Bundy Museum Radio Station WBDY 99.5 FM (“TRASH FROM THE PAST”)

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99.5 FM, ANSCO, Archaeology, Binghamton NY, Bundy Museum, Chenango Canal, Chenango County NY, Early Settlers, Endicott NY, Greene NY, IBM, WBDY Binghamton NY 99.5 FM

WBDY is an FM Radio Station that is located in the Bundy Museum in Binghamton, NY.

The Bundy brothers started The Bundy Company in Binghamton. One of them was an inventor; he invented a time clock that would record a worker’s arrival and departure times. The Bundy Company was melded two other ideas; Herman Hollerith’s data recorder machine (which operated on punched cards) and another inventor’s (Dr. Alexander Dey) time recording machine.

This triad became International Time recording Company and was eventually renamed International Business Machines in 1924.

 

IBM was born in Endicott, New York; about five miles west of Binghamton. It has, however sadly, closed its home base except for a few hundred office workers.

Bundy Museum is home to the history of Binghamton. It has dozens of old time clocks, a tribute to Rod Serling; “Twilight Zone” Binghamton born creator and legendary screenwriter, as well as a building set aside for the ANSCO Camera Business.

WBDY became interested in my very first blog; “INTRODUCTION (To a private archaeology on a public blog).” Therefore they interviewed me to determine how I came  to write about a family that migrated from Salem, NY (very near the Connecticut border) to the newly opened “Indian Territory” in Chenango County, NY.

The interview starts at 33.30 minutes in the following audio recording.
The first 33 minutes discuss another archaeology project which is currently occurring in Binghamton, NY.

 

Forty Days and Forty Nights – Post #21

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Adirondacks, DEC Ranger Station, Eighth Lake, fishing, Fishing log, fist fight, Inlet, Limekilln Lake, Lost in forest, Lost Pond, Moose River, Moose River Wilderness Area, Mortal Combat, NY Route 28, Otter Brook, owl, pistol, Seventh Lake, shooting, Sumner Brook, Wilderness area

A man is chased by a maniac. A Department of Environmental Conservation officer is his only hope. 

For larger print click on log book

The Birdsall Family Cemetery

Tags

Abram Storms, Archaeology, Birdsall, Birdsall Family Cemetery, Chenango Canal, Chenango County, Chenango County NY, Greene NY, Henry Birdsall, Thomas Tew, Town of Greene

 

MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR THE FUZZY PHOTO OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS’ GRAVESITE.

 

A LIST OF GRAVESTONES AND NAMES IN BIRDSALL FAMILY CEMETERY

OBLISQUE:, four sided

First side of oblisque;

John Birdsall Died May 3, 1881, 63 years, 2mos, 2 days

Hanna; No information

Next side of oblisque

Henry Birdsall, Died February 9, 1879, 87 years, 9mos, 25 days

Third side of oblisque

Margeret, Died February 10, 1869, 80 years, 21 days

Fourth side of oblisque

Mary J. dau. Of J & H.J.Birdsall, Died Aug 9, 1864, 8 years old

STONE: Ezra Richards, Died Sept 2, 1848, 18 years, 5 mos, 18 days

STONE: Abram Storm, Died November 22, 1849, 80^th year

              Eve, Died Dec. 16, 1837, 63^rd year

                  NOTE: There is another stone for Eve, same data except for age which is 62 years, 2mos.

STONE: Margaret, Wife of Samuel Allen, Died December 4, 1831, age 96 years

STONE: Jane Birdsall, February 27, 1856, age 30 years

STONE: Margarett  – – – -wife, of   – – -sall (stone broken, piece missing

STONE: Mary Jane, daughter of John and Jane Birdsall, Died August 8, 1866, 8 years, 8 mos., 12 days

STONE: Polly E., Wife of Lockwood Montross, Died June 23, 1856, Age 47 years, 6 mos.

STONE: Joseph, Son of Moses and Harriet Hamilton, Died June 15, 1823, 1 year, 10 mos.

STONE: John Montross, Died September 1, 1851 age 22 years, 10 mos.

STONE: Rachel E. Wife of Norman Baldwin, Died August 8, 1860, 23 Years, 1 mo.

STONE: Isaac Marshall, Died February 9, 1861, Age 80 years, 5 mos.

