Keziah (Gould) Purdy, 1823-1845

Once upon a time, about 1840,

There was a young girl named Keziah,

Who fell in love with a young man named Daniel.

They got married.

Within a year they had a daughter, Aurelia.

Twenty months later they had another daughter, little Adelaide.

Two years later, Keziah died of consumption.

Daniel and his little daughters moved 

In order to live near relatives that could help them,

Or perhaps because the grief was just too present where they lived.

A little over a year later,

Daniel remarried to a woman named Susan.

They had several children, 

Who they raised along with Aurelia and Adelaide.

Adelaide married in 1859, at age 16 to Wes.

Three days later, her father, stepmother, sister and step-siblings moved overland from upstate New York on to Wisconsin.

After the Civil War, Adelaide and Wes followed them in 1872.

None of them ever returned to New York.

Keziah's name became a memory in a family Bible.

Her birth and death dates recorded but fading.

Daniel died in 1881.

The information he knew about Keziah seemed to have died with him.

Who were her parents, her siblings?

Where was she born?

Where did she die?

And where was she buried?

No one knew the answers anymore.

For years after I started family history research, my family had only the birth and death dates and a name for my 3rd-Great-Grandmother. And the name that was "remembered" was Hezekiah Gould.  The name and dates had supposedly come from an old family Bible, but like so many things once owned and cherished, the Bible was long gone, and no one knew where it had gone to.

The name Hezekiah never felt right to me, historically it has been a man's name but like the dates that we had, I took them as good hints and kept looking. To not confuse the issue, at this point I will say that eventually I was able to prove that her name was Keziah.

According to the information that had been shared with me, Keziah was born 28 Jan 1825 and died on 20 Jun 1845 at age 20. She married Daniel Crane Purdy on 11 March 1841. The locations are not known for where Keziah was born or where she married Daniel.  

Two daughters were born to Keziah and Daniel. Aurelia A. Purdy was born 19 Nov 1841 in Wyoming County, New York. Her sister, Adelaide Fredora Purdy, was born 20 July 1843 in Allegany County, New York, possibly in the Town of Allen. According to family lore, Keziah died of "Consumption", known today as Tuberculosis, just two years later.

While also looking for information on Keziah, I noted that her mother-in-law, Daniel's mother, Abagail (Crane) Purdy died just a few months after Keziah on 1 October 1845 in Allegany County, New York. I found information on alleganyhistory.org that said that Abagail was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Town of Hume in Allegany County. I contacted the Town Historian, Rondus Miller, and she was kind enough to send me copies of the Cemetery Sexton's Plot book and another page that listed graves that had been "removed" from other cemeteries to Pine Grove Cemetery.  

It showed on the "Removed" list:

Abigal Wife of James Purdy Jr. Died Oct 1st 1845, Age 53y 

removed on May 13, 1887 and buried in Lot #139.

and to my great excitement:

Keziah wife of Daniel C. Purdy, Died Jun 20 1845, Age 22y

Removed    May 13, 1887 and buried in Lot #139.

 

Pine Grove Cemetery Sexton's Book, p.10

Filmore, Town of Hume, Allegany County, New York

Removals from other cemeteries reburied in Pine Grove Cemetery.

Note:  Click on the photos to look at full size images.

The name or location of the cemetery that Keziah and Abagail were originally buried in is not known. Rondus speculated that they may have been moved from the Mills' Mills Cemetery which had been located near a school, or possibly from a private grave on family property, but no record so far has been found that clarifies this.  Pine Grove Cemetery was established in 1860 and Keziah and Abagail's graves were moved on 13 May 1887.  By 1887, Keziah's husband, Daniel, was deceased.  It is unknown who had the graves moved.

This record from the Sexton's book also documents the marriages of Abagail to James Purdy, Jr., and that of Keziah to Daniel C. Purdy. It lists Keziah's age at death as 22 years old which would indicate she may have born in 1823 instead of 1825. While family lore says that Keziah's maiden name is Gould, no documentation has yet been found to support that.

Keziah and Abagail are buried in Lot #139 in Pine Grove Cemetery with seven other graves. There is no grave marker for Keziah, but there is a grave marker for Abagail. 

Abagail (Crane) Purdy, 1791-1845

Pine Grove Cemetery

Filmore, Town of Hume, Allegany County, New York

Others buried in Lot #139 with Keziah and Abagail are shown in the burial recording section of the Sexton's plot book, below.  Margarette Purdy and Sara A. Purdy (daughter of William Slagel) are relatives of the Purdy family. Other than Abagail Purdy, none of the others have grave markers listed in the current cemetery survey.  

Pine Grove Cemetery Sexton's Book, Lot #139

Filmore, Town of Hume, Allegany County, New York

Abagail Crane was married twice, first to Gideon W. Sowle about 1808. They are shown in the 1810 census in Camillus, Onondaga County, New York. They had two children, the only one who survived to adulthood was Aaron C. Soule. Gideon died in 1813. 

