Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice Tri-County Biographies Ebenezer SHAW of Sheshequin Bradford County PA Chemung County NY Tioga County PA

Tri-County Genealogy & History Sites Home Page Sheshequin Township Page How to Use This Site Warning & Disclaimer No Unauthorized Commercial Use Say Hello to Joyce  Submitted by Sherry LAMPMAN Nichols More Tri-County Centenarians

Joyce's Search Tip - January 2008 Do You Know that you can search  the site by using the Partitioned search engine at the bottom of the Current What's New Page? Family pages are listed on the Family list but also on the individual Township pages in the Photo, Bible, and other sections.

A Centennial Celebration

Mr. Ebenezer Shaw of Sheshequin, Pa., is a centenarian. He became one hundred years old yesterday. The event was celebrated by the gathering together of a party of about five hundred relatives and friends, who will long remember the day both on account of its pleasures and of the rare and unusual event which brought them together.

Ebenezer Shaw was born in Rhode Island, on the 5th of September 1771. His father, Jeremiah Shaw was born February 2, 1730. His grandfather, also named Jeremiah, was born in 1700, and his great-grand father, named Israel, was born in 1663. Mr. Shaw moved to Sheshequin in 1780 and married Cynthia Holcomb in 1801, who died in April, 1868, aged eighty-six years. They had nine children, five of whom--four boys and one girl--are still living. Mr. Shaw has had fifty-two grandchildren, and sixty-one great-grand children, and on great-great-grand child; making a total posterity of one hundred and twenty-four, ninety-five of whom are still living. Of his ten brothers and sisters nine were represented at the celebration. There were relatives and friends represented at the celebration. There were relatives and friends present from Chicago, Adrian, and several other western cities, and from numerous cities and villages in this state and Pennsylvania.

Mr. William Shaw of Towanda, Pa, acted as president of the day, and a very interesting address was delivered by Hon. O.H.P. Kinney, editor of the Waverly Advocate. The Ulster Brass Band furnished the music for the occasion, and the dinner provided was elegant and excellent, a prominent feature of the table being a beautiful pyramid cake, presented by Mrs. W. B. Campbell of Waverly.

An artist was present and took the photograph of Mr. Shaw for the Masonic Lodge at Athens, in which Lodge he was made a Mater Mason at the age of twenty-six years.

A poem written by Judge Bullock of Smithfield, was sung by Mrs. DeLay Montanye of Towanda, Mrs. John McCormick of Elmira and the Messrs. Eddy Brothers. It was entitled

Mr. Shaw in his declining years is kindly cared for by his daughter, Mr. O. Gore, near his former residence.

Elmira Advertiser    Dec 21, 1871
Funeral of Ebenezer Shaw
The funeral of the late Ebenezer Shaw occurred at Sheshequin, Pa., yesterday at twelve o’clock. Royal Amity Lodge No. 70, of Athens, of which the deceased was a member, attended in a body, and many other Masons, were also present. Mr. Shaw was the oldest Mason in the United States, having been initiated in the Lodge of which he ever afterwards continued a member in 1801. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. O.K. Crosby, a member of Lodge No. 70, followed by a Masonic Address by Past Grand Master Sidney Hayden. Mr. Shaw was born in Rhode Island, September 5th, 1771, and removed to Bradford County, Pa., in April, 1786. At the time of his death he was one hundred years, three months and twelve days of age.

FRIENDS GIVEN LAST FAREWELL

Towanda—Two persons, whose eyes had watched the events of more than a century, died at Burlington Sunday. The centenarians were Mrs. Elizabeth Pruyne, who observed her 100^th birthday in November, 1932, and Abram Vanderpool whose years were 102. Mr. Vanderpool was the first to pass on. His death occurred in the morning. Mrs. Pruyne followed him within a few hours. Officials of the county home where their declining years had been spent, today paid a tribute to the two aged persons whose deaths threw the home into mourning. Little was known about Mr. Vanderpool. He came to the home in 1906 at the age of 75. Crippled, he had never been able to perform heavy work. He was unmarried, the son of Henry Vanderpool and a native of this county.

