Tombstone Tuesday: Daniel W. Losee

According to his probate papers, Daniel's tombstone was purchased from E.R. Palmer for $36. The undertaker, Edward White, was paid $164.75 for the funeral and burial expenses. Both fees were paid from his estate by his executors, Jacob L. Outhouse and Joseph Outhouse. Daniel is buried beside his wife in Yorktown Church Cemetery, Yorktown, New York.


Find A Grave, database (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 19 Sep 2014), memorial page for Daniel W. Losee ( -1893), Find A Grave memorial no. 53,418,340; created by Gene Baumwoll CSW, 8 Jun 2010; photograph by Gene Baumwoll CSW, added 8 Jun 2010, provides a legible image of the inscribed data; citing Yorktown Church Cemetery, Yorktown, Westchester County, New York; Daniel's stone, beside his wife's, has fallen and is partially buried, but legible.

Amanuensis Monday #2

Amanuensis: "one who is employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts." (The American Heritage High School Dictionary).

The Will of Daniel W. Losee

Transcription:

In the Name of God, Amen, I, Daniel W. Losee 

of the Town of Cortlandt, County of Westchester
and State of New York being of sound mind
and memory and considering the uncertainty
of this frail and transitory life do therefore make
ordain publish and declare this to be my last
Will and Testament, that is to say:

First, After all my lawful debts are paid and
discharged I give and bequeath to my niece
Mariah Outhouse daughter of Jacob
Outhouse Five hundred Dollars ($500). One
Kane bottom Rocking chair and eight Kane
Chairs and one lot of china dishes.
Second. I give and bequeath to my nephew Jacob
L. Outhouse the sum [sic] of  Jacob Outhouse one
hundred dollars ($100) and my gold watch and
chain.
Third. I give and bequeath to my nephew War-
ren Outhouse the son of Jacob Outhouse One
hundred dollars ($100).
Fourth. I give and bequeath to my nephew Alonzo
C. Outhouse the son of Jacob Outhouse One
hundred dollars ($100)
Fifth. I give and bequeath to my niece Emily
Ann Lamb the wife of Jacob Lamb One hun-
drd dollars ($100).
Sixth. I give and bequeath to my niece Harriet
E. Ward the wife of Albert Ward One hundred
Dollars ($100).
Seventh. I give and bequeath to my niece Hetta
Outhouse wife of Joseph Outhouse One hun-
dred Dollars ($100).
Eighth. I give and bequeath to my niece Mary
Vrendenburg the wife of Clarence Vrendenburgh
One hundred Dollars ($100).
Ninth. I give and bequeath to my niece's daughter
Mabel Outhouse the daughter of Joseph and
Hetta Outhouse, one feather bed and bedding
and fifty-dollars ($50).
Tenth. I give and bequeath to my niece's daughter
Gracie Jordan the daughter of Clarence and Bell
Jordan my family bible and fifty-dollars ($50).
Likewise I make constitute and appoint Jacob
L. Outhouse and Joseph Outhouse to be my
executors of this my last Will and Testament hereby
revoking all former Wills by me made.
In Witness thereof I have hereunto subscribed
my name and affixed my seal the Twenty-first
day of August in the year of our Lord one
thousand and eight hundred and eighty-eight.
                [signed] Daniel W. Losee  {L.S.}
The above written instrument was subscribed by
the said Daniel W. losee in our presence and ac
knowledged by him to each of us and he at
the same time declared the above instrument so
subscribed to be his last Will and Testament and
we at his request have signed our names as
witnesses hereto in his presence and in the pres-
ence of each other and written opposite our names
our respective places of residence.
Reside in}  the Town of Cortlandt   [signed] E.W. Lounsbury
                   Town of Cortlandt         [signed] J. H. Jordan

Citation:

Westchester, New York, Wills, Will book 119, p. 27, Daniel W. Losee, 21 Aug 1888 (proved 27 May 1893); digital images, "New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971," FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 June 2013).  Search "Westchester" > "Wills 1893-1894 vol 119-120" > image 33. Image is a composite from pages 27-29 for the purpose of this blog.

Daniel W. Losee, 1880 U.S. Census

Census Sunday

1880 U.S. census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yorktown, enumeration district (ED) 133, p. 7 (penned), p. 429-C (stamped), dwelling 69, family 73, Daniel Losee household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Sep 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 947. 

This is the household of the brother of my 3rd great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Losee) Outhouse. Daniel W. Losee died 13 years after this census. In 1880, he was living with his cousin, Phebe E. Losee, who was also his sister-in-law. Daniel's wife, Sarah, had died in January 1880, and I suspect Phebe, who was Sarah's sister and the executrix of her estate, was helping out.