From 1813 - 1823, Rev James D. Purdy Sr, father of James Purdy Jr and grandfather of Daniel Crane Purdy, served the Scipio Circuit of the Methodist Genesee Conference. 

Rev. James D. Purdy Sr., lived in Camillus at the time of the 1820 census and possibly the entire time he was serving the Scipio Circuit from 1813-1823.

Abagail remarried in 1813 to James D. Purdy Jr. in Camillus, Onondaga County and they had six children, one of which was Daniel Crane Purdy.  

James Purdy, Jr. died in 1830 in Elbridge, Onondaga county when Daniel was 9 years old. The only adult male in the family at James Purdy's death was Aaron Soule and it appears that Abagail lived with Aaron and his family from then until her death.  

By 1840 Aaron Soule was living in Warsaw, Genesee County, New York with eight people in his household with ages appropriate to his mother, Abagail, and his half-brothers, Augustus, and Daniel C. Purdy.

It is unconfirmed where Keziah and Daniel were married. The date from the missing bible says they were married 11 Mar 1841 and locations that they lived in indicate strongly that it could have been in Genesee County. 

Their oldest daughter, Aurelia, was born in (then) Wyoming County, New York on 19 Nov 1841. Wyoming County was formed from Genesee County on May 19, 1841. Wyoming and Genesee counties are adjacent to each other with Genesee county to the north, so it is likely that Keziah was living in early Genesee County when Daniel met her, possibly near Warsaw where he was likely living with his mother and older half-brother.

Adelaide was born on 20 Jul 1843 in Allen, Allegany County which was directly south of Wyoming County indicating that Daniel and Keziah had moved between Nov 1841 and early 1843.

Aaron Sowle was living in the Town of Caneadea, Allegany County at the 1850 census, but given that Abagail is buried in the Town of Hume, Allegany County it is likely his family moved there prior to her death on 1 Oct 1845. 

Pine Grove Cemetery in the village of Filmore, Town of Hume, Allegany County is where Keziah and Abagail are buried. It is less than 10 miles from Allen, making it likely that Abagail and Keziah died in 1845 in the immediate area of the adjacent Towns of Caneadea and Hume. 

Nothing more has been found about Keziah. Still to be confirmed is her maiden name, who her parents were, and where she was born.

My line of descent from Keziah, my 3rd-Great-Grandmother:

Keziah (Gould) Purdy, mother of 

Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon, mother of

Louis Avery Kenyon, father of

Charles Martin Kenyon, father of

Kathleen (Kenyon) Von Fumetti, mother of

Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Walking Where Others Walked

They say, "you can't go home again". It may be true. But sometimes the places and the people come together to give you that moment in time that brings it all near in our hearts again. My sisters and I made a whirlwind pilgrimage trip to the area where my Mom was raised, and where she is buried. Dad, who loved Mom's huge family, and my Mom, the youngest of eight children, always made sure we got back to Tomah on a regular basis when we were growing up: teaching us the importance of family and place. 

There have been casual reunions among the "Kenyon Clan" all through my lifetime. Many weekend visits where we would farm ourselves out to stay with our various cousins, sometimes meeting at a campground or on the side of the road where we would swap siblings for cousins or swap them back again. Others were slightly more organized family picnics and semi-reunions over the years. But we came together. We not only knew who each other were, we knew each other. Mother and her siblings were born over a 16-year period from 1916-1932, and their children were born spread out from 1937 through 1966. There are thirty-one first cousins in my generation, and thanks be, twenty-nine of us are still living although our parents have all gone home to their eternal reward.

As the years passed, we grew up, and we brought families in tow for those picnics and reunions, when we could. And we did make it happen when we could. Later picnics, the photo albums would come out and the stories would be told to many listening ears. 

This photo is of the last time my Mom and her siblings were all together at a family get together. They all cherished their time with each other; holding an empty chair each time they were together in memory of their sister, Doris, who had died in 1965. 

Glen, Jeanette, Helen Joy

Doris' chair, Kyle, Veva

Jim and Katie

"The Kenyon Kids"

NOTE:  Click on any of the photos in the blog to view in a larger size.

I made the decision this spring to make a quick trip back to the Midwest.  I always do my best to make the trip up the country highways from Dubuque to Tomah to visit Mom's grave and any cousins that might be around.  This time I gave them all a little notice and they turned out big time just to get the chance to see each other for one meal, one evening to spend together.  We represented several cities and towns in Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Alaska and South Carolina, all with a family toe hold in Monroe County, Wisconsin.

