The following was published in the "Sesquicentennial of the Town of Arietta Hamilton County, New York," by the Historical Book Committee, privately printed, 1986. Permission to post this is graciously granted by Roberta Abrams, a member of the committee. It compliments well another genealogy that was donated to this site several years ago by Marcia Buffet: Descendants of Eli Rudes of Arietta
pages 10-12
The family that has had the longest continuous residence in Arietta is the Rudes family. Eli and Almira Clarke Rudes first settled at the Shaker Place, but in 1839 they purchased land from A. K. MOREHOUSE on the eastern shore of Piseco lake, now the Higgins Bay area. Eli was a farmer, but in later years he also helped out at his son's boarding house. Eli and Almira had five children, Daniel, William Henry, James Martin, Lucy Ann and George.
Daniel, born in 1827, married Charlotte Buyce and continued farming in the area between Higgins Bay and Spy Lake. About 1850 he turned the family home into a boarding house catering to the increasing number of sportsmen. He, his father and his brother Henry guided these men to find the largest deer and catch the most fish. Daniel was supervisor of the Town of Arietta from 1856 to 1871 and again from 1876 to 1880. When his wife died in 1886, he sold the "Rudes Inn" to Fred J. Morey and went to work in the Silver Lake Tannery. Daniel and Charlotte had five children, the youngest of whom was Harriet (Hattie). She married Edward C. STACY (also STACEY) and died at the age of 40 leaving him with eight children under the age of 13. They remained in this area and were farmed out to various relatives and friends.
The second child of Eli and Almira Rudes was William Henry, born in 1830, who married Jane COURTNEY and farmed at Higgins Bay. They had four children, Harvey, Mary, Walter and Nellie. Mary married James E. HIGGINS, a young man born in Canada of Irish parents. He died at the age of 52 leaving her with eight children to raise. She worked as a cook at Brooks' Hotel in Speculator while the older children took care of the younger ones. Of these children, Margaret was a well known teacher in the area. Jeanette married John WARNER and had one child, Donald Francis, who now lives in Speculator. Jim married Ebba Holteen and had one daughter, Marianna, who married George PAGE and lives in Poland [probably the village of Poland, Herkimer county, NY]. Jim lost his sight as a young man but always recognized voices. Many people did not even realize he was blind. He ran the store at Higgins Bay for many years. Another son was Richard Higgins, who married Elizabeth WAGONER, a schoolteacher. Dick was the mail carrier for many years. Dick and Betty had two sons, Richard and Thomas. The youngest of Mary and James Higgins children was Helen Harriet (Nellie) who became a registered nurse and presently lives in Speculator. She married William Chester Rudes and had two children, John Chester (of Speculator) and Nancy Marie.
The second daughter of William Henry and Jane Courtney Rudes was Nellie who married William E. LAMKEY who had come from Canada James Higgins had [sic]. William was an innkeeper and the proprietor of several local hotels, among them the Piseco Lake House in the village of Piseco. In 1901 he ran a lumber camp at the Old Flow west of Piseco Lake at the site of the present Evergreen Trailer Park. William and Nellie had four children, Agnes, william John, George and Clifton. Agnes married Howard Frank BUZZEE and Clifton married first, Martha DUNHAM and then Augusta Rudes BURTON. William John married Madeline Parkhurst and had three children, Agnes Louise (Sue), William Jr. and Mary Ellen, who died as an infant. Agnes married Karl Hoegeman and their daughter, Sandra Edwards and her three children still live in Piseco. William Jr. married Ethel Dean Garvin and had three children, Bill and Ethel also live in Piseco.
The third child of Eli and Almira Rudes was James Martin, born in 1834. He was also a farmer and innkeeper, his inn being on the corner of the Piseco Lake Pleasant Road and his farm across the road where the Piseco Elementary School now stands. He married Philanda Schuyler and they had eight children, among whom were Estella and William. Estella, born in 1864, was married three times, first to William E. Fowler who was an engineer at Shaw Brothers Tannery in Piseco and was killed when he was caught in a belting there. Their children were Arthur and Lewis. Lewis became a very successful business man and after his death his wife built Camp Fowler on Sacandaga Lake as a memorial to him. Estella next married Robert J. Wilson and had three children. After his death, Estella married Alanson MOREY and had four more children. The youngest was Elizabeth (Honey) who married Robert Stewart and now lives in Benson. Estella worked for Leon Anibal at one of his inns and she and her family lived in the house that used to be across from the present Community Hall.
