Faces of Bovina - Craig and Thelma Banuat

On August 20, 1952, Thelma Galusha married David Craig Banuat in Oneonta. Delhi photographer Bob Wyer took photographs of the wedding, including the one used in the Oneonta Daily Star, August 22, 1952 issue:

And here's one that wasn't in the paper!

David Craig Banuat, more commonly known as Craig, was born in 1915 in Bovina, the son of Anthony and Margaret (Craig) Banuat. He grew up on the Banuat Family farm on East Bramley Mountain. At the time he married Thelma, he was working at the Fulton County Silk Mill in Gloversville. He likely met Thelma in Gloversville, where she was a teacher.

Thelma was born in Schenectady in 1919, the daughter of Leroy and Irene (Martin) Galusha. Thelma’s father died when she was eight. For a time after their father’s death, Thelma and her older brother Merl lived in the Upstate Baptist Children’s home near Oneonta while their mother worked as a maid. Thelma attended the teacher’s college in Oneonta and received her Master’s degree in 1952. She taught for several years in Union Grove, Coe Hill, Andes and in the Gloversville School system. She retired from teaching in 1953 when they moved to the Banuat family farm.

These three images below at the Banuat farm were taken by Paul Klein. Paul worked for Banuats in the 60s/70s.

Thelma’s brother Merl tragically died in March 1972 in the crash of a Mohawk Airlines passenger plane in Albany. He was one of 17 who died in the accident. Thelma died of cancer in 1980 at the age of 60. Craig died in the summer of 1987. They both are buried in Andes near Craig’s parents and other Craig relatives. 

Faces of Bovina - The Adventures of Allan Johnston.

On January 22, 1944, Allan Johnston posed for this photograph by Bob Wyer. The timing of the photograph is interesting, given it was taken only two months after he had successfully escaped from German-occupied France.

Johnston was the son of T. George and Marjorie Johnston of Bovina. He had joined the Army Air Corps in July 1940. He spent over a year and a half in Panama then returned in March 1942 to the United States. He was appointed an aviation cadet and completed navigation training in Texas. In May 1943 he went to England and served as a navigator on a B-17. It was on his fifth mission that his adventures began, later reported in the local newspapers. He had noted that his first mission was boring and that “Nothing happened, No ground fire, no enemy planes, no nothin’. We got to our target, dropped our bombs and came home.” 

Shot down on the fifth mission, he was reported missing. The Catskill Mountain News noted that he had been missing since September 6. After two anxious months, the Binghamton Press reported in November that “…Second Lieut. Allan G. Johnston broke a long silence Monday when he cabled his parents Mr. and Mrs. T. George Johnston of Bovina, that he had returned to his U.S. Army Eight Air Force base in England.”

On his return, some of his story was reported in the local newspapers. On his last mission, his plane was heading back after dropping its bombs when the crew realized that they were short of gas. They decided to leave the bombing formation to take the shortest distance back to base. This proved to be the start of their troubles. They found themselves under constant attack by 15 to 20 fighter planes. This went on for an hour and a half.  Over occupied France, two engines were shot out and the gas ran out. Lt. Johnston was injured in the left arm. The bombardier had the worse injuries but managed to fire his machine guns at the plane that caused their injuries, shooting it down.

The crew bailed out at around 8000 feet. Johnston decided to wait on pulling his ripcord until absolutely necessary, figuring that if he came down slowly he would be easy to spot by the Germans. They did see him, but because he opened his parachute about 1000 feet above the ground they didn’t have time to figure out exactly where he had landed. He ended up in the tree tops and was noted by a German pilot, who waved at him. Johnston waved back and waited until dark to leave the woods. He later said that the only 30 minutes he would never want to live through again were those 30 minutes stuck in the treetops.

At this point, the story as published in the newspapers ends. Because it was war-time, Johnston could not tell of his adventures getting back to England. He did share the story with his family. In a conversation with his sister, Helen Johnston, I got the rest of the story.