STONE: Hester, Wife of Isaac Marshal, Died November 9, 1849, Age 67 years

STONE: In Memory of Henry Birdsall, Died September 23, 1837, Age 79 years, 1 mo., 27 days

STONE: Basheba, Wife of Henry Birdsall, Died September 23, 1848, Age 92 years, 11 mos.

STONE: In Memory of Johnson Birdsall, Died July 23, 1827, Aged 33 years, 6 days Note; The “son” appears to have been added after the text on the stone was originally cut.

STONE: Augusta, Daughter of Wm. & ??? Lounsberry, Died March 26, 1813, Aged 1 year, 12 days.   Note, this is the earliest buriel in the cemetery and may be the only true date of when the Birdsalls first arrived on their new land.

STONE: Rosaline, Daughter of D.E. & Emeline Travers, AE. October 25, 1842, 1 year, 5 mos., 15 days

STONE: Clarissa, Wife of Peter Woolwever, Died July 14, 1843, AE. 54 years, 3 mos., 15 days.

NOTE: The bronze oblisque appears to have been manufactured in 5 pieces with each side brazed to the next at the corners. A four sided pyramid then appears to have been brazed to the top. I relate this information for those who may be attempting to date different manufacturing methods of grave markers.

 

 

 

Henry Birdsall’s Family Tree

Tags

Abashaby Birdsall, Abram Storms, Amos Parsons, Archaeology, Chauncy Rogers, Chenango Canal, Chenango County, Chenango County NY, Chenango Forks, Deborah Birdsall, Dutchess County NY, educational, Eliza Birdsall, Emma Rosell, Emma Tuthill, Epinetus Birdsall, George McClellan Birdsall, Gloudy Hamilton, Greene NY, Henry Birdsall, Horace Birdsall, Jean Guillaume deBesse, John BIrdsall, Margaret Birdsall, Maria Birdsall, Mariah Birdsall, Merritt, Nathan Birdsall, Oliver Hoyt, Polly Birdsall, Rachel Birdsall, Sarah Birdsall, Thomas Tew, Town of Greene, Triphosia Birdsall, Tryphose

This family tree has been generated from wills, deeds and cemetery records as well as from visits to the small Birdsall Family cemetery. There are several holes in this tree that could be filled in with additional effort. Other documents such as newspaper entries and census data could be used to verify data listed elsewhere in this blog.

Henry Birdsall and Abashaby Birdsall established residence in the Town of Greene about 1812. They brought with them several of their children.  They had previously resided in Westchester County, Town of Salem, NY.

NOTE:   Legends –

 % indicates that the person’s NAME came from Henry Birdsall’s will.

 # indicates that the DATE/NAME came from North Fenton Cemetery Records.

* indicates that the DATE/NAME came from a Birdsall Family Cemetery stone.

 Othere sources cited individually.

Due to not knowing exactly which lineage Henry Birdsall originated from I am assigning him as first generation with the superscript of ¹. His descendants will be assigned their proper generation number (superscript designation) as they appear in the tree.

Henry ¹ Birdsall, born ~ 11/29/1758, died 26 Dec 1837, age 79 married Abashaby¹ (Basheba), born ~ 10/1755, died 9/23/1848, age 93        %, *

Henry¹ and Abashaby had Children, all born in Westchester County:

Hester², daughter, born ~ 1783, died 9 Nov 1849, married Isaac Marshall, he born     ~1780,     died 9 Feb 1861        %, *

Fanny², daughter, born  ?,   died  ?, married Tyrus Page, he born ?, died ?    %

Abashaby², daughter, born ~1790, died 21 Oct 1854, married Oliver Hoyt, he born ? died ?     %, #

Rachel², daughter, born ?, died ?, married Gloudy Hamilton (son of Amos), he born ?, died ?      %

Deborah², daughter, born ~ 1798, died 1881, married Amos Parsons, he born 1792,  died 1841       %, *

Eliza², daughter, born ?, died ?, married Chauncy Rogers, he born ?, died ?

Horace², son, born ~ 1799, died 1850, married Tryphose (Triphosia), she born ~ 1802, died 13 Jun 1871          %, #

Henry², son, born ~ 15 May 1791, died 9 Feb 1879, married Margaret, she born ~19 Jan 1789, died 10 Feb 1869      %

Polly², daughter, born ?, died ?, married a Merritt, he born ?, died ?      %

     Horace² and Tryphose had children

              Epinetus³ (Epantus), born ~ 1826, died 28 Nov 1893, married Sarah, She born ?, died ?