Mrs. Pruyne, who possessed a mind of remarkable keenness, was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1832. Her father, known as Captain Corts, was a planter. At the age of 7 she came North and in 1851 she married Henry W. Welles of Towanda. After his death in 1888, she married Robert Pruyne of Luther’s Mills. Mrs. Pruyne retained her faculties until the end. Shortly before her death, she asked that her friends be called to her bedside. Extending a hand that she knew soon would be stilled by death, she bade them farewell in a voice that was clear and unshaken. Not long afterward her life ebbed away. (handwritten on article Jan. 22, 1933)

 This article written by Dave Muffley and Lorraine Townsend, Personal Care Managers for North Penn Comprehensive Health Services Home and Center Program, was printed in the August 23, 1995 edition of the Wellsboro Gazette. Addie Prince of Mansfield, has not traveled far in her life - but she has traveled long. Addie celebrated her 100th birthday on Friday, August 25.  What makes Addie remarkable is that she does not live in the past or even in a particular present.  Addie lives the moment - and the next moment. Sitting in her favorite rocker, the bright-eyed, smiling woman not only recalls the past but comments on the present and speculates about the future.  Reflecting on her lifetime of active participation in the Mainesburg Methodist Church, Addie tells about taking home the chimneys from the kerosene chandeliers to wash, then chuckles about how much easier and brighter today's electric lights are. She goes on to say how much she likes the new pastor and is excited about the church's plans to build a new Sunday School wing.  Addie says they really need the additional space and comments, "Communities in general seem to be crowding out Christ." Addie began school at the age of 8, as did most children of her era.  She often found herself needing to contribute to her family's income, however, and earned 5 cents an hour doing odd jobs for the elderly after school and during summer breaks. She confessed that as a child she liked "the old people" and found it rather enjoyable to help them whenever possible. Addie remained single until she was 28.  When asked if that was considered rather late in life at that time, Addie quickly responded, "Why yes.  It still is.  But I don't find anyone who interested me." You know she feels it was worth the wait when you listen and watch Addie's eyes smile fondly as she speaks ever so softly, but emphatically, of her deceased husband, Charles.  "He was a very.... nice... man!" Addie's personal history over an entire century has been one of caring for and about her family, friends and neighbors.  Addie moved from Mainesburg to the Sherwood Manor in Mansfield in 1974 when she was 79, along with her sister, Alice Mudge.  The manor was only 4 years old then.  Addie says she has been happy living in the manor for the past 21 years and enjoys the visits throughout the day from her many friends. Addie has out-lived most of her natural family.  Her father died when she was 7 or 8, leaving her mother and older brothers to support the family.  Addie remained close to her mother, who lived to the age of 97.  Although longevity seems to run in her family, Addie is the last of seven siblings, most of whom lived into their eighties and nineties. On Aug. 25, when many in the community will gather to celebrate the 100th birthday of the manor's most senior resident, Sherwood Manor will also be celebrating its 25th birthday. Although she remains alert and talkative, Addie is aware of tiring more easily these days.  While she has managed most activities of daily living with some assistance from North Penn Home and Center, Blossburg, Pa., for the past few years, she is aware that he needs are growing. After 100 years of independent living, Addie has decided to travel with time and accept the aid of others. She plans to soon relocate to a nursing home in Wellsboro, rather than giving up on life, she has chosen to grasp this opportunity to meet new friends and enjoy whatever the future holds. In Addie's own words, "I' ve always liked a good time and have lots of good friends but I've never liked to travel too far."

WELCH ADDIE
IN MEMORY OF  ADDIE W. PRINCE
DATE OF BIRTH  August 25, 1895
DATE OF DEATH  February 18, 1998
SERVICES FROM Scureman Funeral Home, Inc., Mansfield, Pennsylvania,
February 20, 1998 2:00 P.M.
OFFICIATING CLERGY The Rev. Dr. James Bellamy, Mainesburg United Methodist
Church
INTERMENT   Laurel Hill Cemetery, Odessa, Schuyler County, New York

WELCH ADDIE - Addie Prince Dies At Age 102
MANSFIELD – Addie Prince, a resident of Broad Acres Nursing Home, Wellsboro, died there today, Feb. 18, 1998. Formerly of Mainesburg, she moved to Mansfield in 1974. Shortly before her 100th birthday anniversary, she moved to the nursing home. Her husband, Charles Prince, died in 1961. Born Aug. 25, 1895, in Mainesburg, she was a daughter of Ellis and Ellen Walker Welch. She was a member of Mainesburg United Methodist Church. Surviving are a nephew, Paul Welch in Canada; two great-nieces, Paula Welch and June Smith, both of Mainesburg. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Scureman’s, 130 Main St., with the Rev. Dr. James Bellamy officiating. Burial will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Odessa, N.Y. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday.