The ill-fated fifth mission was over Stuttgart. When the pilot realized that they didn’t have enough fuel, he told them to bail out. Allan landed in a tree with shrapnel wounds in both wrists and his ankle. When he came down from the tree a little French girl took him to another tree and told him to go up in it. He did and belted himself into the tree in case he fell asleep or passed out. The reason he was directed to that specific tree was because of its dense foliage. A German patrol came under the tree and they even took a cigarette break there. A bit later the girl’s father came and took Allan to his barn. They put him under a large pile of hay in a spot where there were holes designed to prevent spontaneous combustion. This allowed Allan to breathe. He saw when the German patrol came to the house. They then came to the barn and went up on the hay mound right above him. He could hear the bayonets being poked into the hay, but he was far enough down that they didn’t find him. After a day or so in the hay, he was taken into the house.

The underground disguised Allan as a Frenchman and provided him with French papers. He was taught not to respond to any sounds, since his papers said he was deaf and dumb.

Allan likely had landed in Northern France, so he had a long journey to the Spanish boarder. He was guided south all the way to the border. In some areas, German troop trains had an extra car or two at the end that the French could take. Allan at least once took his journey on one of these trains. He had a guide that took him up through the Pyrenees. At the top, the guide told him he was at the Spanish border and that he was to go into a specific village and go to the U.S. Embassy. Allan asked if the guide could go with him but he said no, he was too busy taking other escapees.

The night before Thanksgiving, his family got the word that Allan was ‘back on duty.’ No other details were provided but they knew he was safe. When the family got the word they had been told that the Germans said he was a P.O.W.

Allan was home not long after. The reason for the photograph was not to just get a photo of Johnston in uniform. This was one of three pictures taken when he married Gertrude Truesdell. Here's a picture of them together:

Allan was not sent back into service overseas. Sending him back to Europe was too great a risk. If he was shot down again and captured by the Germans, because he had already been reported as a POW by the Germans, he wouldn’t be protected under the Geneva convention but instead considered to be a spy. He was sent to Biloxi, Mississippi as a navigator trainer. He was honorably discharged at the end of the war.

Allan and his wife moved to Michigan where he went to college on the GI Bill. He ended up working for Lincoln-Continental. In the 70s, Allan survived another major crisis when he became serious ill with a brain aneurysm, spending three months in a coma. He recovered and was put to work dealing with computers. Allan died in Michigan in October 1990 at the age of 70.

Faces of Bovina - "She Always Was a Firebrand"

The Binghamton Press for Thursday Evening, March 30, 1941, carried a report concerning a 29-year-old draft horse from Bovina named Maude. Maude was had been owned for almost her whole life by Frank Miller. He had purchased her and another draft horse, Daisy, in about 1912.

Frank Miller was born in Bovina in 1879, the son of William R. Miller and Mary G. Laing. He grew up on the family farm on what is now Reinertsen Hill Road. Frank married Mabel Ackerly in 1906 and took over the farm from his father. Miller sold the family farm to Andrew Reinertsen in 1917 and moved into Bovina Center, having bought the small farm of his stepmother, Ella Miller (this later was the home of Charles and Eva McIntosh). When he moved, he took his two draft horses with him.

On New Year’s Day in 1941, Daisy passed away. In March, Miller found his surviving horse Maude “lying on her side, and apparently dying.” The help of Miller’s neighbor could not rouse her, so they went in the back field and began digging the grave. When they came back for Maude, they found her on her feet and showing “great willingness to work.” The paper reported that “snow has filled in the grave” while Maude continued her daily chores. Miller said that “she always was a firebrand.”

Here's the article from the Binghamton Press (March 20, 1941) about Maude:

This photo was taken by Bob Wyer in March 1941 of Frank Miller and his horse, likely Maude. Behind Frank's right shoulder can be seen what is now Brushland Eating House.

As well as a farmer, Miller had worked for several years at the Bovina Center creamery. When he and his wife moved from Bovina in 1944 they first settled in Halcottsville then later Stamford. He worked in creameries in both places. Frank died in 1967 when he was 87. His wife died in 1973. We don't know when Maude died, but I suspect it was before 1944, when the family moved from the area.