Back row:  

Craig Storkel, Dennis Hart, Jason Hart, Viki Von Fumetti, Jim Storkel, Gregg Evans, 

Lisa Von Fumetti, and Mike Kelley

Middle row:

Xena Kenyon, Thom Kelley, Helen Kenyon, John Kenyon, Jean Kelley, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Sally (Mauer) Kelley and Jenn Kozelka

Forward Row:

Liliana Kenyon, Chas. Kenyon, Kelly Kenyon, Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick

Front:

Della (Yarbrough) Koenig, Donna Faye (Kelley) Evans, and Steve Adams

Several of us were able to spend the night in a local hotel, met up for breakfast the next morning and some much-needed coffee after the late night. Then we got into our cars and went to say hello to our parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and several ancestors. 

Mom's family and ancestors have deep roots in Wisconsin going back to the 1844 Wisconsin Territory, and Daniel Crane Purdy was the first of our line to settle in the valley that would go on to carry his name, Purdy Valley, in 1859. There are two cemeteries nearby, La Grange and Greenwood Cemeteries. 

Walking to the top of the hill in La Grange Cemetery and looking to the west you can see the hills that roll into what was once Purdy Valley. The oldest graves top the hill and the markers of the descendants of those first burials trail down the hill, many almost by family lines.

We started at the lower side of the cemetery to visit Mom and her family first. Mom wanted to be buried "back home" and we did everything we could do to make that happen with special help from our cousin, Chas. Kenyon, who had his parents, Kyle and Xena, moved to rest one over the other, to make room for Mom. Kyle and Mom were especially close, and I know she is content to be near him in death.

Kathleen Karyl (Kenyon) Von Fumetti was born in 1932 in a small log cabin in Purdy Valley.

"I Loved You So, 'Twas Heaven Here With You"

Mom loved irises and reading. The marker honors those memories.

L to R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Viki Von Fumetti

Four of the children of Charles Martin and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon lie in a row along the lower edge of the family plot. Buried here (in order) are Jim and Bernice (Barrett) Kenyon; Veva (Kenyon) Von der Ohe Stillwell Kenyon; Kathleen (Kenyon) Von Fumetti; and Kyle and Xena (Cade) Kenyon.

Kenyon Siblings & wives

On the upper side of the family plot lie our grandparents, Charles M. and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon and our great-grandparents, Louis and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon

Left to right:

My grandparents:

Charles Martin Kenyon, born in Purdy Valley in 1889.

Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon born 1895 and moved to Monroe County as a child about 1903.

My great-grandparents and Charles' parents:

Louis Avery Kenyon was born 1866 in Orleans County, New York and came 

with his parents in 1872 to Purdy Valley.

Gertrude Inez (Vandervort) Kenyon was born 1872 in Purdy Valley.

From there, we started climbing up the hill towards our Vandervort ancestors who are buried in a family line going up the slope in the cemetery.

My 2nd great-grandfather and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon's father:

Martin Luther Vandervort born 1844 in Oneida County, New York, joined his parents 

in Purdy Valley following the Civil War.

My 2nd great-grandmother and Gertrude's mother:

Phebe Jeanette "Nettie" (Hunt) Vandervort, born 1851 in Valparaiso, Indiana, moving to Wisconsin about 1857, marrying Martin in Milwaukee, then moving to Purdy Valley about 1870.

Continuing on up the hill to say hello next to our 3rd great-grandparents:

Jacob Vandervoort was born 1820 in Schoharie County, New York.  Jacob and his wife, Louisa, moved to Wisconsin at the end of the Civil War and were living in Purdy Valley before 1875.

Louisa (Eastman) Vandervort was born 1819 in upstate New York and accompanied her husband, Jacob to Wisconsin, living out the end of a long life in Purdy Valley.

The last grouping of Vandervoort graves at the top of the hill include my 4th great-grandfather, James Robert Vandervoort and his second wife, Mary (Baker) Vandervoort, as well as those of Jacob's half-brothers, Cornelius, Isaac and James Vandervort and members of their families.

James R. Vandervoort born 1789 in Fishkill, New York, married first to Rebecca McIntyre about 1812. Rebecca was the mother of Jacob, John, William, and Abigail.  Rebecca died about 1831 in Schoharie County, New York. James remarried to Mary (Baker) Moon, a widow, about 1832. Together they brought their family to the Wisconsin Territory in 1844. They moved to Purdy Valley in 1868.

Mary (Baker) Moon Vandervoort was born 1804 in New York

From this vantage point just at the crest of the hill, Purdy Valley, the home of all the ancestors above, was to the west about a mile.  The U.S. Government took Purdy Valley by eminent domain for the expansion of Camp McCoy in 1941 and the community of Purdy Valley was destroyed in that process.

Looking over the cemetery from the top of the hill you can see about eight hundred graves. It would not be an exaggeration to say that most of the people buried there are related in some way to the Kenyon, Vandervort and Purdy families, and most probably did live in, or near, Purdy Valley during their lifetimes.

