Bovina Ex-Pats - the Irvine Brothers

John A. (1867-1918) and Elizabeth Richards Irvine (1866-1940) were the parents of five children, all born in Bovina on the Gerry estate, where Mr. Irvine was the superintendent of the estate.. They had four sons, William, Lester, John Clifton, and Edgar Lloyd and one daughter. The daughter was Isabell Irvine Russell, wife of Cecil Russell and long-time proprietor with her husband and daughter of Russell’s Store.

Clifton and William Irvine

I think these are the three older Irvine brothers: Lester, Clifton and William

Isabell and Lloyd Irvine

The Irvine family lived on the Gerry estate until late 1899 when John Irvine bought the Black family farm on Coulter Brook. The family had the farm for just under 20 years. John Irvine served as Bovina’s town supervisor from 1899-1907. He was the first farmer to bring his milk to the new creamery in Bovina Center in 1902. Tragically, John committed suicide on New Year’s Day, 1918, likely due to depression over health issues.

William Irvine

Three out of John’s four sons ended up moving west, settling in Washington State. William, Clifton and Lloyd (Isabell’s twin) all settled there.

William Irvine, the eldest, was the first to move west. He moved to Seattle in 1909, after graduating from New York State University as a CPA. He worked for the Fisher Trading Company, rising to the position of secretary and assistant to the president of the Fisher Flouring Mills. His obituary noted that he “occupied a commanding position in the world of business. As a personality he was no less a distinguished figure. He was interested in many things and active in many organizations. A man of unusual charm, his friends numbered legion…” In January 1922, he left the United States to travel to Japan and China and the Phillipines in his function as director of ceremonies for the Shriners. 

William became ill in 1925 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He traveled to Rochester, Minnesota twice for surgery. As reported in the Andes Recorder in December 1925, “he was on the operation table three hours and went through a very painful and trying ordeal, only a local anaesthetic being used so that he was conscious during the entire time.” Bill was well enough the following November to travel east with his wife to visit his mother in Bovina. In August 1928, Irvine was back to the Mayo clinic for a second operation. His mother made a trip to Rochester, Minnesota to see him in September. Bill, with his wife and brother Cliff made the trip back to Seattle in October.

Unfortunately, all the effort to save Bill was for naught and he died on May 7, 1929 in Seattle at the age of 41. 

 

John Clifton Irvine, born in Bovina in 1892, grew up in Bovina and when he was 21, traveled to Seattle, Washington with his brother Will. Known as Clifton, he was living in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington during World War One, working for the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company. He was drafted into service and spent time overseas, returning to Washington after the war. When he went back west, his brother Lloyd accompanied him, as did Millard Blair (Helen Thomson’s brother). He married Anne Maloney in 1921. They had one son. Clifton died in March 1978 after a series of strokes at the age of 84.

As noted above, Edgar Lloyd Irvine, Isabell Russell’s twin brother, decided to join his brothers in the west, traveling with Clifton in the summer of 1919. He worked for Fisher Flouring Mills company in Seattle. At the age of 52, Lloyd was married and had four children. He died in January 1980, the last surviving Irvine brother.

Elizabeth Irvine made at least two visits to her sons in Seattle. She made a trip in December 1920, traveling with her sister-in-law, Mrs. W.T. Black. She went again after her son William’s second brain surgery in 1928.

The one brother who stayed east was Lester Irvine. He married Marie Hood in 1913 and they had one daughter, Eleanor (Eleanor married Don Volante and became the first, and to date only, female mayor of Delhi). Lester graduated from Delaware Academy and later graduated from the U.S. College of Veterinary Surgery in Washington, DC. He worked with Dr. Hamilton in Delhi and later took a post graduate course, starting his practice in 1918. His obituary noted that at the time of his death he was the oldest practicing veterinarian in years of service in Delaware County. Lester died in 1961 at the age of 71.

Russell's Store Centennial

It was 100 years ago today that Cecil Russell began his long ownership and operation of Russell's Store. He had purchased the store from his cousin, Andrew T. Doig, in November 1918. Over the almost ten years of this blog, I have written about the store and the Russell family several times.

Here's are three entries specific to the store and family:

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2009, Russell's Store - one of my earliest entries about the store - https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2009/06/russells-store.html

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2012, Russell's Store, Thanksgiving 1978 - this entry was mainly photographs taken forty years ago by Steve Pelletier - https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/russells-store-thanksgiving-1978.html

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013, Russell's General Store Fifty Years Ago and Beyond- this entry shared an article from the Walton Reporter from May 1963 about Russell's -  https://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/05/russells-general-store-fifty-years-ago.html

Wedding from 100 Years Ago - Cecil and Isabell Russell

100 years ago, on September 20, 1916, Cecil and Isabell Russell were married. Best known as the owners and proprietors of Russell's Store in Bovina, their marriage would last over 65 years, ending at Cecil's death in January 1982 (Isabell died 3 years later in November 1985). Here's the newsclipping from the Delaware Express (Delhi):

Fifty years later, to the day, Cecil and Isabell would celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary at a reception held in the Bovina U.P. Church. Here's the news clipping from the Delaware Republican-Express (Delhi).

In 1976 they observed their 60th wedding anniversary. By then, Cecil was experiencing health problems, so no party was planned. They were photographed by a Daily Star (Oneonta) reporter for this article below.

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Pearl Harbor and Bovina

Seventy four years today, on December 7, 1941, "A date which will live in infamy..." the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and plunged the United States into World War II. I wanted to find any references in records to the immediate reaction in Bovina. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot to go on, but did find a couple of items in the records of the Cecil Russell family.

Isabell Russell kept a diary off and on for many years. Interestingly, she had a five year diary that included 1941 but much of 1941 and early 1942 are blank. For what reason I do not know. There were scattered entries for 1941 up to September 24, then they were blank until December 7, when she recorded the attack on Pearl Harbor: "Nice today. We went to church. Word came over radio tonight that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor." There was one more entry for 1941 toward the end of the year but otherwise there were no follow-up posts to the news about the attack. You'll see that the rest of the entries that would have covered 1941-45 are blank. I've noticed in this diary that the latter part of each year tends to have less in it than the early part. In later life, Isabell tended to write more in her diaries.

Here's Isabell's diary entry for December 7, 1941. 

When the attack happened, Isabell's daughter Marjorie was teaching in Madison, Ohio. Her good friend Celia Coulter wrote to Marjorie a few days after the attack on December 11. That was the day that Hitler declared war on the United States. Most of the letter was about different things going on in Bovina and was not heavily focused on the war, but she did say "We certainly get a grim set of facts from the news these days, don't we? I've just been knitting some on Auntie's sweater, while listening to the 'March of Time.'" Celia also noted that the U.P. Church's minister, Rev. McClellan, was leaving - "It looks as if 'the dominie' is really going to depart soon." Dominie was an old Church of Scotland term for schoolmaster but also a Dutch term for pastor. McClellan's departure was a direct result of the U.S. going to war. He had wanted to leave a few months before because he wanted to become a Naval chaplin, but the church talked him out of it.  With the U.S. actually at war, the elders felt in good conscience that they couldn't refuse him. Celia noted that McClellan "expects to be at the Naval Hospital in Brooklyn...."

Here's the beginning of Celia's December 11, 1941 letter to Marjorie.

She concluded the letter hoping she hadn't bored her too much and noting that between her various chores "I listen to the news. Hope it takes a turn for the better soon."

And here's the closing of the letter.

Here's the envelope - note the Christmas seal.

Russell's Store, Thanksgiving 1978

During the Thanksgiving break in 1978 from his studies at Syracuse University, Bovina native Steve Pelletier carried out a homework assignment for his photojournalism course.  His choice was to photograph a long established Bovina institution, Russell's store. He took about 100 pictures.  Fortunately, he held on to the negatives after completing the assignment.  In May of this year, he sent the negatives along to me so I could scan them.  I was thrilled to see these, both for the history of Bovina and for my personal history.  I worked at Russell's from 1968 to the late summer of 1978, when I moved to Washington, DC.  These photographs show what the store looked like just after I had worked there, so they brought back a flood of memories.  Thanks to the Winston cigaratte calendar that Russells used for years, we can date these photographs to Saturday, November 25, 1978.  Here are 25 of the photographs for you to enjoy. 

Exterior shots

  

I think this is Jay Renner coming out of the store.

Interior Views

Inside the backroom.

Another view of the interior - this is where they kept the Jello

This is the account register - Russells allowed customer to buy on credit.

The dry cleaning - people brought in cleaning and it was picked up and delivered twice a week from a cleaner in Margaretville.

Canned goods behind the main counter.

This was a coal burning stove.

Cecil's radio.

The front window display.

General view of the interior, looking toward the back.

The candy case.

The center aisle.

Another view of the candy case.

Behind the desk.

Isabell and Marjorie

Marjorie at her desk.

Marjorie taking an order.

Marjorie behind the counter.  You can just see the calendar that was behind the counter and can see the number '25.'  That's how I determined the date the photos were taken. 

Isabell removing her boots.  This was how I always remembered her doing this.  This picture really struck a chord with me.

Isabell waiting on a customer.

Another shot of Isabell behind the counter.

Marjorie and her mother Isabell packing a box for a customer.

I cannot thank Steve enough for sharing these wonderful 'snapshots' of Bovina's history. 

Merry Christmas from 80 Years Ago

In going through some of the Cecil Russell family papers, I found a lot of Christmas cards and thought I'd share a few from the early 1930s.

Here are three cards that were sent to Isabell Russell's mother, Elizabeth Richardson Irvine (1866-1940).   The middle card is from Reverend William Samson.  I do not know who Ida or Clara May were.

This is a card received by Cecil and Isabell Russell at Christmas 1931 from James Leiper Coulter and his wife Hattie Gladstone Coulter, who lived in Pennsylvania.  I've included scans of the inside of the envelope and the back, which has a 1931 Christmas seal on it. 

That same Christmas, Marjorie Russell, then aged 13, received this card from Helen and Marshall Thomson, who were then living on Long Island.  Helen and Marshall later came back to Bovina.

A very Merry Christmas to all.