                        Epinetus³ and Sarah had children:

                                        George McClellan⁴, born ~ 3/1865, died 22 Jan 1867  #

                                         Maria⁴ (Mariah), born ~ 1822, died 12 Jul 1856 #

                                                Maria had child Emma Rosell ⁵, born 1850  same person named Emma Tuthill listed in 1855 census as living with mother Maria & grandmother Triphosia

      Henry² and Margaret had children:

            John³, born ~ 1 Mar 1818, died 3 May 1881, married Hannah (Jane or HJ), she born 1821, died ?      *

            John³ and Hannah had children:

                      Clarissa⁴, born 10 Apr 1847 (from Chen. Cty. Vital records), died ?, married a Delamarter, he Born ?, died ?.    (from deeds)

                       Alice⁴, born 15 Jun 1848, died 19 Feb 1929,married Theodore Turner, born ?, died 24 Feb 1929 (from deeds)

                                    Alice⁴ and Theodore Turner had children:

                                                    Floyd B.⁵ Turner, born ?, died ?.

                                                     Carrie J.⁵ Turner, born 1871, died 25 Feb 1929, married Johnson E. Burrows, he born 1863, died ?.(from deed and #)

                                                         Carrie J.⁵ and Johson Burrows had children:

                                                                               Walter T.⁶ Burrows

                                                                                Alice R.⁶  Burrow (from deeds)

 

            Polly² and a Merrit had children:

                        Steven³, born ?, died ?.    %

                        Alice³, born ?, died ?       %

                        Abigail³, born ?, died ?   %

                        Polly³, born ~ 1809, died 23 Jun 1856, married Lockwood Montross, he Born ?,  died ?.     %, *

                                        Polly³ and Lockwood Montross had children:

                                                John S.⁴ Montross, born ~ 1829, died 1 Sep 1851  *

            Deborah² and Amos Parsons had children:

                        Henry³, born ~ 1839, died 1858     *

                        Alvah³, born ~ 1829, died 1872 *

A DISCLAIMER:  Although my apparent interest in the Birdsall family may lend some to think I am related I must clarify that I am not.

This is the end of the series of archaeological research posts on the Birdsalls.

The next series (starting this week) will be discussing the life of a neighbor of the Birdsall family, prior to his living in New York State;

JEAN GUILLIAUME De BESSE (John Bessac)

Jean Guilliaume de Besse’s Inventory at the time of his death

Tags

Jean Guillaume deBesse, John deBesse

ABOUT JOHN BESSAC, A NEIGHBOR OF HENRY BIRDSALL.

John Bessac is also known as John Befsac, John Besse, John Bass, Jean Guilliaume Bessac,

Jean Guilliaume de Besse. He was born on 4 Feb 1760 in Mon Valant, France, and died in the town of Greene, NY on 25 March 1824. [From “Bessac”/”Park” records located in Broome County Library, Binghamton, NY  local history section and various maps and census records.]

A gravestone is said to exist “in a field north of the Birdsall Family cemetery.” Through the use of existing maps Bessac’s property was located between the Birdsall and Storm properties in the early 1800’s. Although a questioning of the current property owners has been made none have ever seen the stone. A visual search has not been made.

The gravestone is reported to state:  “Bessac – Jean Guillaume, born 1760 in France, died 1824 on his farm in Greene ‘where he is buried in sight of his home and river he loved so well’, age 64. Only a clump of trees now mark the spot”. [From Echoes of the Past, page 364]

NOTE 1:  Abram Storm, a neighbor of both John Bessac and Henry Birdsall acted as one of the estate appraisers.

NOTE 2:  A George Park acted as the other appraiser. A life history of John Bessac’s son was written by a George Park. One copy is known to exist in the Library of Congress

The following typed documents are transcriptions of the documents found in the above Surrogate Court file. These documents are: a deposition of death of John Bessac, a pair of affidavits sworn to by the appraisers, an itemized list form inventory of his goods and a sworn affidavit that the list is true.