On our walk back down the hill, we stopped to visit Uncle Royal and Aunt Doris, my mother's oldest sister and daughter of Charles and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon.

Doris (Kenyon) Hart was born in Purdy Valley in 1916.  

She married Royal Hart in 1937 and they lived in Tomah and later moved to the Milwaukee area.

L-R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Craig Storkel, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt

Photo taken by Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick.

Relaxing before heading to Greenfield Cemetery.

Purdy Valley sits to the west side of LaGrange Cemetery on the corner of Highway M and Elgin Avenue. Greenfield Cemetery sits to the south, near the mouth of the valley along Hwy 21. More of our Kenyon and Purdy ancestors are buried there and we headed there next.

Most of our ancestors in this cemetery are buried along the furthest west entrance drive to the cemetery.

The original Kenyon family to move to Purdy Valley were Charles and Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon, my 2nd great-grandparents.  They are the parents of Louis Avery Kenyon who was buried in LaGrange Cemetery.

Charles Wesley Kenyon was born in 1837 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.

Charles and Adelaide moved with their family to Purdy Valley in 1867 after the Civil War.

Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon was born in 1843 in Allen, Allegany, New York.

She is the daughter of Daniel Crane Purdy and his first wife, Keziah Gould.

Daniel Crane Purdy was born 1820 in Onondaga County, New York.

His second wife, Susan (Savage) Purdy was born in Madison County, New York.

They moved to Wisconsin in 1859 with six of their children.

Purdy Valley was named after Daniel and his family.

Daniel "Avery" Purdy was born in 1859 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.

A babe in arms when the family headed overland to Wisconsin, he died in 1862.

Click the link below for a video of some of us enjoying our time together at Greenfield Cemetery.

Cousins at Greenfield Cemetery

Compiled by Kelley (Evans) Stiles

Back: Pat (Froekle) Hart, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Dennis Hart, Lisa Von Fumetti, 

Craig Storkel, Helen Kenyon, Viki Von Fumetti

Middle:  Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Jean Kelley.

Front: Jason Hart

Two cemeteries are on the South side of Tomah, and we headed there before heading back to Iowa.  Oak Grove and St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery sit side by side on Superior Avenue (Highway 131).

Entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery

Frank Storkel was born in 1912 in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Jeanette (Kenyon) Storkel born 1926 in Millston, Wisconsin, is my mother's sister.

Frank and Jeanette's son, my cousin, David Storkel was born 1955 in Tomah.

Entrance to the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery 

Frederick "Fritz" Kelley was born 1910 in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Helen Joy (Kenyon) Kelley was born 1928 in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin.

Helen is one of my mother's sisters.

Mom had one other sibling, Glen Kenyon, born 1920 in Tunnel City, Wisconsin who along with his wife, Dolores (Siekert) Kenyon are buried in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Sparta, Wisconsin.

Today we walked where others walked

On a lonely, windswept hill;

Today we talked where others cried

For Loved Ones whose lives are stilled.

Today our hearts were touched

By graves of tiny babies;

Snatched from the arms of loving kin,

In the heartbreak of the ages.

Today we saw where the grandparents lay

In the last sleep of their time;

Lying under the trees and clouds -

Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.

Today we wondered about an unmarked spot;

Who lies beneath this hallowed ground?

Was it a babe, child, young or old?

No indication could be found.

Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay.

We had been here once before

On a day we'd all like to forget,

But will remember forever more.

Today we recorded for kith and kin

The graves of ancestors past;

To be preserved for generations hence,

A record we hope will last.

Cherish it, my friend; preserve it, my friend,

For stones sometimes crumble to dust

And generations of folks yet to come

Will be grateful for your trust.

"The Recording of a Cemetery"

by Thelma Greene Reagan

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Heirlooms: Pollyanna

 

My mother, Kathleen (Kenyon) Von Fumetti, had very few books from her childhood that were still around by the time I was old enough to read.  We were lucky to grow up in a house with many books and trips to the library and I was an avid reader.  Looking through the bookshelves at home, I discovered Pollyanna one day.  I took it, curled up in the corner of the sofa and read it over the next few days.  Although the book was written in 1912, Pollyanna's story was compelling.  It really touched my heart and I believe it has always resonated and changed how I viewed things in my life and in the world from that point forward.  

For those not familiar with Pollyanna's tale, it is about an orphaned girl who goes to live with a maiden aunt who takes her in out of "duty".  Pollyanna and her father had played the "Glad" game together through the hardships in their life together.  Pollyanna brings that way of looking at her life, the world, and the people around her when she goes to live with her Aunt Polly.  Over time the people in her life are affected by how Pollyanna looks at and deals with hard issues in life.  She does not preach about how people should live; she simply is an example of what they could do in their own lives. 

