Reprinted with permission from the
Hamilton County News!
Transcribed by Annie Weaver
Allen Joseph Bird, 45, veteran of World War II and owner and proprietor of Bird and Livery and Cottages in Raquette Lake, died unexpectedly on Jan. 25, 1956, in his home. He was born in Raquette Lake, Aug. 15, 1910, son of Norton and Jane Rowlins Bird. Virtually all his life was spent in Raquette Lake. He had operated the boat business for many years and during the winter he conducted various lumbering operations. He had served as a guide for hunters and fishermen. In June 1938, he married Helen Rapp of Vernon.
He served with the Army in World War II and was discharged in 1945. He attended Raquette Lake Chapel and was a member of North Woods Lodge 849, F & AM, Old Forge; Leonard-Mick-Roberts Post, American Legion, Raquette Lake; the local Fire Dept. and the local Fish and Game Club.
Besides his wife, he leaves a son, Richard; a sister, Mrs. Gerald Lanphear, Raquette Lake; five brothers, Norton Jr., Sixth Lake; James and Charles, Raquette Lake; Frederick, Utica; Harold, Shadow Valley Ranch, Edgewood, Calif.; and several nieces and nephews.
A family prayer service was held from his home. The funeral was from the Niccolls Memorial Church, Old Forge, and the Rev. Cecil Rose, Pastor, officiating, assisted by the Rev. Lyle Buck, Inlet. Burial was in Riverview Cemetery, Old Forge.Cloyd Black, 50, was taken sick suddenly and died Sunday morning, Dec. 30, 1956 at his home on Tarbell Hill, Long Lake. The funeral was held Jan. 2 at St. Henry's Church with Father O'Brien officiating. He was buried in the Long Lake Cemetery.
Mr. Black, son of John and Mary Black, was born Aug. 8, 1906, in Moira, N. Y.
Surviving are his wife, the former Eva Lance, Long Lake, three daughters: Mrs. Elaine Pouliot, Syracuse; Miss Barbara Black, Washington D. C.; Miss Marie Black, Long Lake; two sons; Wilbur and Colburn Black, Long Lake; and one grandchild, Sherry Jayne Pouliot, Syracuse.
Also: three sisters: Mrs. Clara Gregory, Long Lake; Mrs. Caroline Bartlett, Chicago; and Mrs. Esther View, Moira; five brothers: William J., Long Lake; Aloney, Fort Covington; Walter, Bombay; Wallace, Warehouse Point, Conn.; Joseph Monterey, Cal.; and his mother, Mrs. John Black, Bombay.Mrs. Dan Decker died unexpectedly of a heart attack May 20, 1956, at her home, Maridan, on 4th Lake, Inlet. Mrs. Decker was the former Mary Noblett, daughter of Henry and Ellen Brown Noblett of Carthage. She was educated in Carthage and was married to Mr. Decker in 1913.
Both Mr. And Mrs. Decker were well known throughout the Central Adirondacks for many years. Mr. Decker had been a newsboy on the Adirondack Division of the New York Central railroad, transferring to the steamboats, which plied the Fulton Chain. He then opened the store at the Inlet Navigation Dock. Mrs. Decker had been employed as a clerk at the Dock.
In 1920 the couple opened Mary's Gift Shop - named for Mrs. Decker - in a small building erected by P. C. Wood on the site of the present Mary's Gift Shop. In 1924, the Deckers built the present Shop, a landmark for many years. In 1933, the Deckers opened a state liquor store in a wing of the building and have operated it since then. The Shop has been leased to outside interests for the past ten years.
For the past several years, Mr. And Mrs. Decker have spent the winter at their home in Hollywood, Fla. Mrs. Decker was a parishioner of St. Anthony's Church, Inlet, a member of the Catholic Women's Club of Utica, and the Rotary Anns of Hollywood.
Survivors, besides her husband, include two brothers, Walter Noblett, Ogdensburg; Robert, Carthage; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held Wednesday at 9:15 a. m. from the home, and at 10:00 a. m. from St. Anthony's Church where a requiem high Mass was offered. Bearers were Clarence Michaels; Keith Baerman; Peter Kappesser; Henry Babcock; Pascal Gilson; and Randolph Byke.Newspaper for March 23, 1956:
Mrs. Kenneth Burgett, a summer resident in Inlet for many years, died recently.Maurice Callahan, Sr., 85, first and only president of the former First National Bank at Old Forge, a former associate with the Blue Mountain and Raquette Lake Steamship Line, the Raquette Lake Railway Company and the Fulton Chain Railroad Company, died Jan. 22, 1956, at his home, Old Forge, after one year's illness.
Mr. Callahan was president of the bank from its inception in 1917 until his retirement when it merged with Oneida National Bank last spring. He was also a director of the Hamilton County National Bank, Wells, which he helped organized in 1929 until it sold last year, and a past director of the former Herkimer National Bank. Mr. Callahan was one of the oldest active bankers in the state and one of the oldest members of the American and New York State Bankers Associations.
