Harriet, Daughter of Moses and Chloe Camp

The children of Moses and Chloe Camp were:

Chloe - (1803 - 1873)

Julia - (1804 - 1872)

Electa - 1806 - 1887)

Sarah - (1813 - 1892)

Lydia - (1814 - c 1830)

Platt - (1815 - 1876)

Harriet - (1817 - 1891)

Sophia - (1817 - 1898)

   Caroline - (1820 - 1889) 

Harriet Camp was the unmarried sister of great-great grandmother, Sophia Camp Case.  One obituary gave her birthdate as December 26, 1817 which would be in conflict with Sophia's age, also obtained in an obituary.  One may be incorrect.  A document concerning Harriet was what really led me on the Camp family research path.  Among the things belonging to Emillus Case, her nephew and Sophia's son, in Indiana, was the document below regarding the estate of Harriet. 

With its many names and locations, it was extremely helpful in making connections and locating the relatives of Harriet, which would also have been the family of great-great grandmother, Sophia.  In this way, nieces and nephews were discovered, and at this point, there is only Minnie Tobias that I have not been connected into the family.

Harriet Camp lived almost all of her life on the family homestead with her brother, Platt.  Later, she moved into a house her brother had built in Waterville.  It seemed that various nieces and nephews stayed temporarily with her, according to their needs and hers. From her will, we know that her niece, Ellen Buckley, was staying with her in her last days.

On April 25, 1891, Harriet wrote her will, naming Francis F. Gorton as her Executor.  Dr. Francis Gorton "was a successful physician and an ornament to his community", according to his obituary.  Her will was found among the New York Probate Records, Oneida County Wills 1890-1894, on www.familysearch.org.  (Image 187, pp. 282+)

"In the name of God, Amen.
Know all that I, Harriet Camp, of the village of Waterville, Oneida County and State of New York of the age of seventy three years, and being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make, publish, and declare this my last will and testament in the words and language following, that is:

First, I truly desire and direct the payment of all my just debts and liabilities and the payment of all my funeral and testamentary expenses. 

Second, I hereby give and devise and bequeath until my dear niece, Ellen R. Buckley, now of my residence, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, the sum to go to her at my decease, her heirs and assigns forever, and in case there should be a deficiency of personal assets out of which to pay her the said legacy of fifteen hundred dollars, then in that case, I hereby expressly charge all of the real estate of which I may (be seized?) with the full payment thereof and make the full payment thereof a first lien and charge upon such real estate.

Third, I hereby give, devise and bequeath upon my dear niece, Alida Burhyte of North Brookfield, Madison County, New York,the sum of one hundred dollars, the sum to go to her, her heirs and assigns forever at my decease, and if necessary to secure the payment thereof to her, I hereby make the payment thereof of a lien and charge upon said estate, but to be secondary to the lien thereon of the legacy to the said Ellen R. Buckley above mentioned.

Fourth, I hereby give, devise and bequeath all of the rest and residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, equally share and share alike between my dear nieces - Emma E. Beebe of Brookfield, Madison County, New York; Hattie A. Washburn, Madison County, aforesaid; and Sarah E. Cook of Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York, the same to go to them equally share and share alike at my decease, their heirs and assigns forever.

Fifth, I hereby constitute and appoint my friend, F. T. Gorton, M. D., of Waterville, aforesaid, sole Executor of this, my last will and testament, to sell and convey any and all real estate of which I may be seized and out of the avails, pay the first two legacies herein mentioned, in the order mentioned, and divide the remainder equally, share and share alike, among the residuary legaties mentioned and execute all necessary  papers and conveyances for that purpose and thereby further authorize and empower him to settle, comfound, and compromise any and all claims that be in favor or that may be presented against my said estate, doing all that may be necessary and with a view to the best interest of those concerned and hereby revoking all former wills by me made."

The will was signed April 25, 1891; Harriet died on September 29th of that same year.  Her obituaries  give us some insight into her life and condition.

Utica Weekly Herald , Tuesday, September 29, 1891
"Miss Harriet Camp, who has been sick for some time, died at her home on Putnam avenue, Sunday night.  She was 74 years old.  The funeral will occur at the house at two o'clock today. Rev. L. J. Silcox will officiate."