Daniel W. Losee is a great example for why I love researching collateral relatives and not just my direct line ancestors. Daniel's will, which I will share in another blog post, names his siblings, their spouses, and his nieces and nephews, even listing the married names of the women. Had I not been researching Daniel, I may not have found the evidence I needed to firmly establish the family groups. And the Losee family is confusing. Both Sarah's and Phebe's maiden names were Losee and they both married Losee men. Several family members also married into the Outhouse family. The Losee-Outhouse family lines crossed many times. But more about that in a later post...

Book of Common Prayer

It's Treasure Chest Thursday...

Among the family treasures I've inherited is this Book of Common Prayer. It belonged to my grandfather, Albert H. Pastoor and was printed in 1892. He inscribed the inside cover "To Helen From Albert May 19, 1913," and he included a couple of Bible verses, apparently his favorites.

Helen was his sister, but if he gave it to her, I don't know how it wound up in my father's possession. Sometime during the 1920s, Helen moved to California while Albert stayed in the New York/New Jersey area. My father doesn't remember ever meeting his Aunt Helen.

Wordless Wednesday: Baisley Farm

The Baisley Family at the Farm, photograph, ca. 1944; digital image, privately held by Hiztorybuff.

Amanuensis Monday #1: Pension Deposition

One of the blog prompts from Geneabloggers is Amanuensis Monday. Just in case you are wondering what amanuensis means, according to The American Heritage High School Dictionary, it means "one who is employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts." Although I'm not employed to do so (my many hours of personal research are volunteer hours), in future posts, I will share and transcribe the various documents I've come across in my research.

In my last blog, I shared the 1850 Census of my 3rd great-grandfather, Abram Lamb. I mentioned that he had two sons, one of whom, William, died before having any children. Thanks to a friend, I have in my possession a copy of William's widow's Civil War pension application. In that file were several depositions; I've chosen one of them to transcribe.

Deposition of Hester Hamilton and Catharine Lamb, 18 Nov 1865, filed with Jane L. Lamb's widow's pension application no. 122,590 (abandoned); service of William B. Lamb (Pvt, Company E, 168th New York Infantry Volunteers, Civil War); digital images provided by Carmen Cross, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 23 Aug 2014, without citation of file, series or record group; typically such files appear in record group 15, National Archives, Washington D.C.

State of New York

County of Westchester} ss: On this 18 day of Nov. 1865 personally came

before me a notary Public in afor said county & State Hester Hamilton

and Catharine Lamb whom I certify to be respectable & entitled to 

credit who being duly sworn depose & say; that the Rev. Samuel

N. St. John whose name is signed to the within certificate of mar

riage has left the State of New York with his family & has gone

to some place unknown to deponents, that they believe there is no

church or other public record of said Marriage, that there is no

                                                           of whom said St. John was pastor

one in charge of the Reformed Dutch Church or ^ its records, & that 

efforts have been made to procure the affidavit of said St. 

John as to such marriage, which have failed. that the only 

eye witne[ss] of such marriage, was the wife of said St. John

who has left the state with him, that said Jane L Lamb 

& William Lamb deceased, never had any child or children

& that these deponents have known said Lamb & wife ever

since the date of said marriage as contained in said certif

icate & that they so lived together & cohabited together as man

& wife from that time until the time of his death, except 

while he was absent in the service; that they were generally

known & reputed to be man & wife & were so treated & regarded,

that these facts are personally known to these deponents

and that they have no interest in the prosecution of this claim.

                                              [signed] Hester Hamilton

                                              [signed] Catharine Lamb

Sworn & subscribed to before me the day & year aforesaid & I certify

that I have no interest in said claim & that the foregoing affidavit

was read & fully explained [to the] affiants before they signed the same.

                                               [signed] J.J. Clapp Notary Public

Before receiving this pension file, I didn't know anything about William except his approximate age. So how do I know this is the correct William Lamb? One of the names of the deponents, Catharine Lamb, happens to be the name of William's mother. Jane L. Hamilton appears on the 1850 census with her parents, Robert and Hester Hamilton, just a few households from the Lamb family. Then there is a deed of land transfer (which I will discuss in a later blog) which names Catharine Lamb as the widow of Abraham Lamb, and William Lamb, one of his sons and heirs at law, and wife Jane L. Lamb. I'll be sharing their marriage certificate as well as the land records in later blog posts.

Abram Lamb in the 1850 Census

Census Sunday

1850 U.S. census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Town of Cortlandtd, p. 216-A (stamped), dw. 701, fam. 866, Abram Lamb household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jul 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 614. 