Pollyanna's philosophy was not a naive way of looking at life through a rose- colored prism, but it was a way of searching for the good in a bad situation, coping with what life throws at you.  

My mother was given this book for Christmas in 1943 by her mother, Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon. Quite likely it was the only gift my grandmother could have afforded to give her that year.  Mom was 11 and in 6th grade that December.  

Kathleen and her older siblings had been raised largely in the Depression years; a time that saw them endure near poverty.  They lost not only their home, but also their farm, when the U.S. Government took a rural area, including Purdy Valley in which their land was situated, by eminent domain and added it to the nearby military base in October 1941.  Gone was their way of life in almost every way.  Her father, Charles Kenyon, lost not only his childhood home which he had worked hard to reclaim after WWI, but also the original homestead that had been settled out of the Wisconsin wilderness by his great-grandfather, Daniel Crane Purdy, in 1859.  Charles had lost his livelihood as a farmer which had quite literally sustained them during the past decade.  By 1943 the family had been forced to move and were renting a house on the outskirts of nearby Tomah, Wisconsin.   World War II was in full swing and two of Kathleen's brothers, Glen and Kyle, were overseas fighting and the third one, Jim, was waiting to go on his 18th birthday the following March.  

It is not a stretch to believe that my Grandmother, when she gave this book to my mother, was trying to encourage her to find a way to look for the best in a difficult life.  I cannot say whether this was Mom's impetus for her positive focus on life, but I do know it was her way of looking at and dealing with the hard things that came along.  Without a doubt, Mom's way of approaching life also had a significant effect on me growing up.  

The story of Pollyanna reinforced what my Mother had demonstrated all my life.  It was then, and is still now, a huge inspiration to me.  The impact it has had on my life has been immeasurable but so incredibly significant.  It is easy, maybe even natural, to focus on the negatives in life.  But to be given a gift to rise above simply surviving or enduring in life and instead see our blessings rather than the negative in any situation adds so much beauty and comfort to my life. 

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Grandma Kenyon's Favorite Recipes

My grandmother, Harriet Shookman Kenyon, was known far and wide for a lot of her own special recipes, particularly her Deviled Food Cake, Doughnuts, Angel Food Cake, and a wide variety of pickles.  Hattie likely knew how to make most of them from repetition and memory.  Sadly, I have only one of those recipes in her handwriting, that of her homemade doughnuts.

Hattie kept a scrapbook*** with a wide variety of clippings, cards, announcements, and hand-written pieces of paper that she assembled over the years.  She glued them on to the pages with care so that the reverse side could be seen, or a folded piece of paper could be opened.  Scattered through the book are a variety of recipes that she obviously treasured and I am sharing them here.  Some of them may be her own recipes as they are not identified, but others come from her mother and sisters, distant relatives, and friends in the community.  

Many of these types of recipes are no longer in use as very few people today do extensive baking let alone need to, or even want to, make their own catsup, pickles, or wall-paper cleaner.  During the post WWI to Depression era when Hattie's collection was assembled it was important to use up bacon fat or the last of the stale bread that was made a few days ago so that the precious ingredients would not go to waste and allow you to stretch your larder as well as your hard-to-come-by cash money.  

The assortment of recipes gives a picture of a life vastly different from today.  These are foods and customs that played a social role in a time now long past.  Many people have lost the knowledge and the eagerness that delayed gratification brings of biting into the first fruits and vegetables of a given season and the recipes that sprang from them, the delight of the special recipes that only a neighbor could make for the town festival, such as Hattie's Deviled Food Cake; and the richness of choice and taste that came from each region's way of using what was produced close to home.  These recipes are time transporters.  Find one and give it a try.  You will be giving yourself the gift of a past memory.

Click the images to enlarge them.

Bread Sponge Cake (front and back)

The ranch cook that is referred to in this recipe may have been the cook at the Ingleside Club and Resort near Phoenix that Hattie and sisters, Lura and Ina, worked during the winters of 1910/11 and 1913/14.  For information on how bakers of a century ago made a typical bread sponge, go to https://vintagerecipesandcookery.com/what-is-a-bread-sponge/ This would have been a yeast-raised cake rather than one made with baking soda or baking powder.

Cheese Biscuits and "Salma-Gundi" Salad

Harriet obviously had the help of a little one with a pencil while baking one day!

Note that there is no temperature for baking the biscuits as it is likely that a wood or coal oven was used.  It was not until sometime after the 1935 New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration (REA) paved the way for electrical power to be made available.  The first REA service in Wisconsin was on 7 May 1937 and Purdy Valley would have followed at some point after that.

