway’s Hall, Bovina Center on Tuesday, January 9, 1900 at 1 oclock for the election of directors and such other business as may come before the meeting.

R.F. Thomson, Sec, Bovina Centre, Dec 20 1899

December 29, 1899

• Fine weather.

• Irving Phinney is home from Walton.

• Mrs. Duncan Campbell is visiting at Walton.

• William Coulter is in New York city this week.

• Jennie Campbell is home for the holidays from Hobart.

• Alex. Hilson and wife were down at Delhi Thursday last.

• Mrs. William Crosier and Mrs. Chas. Boggs visited Delhi Saturday.

• Robert Fiero, wife and daughter were visitors at Delhi Saturday.

• Andrew Seacord and Miss Margaret Chisholm were at Delhi Saturday.

• B.S. Miller visited his brother, William, at Walton Friday and Saturday.

• Anna Phyfe is home from her school at Doleville, for the holiday vacation.

• Mr. and Mrs. David Oliver and son, John Oliver, were at Andes Tuesday.

• Born to Mr. and Mrs. William W. Hoy, at Oil. City, Pennsylvania, a daughter.

• William Moore now drives the white faced team recently owned by David Muir of Andes.

• Rev. Samson and James A. Gow were at Andes Friday evening, as judges in the prize speaking contest.

• Rev. W.L.C. Samson officiated at the Thompson-henderson wedding at New Kingston, last Wednesday.

• Mrs. Muller and daughter, Frederika, spent Christmas with her daughter, Mrs. Otis McCumber, at Andes.

• The appraisal of the George Archibald estate occurred Friday. Thoams Gordon and Alex. Burns were the appraisers.

• The union Christmas ladder and the attending exercises at Strangeway’s Hall Monday evening passed off pleasantly, and the presents were both useful and ornamental.

• A new order just received from the State Department forbids the acceptance of any excuse from pupils except for sickness, and that only on the certificate of a physician.  Take warning.

December 1924 - 100 Years Ago in "That Thriving Town"

 

Here's what life was like in Bovina 100 years ago this month – December 1924

December 5, 1924

• James Ackerley is employed at his trade as a carpenter at Delhi.

• Hilson Brothers have moved their wagon house across the brook onto the flat.

• Wilber Archibald has taken a position as cheese maker in the creamery at Meridale.

• Ralph Hillis, the garage man, is on the sick list.  His brother is in charge of the garage.

• Mrs. James Monroe has rented the furnished rooms of William F. Boggs in Bovina Center.

• Walter G. Coulter, town superintendent of highways, had the town machinery stored Wednesday for the winter.

• Born to Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Rockefeller, on the Alex Bryden farm back from Lake Delaware, November 4, a son – Silas T.

• Henry Monroe has purchased the farm of his father, the late James Monroe, in upper Bovina, and moved thereto Wednesday.

• Miss Caroline Dickson, who has a position with the American Educational Company, as a general agent, is with her mother for a vacation.

• Lloyd Strangeway, who now lives in Otsego county, collided with the side of the stone arch bridge just below the village.  His car was damaged to some extent.

• Professor Leon Taggart and family of Oneonta, Frank Dickson and family, of Little Delaware, and Mr. and Mrs. Thos C. Strangeway were dinner guests at John Hilson’s on Thanksgiving.

• In the estate of James Monroe letters have been issued to Henry F. and James W. Monroe. The estimate is $5,000 real and $6,000 personal. To Julia Monroe, wife, is willed one-third of the property; to Henry Monroe son and Martina Monroe, daughter, each five eighteenths, and to James Monroe one-ninth.

Born in Southern Bovina

William T. Brown, who was born in southern Bovina, died November 7 at his apartments in the Majestic Hotel, Chicago, where he had lived for over 20 years. The deceased was the youngest son of Thomas Brown and Mary Ann McNee, who lived on the Brown homestead, Bovina, later known as the Amos place and now part of the Gerry estate. Mr. Brown was 68 years of age and is survived by one sister, the wife of Rev. David Nicholl of Red Oak, Iowa. He was never married. 

December 12, 1924

• James Hilson has had a radio installed.

• Elmer Hastings, of Saranac, is visiting his brother, Milton Hastings.

