Welch Family of Long Lake

     In the Summer of 1851 Edmund and Ellen 'Bowers' Welch came to Long Lake with their 1-year-old daughter, Annie, to start a farm.
     Edmund was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, December 12, 1813. His father's name was Richard and his mother's maiden name was Shea. According to family records Edmund was a sailor whom first settled in Newfoundland. He stayed there for a few years then moved on to Ludlow, MA where he worked in the textile mills. Next he moved to Boston, MA to work and met Ellen Bowers.
     Ellen Bowers was born in County Tipperary, Ireland October 4, 1822. Her parents were David and Mary Bowers. Ellen came to America at the age of twenty-two and settled in Boston, MA. She found a job working for a family by the name of Briggs, a Unitarian minister.
     Edmund Welch and Ellen Bowers were married in Boston. They then traveled to Illinois. It is thought that they had relatives in that area of the country and planned to settle there. For some reason though they came back east and in 1850 were living with one of Edmund's cousins, Mrs. Betty Harney of Moriah, Essex County, NY. While in Port Henry, Town of Moriah, NY their first child, Annie was born December 12, 1850. In the Spring of 1851 Edmund Welch purchased 100 acres of land in Long Lake, NY from Francis F. and Christiana Smith of Long Lake. Edmund moved his family to Long Lake in 1851.
     The property that Edmund purchased and farmed was on Clement Road, the site of the former Mountain Meadow Golf Course. Edmund cleared his property with oxen and built a log cabin. In later years, Annie told her children that she remembered seeing and hearing wolves through the small windows of the cabin at night, when she was a young girl. Edmund eventually built a framed, two-story house on Clement Road. The house was in existence till about 1968. The Mountain Meadow Golf Course was being constructed at that time and the house was going to be used as the clubhouse. One evening some pranksters started a bulldozer on the site and set it in motion. The bulldozer crashed into the house, doing enough damage that the house had to be razed.
     The Welch's raised seven children on their farm:
1. Annie was born in Port Henry, NY on December 9, 1850. She married Walter D. Jennings of Long Lake in 1870. They raised a family of 6 children in Long Lake. She died April 15, 1927 and is buried in Long Lake Cemetery with her husband Walter (1847-1930).
2. Richard Welch was born March 3, 1852 in Long Lake. He married Hannah Eastman of Scroon Lake in 1889. They had a farm in Igerna, Town of Chester, Warren Co., NY and raised a family of five children. Richard died of tuberculoses October 10, 1897 at the age of forty-five. He was buried in the Long Lake cemetery with his parents. His wife later remarried George Weller of Igerna. Hannah died February 9, 1942 at the age of eighty-three and is buried in the Fish Family Cemetery, Perry Road, Igerna, NY. Some of Richard's descendants are still living in the area today.
3. Mary E. Welch was born April 17, 1854, in Long Lake. She married Amos C. Robinson of Long Lake. They had two children Rozina and Rosina. Mary and her daughter, Rozina, both died on May 6, 1879. Mary was twenty-five years old and Rozina was five. They were buried in the same grave. Amos (1840-1912) later remarried. All are buried in the Long Lake Cemetery.
4. Katherine Welch was born June 17, 1856, in Long Lake. She married John Rice of Long Lake and raised a large family of nine children. She died September 21, 1936 in Long Lake and is buried in the Rice plot of the Long Lake Cemetery with her husband John (1845-1918), three of their children, and John's first wife Ruby. Katherine was the last survivor of the Welch family to pass on in 1936.
5. Elizabeth (Bessie) Welch was born June 17, 1858 in Long Lake. She Married Martin J. Fish of Igerna, Town of Chester, Warren County, NY. They owned and operated a farm on Perry Road next door to her brother Richard's farm and raised one son, Howard, who in turn had nine children. Many of Bessie's grandchildren and great grandchildren are still living and reside in the Town of Chester area today. Elizabeth died June 16, 1936 and is buried with her husband Martin (1859-1919) in the Fish Family Cemetery, Perry Rd., Igerna, NY.
6. Jennie Welch was born April 25, 1860, in Long Lake. She Married John R. Keller of Long Lake. They had one son Lawrence. Jennie died September 18, 1914 and is buried in the Keller lot of the Long Lake Cemetery with her spouse John (1863-1941).
7. Joseph Welch was born in 1862 in Long Lake. He was a bachelor who lived and worked all his life in Long Lake.   He worked as a guide, a fire watchman on local mountains, and as a caretaker for several camps at the foot of Long Lake. He died in 1931 in a room he rented above the Village Inn. He is buried with his parents in the Long Lake Cemetery.

     After raising a fine family and living in Long Lake for 31 years, Edmund Welch passed away August 18, 1882 at the age of sixty-nine. He was laid to rest in the Long Lake Cemetery. His wife Ellen died on May 31, 1885 at the age of sixty-two and was buried next to her husband. While the Welch name died out in Long Lake with the death of their son Joseph in 1931, there are still many descendants of Edmund and Ellen Welch living today in the Town of Long Lake.

Info submitted by: Walter D. Jennings Jr.
(A great great grand son of Edmund and Ellen Welch)