Cream Pie and Butterscotch Pie

There are two recipes for cream pie, each would have made use of fresh milk either by skimming the cream that rose to the top in unhomogenized milk or using what was left depending on what the family had available to use after other cooking and baking.  The last two recipes are credited to "M.R.G" who may possibly be Eva (Martin) Griffin.

Sugar Cookies, Ice Box Cookies and Mock Angel Food Cake

These recipes were shared with Hattie.  The Sugar Cookie recipe came from her younger sister, Gladys Shookman, the Ice Box Cookie recipe came from her oldest sister, Lura Shookman Harris, and the Mock Angel Food Cake recipe from Lettie Purdy Hart, one of Charles Kenyon's many cousins living in the Purdy Valley area.  Ice Box Cookies would indeed have been chilled in an ice box in the day before electrified refrigeration.

Favorite Cucumber Pickles (Chunk Pickles)

Harriet was well known for her own pickle recipes, but this is one shared with her by her sister Hazel "Ina" Shookman Beran.  They must have been fabulous to be worth all the time and effort!

Sweet Sour Pickles and Molasses Drop Cookies

Another pickle recipe from Harriet's sister, Ina.  These were one of Harriet's daughter, Kathleen's, favorite pickles.  Lucy Larson, also of Purdy Valley, shared her recipe for Molasses Drop cookies.  They used up the last of the milk after it had soured.  

Jelly Roll

Shared by Rena Jeffers.  This recipe assumes that the cook knew how hot the wood or coal oven should be running, how long to bake it, know when it was done and how to turn it into a Jelly Roll when finished!  

Salad Dressing - Soft Molasses Cookies - Date Filled Cookies

Bottled salad dressings were not yet available.  Shared by Lettie Purdy Hart.

One of my favorite cookies as a child were Date Filled Cookies.  Harriet's daughter, and my mother, Kathleen made these occasionally.  

Apple Sauce Cake

The only baking instructions are to bake "slowly" for about 40 minutes.  Harriet had to make this cake while the oven was cooling down and before adding fresh fuel to the fire.  This recipe came from Lura Shookman Harris.

Picalilli & Grape Nut Bread

Picalilli is a cooked salad or relish recipe from Lura Shookman Harris to be canned for use in the winter when fresh vegetables would be scarce.  The Grape Nut Bread came from "P.J.V." who may be Phebe Jeanette Vandervort, grandmother to Harriet's husband, Charles.

Tomato Mince Meat

Made while waiting for the tomatoes and apples to ripen in the garden and on the tree.  Sister, Lura, shared this recipe for a pie filling.  This was likely a recipe that was meant to be canned as a peck of both the green tomatoes and green apples was used.

Peanut Butter Betty

A good use for stale bread which was often on hand as homemade bread had no preservatives. 

It serves 6 people, "polite" servings!

Pop Corn Balls

One of my favorites!  My mother and Harriet's daughter, Kathleen, made these for us when we were small and for treats to pass out for Halloween. Recipe shared by Rena Jeffers.

Tomato Catsup

The recipe page is dated September 29, 1933 and the first one is shared by Elsie Kuthlow and the second by Mrs. Bill Griffin.  Both took 2-3 hours of cooking on the stove before eventually being canned and sealed in jars for future use. 

Wall Paper Cleaner

This is quite a recipe which includes kerosene and ammonia and then cooking in a double boiler!

White Cookies - Mother's Ginger Snaps

What a treasure the Ginger Snap recipe must have been to Harriet and her family, as her mother, Dora Manley Shookman, passed in 1921.  Dora's 4th to 6th generation descendants are now living.

Ginger Refrigerator Cookies

This is one of Harriet's more recent recipes.  It calls for two things which were not likely available in the farmhouse in Purdy Valley:  a refrigerator and an oven that could be set at 375 degrees.  This was also a recipe using whatever farm products might be available with the bacon drippings or lard.  Crisco became available for the first time in 1911 but would have been an expensive convenience.

 ***Harriet's scrapbook was inherited by Helen (Kenyon) Kelley, then inherited by Jean (Kelley) Gluege who gifted it to Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt for preservation and use in our shared family history.  

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.

Adelaide Fredora (Purdy) Kenyon, 1843-1928

The only records found in Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon’s own name were her death record, obituary and tombstone.  The other information in this biographical image of her life came from researching and compiling data about her husband, children, parents, census records, land records, and pension records in other people’s names.  This documented data was then mixed with social history information appropriate to the time and locations of her life.  Adelaide is my 2nd Great-Grandmother.

Adelaide Fredora Purdy was born July 20, 1843 in the town of Allen, Allegany County, New York, the daughter of Daniel Crane Purdy and his wife, Keziah Gould.  At the time of her birth Adelaide had an 18-month-old sister, Aurilla Purdy.  Her mother, Keziah, was just 16 when she married Daniel who was 20, and she had her children at age 16 and 18.  Though Adelaide was by all appearances a healthy child who thrived and grew, her mother steadily declined in health due to “Consumption”, today known as tuberculosis. 