Faces of Bovina - Ruth Rabeler

Ruth Rabeler has the distinction of being one of three women to appear on Bovina's World War II honor roll. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Rabeler, Sr., she grew up in Nebraska and came to Bovina in 1939.  In September 1942, she enlisted while visiting in Nebraska, taking her basic training at Des Moines, Iowa.  She went to the Cooks and Bakers School, graduating as 2^nd Lieutenant on March 3, 1943.  She was stationed in several locations, including Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia; Fort Lewis, Washington, and Camp Beale, California, where she took charge of the Officers Club.  She was then transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco to the 6^th Army Cook and Bakers as an instructor and head of the mess hall.  She was discharged in 1946 but went back into service in California.  In 1952 she was married to James Donohue at the Presidio and left the Army in 1953.  Ruth passed away in October 1974 in California and is buried in Fair Oaks, California.

She posed for this photograph by Bob Wyer on May 17, 1943. Courtesy Delaware County Historical Association

Cousins Paul and Ruth Rabeler in service sometime during the war.

Faces of Bovina - Ann Tator

These pictures of Ann Tator, also known as Anna, were taken by Bob Wyer on November 8, 1973 (images courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association).  At this time, Ann was living in Bovina in the house that Mark Schneider and Julie Hilson now own.

I remember the Tators well – Burt and Ann were good friends of my mom and dad.  Burt was into ham radio and got my dad into it, helping him get his ham radio license. They were generous friends, too. When my sister and brother in law were in a car accident at Christmas 1976, Burt and Ann offered my folks any financial assistance they might need in dealing with it.  As they aged and Burt became infirm, my folks started taking Ann along with them on their weekly shopping expeditions.  This tradition continued after Burt’s passing in 1998.

Though Burt and Ann were from Brooklyn, they were no strangers to Bovina, even before they moved here in 1969.  Ann’s daughter Judy provided further information about her mom and dad which I am sharing in its entirety:

Ann had been coming to Bovina ever since she was a child.  Her mother, Lucy, and Sophie Reinertsen were cousins.  They would take the train from NYC to South Kortright or Hamden and Andrew Reinerstsen would pick them up in the horse and wagon in the earlier years. She said at that time it was an all day event to retrieve them from the train.   She loved visiting the Reinersten farm "up on the hill" and riding the mule to town to get the mail, buy groceries, etc.  

After World War II, her husband, Burt, was suffering from what now might be known as TSS.  She suggested that they go to Bovina and take on a less stressful life than their one in Brooklyn.  Burt was hired in the summer of 1946 by Cliff Hall and they and their new daughter, Judy, lived in the other side of the Hall's farmhouse for about a year.  Ann worked as a nurse at the hospital in Margaretville during their stay.  Judy spent her first birthday in Bovina before the family moved back to Brooklyn where Burt started his career in the funeral business.  It was while visiting Burt and Ann that the Seedorf's, Burt's mother and step father, attended an auction of the Coulter homestead on Coulter Brook Road. Charlie had been told that for health reasons he should leave NYC and the funeral business. They  bought the farm and started their  lives in Bovina.  When the Seedorf's moved to Bovina, Ann and the children, Judy and Jeane, would spend summers with them.

When Charlie Seedorf died in November of 1969,  the Tators bought the house in town.  Agnes Seedorf lived with them for a while until she broke her hip, rehabilitated and  moved to Brooklyn with her daughter, Lois.  Ann worked as the director of nurses at the Delhi hospital and Burt got a job with the post office in Delhi.

Ann remained in the Tator home after Burt's passing, but did have to leave after breaking her hip. The last time I saw her was at the Delhi hospital in November 2005.  She had pretty much decided that because of her fall she could no longer live in her home. I'm sure she wasn't happy to be leaving Bovina, but it was just the way things were. Ann was very practical and matter of fact about it.

Here is Ann’s obituary, as it appeared in the Daily Star (Oneonta) on March 19, 2007:

Anna D. Tator, 86, a longtime Bovina Center resident, passed away peacefully early Saturday, March 17, 2007, at Oneonta Nursing Home.