Note: All misspellings are transcribed as found in the handwritten document.

Document #1: Affidavit of death

The grave of John Bessac’s son.

This series of posts on the Bridsall’s is nearly complete. Next week I will begin a new series of posts. This series will cover the life of Jean Guilliaume de Besse (John Bessac), a friend of Henry Birdsall.

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky

LT. COL. BENJAMIN BIRDSALL’S Inventory at the time of his death.

 

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky

Henry Bidsall’s Inventory of goods at the time of his death

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Henry Birdsall, Inventory of goods

 

Henry Birdsall: His will, death certificate and notification of heirs.

Tags

Death Certificate, Henry Birdsall, Last Will, Notification of Heirs

Henry Birdsall's Resting Place (The Birdsall Family Cemetery)

DEED: Peter and Polly Garnsey to Henry Birdsall

"AN OLD STONE LOCK ON THE CHENANGO CANAL"

http://www.4cls.org/webpages/members/norwich/extendedhistory.html

CONCLUSION: To a private archaeology

Tags

Abram Storms, Archaeology, Benjamin Birdsall, Birdsall, Birdsall Cemetery, Chenango Canal, Chenango County, Chenango County NY, Chenango Forks, David Davis, Dutchess County NY, educational, Greene NY, Henry Birdsall, History, Hudson Valley, Jean Guillaume deBesse, John BIrdsall, Juliand, Lt. Col. Benjamin Birdsall, North Fenton, Oyster Bay, Preston Manor, Quaker, Revolutionary War, Thomas Tew, Town of Barker, Town of Greene

CONCLUSION

Before anything else in this conclusion I must admit that despite the gathering of historical documents, and in conversation with a resident of the Village of Green, I continue to be plagued by one simple fact; one document and one conversation identify Henry and Benjamin Birdsall as brothers.

 I remain to be convinced of that.

 It is documented that Benjamin was raised a Quaker and rejected his creed, therefore his rejection of pacifism. He did this in order to join the Revolutionary Forces. The remainder of Benjamin’s life and continuity of his descendants then holds true; i.e., mutual benefits in all endeavors, “one for all and all for one, no matter the risk”.

If Henry and Benjamin were indeed brothers, then Henry was a Quaker and this would explain the culture he carried and passed on to his kin.  Pacifism appears almost as a given. Brotherhood with neighbors and in-laws appears to be a given. BUT, I have no direct proof that Henry was a Quaker. AND, Henry could have been a Quaker without being Benjamin’s brother.

Despite the above facts there appears to be too large of a gap between Henry’s culture and Benjamin’s culture. There is no mention of business or social activities between the two. Henry and his son(s) could not write their names (and therefore it is assumed that they could not read). Benjamin’s sons could read and write. Henry’s family tended to migrate locally and Benjamin’s tended to migrate across the USA. There is no commonality in lawyers names on legal documents of the two. If they were brothers, why would they settle so close to each other and not continue the relationship?

Despite that burning question let us get on with the conclusion. We have sufficient documentation, copies of historical records, excerpts from historical books and theory from archaeological books and articles, and last, a smattering of artifacts.

Louann Wurst, 1999, tells us that “The wealthy farmers were publicly conspicuous in their use of material culture.”  I do not see the Henry Birdsalls as being terribly wealthy but they were not terribly poor either. I do not see the Henry Birdsalls as being publicly conspicuous in their material culture. From this I must assume that the Henry Birdsalls were somewhat introverted, and that appears to be born out in their daily work and lives.

They could have easily traded raw unworked stone for a finished “grand monument” in their family cemetery. Their family cemetery is reverent and simple and the stones progress in design as the century progressed in time.

Birdsall Family Cemetery

Wurst (1999) also states that “[wealthy farmers] occupied a highly visible place in the community through their presence in the local “vanity press” histories, the use of large ostentatious gravestones, and the construction of large, costly Greek Revival style homes.”

We have looked at the gravestones and home sites of the Henry Birdsall family and neither are ostentatious. However, in comparison are the gravestones of Benjamin Birdsall’s descendants (see Appendix H, cemetery records and photos), and what you can read about them in the “History of Greene”, or peruse the background of “Maurice Birdsall, banker, [who] obtained plans from I.G.Perry [famous Binghamton, NY architect], and from them built, in 1873, what was the most expensive residence built in the village to that time. It far exceeded the estimated cost of $8,000- – -“, as stated in “Echoes of the Past”, Mildred Folsom, 2nd printing 1991.