Waterville Times, September 31, 1891
"On Wednesday afternoon, at her late residence, No. 12 Putnam avenue, were held the funeral services of Harriet Camp, the Rev. L. J. Silcox officiating.  She was born December 26, 1817, of a family of eight children, of which but one, Mrs. Sarah Worden of North Brookfield survive.  Miss Camp came to Waterville in 1874.  The house in which she died was built by her brother, Platt, as a house for himself and sister.  February 5, 1891, Miss Camp fell and dislocated her hip.  She was not out of the house again.  By her close confinement, chronic ailments were aggravated that resulted in her death." 

 

Is this Harriet Camp?  In 1865, she would have been about 48.

In other documents related to the will, the final disbursement indicated the following:
Ellen R. Buckley received 1341.15. 
Ella Beebe - $590.82
Hattie Washburn - 578.66
Sarah E. Cook - 568.57

Alida's hundred dollars is not mentioned, nor are the other heirs named on the earlier delivered notice regarding the estate.

 

Electa Camp Buckley - Part Two

After celebrating their Golden wedding anniversary in 1883, Electa Camp Buckley lived just four more years.  She died on 20 March 1887 at her family home.  
The Waterville Times carried this obituary:

"DEATH OF MRS. BUCKLEY.
Died Suddenly of pneumonia in the west part of the town, Electa Camp Buckley,wife of Chester Buckley, March 20, 1887, aged 81 years, 5 months and 18 days.
The deceased was the second child of Moses Camp, one of the early settlers of this town.  Born and brought up on the farm lately owned by Platt Camp till she was married February 19, 1833, she then moved March 12, 1834 to the home where she died and always since lived.  She is the fifth of a family of nine children, that have died, leaving now living Sophia Case, of Spencerville, Indiana; Sarah Worden, North Brookfield, New York; Harriet Camp and Caroline Lewis of this town.  
She united with the now extinct Congregational church at the Center, June 3, 1825, being the last with two or three exceptions of the surviving members.  She had a great desire to live as long as her aged husband, who is now nearly 83 and is so infirm in mind that he did not seem to realize her death but for a moment, and now after her burial, does not seem in the least to miss her.
And thus another has gone who has sat many an hour by the side of the sick bed and whose good memory to the last has related circumstances that took place sixty or seventy years ago with as clear an understanding as persons of younger years.  Ever cheerful, trying to make the best of everything, with that blessed hope of a better life beyond this vale of tears and sorrows, she was very much respected by neighbors and friends."

Her tombstone contradicts her obituary concerning her age.  The stone reads 82 years.

 Chester lived a little more than a year and a half after Electa's death, probably with Lansing and Ellen who were still single and at home.
Chester's obituary appeared in the Waterville Times on Friday, November 22, 1888.

"Obituary.  Died, at his home in this town, November 15th, Chester Buckley, aged 84 years, 5 months, 23 (?) days.  The deceased was the second son of Ezra and Louis Sanderson Buckley, who were among the early settlers of the west part of this town.  Mr. Chester Buckley was the last one of a family of seven children.  He was born and brought up only a short distance from where he resided and spent the greater portion of his life, owning and running what was called the Tenney saw mill, taking possession of it in connection with Ebenezer King, November 1, 1828 (?) and working in the same until six years ago last January when he had a fall causing a fracture of the hip, which prevented further work in the mill.  
He was the oldest native, save one, resident of this town.  He was what we might call a home man, not staying away from it a night in more than 30 years and never out of New York state.  The funeral was held at the house, November 17th, the Rev. J. M. Hutchinson officiating."

A little more than two years later, their son, Lansing Buckley, became ill.  From his obituary, it was revealed that he and Ellen sold the family farm and moved in with their aunt, Miss Harriet Camp. 
Lansing's obituary, from the Waterville Times:

"LANSING BUCKLEY.  
Lansing Buckley died at the residence of his aunt, Miss Harriet Camp, on Putnam avenue, in this village, Sunday, March 8th at 3:30 p.m.  Naturally a frail man, he was prostrated July 3d by hemorrhage.  Contrary to appearance, and to the great joy of his many friends, he regained his strength so as to be about.  In November, he sold the old homestead, three miles west of Waterville where he was born in 1836, and came with his sister to reside with Miss Camp.
January 7th, hemorrhage again set in, continuing till he was so reduced as to be obliged to take his bed where he was a great sufferer from extreme weakness to the hour of his departure.  He longed to go.  For nearly thirty three years, he had been an earnest, consistent member of the Waterville Baptist church.  Wednesday afternoon, beneath an evergreen tree, a symbol of the memory in which he is held, his brethern tenderly laid his emaciated body to rest, feeling that the best man among them had gone."