William, the youngest child of James Martin and Philanda Rudes, born in 1877, was a farmer and at various times a lumberman and an innkeeper. He married Bertha Beesaw and they had three children, William Chester, Arnold and Augusta May. William Chester (Chet) became a carpenter and was well known in the Piseco area as a building mover. He married Nellie HIGGINS, a daughter of James and Mary Rudes Higgins. Arnold Rudes owned a sawmill at Rudeston and later had a trailer park just west of Higgins Bay on Piseco Lake, presently owned by Bill and Almina Baker. He married Etta Grace ROGERS, a daughter of Charles and Rose Murphy Rogers and they had three sons, Alton H., William Rogers and Arnold Henry, Jr. Augusta May Rudes married Raymond John BURTON and had one son, Gordon, who now lives in Johnstown. After Raymond died, Augusta married Clifton LAMKEY.
Eli and Almira Rudes had only one daughter, Lucy Ann, born in 1837. She married Stephen D. Andrews and from 1863-67 they lived at Spy Lake and ran the Rudes Hotel. Stephen was the town clerk from 1856-1868 and held the town meetings at the hotel. In 1867 Stephen and Lucy Ann became the proprietors of the Lake Pleasant Hotel at Sageville, which was where St. Hubert's Church now stands. Later they moved to Northville.
The youngest of Eli and Almira Rudes' children was George T. born in 1840. He was a Civil War veteran, lived in Massachusetts, married there and had a son, William J. Rudes. When George's wife died, he then married Martha Aldous. Their children were Lewis Franklin, Lyman H., Charlotte, Charles and George. The last three all died in 1881, probably of diptheria. William J. married Adeline M. Fish and had a daughter Genevieve. They are all buried in the Fish Mountain cemetery. George and Martha had no further descendents, but when Hattie Rudes Stacy died, two of her children, Beatrice and Martha, were raised by George and Martha.
There are many members of the Rudes family not covered in this account, but we have tried to mention those who have descendants still living in this area. Barbara Ford has made a complete genealogy of the family, if you wish more information.
page 44
We feel quite safe in saying that the original part of the old boarding house in Higgins Bay, now known as Bonnie Brae, is the oldest structure still in use in the Town of Arietta. In 1841 seven men from various northeastern cities formed the Piseco Lake Trout Club and built a frame house. These men kept minutes of their meetings and also kept a daily tally of the weight of the fish caught, showing that 866 pounds of fish were taken from the lake in 1849. The next year this club was disbanded and the building was sold to Eli Rudes who first used it as a home. As sportsmen came into the area the Rudes family saw a way to supplement their income and their son, Daniel, turned it into a boarding house, naming it "The Old Rudes Place". The sportsmen delighted in calling the place "Walton Hall" or "De-Au-La-Rudes". In 1905 Fred J. Morey owned it and later other men rented it from him... among them William Lamkey, Thomas Olmstead and Leon Anibal. He sold the inn in 1945 to Mary Baker of Baldwinsville after having leased it to her for 10 years. "Ma" Baker continued to take in boarders. In 1947 Rev. McAllister bought the property, developed a trailer park and kept the inn for the use of church groups and as his private residence.
Service records for George T. Rudes
Rudes, George T.
Enlisted 28 Dec 1863 at Arietta, NY, age 23 as
Private, Co. I, 2nd NY Heavy Artillery
Mustered in 19 Jan 1864
Wounded 19 May 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House, VA
Transferred 24 Oct 1864 to 129 Co., 2nd Battalion Veteran Reserve Corps
Date and place of discharge not given
Discharged 26 Nov 1864 [from 1890 census]
1883 Hamilton County Pension List: Sageville; cause – gunshot wound left arm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 14-May-2008 13:17:38 PDT
Copyright © 2004: Historical Book Committee:
Audrey Preston, Roberta Abrams, Judy Damkoehler, Barbara Ford,
John Simons, Anne Amadon, Jayne Aird (typist),
Betty Lane (proofreader), Peter Weaver (photocopier)
Service Records Research by Joanne Murray
Transcription and html by Lisa K. Slaski