A second anomaly of the Henry Birdsall compound is the scattered sheet midden (garbage strewn) in close proximity to the side door of the last existing home on the eastern side of Stillwater Road . This is not what one would expect at the turn of the century (‘1890’s). Yet the artifacts do date to that time. Epinetus is the last Birdsall living in that home.

Newspaper records place his death as occurring on November 28th, 1893 in Preston, NY. The County [Poor] House records show a bill for one “Nathan” Birdsall who died on November 28th, 1893 in Preston, NY as well as a bill dated November 29th, for Two Burial Cases and Outside Boxes, one set for Margaret Hicks and one for Nathan Birdsall.

Aside from the bureaucracy renaming poor Epinetus to “Nathan” it is most likely that Epinetus could no longer take care of himself either physically or mentally while at home. If his mobility was limited he would surely be throwing his garbage out the side door. However, the “Brunswick Pattern” of discards indicates a low percentage of bone; exactly what was found in the scatter pattern found at Epinetus’ house. South (1977) stated that the lack of bone was a conscious decision; bone and other garbage that would attract animals was thrown far away from the home. Was Epinetus more mobile and thoughtful than it would appear or did someone else live in the home after Epinetus?

Sian Jones (1999), writing about ethnicity states “[Textual sources] rather than being taken at face value, – – should be considered in terms of the social and political contexts in which they were produced, the positions and interests of the authors and the audiences – – and the roles that texts play in – – cultural identity”

I hope that these concerns have not only been taken into consideration, but also stated throughout this paper. I would hasten to add that I, the author, should also be questioned as you are reading this material. My vantage point should not be your vantage point. However, I hope that my vantage point has enlightened your knowledge of the Henry Birdsall family.

Sian Jones (1999) has made the point that “Shared habitual dispositions provide a basis for the recognition of commonalties of sentiment and interest, and the perception and communication of cultural affinities and differences, which ethnicity entails.”

Hence, my reason for including the narrative about the friendship between Henry Birdsall and Abram Storms. They, although possibly unconsciously, recognized the similarities and differences in their ethnicity. John Bessac and David D. Davis’ ethnicity  would also play a part in this discourse. Henry and Abram would likely “mentally misstep” when attempting to assimilate what they heard and saw about each of the distinct and different ethnic backgrounds of John Bessac and David D. Davis.

Sian Jones reflects these missteps as ” – – taken for granted modes of behavior. Such exposure to the arbitrariness of cultural practices, which had hitherto been taken as self-evident and natural, permits and requires a change in the level of discourse – – -.”

Henry and Abram had to think differently to conceive what Davis and Bessac were ethnically displaying. This was surely a learning experience and possibly some minor cultural adaptations took place on the part of Henry and Abram . . . . . and possibly on Davis and Bessac also.

Cook, Yamin and McCarthy, Historical Archaeology, 1996, state that the term “socioeconomic status – – – appears to have found its way into the discipline [of historical archaeology] without any critical evaluation of its assumptions. Among these is the assumption that social status and economic status are somehow equivalent, or that the two concepts cannot or should not be analyzed separately from one another.”

Obviously I have fallen into that trap as this paper discusses social status, social levels, economic levels and socioeconomic levels all in one section on class and ethnicity. I have attempted to break that section down into subsections describing each of the above. I hope that I  have not confused the reader.

That would leave this conclusion with more questions than answers. However, thanks to Wurst’s article on “Internalizing Class”, other methods were made available that give us a sense of who Henry and Benjamin were, whether they gave cultural continuity to their descendants, and the way this continuity played in the face of a farm economy that was changing into a capital economy.

The whole has been broken down into its manageable parts and analyzed.      

It is now up to the reader to reassemble those parts back into a whole that tells a story about two families, separated by culture (and possibly not by birth), who each wove their way through life in very different ways.  However different, each family left the world in better condition that they found it; and that is our inheritance whether you are a descendant or an unrelated observer, such as I.

THERE WILL BE SIX OR SEVEN MORE POSTS THAT WILL ACT AS THE APPENDICES; Historical documents and photos.

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky