Index to Comstock's Scipio History

With any luck, I am posting here A - D of the index to Austin B. Comstock's "Some of the History of the Town of Scipio Cayuga County New York." I will post separately the remaining index.

This index is also being posted on our wonderful Cayuga County Rootsweb site at

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycayuga/.

I have also completed the transcription of this marvelous peek at Scipio's early days and will be posting each of its 28 pages, one per day. To quote Jackie Gleason: "and awaaaaay we go!"

Surname	First Name	Page(s)	Comment
Adams	George	12
Aiken	James	24,25
Akin	Edward	5
Allen	James	11,12
Allen	William	15,22	Assemblyman
Allen	William Sr.	22
Alsop	Thomas	8
Andrews	Obed	28
Andrews	Ephriam	28
Andrews	Emily (Mosher)	28
Andrews	Lucy	28
Andrews	Abidah A.	28
Andrews	William Harrison	28
Andrews	Glenn	28
Andrews	Morton M.	28
Andrews	Amelia	28
Andrews	Mary	28
Andrews	Vestina	28
Andrews	Dr. Lucius	28
Andrews	Victor	28
Andrews	Adelbert	28
Andrews	Willie	28
Andrews	Charles	28
Atwater	Timothy	12
Austin	Theodore	18
Axdell	Reverend	26
Baker	John	5	former slave
Baker	Aaron	15
Baker	Jennie (Andrews)	28
Baker	Clarence	28
Baldwin	Joshua	14
Bancroft	William	5,17
Barker	Mathew	15
Barker	Sam	24
Barns	Joseph	7
Battey	Effie	7,16
Battey	Walter	12
Battey	Benjamin F.	14
Battey	Joseph	22
Beardsley	Sherman	22,24
Beattey	James	14
Bennett	not given	4
Bennett	William D. Esq.	9
Bennett	Phebe (Andrews)	28
Bennett	Charles	28
Bennett	Phylis	28
Bennett	Arvid	28
Bennett	Ephriam	28
Bennett	Mary	28
Bennett	Will	28
Bigelow	not given	24

Bishop	Edwin	5
Bishop	Augustus	24
Bolt	Henry	5,24
Bolt	George	5
Bolt	Henry & George	5
Boughton	Jason	12
Boulster	(lot)	11
Bowen	Josiah	9
Bowen	Hon. Sales J.	9
Bowen	Johnathan	14
Bowness	Arthur	7
Branch	J. Winter	16
Brewster	Herbert	12
Brewster	Isaac N.	12
Brewster	Eugene	12
Briggs	Abner	13
Brill	Peter	12
Brown	Melvin	7,8	Lucinda the Mountain Mourner
Brown	B.T.	8
Bryant	Tiberius J.	6
Buckhout	Major Phillip	22,23
Buckhout	William	22
Burt	Hon. James	6
Butler	Daniel	12
Cannon	John	11
Cannon	Daniel	12
Chapman	Illegible	24
Chase	James B.	5
Chase	John P.	12
Chase	Able	12
Chase	W.H.	14
Chase	James H.	14
Chase	Howard	14
Chidsey	Augustus	6
Church	Captain Richard	22,23	War of 1812 vet
Clark	Ethan	17
Coffin	Charles	12
Coggswell	Merriby	5
Coggswell	Zalmon	5
Collins	Thomas	14
Collins	Theodore	14
Collins	Raymond	14
Collins	Forest	14
Collins	Jerry	19	Civil War vet
Comstock	Austin B.	1
Comstock	Alonzo	7,10,17
Comstock	C.F.	12
Comstock	Charles F.	18
Cook	Nathan	5,22
Cook	Mrs. Charles	22
Cook	Samuel A.	22
Cook	Earl	23

Cornell	Mary (Bennett)	28
Cornell	E.	28
Coughlin	Jerry	18	Civil War vet
Coughlin	Barthorn	19	Civil War vet
Coy	George	9
Crowley	William	11
Crowley	William	24
Cuyler	M.E.	12
Daily	Timothy	17
Davis	James	7,13
Davis	Joseph	14
Dean	Seward	18	Civil War vet
DeFreeze	B.T.	13
DeFreeze	Frank (F. B.)	17
Dennis	Wilbur	16
Denniss	Aaron	11
Desmond	Mrs. William	12
Dixon	Clement	12
Dodge	Silas	13
Donovan	Patrick	5
Doubleday	Ulysses F.	16
Durkee	Elisha	22,23

Ledyard and the Civil War

Until the 1830's, Ledyard was a part of Scipio. Many of the Civil War soldiers from that town were also a part of Scipio. I was fortunate enough to find this list of soldiers, and am sharing it here for Memorial Day.

Memorial Day in Scipio in 1908

I spent some time at one of my favorite websites fultonhistory.com today. I thought it would be appropriate to post how Scipio celebrated Decoration Day while some of our Civil War veterans were still able to participate. Here is the article I found:

Auburn NY Weekly Bulletin 1908-1909 from fultonhistory.com
Memorial Day at Scipio
S.C. Tallman and Rev. A.S. Yantis of Auburn among Speakers

The Decoration Day observance at Scipio Center Saturday last was a very interesting occasion. The brass band from Sherwood’s was in attendance and enlivened the occasion by music before Snyder’s hall began to fill up, as it did, for the afternoon exercises. The band opened the exercises by playing America and received hearty applause. James Hitchcock presided in his usual systematic and satisfactory way, and introduced the various numbers on the programme, the first of which was the invocation by Rev. Arnold Stevens Yantis of Auburn. The scholars of the Scipio school under the direction of Miss Hadley, their teacher, marched in from the rear of the hall each one carrying the American flag, and lined up in company front on the stage and sang with great force and dash the old time soldier’s refrain of Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys are Marching. The choir, Mrs. Pardon T. Shorkley, Mrs. Allen Post, John and William Van Liew then sang Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground. As John Van Liew of Auburn, formerly of Scipio, was a veteran this number was extremely fitting. Mr. Hitchcock then read Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg. The choir sang another selection, and was followed by Selah Cornwell Tallman of Auburn with brief remarks. Among the subjects discussed he referred to the fact that the Scipio post was named after his uncle, Selah Cornwell, and gave a sketch of his life as he organized and went to the front with the Company E as its captain of the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth regiment. Mr. Tallman spoke of his remembrance as a boy of between 6 and 7 years of age when his uncle left for the front and how well he remembered the occasion and of the sadness occasioned by the death of Selah Cornwell which occurred November 1, 1862, about two months after he left for the front, and expressed his gratitude to the officers of the post for the privilege of commemorating the memory of a good man 46 years after his death. He also referred to the great love which General W. H. Seward, his commander, had for him and how he thought a bright future was closed by his death, and that he so wished to live not alone for the sake of living but for the privilege of keeping his company to the front and in the service of his country.
Mr. Tallman gave several humorous sketches and referred to the statistics showing that the country was saved not by men but by boys ranging in age from 10 to 21.
The children then sang another patriotic number and the orator of the day, Rev. Arnold Steven Yantis, gave his address in his customary dignified and masterly manner. He referred to the growth and the grander of the republic, how the ties of the North and the South once so badly separated were now banded together that at Battle Creek Mich., the Decoration day address was to be made by a former Confederate soldier, and the debt of gratitude that this and coming generations had for the soldiers. The meeting came to a close by the singing of America by the choir, and while the audience dispersed the band played another selection.
Several of the veterans were unable to be present owing to feeble health, and there were seven men only to represent the now rapidly decreasing heroes.
Mr. Tallman motored to Scipio in his Reo touring car and was accompanied by Rev. A. S. Yantis, Veteran Thomas Tallman and his son, Carl C. Tallman.

Genealogy Research 101

I attended the NYS Conference of Daughters of the American Revolution in 2013 held in Syracuse NY. Since membership in that organization requires verifying your link to one (or several!) Revolutionary War participant(s), genealogy research techniques are a hot topic among the members. A friend who is also the NYS Chairman of Lineage Research is committed to finding new ways to help with research. She shared with me a website that I am now sharing here.
Crafted for the beginner but with tips and hints for those brick walls even the most experienced researcher stumbles upon, this website is full of information on how to begin genealogy research and where on the internet information may be found.
There is a self-paced tutorial for beginners with clearly outlined tasks. Of value to all are the genealogy links provided. I already had many of these bookmarked and use them regularly to research our Scipio ancestors. You will also find some handy tools and charts. I especially like the Town to County database; put in the name of a town and the database provides the unknown to you county name - very handy for following up with specific research.
Take a moment to check out this comprehensive but not overwhelming website. I think you'll be glad you did.
It is www.learnwebskills.com.

Cayuga County and the Viet Nam War

This year the United States is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the War in Viet Nam, to thank and honor all those men and women who served our nation as well as their families. Listed on the Cayuga County Government website in the Veteran Service area are 27 brave Cayuga County servicemen who gave their lives for us in Viet Nam. Many more Cayuga County residents than that represented us. While I was looking for more information about those who served, I found some information on a Cutter ship named for Owasco Lake, that also served in Viet Nam and thought it was interesting.

The Cutter Owasco was named for Owasco Lake, Cayuga County, NY and was built for the Coast Guard by the Western Pipe and Steel Company in San Pedro, California. She was launched on 18 June 1944 and was commissioned on 18 May 1945. She was the very first of the 255-foot cutters to enter service.
While at sea on Friday, 13 October 1967, Owasco was notified of her new assignment to Coast Guard Squadron Three in Vietnam. From 10 August 1968 to 6 March 1969, Owasco served with that Squadron. Her crew numbered 160 men.
While in Vietnam she participated in Operation Market Time, the attempt to interdict communist supply lines by sea. Owasco began her first Market Time patrol on 10 August 1968 just south of the Demilitarized Zone in the South China Sea. Per the Coast Guard, Market Time units were assigned primarily to keep the Communists from getting men, arms and other supplies into the Republic of Vietnam. They include U.S. Navy aircraft, destroyer escort radar picket ships, ocean minesweepers and swift boats and Vietnamese Navy Junk Force craft, as well as 82 foot and high endurance Coast Guard cutters.
Six Owasco crew members were cited for their meritorious service as a result of direct action with the enemy, while the Owasco was on a Market Time patrol on 6 November, 1968.
These six men had just completed a mission ashore in Phoucthan (Phouc Thanh was a Province in South Viet Nam from 1959 to 1965, when it was dissolved into Phước Long Province). They went in aid of a Navy Swift boat; this action is detailed in the official cutter scrapbook of her deployment to
Vietnam, entitled: "USCGC Owasco (WHEC-39): A Pictorial History of Its Deployment to Southeast Asia-Viet Nam During 1968-1969".
By the end of her tour overseas, the Owasco had supplied logistical support to 86 Navy Swift boats and 47 Coast Guard 82-foot patrol boats. She was decommissioned on 27 June 1973 and sold for scrap on 7 October 1974, after almost 30 years of service, a record to be proud of.
Photos of the Owasco and a more complete story can be found online in US Coast Guard histories.

Scipio Talbot Jacquard Coverlet

This blog attracts many viewers from across the USA (and a few overseas!) and this week I heard from someone without personal ties to our town, but with an interesting story.
Carol is an antiques dealer and recently purchased a jacquard coverlet from a Talbot family estate. It has "Scipio 1835" in one corner. The blue and cream colors are the same as others I have seen, but the patterns are different. You may recall from past blog posts that the coverlets were generally made by itinerants or as a supplemental source of income by farmers or other seasonally busy folks, using a large loom and punch card system.
In her search for details, Carol found this website and sent me an email with some wonderful photos.
She states that this coverlet was purchased from a Talbot family estate. It was discovered wrapped in tissue paper in an old trunk and is in amazing condition. This coverlet came with a note with a little bit of family history. The note said the coverlet was owned by Mrs. J. D. Freer of Cortland, NY, who was noted as "My Father's Mother" by the last owner of the coverlet. It also stated that is was said to have been presented as a wedding gift by the family of Henry Ward Beecher. Henry (1813-1887), a minister like his six brothers, was a brother to Harriett Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
I am hoping that a Talbot family member from our neck of the woods can shed some light on the family's relationship to Mrs. Freer and to Henry Ward Beecher to their family before Carol has sold the coverlet. I'd be glad to share her email with anyone interested in speaking with her directly.

William Seward's Westfield Years

Today I was idly browsing NYS wineries information, as a friend had recommended a visit to a winery on Lake Erie. Their website recommended places to shop, dine and stay. The William Seward Inn caught my eye.
When I visited their website at http://www.williamsewardinn.net/I found a wonderful narrative about William Seward and his years working for the Holland Land Company while living in Westfield, NY.
The Inn was built in 1832, and in 1837 it was purchased by William Seward. He made many improvements but sold it in 1841 to a George Patterson who shortly became NYS Lieutenant Governor.
In the 1960's, this 35-foot high Greek revival mansion was nearly demolished but in 1966 a small group of dedicated individuals were able to have it dismantled and reassembled in another location. In 1981, the building had been neglected and had again fallen into serious disrepair, then was purchased and restored as a bed & breakfast.
This story is one of so many that document the ability of small but determined groups of people to make a difference and save an important piece of New York history. I can't wait to visit!