 

Imagine how Keziah felt, knowing that she was dying and leaving her two young daughters without a mother and her husband as a young widower.  How frustrated she must have felt not to be able to meet the needs of her children, often perhaps not even being able to console them due to her own weakness brought on by the illness.  Keziah died on June 28, 1845 at age 20, leaving behind 3-year-old Aurilla, and not yet two-year-old, Adelaide.

 

Keziah's parents have not been identified and it is unknown if they participated in the childcare of Adelaide and Aurilla after her death, but it is known that Daniel Purdy’s father died when Daniel was nine years old, and his mother died shortly after Keziah and would not have been available to help.  Daniel had brothers and sisters living in nearby Orleans County who may have helped to care for the girls.  No doubt, Daniel had his hands full taking care of his daughters and trying to earn his living in the shipping trade on the Great Lakes.  As many young men of the period did, he remarried just over a year after Keziah’s death to Susan Savage on 10 Sept 1846 in Niagara County, New York.

 

Daniel and Susan continued to live in Niagara County until 1859 when they made plans to move to the State of Wisconsin and homestead.  Just days before her entire family left New York, Adelaide Purdy, who had turned 16 five days earlier, married Charles Wesley Kenyon on July 25^th, 1859.  Their marriage was blessed by Rev. J. Bowan who pastored the local Methodist-Episcopal church.  It had to be heartbreaking to Adelaide to watch her parents and her sister and five young siblings, including a month-old baby brother, drive off in a horse-drawn wagon, never knowing when, or if, she would see them again. 

 

Both the Kenyons and Purdys had family members who were early pastors for the Methodist Church in the United States. Adelaide’s great-grandfather, James Purdy, Sr. was ordained by Bishop Francis Asbury and served as a circuit rider for the Methodist-Episcopal Church in upstate New York from 1798 until his death in 1844.  James and his wife, Sarah (Gereau) Purdy died as the result of injuries received in a run-away horse accident in adjacent Orleans County, NY.  Charles grandfather, Robert Kenyon, and great-uncle, Barber Kenyon, had founded Methodist Churches in Onondaga County, New York in the early 1800’s, and then in 1823 Barber founded another church and preached in Kenyonville, NY just a few miles from where Charles and Adelaide farmed.  The family was obviously strong in their faith and would have relied on it to see them through good and bad times.

 

Charles and Adelaide settled down and farmed land that had been part of the parcel his father, Samuel L. Kenyon, had tamed from a purchase in 1833 from the original Holland Patent.  The family lands bordered Lake Ontario and held a beautiful view in the summer, but were subject to the brutal winds, snow, and cold of upstate New York come winter.  Three years later Adelaide gave birth to their first child, William L. Kenyon who was born on the 18^th of October 1862.  Within weeks, Adelaide received the news that her youngest brother, Daniel Purdy, who was a babe-in-arms when her parents left three years prior, had died in far off Wisconsin.  She must have thanked the Lord that her little William was alive and well in her arms as she grieved for the little brother she had barely known and for a loss she could now fully comprehend. 

 

Charles enlisted in the Civil War on April 2, 1863 to serve with Co. A, 8^th Regiment of the New York Heavy Artillery.  Along with him, most of his brothers and first cousins also enlisted leaving behind young wives, children, and worried families.  Little William was only 6 months old when his father left, and Adelaide surely must have wondered how she would take care of her young son and the family farm they had worked for the past 4 years.  It had to have been a struggle to even get a crop planted, although the community must have pulled together during this time.  For the next 18 months the women and children left behind did their best to survive in a time when their entire country’s future was at stake.  Imagine Adelaide’s horror to receive a letter dated June 1864 stating that her husband had been shot at Cold Harbor and because he was not able to keep up with his Company, he had been left behind.  She was later to find out that he had been taken prisoner by the Confederate Army and was held in Libby Prison.  It is unknown if she knew of her husband’s whereabouts during that year or not, but she likely wondered if he was suffering at the hands of the enemy, or even alive.  Libby Prison was one of the acknowledged worst prisons of the war where many Federal soldiers died due to poor food and care, dysentery, and abuse at the hands of their captors and its horrors were well publicized.  Charles was transferred back into Federal hands early in June of 1865 and mustered out late that month.  Adelaide’s joy must have known no limits when her husband finally made his way home later that summer after being discharged.  Their happiness soon turned to sorrow when little William died that September at age 2 ½ and was laid to rest beside his grandfather, Samuel, his great-grandparents Robert and Amy (Eggleston) Kenyon, and his aunt Huldah (Kenyon) Thomas who had died in childbirth in 1860.