The daughter of Matthew J. and Lucy C. (Jackson) Dwyer, she was born June 4, 1920, in Brooklyn, where she received her nursing training at Kings County Hospital, later continuing at New York University.

She married Burton E. Tator on March 2, 1945, in Brooklyn. "Burt" died May 20, 1998.

A registered nurse, Anna was employed 15 years at Kings County Hospital, where she was a clinical instructor. She moved to Bovina Center in 1969 and, subsequently, was director of nursing at O'Connor Hospital, Delhi (1970-71), until retirement.

She was a member of Kings County Hospital Alumni Association and had been civically active in the Bovina community.

Surviving are two daughters, Judith Ann Tator and her partner, April Gates, of Otego, and Jeane Bennett O'Dea and her husband, William, of Oneonta; two grandchildren, Lauren Marie Bennett and Robert Michael Bennett; two sisters, Lucy Schall of Stamford, Conn., and Dorothy Christensen of Albuquerque, N.M.; several nieces and nephews.

Private graveside services and burial in the Bovina Cemetery will be at the convenience of the family.

Memorial contributions to Catskill Area Hospice or Bovina Emergency Squad will be appreciated.

Anna's family wishes to express sincere appreciation to the staff at Oneonta Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and especially George and Lisa, for their care and kindness. 

Arrangements entrusted to Robert A. Peet, Hall & Peet Funeral Home, Delhi.

Faces of Bovina - Happy Birthday Agnes Burns

Agnes Burns celebrated her 96th birthday this week (January 21). Thought I'd share these three photos of her taken by Bob Wyer on November 28, 1942. Photos are courtesy of the Delaware County Historical Association.

And here are a couple of pictures of Agnes as a girl.

Agnes is in front standing next to her grandfather Alex Burns (1848-1939). Behind her are her Grandmother Nancy Burns (1852-1931), her sister Mary Burns (1914-1971), her mother Lizzie Burns (1888-1952), my grandmother Anna Bell LaFever (1893-1980) holding baby Howard LaFever (1925-2005), my grandfather Benson LaFever (1900-1982) and his brother Clarence (1902-1979). Agnes's father John (1888-1955) is in the very back.

Agnes and her grandmother Nancy Burns (1852-1931)

Faces of Bovina - the McKenzie Sisters

In August 1972, sisters Janet and Elizabeth McKenzie had their passport pictures taken by Bob Wyer in Delhi.  These certainly were not the first such photos.  The sisters had extensive travel experience throughout their lives. While not life long residents of Bovina, they spent considerable time in the town.  I have many fond memories of these delightful sisters.

Janet and Elizabeth were the daughters of the Reverend Peter McKenzie (1869-1948) and his wife Elizabeth Gordon McKenzie (1874-1950).  They moved with their father several times as he progressed in his career as a minister.  Janet was born in 1898 in Auburn, New York.  Elizabeth was born in Palmyra, New York in six years later.  Janet and Elizabeth had a brother, Gordon, born in 1901 and a younger sister Margaret, born in 1906.  Their father was born in Hawick, Scotland and came to the United States in 1884.  Reverend McKenzie had several pastorates in New York, including Avoca, Naples, Utica, and Schenectady.  Around 1918, he and his family first became familiar with the Catskills, taking a vacation in New Kingston.  In 1925, the McKenzies settled in Stamford when the Reverend became the pastor at the Presbyterian Church there. 

Janet and Elizabeth both became teachers in New Jersey, living in Hackensack and later Newark.  Their father and mother ended up living in Newark also, but they bought a vacation home in Bovina, the house across from Russell’s and now owned by Amy Burns.  Janet and Elizabeth inherited the house upon the death of their parents and spent many summers there in the 50s, 60s and 70s.  Their sister, Margaret, and her husband, Ed Coleman, lived kitty corner from Janet and Elizabeth in the house where Joe and Connie Dibble live now.

One attribute that Janet had that was memorable to me from an early age was that she had one leg shorter than the other - significantly shorter.  Janet had a special shoe to make up the difference.  She never seemed self conscious about it - it certainly never stopped her from her career or from her travels.  And she had a great sense of humor about it.