I was born Vera Helen Palmer, on a farm about four miles from Sylvania, PA on August 7, 1897.  My father was Charles Palmer and my mother was Della Palmer.  There were 5 children in our family. Our house had a living room, a parlor, a dining room, a big kitchen and four bedrooms.  We had a big barn for horses and cattle, a chicken house, a granary and an ice house.  In the ice house, I remember climbing up on the ice on hot days, it was covered with sawdust.  The ice house was right next to the house so that the men could cut the ice and take it into the basement.  We also had a pig pen and 3 pigs.  I used to feed the pigs scraps from the table sometimes.  We had lots of grapes, apple trees and plum trees.  My father had two beautiful horses that he would show at the Troy Fair and the Mansfield Fair and he won prizes a few times. We used to keep a Jewish peddler at our house three of four times a year.  He carried his pack on his back and my mother bought all her linens from him.  She gave him his lodging, breakfast and dinner at night.  We would see him praying a lot.  He was very nice. I went to school in a little red school house about 1 1/2 miles from home and we all had to walk to school together.  Our grandparents lived next to the school and I remember stopping there for breakfast quite often and Grandma Palmer would comb my hair.  In eighth grade, my teacher had to go out of town to a funeral and she asked me to teach the class all day, so I did and I enjoyed it. We moved off the farm to Sylvania when I was about 8 years old and rented our farm to a young couple.  My father worked for a funeral director and drove the hearse for funerals in Sylvania.  It's a small town, but it had a meat market, a hotel, a barber shop and a department store.  I was very happy there because that's where I met my best friend, Pauline.  She and I had so many good times together. I broke my arm riding down hill when I was about 10 years old.  The doctor came and he and my father set my arm in a cast.  My mother left the house for a while.  She said she couldn't stand to hear my crying. We had an Edison phonograph and we all had lots of fun listening to it.  Mrs. York gave me piano lessons on a little organ.  I liked it and so my parents had a piano brought in from Troy.  I got tired of practicing after awhile and one day when I arrived home from school, the piano was gone. We almost always went to church on Sundays, to a little white church out in the country, about 3 miles from our home.  Around 1910 the Tango dance was in, so Pauline and I would go and watch them dance at the Hall.  The flapper dress was in, and Aunt Kit, my mother's sister, made 2 of them for me.  She made me several other dresses, too. I went to Troy High School and I got there by riding with a friend of my family who had a horse and buggy.  Then I went to Elmira to go to business school for two years and lived with a cousin of my mother's.  After graduation, I got a job in the Marine Savings Bank and worked there for five years. In 1913 one of the men in town bought a new Ford car and took everyone for rides in it.  He was so proud of that car.  Also in 1913, the first airplane was in Elmira and a few of us went to see it.  Windy Smith flew the plane for us to see.  In 1921, Valentino stopped in Elmira at the railroad station and we all went to see him.  I had long hair but every girl I saw had bobbed hair, so I went home and got my hair cut.  After that, it was so much easier to take care of. In 1924, I married George Rietmann.  He worked at Hamilton's Jewelry Store.  He was a wonderful husband and father and we had four beautiful and wonderful children, Marcia, Mary Lou and Robert (twins), and Nancy.  George died in 1961 and after nine years, I married Samuel Garthwaite, who was a good husband, too.  I now have a large, wonderful family and I love every single one of them.  And I can't believe that I have lived to a ripe, old age of ......100 years!!!
Vera died 2007 - See obituary

Mrs. Caroline Schultz
Last Sunday, the 4th instant, a lady named Mrs. Caroline Schultz, living in Mr. Schimp’s family, about two miles from this village, completed her 100th year.  The venerable dame, who is nearly two years older than the Republic, is still hale and hearty, and appears to be good for 20 more years of this life.  During the past summer she has spun 25 pounds of wool, and last week she made herself a dress--a thing which many a woman, one quarter of her age cannot do, we venture to say.  Twenty-five years ago her eyesight failed somewhat; but she has since recovered it again, and now sees to read and work without spectacles about as well as ever.  Her teeth are still good, and she eats as heartily and as rapidly as anybody should.  Mrs. Schultz is a German by birth, and came to the United States 20 years ago when she was quite a young lady, being then only 80 years old.  She was a widow at that time, the husband of her younger days having died 40 years ago.  The venerable woman takes a little snuff once in a while, but never uses tobacco in any other form.--She has no pain or any physical infirmity except that she can not ride or use a rocking chair, the motion producing dizziness.  (Tuesday, October 6, 1874, The Tioga County Agitator, Wellsboro, Tioga Co, Pa.)
 

Bradford County PA Chemung County NY Tioga County PA

Published On Tri-Counties Site On 02 APR 2003 By Joyce M. Tice Email Joyce M. Tice You are the  visitor since the counter was installed on 02 APR 2003