This census enumerates the household of my 3rd great-grandfather, Abram Lamb, age 35, on line 20. It is the only census on which he appears by name because he died in 1854.  My 3rd great-grandmother was Catharine Lent. I'm still searching for her parents and which branch of the Lent family she comes from. Her date of death is unknown, but she was still alive in 1865. My 2nd great-grandfather, Jacob Lamb, appears on line 25 at age 8. Since his brother, William, died at age 21, Jacob was the only male descendant of Abram to have children; he passed on the Lamb surname through his three sons, but I'm a descendant of his only daughter, Jennette.

Shopping Saturday: T.J. Maxwell & Co.

If you were a skilled seamstress living in Peekskill in the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, you might have been employed by T.J. Maxwell. As early as 1892, Mr. Maxwell operated a shirt factory at the corner of Division and Paulding Streets. His business employed about 49 sewing-machine operators, nearly all of whom were women. They earned a salary of less than eight dollars a week or they may have been paid by the piece. Either way, they worked nearly sunrise to sunset, and if they were late to work, they would have been penalized with a salary reduction or they may have received no wages for the day.

In 1902 a new factory on Broad Street was built. This modern-looking

four-story building boasted the “latest and best equipment for their business.” High-speed Singer sewing machines were used to manufacture Restwell brand pajamas, night shirts and “tub” dresses, linen suits for general wear. The work was steady and product was in high demand. Working conditions were generally harsh with the deafening noise of the machines and the break-neck pace required to keep up with the work load. The newer machines meant that now workers were expected  to sew twice as fast as they did just five years earlier. However, each year, in late summer, Mr. Maxwell closed the entire factory for two weeks to allow its operators a vacation.

By 1921, the factory had so many existing orders that Mr. Maxwell was able to employ “several hundred girls.” That was the year improvements were made to the building, likely the influence of labor unions. Due to “its height above the street,” the fourth floor of the factory had been unused, but now a new stairway and wider hallways were added. Fire resistant partitions between halls and work rooms, as well as an alarm on each floor improved work place safety. Doors that opened automatically with pressure were another improvement which allowed a quick exit by the operators in case of fire. The local fire department, Cortlandt Hook & Ladder No. 1, conducted fire drills at the factory.  In one such drill, using their tallest extension ladder, a fireman was able to make it to the roof of the factory in less than five minutes after the alarm was sounded.

Even in the small village of Peekskill, T.J. Maxwell’s shirt factory, by employing women as sewing machine operators, contributed to the nation-wide increase in labor opportunities for women in the United States.

________________________________

The Highland Democrat (Peekskill, New York), 29 Oct 1892, p. 5, col. 1; digital image, Old Fulton New York Post Cards (http://www.fultonhistory.com : accessed 5 Sep 2014); The Highland Democrat, 16 Aug 1902, p. 5, col. 2; The Highland Democrat, 3 Aug 1907, p. 5, col. 2.

G. M. Vescelius, compiler, Gems of the Hudson Peekskill and Vicinity, (Peekskill, New York: n.p., n.d.), 51; digital book, Internet Archive (http://www.archives.org : accessed 5 Sep 2014).

Julius Mathews, Marketing Communications, vol. 65 (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 1908), 42; ebook, Google Books (http://www.books.google.com : accessed 5 Sep 2014).

James M. Lynch, Second Annual Industrial Directory of New York State 1913 (Albany: State Department of Labor, 1915), 725; digital image, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 5 Sept 2014).

Women in Various Styles of Summer Dresses, 1910s still image, 1910; digital images, New York Public Library, "Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection," NYPL Digital Collections (http://digitalcollections.nypl.org : accessed 5 Sep 2014); citing image ID no. 816671.

Factory and Industrial Management, vol. 9 (New York City: McGraw Hill Publishing Co, 1895), 1017, 1018; digital image, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 5 Sept 2014). 

Couple with Pram

Family Faces from the Past

Unknown couple with pram, photograph, c. 1930-1940, digital image, privately held by Hiztorybuff.

This photograph was in a collection of family photographs owned by my maternal grandmother, Jean (Dabrowski) Chrzanowski, and inherited by her daughter (my mother). My mother gave me the original photograph which I then digitized. The original is still in possession of my mother.

The identity of the people in this photograph has been lost over time. It is unknown whether my grandmother was the original owner of the photo or if the couple was related to her, or to her husband. It was likely taken in Connecticut or New Jersey; however, since my grandmother had family in Poland, it may have been taken there.