Lansing was buried in the Sangerfield Cemetery, as were his parents and siblings.

Four years later, Ellen, his sister died.  Her brief obituary appeared in the Waterville Times in December, 1895: 

"Buckley.  At her home on Sanger Street, Waterville, New York, on Friday, December 20, 1895, Miss Ellen Buckley, daughter of the late Chester and Electa Buckley, aged 54 years."

That left only the youngest child of Electa and Chester, Rollin E.  Rollin was born to Electa when she was in her forties and he was almost 13 years younger than his closest sibling, Pauline.  Rollin married Anna P. Avery, born in Boonville, New York, and they spent their early married years in Sangerfield.  In 1880, Rollin, 28, a farmer, and his wife, Anna, 24, and their firstborn, Bertha, 3, were enumerated in Sangerfield.  Living with them was a farm laborer, Lawrence Hitzeroth, 18.

At some point, Rollin and family moved to the city of Holyoke, Hampden County, Massachusetts.  In the 1900 federal census, Rollin, 49, was employed as a carpenter.  It was reported that he was born in New York in July, 1851, and he and Anna had been married for 24 years.  They rented their home in Ward 7 of the city and Rollin was not employed three months of the year.  Their children were Bertha, born February, 1877, in New York; she was 23 and a drawer.  Her sister, Lena, 16, born June 1883, also worked as a drawer.  In a list of definition for old occupations, I found that a drawer was one who made wire by drawing the metal through a die.  Their younger brother, Howard, 14, born May 1880 in New York, attended school seven months of the year.  (The date of his birth and birthplace indicated that the Rollin Buckley family was still in New York in 1886.)
In 1900, the Buckleys had taken in four boarders - four men of various occupations: Frank Dunn, 24, a gardener; Jeorge Walker, 22, a merchant; Allen Willis, 22, a laborer; and Leslie Davis, 24, a clerk.  

On January 5, 1903, Rollin's oldest daughter, Bertha Buckley Moore, now the wife of Fred C. Moore, died.  The Massachusetts death records indicated she died at the age of 25 years, 10 months of puerperal hemorhage and heart failure.  Puerperal fever results from an infection of the reproductive organs and is contracted during or following childbirth.  In those days, there were no antibiotics to fight this disease marked by high fever and abdominal pain.  The cause of infection was probably the poor hygiene of people or equipment during childbirth.  Bertha died in Springfield, Massachusetts, and her parents were named in the records as Rollin Buckley and Anna P. Avery.

So, by the time the census was taken in 1910, the family consisted of Rollin (reported as Roland), 50, married 30 years, a house carpenter, and his wife, Anna P., 45, who had three children, but two were alive.  Those two were single and living at home with their parents: Lena, 22, a clerk/saleslady at a bakery, and Howard R., 19, a stone mason and cement worker.
On August 8, 1911, Lena B. Buckley married William L. Brown.  Lena was 29 years old and William was 39 and divorced.  When they married, they lived together at 72 Northampton Avenue in Springfield, he a papermaker and she, a clerk.  William's parents were Samuel Brown and Laura Payne, and (here's where it gets interesting), Lena's parents were Rollin Buckley and Margaret Jenkins.
Margaret?  What about Anna?  Was Lena adopted?  A love child?  Another little mystery to follow or a mistake in the records?

In 1920, only Howard was left at home with his parents.  At 33, he worked as a repairman on the street railway.  Rollin (Roland, again) was still working as a carpenter at the age of 68; Anna was 60 and they were still in Holyoke.
In 1929, Electa's youngest son, Rollin, died; he was listed as Rollie E. Buckley in the Massachusetts death records.

That left Anna and her son, Howard, to be enumerated the next year in the 1930 census.  That census listed Roland E. Buckley, 44, single and head of the household.  That obviously should have been Howard's name, as the occupation was repairman in the railroad shed.  He and his mother, Anna,a widow were renting a home for $35 a month.
Anna died in 1930.  I have not been able to find their burial place or any photos of them.

In 1940, Howard lived in a boarding house and was working as a laborer on a WPA project.  He was 52 years old and he worked 36 weeks a year for an annual income of $430.  He marked that he was seeking work.  Howard died in 1950.

At this point, I am not sure of what happened to Lena and William L. Brown.