He came to the Adirondack region about 1895 as telegraph operator for the late William West Durant, financier. As steamship superintendent, he was known as "Captain Callahan" to Adirondack visitors. He was born in Warren County, July 18, 1870, son of Thomas and Ellen Moran Callahan. In 1905 he married the former Emma Crapo, in Northville, who survives. He also leaves a son, Maurice Callahan, Jr., Blue Mountain Lake; three grandchildren and two stepchildren, Mrs. Dorothy Grady, Encinitas, Calif., and Durant G. Thompson, Old Forge. Funeral was held at St. Bartholomew's Church. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery, Old Forge.(May 4, 1956)
Mrs. T. Arthur Cohen died recently in Albany. She had a summer home on Sacandaga Lake in Lake Pleasant.(January 13th, 1956; Editor Clark P. Osborne)
Alfred Fountain, 48, an employee of Rumble Lumber Co., shot himself with a 30-30 rifle. Fountain, a sawyer, was alone in the lumber camp in the Black Bear section of Inlet. Other lumberjacks discovered his body when they returned from working in the woods. The body was removed to Eldridge-Autenrith Funeral home in Old Forge. No immediate kin were known.Mrs. Helen Silliman Greene, 62, widow of Eugene Greene, Speculator, died April 15, 1956 at her home after an illness of several months. Mrs. Greene was born in Brooklyn, daughter of William W. and Daisy Silliman Remmey. She had been a resident of Speculator for 29 years. She was a member of Grace Methodist Church, the WSCS and served as organist. She also served several years as organist of the Methodist Church in Stapleton, Long Island.
Mrs. Greene was a member of the Rebecca Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Amaranth Court in Stapleton and the Entre Nou Club and American Legion Auxiliary in Speculator.
Besides her husband she is survived by 2 daughters; Elaine of New York City and Myra who is a medical student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas; one brother, John H. Remmey of Speculator and several nieces and nephews.(January 13th, 1956; Editor Clark P. Osborne)
Oakman H. Helms, 71, Long Lake, died at 1:50 a.m., Jan. 11, 1956 in a Utica hospital after a short illness. Mr. Helms was born in Long Lake Aug. 3, 1884, and had been a life-long resident of that village. In 1911 he married Elsie Rogers, He is survived by five children: Mrs. Virginia Farr, Herbert H. Helms, Gilbert R. Helms, Mrs. Ellen Bock and Edward R. Helms, Long Lake; one sister, Mrs. Nora Mullarkey of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and 13 grandchildren.
Helms was a long-time and highly respected servant of Hamilton County, having served as an account clerk from 1916 to 1920, Sealer of Weights and Measures from 1920 to 1944 and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors from 1944 to Dec. 31, 1955, when he retired.
The funeral was held at the Methodist Church, Long Lake, with Rev. Frederick Adams, pastor, officiating.William C. Hopkins, 50, of Wells, died May 3, 1956 in the Amsterdam City Hospital where he had been a patient for 3 weeks. He had been ill since January. Mr. Hopkins was born in Wales, England, Oct. 23, 1905 and came here to this country when a child. He had been a resident of Wells for 27 years.
He was a graduate of Colgate University, Class of 26. He received his Masters Degree at Albany State Teachers College. He was a teacher in Hamilton County for about 30 years. He served as Hamilton County Superintendent of Schools for quite a few years. He was a member of the Wells Methodist Church. Survivors are his wife, Laura, one son [private]; mother, Mrs. Hannah Hopkins, Wells; one brother Louis Davis of Morrisonville.Feb. 17, 1956 newspaper under Speculator News:
Mrs. Kate Jetsen, former manager of the Speculator House for many years, died recently in a Gloversville Nursing Home. Several from this area attended the funeral. Bearers were Halsey Page, Halsey Burgess, James Morrison, Clyde Elliott, Stanley Schoonmaker and Melvin Brown.June 15, 1956 newspaper:
The body of Philip LeChasseur, 49, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., was found in Limekiln on Wednesday at noon. Dr. F. K. T. Warrick, Inlet, performed an autopsy after which Hamilton Co. Coroner, John Sullivan of Long Lake, rendered a verdict of accidental death by drowning.Mrs. Bessie S. Morris, widow of the late Francis Morris of Speculator and Schenectady, died at Schenectady on April 3, 1956. Mrs. Morris was a summer resident of Speculator with a home on Page Hill. It is reported that she left a sizable request to Grace Methodist Church in Speculator.
(September 1956)
Mr. Charles Sanderson, age 79, was pronounced DOA at the Northville Medical Center after suffering a seizure at his campsite. The Wells Vol. Ambulance Corps transported him. He was born in England May 23, 1899 and came to the U.S. at an early age, became a naturalized citizen in 1933. He was a self-employed baker in New York City for many years. After retirement he also lived at Brewster and was a member of the Protestant faith. Known survivors are nieces and nephews. Remains were taken to Parlview Crematory, Schenectady. Memorial services at a later date.Mrs. Edward G. Stiefvater, 73, formerly of Utica, operator of the Stiefvater Motel and Cottages, Inlet, died March 19, 1956 in Faxton Hospital, Utica, after a six-month illness. Helen K. Brough was born Feb. 22, 1883 in Utica, a daughter of James and Anna Gross Brough. She was married to Edward G. Stiefvater in St. Joseph's Church, Utica, on July 3, 1906. They lived in Utica until 1937 when they moved to Inlet.
Besides her husband, she leaves two sons, Edward J., Inlet and Robert G., Utica; a sister, Mrs. Loretta Applegate, Old Bridge, N. J.; two grandchildren, several nieces and nephews. The funeral was held from the Heintz Funeral Home, Utica with burial in St. Joseph's Cemetery.
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