Sometime in the early 70s, when I was a teenager, I took a phone call from Janet - she was calling to ask my Dad to come down and look at her television (Dad did TV repair).  When I asked what the trouble was, she paused a bit then said that when the telephone rang the TV would turn on - and usually at very high volume!  I wondered if maybe she was nipping at the sherry or something, so I went down to see what she was talking about.  Sure enough, if the phone rang the television turned on or changed channels.  It turns out the problem was the remote control.  It was one of the first remote controlled televisions I ever saw.  In the early days, such remotes used a tone to turn on the TV and change the channels.  The telephone had just the right tone to mimic the remote.  The solution was to live with it and when out of the house, unplug the TV.  Both sisters found the whole situation quite amusing.

As noted earlier, Janet and Elizabeth traveled extensively.  Several records related to their travel were found on Ancestry.com.  Reverend McKenzie and his wife and daughters Janet and Elizabeth made a trip to England in 1934, returning home in August on the Majestic.  The Andes Recorder reported in its July 8, 1938 issue that "Rev. and Mrs. Peter McKenzie went to Newark, last Thursday to see their two daughters sail on a trip covering six weeks in Finland." [I'm assuming the daughters were Janet and Elizabeth, though it's possible one of the daughters instead was Margaret.]  In July 1941, Janet and Elizabeth traveled to Guatemala.  Janet and her father made a trip to Scotland in 1947.  In 1952, the sisters flew to Ireland.  Three years later, Janet went to England, returning on the Queen Elizabeth in April 1955.  I am sure there were many other trips not documented through Ancestry.com.  Later in life, I recalled them spending at least one winter in Costa Rica.

It has been 40 years since I took my first ever overseas trip - a week in England in April 1973.  For a graduation present, the sisters, knowing I had just been there, gave me an old travel book about England that I still treasure.  Their traveling has inspired me to make a number of subsequent trips.  Here's what they wrote inside that book:

Janet and Elizabeth made their last winter trip together in the winter of 1978, visiting friends in Mississippi.  When they came back to Bovina in the spring, Elizabeth was ill and passed away that summer.  Janet stayed in Bovina for a few years then settled in a retirement community in Florida to be near her brother Gordon.  Janet died in 1987 (on my birthday, as it so happens). 

Janet got one last joke in after her death.  My mother was working at the Bovina Post Office in 1987.  When she came in one day to work, Pat Parsons (now Pat Miele), the post master, pointed out something in the safe.  Mom found a large envelope addressed to Janet.  When Mom pointed out that Janet had just passed away, Pat explained that the envelope contained – Janet!  More precisely, Janet’s ashes.  She would have gotten a big chuckle out of it all.


Note:  This is one in a continuing series called "Faces of Bovina," using photographs of people from Bovina taken by Delhi photographer Bob Wyer.  Thanks to the Delaware County Historical Association for allowing the use of these images.

Please share your stories about Janet and Elizabeth in the comments section of this blog.

Faces of Bovina - Man with fish

In the Bob Wyer collection at the Delaware County Historical Association, there are numerous photographs of men holding fish (I'd love to do an exhibit of these some day).  For this installment of my Faces of Bovina series, here is one of those photos.  The gentleman is Noel Gonyo, who was the brother of Florence Thomas.  Born in Nebraska in 1913, he was living in Bovina in the 1940 census.  Noel was a veteran of World War II, serving in Africa and the Middle East.  This photograph dates from May 5, 1948.

My main memory of Noel was in the late 70s when he went to Mexico for an arthritis treatment that made him a new man.  A number of people around Bovina followed suit, including Jim Burns, as did people from further afield, such as my grandparents, Ben and Anna Bell LaFever and my sister Susan's father-in-law, Ed Hughes.  Noel passed away in 1985.

A request (and what will be a reminder at the end of each of these Faces of Bovina entries) – I would love it for people who remember Noel to share their memories – incidents, small stories, whatever – through the use of the comments feature of this blog.  And I would appreciate it if you would include your name in your comments.  Most people who respond to a blog have some kind of alias or post anonymously.  For the historical record, I really would like to know who left the comment. Thanks.