• The three Missionary societies held an all day union meeting Thursday.

• Mr. and Mrs. Francisco were Sabbath guests of her brother, George Decker.

• Mrs. Decker, who had her hip injured by a fall a few weeks ago, is now improving.

• Margaret Austin, of Hawley’s Station, was a week end guest of her cousin, Mrs. James Ackerly.

• The neighbors and friends of Alex Burns gave him a post card shower on December 8, on his 76th birthday.

• Rev. O. Edgelow, rector of the St. James church, at Lake Delaware, has been visiting his son, Dr. Arthur Edge\low, at Springfield, Mass.

• Mrs. John McCune’s Sabbath School class, the Beacon Lights, were entertained at her home last Friday evening. All reported an enjoyable time.

• Captain J.E. Billings, superintendent of the Gerry farms at Lake Delaware, was operated on last week in the Roosevelt hospital for appendicitis.

• Mrs. John M. Miller and two daughters, of Walton and Mr. and Mrs. William Oliver, of Harpersfield, were here Tuesday to attend the funeral of Mrs. G.D. Miller.

• Paul Marvin Burgin, of Bovina and Miss Hazel Maud Shackelton, of Delhi, were married December 1. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.C. Shackelton and has been employed as stenographer in the office of W.S. Oles. Mr. Burgin is employed by the Delhi Motor Sales Co. 

Rigged for Comfort

A.W. Baker, of Bovina, who will spend the winter in Florida, has had his Chevrolet truck rebuilt with a six foot wide body all covered, and will carry a bed and cooking utensils on the trip. 

DEATH CLAIMS BOVINA WOMAN – Mrs. G.D. Miller Passed Away About Noon Saturday

Mrs. Gilbert D. Miller of Bovina Center, died Saturday, December 6, from acute bronchitis, after a three weeks’ illness at the home of her sister-in-law, Mrs. A.S. Banker, in Andes.

Mrs. Miller was born near Bloomville in the town of Kortright, January 6, 1844, and was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Dickson Banker. On November 16, 1869, she was married to Gilbert D. Miller by the Rev. Gibson of South Kortright.

She is survived by her husband, Gilbert D. Miller; one sister, Mrs. Ellen Newell, of Highland Falls; and one brother, Henry Banker, of Marceline, Missouri.

The funeral was held Tuesday in the Bovina Center United Presbyterian church the Rev. F.N. Crawford officiating. Interment was made in the Bovina Center Cemetery. [Mrs. Miller was the former Mary Jane Banker.]

December 19, 1924

• Supervisor W.B. Smith is in Delhi this week attending the sessions of the Board.

• Mrs. Ella Telford is moving her household goods from William F. Bogg’s house to Delhi.

• From an oyster supper and sale held last week the Women’s Auxiliary of the St. James parish at Lake Delaware cleared $50.

• A surprise party was held last Friday evening at the U.P. Church parlors for Rev. and Mrs. F.N. Crawford, and a purse of $55 was presented to them. 

• Mrs. G.J. Dickson has received word that her son, Lauren Dickson, who is in a law office at Saratoga, successfully passed the bar examination, which he tried in October.

• John Redmond, the seven year old son of William R. Redmond, was hurried off to the hospital at Delhi Monday night and operated upon for appendicitis. The appendix had bursted, but he is doing as well as can be expected. 

December 26, 1924

• The students and teachers are home for the holidays.

• The community Christmas tree and exercises were held on Tuesday evening.

• Misses Kate and Fred Muller are visiting their sister, Mrs. Otis McCumber, in Andes

• Mrs. Marshall Thomson, of Long Island, is visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Blair.

• Miss Jane Archibald, daughter of Wm Archibald is ill. She retired in good health and all efforts to arouse her from sleep are futile. [She recovered and lived almost another sixty years, dying in September 1986 at the age of 86.]

• Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Gladstone celebrated the 56th anniversary of their marriage Dec. 22. His brother, Ed Gladstone and family took dinner with them.

• Miss Maggie Storie has gone to Hobart to spend the winter with her nephew, Eugene Storie. A couple of days before her departure about forty of her [friends paid her] a surprise visit.