 

More children were born to Adelaide and Charles.  Louis Avery was born May 2, 1866, Daniel Charles on Mar 21, 1868, Cora A. Purdy Kenyon on January 11, 1870, and Edward W. on January 2, 1872.  Life must have been overwhelmingly busy for Adelaide caring for four very young children.  Like other women of that time, she would have been responsible for seeing that the cooking, housework, and laundry were done, and family garden was tended.  Charles and Adelaide decided to move to Wisconsin and join her family who had settled in a valley named after her father, “Purdy Valley” in Monroe County, Wisconsin.  Adelaide’s father, Daniel Purdy, had written to them that he had dedicated a tract of land for them to farm adjacent to her brothers and sisters.  The thought of reuniting with her family would have been wonderful and thrilling.  Adelaide and Charles also had to face the prospect of saying tearful, and probably permanent, good-byes to his family and both of their aunts, uncles, and cousins who they were leaving behind.  It is not hard to imagine the anguish they felt knowing that they might never see those dear faces again and that their young children would likely never hug their grandmother, Julia (Chaffee) Kenyon again in her lifetime.  Probably one of the last stops they made before leaving the area would have been to visit little William’s grave.

 

The trip was without a doubt, arduous and long.  The family probably followed a route across western New York, into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and then north into Wisconsin covering almost 900 miles during the sweltering heat of the summer.  Every earthly possession that they could take would have been packed carefully.  Treasures would have been stowed amongst the food and supplies that would have been needed to see them overland.  When they left in the summer of 1872, Adelaide and Charles traveled with three sons ages 6, 4 and 7 months, and little Cora who at age 2 was a toddler and still in diapers as well as little Eddie.  The children would have been able to do little to help with the move or the overland trip itself and Adelaide must have spent much of her time keeping them fed, clean, and occupied so that Charles could focus on transporting them.  Wisconsin must have seemed like a very distant destination.  It is unknown exactly how long the trip took the family, but two to three months would have been likely.

 

Upon their arrival in Purdy Valley, Adelaide and her family would have been welcomed by every member of the clan that had gone ahead.  Adelaide would also have met for the first time her sister Emmeline who was age 10, and her brother Byron who would have been 7, as both had been born after her parents arrived in Wisconsin.  It is likely that Charles, Adelaide, and the children would have stayed with the various relatives in the Valley while Charles built their new home.  Purdy Valley was fed by a stream known as “Squaw Creek” which flowed westward the length of Purdy Valley and joined the LaCrosse River.  Across the road, or trail, as it was then from the Purdy home[s], a large Winnebago Indian Camp was situated.  The Indians were friendly to this white family.  “Frank Purdy, Adelaide’s younger brother, told of playing stick and ball game and the moccasin game with Indian children.  He also told of dodging in and out among the dancers as they performed a “War Dance” to declare war against an enemy tribe.  Their rabbit stews and barbequed venison were also shared with the white children.”  Adelaide, as a mother with young children, must have kept an ever-watchful eye on her offspring and their interactions with the Winnebagos.

 

Adelaide and Charles farmed in Purdy Valley for nearly four decades.  Charles also acted as a stock buyer and Station manager in nearby Tunnel City as well as postmaster for several years.  Their family grew again in Wisconsin and they welcomed two more daughters.  Aurelia S. “Rena” Kenyon was born January 12, 1880 and “Gertie” was born March 14, 1882.  Grief would once more descend on the Kenyon household as little Gertie died a month later on April 12^th.  Rena also died young, at age 14 in 1894 and is buried alongside her little sister.

 

Adelaide watched her children grow up and marry other children who had grown up in Purdy Valley and other nearby areas in Greenfield and LaGrange Townships.  Her only surviving daughter, Cora Kenyon, married William Heser in 1886 and they settled near Adelaide and Charles.  Their oldest surviving son, Louis Kenyon, married in 1888 to Gertrude Vandervort and they too settled nearby.  Daniel Kenyon married in 1896 to Libby Scott and they settled for a short while in Portage County, Wisconsin before moving on to Montana in 1898.  Edward married in 1899 to Edna Fuller and they settled in Marathon County, Wisconsin. 

 

Adelaide and Charles lived amongst their relatives and friends the rest of their lives.  Adelaide was left a widow when Charles died March 10, 1910 of “La Grippe” or pneumonia as it is known today.  Adelaide’s daughter-in-law, Gertrude died from complications of asthma the following November and Adelaide moved in with her widowed son, Louis, and her grandson, Charles who was ten years old at the time.  Adelaide helped Louis raise Charles and ran their household so that he could farm the family lands.  She lived to see the grandson she had helped raise marry Harriet Shookman on October 6, 1915 and watch their family swell to 7 children.  Many other grandchildren and great-grandchildren were born as well and when Adelaide died April 10, 1928 at age 84, she left behind a heritage that would become part of this family’s story.

© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner and publisher.