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Tag Archives: Chenango County

VON DER WISSENSHAFT (Of Science and Learning) by Nietzsche and Strauss

09 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Short Stories

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bavaria, Broome County, Chenango County, Delaware County, Four County Library System, Nietzsche, Otsego County, Strauss, The Greeks

A Short Story

 

(Of Science and Learning)

After retirement (well, it was really after three retirements) I had a chance to meet a strange but friendly old German gentleman. The meeting was under somewhat unusual circumstances. I had taken a part-time job delivering books for the Four County Library System. This system served Broome, Chenango, Otsego and Delaware Counties in New York State. On some days I would drive 300 miles and visit fifteen libraries (sorting books at various stops). As you can see, I had to start out at very early in the morning in order to complete these routes.

This would put me at several libraries before 7:00 AM. There was one very small library in the Catskill Mountains that normally received no more than three books. No one was ever in the library and I had to use one of the keys that hung on a plywood board in the truck. There was at least one key to every library (plus a security system code that was required to be punched in). It was on a dark winter morning that I met the old German. I had just entered the library and was searching for the light switch when a door to a back room opened. The lights went on before I had a chance to hit the switch. I was quite startled but remained calm.

“Guten Morgen” stated the old man in a deep voice. Without thinking I responded “Gruess Gott.”

I had spent some time in Germany and had grown accustomed to their “Good Mornings” and had also automatically answered “God is Good” or “Good Day” in the Bavarian vernacular.

“So – you understand me” the old man answered.

“I suppose so” I answered somewhat surprised at my automatic response in German.

“Are you the librarian?” I asked. I had never met anyone in this library and therefore had no idea who was in charge. In fact there were several small libraries in Delaware County in which I had never seen a soul.

“Nein – Nein” came his answer. “I sweep up and put paper in the toilets. That’s all. But you responded quite well to my ‘Guten Morgen.”

I told him that I had spent some time in the Stuttgart area “back in the early 1980’s.”

“Did you encounter Nietzsche or Strauss while there?” he asked.

“No. I heard the names but that was it” I answered.

“A shame.” He stated.

The way he stated it I did feel ashamed although there was no reason for me to pursue German books or music. Maybe it was part of the shame I felt about not looking farther into the history of Europe while I was there. Oh, I saw some Roman aqueducts in Spain and the magnificent spring flowers in Holland. These visits were all made as a tourist and not for the edification of my mind. I even visited Piraeus near Athens never realizing that Socrates had walked there while conducting dialogues with his friends.

“Wait” the old German instructed as I finished my book deliveries and pick-ups. “I have something for you.”

I could not imagine what he may have for me. I had never met him before. He walked over to the philosophy section of the library and after some searching he slid a book from the rack. He then repeated the process; this time in the music section and slid out a CD.

“Here, take these” he insisted.

“But there is no one here to record what I have borrowed” I protested.

“Not to worry” the old German informed me. “I will tell the librarian that you have them. She knows how to contact you if you are late returning them.”

That was a true statement. She would have no trouble tracking me down.

I looked at the titles; “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by Nietzsche and “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Strauss.

“They are the same?” I wondered out loud.

“Almost” he responded. “One is thought; the other is the feeling.”

“Oh” I answered; as if I had understood his meaning.

I put the two items into my delivery bag, thanked him and departed.

We never met again and the librarian later insisted that the book and CD were never in her library. To make matters even more confusing the librarian informed me that there had never been a janitor. I thought that possibly I had the wrong library. There were no library cards in the book or the CD to identify who owned them. I remain confused about that day.

After reading “Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Zoroaster)” and listening to “Also Sprach Zarathustra” I have decided to write the following combination of the thoughts and knowledge gained as a result of those two pieces of art given to me by my strange German friend. The following reflects Strauss’ piece of music “Of Science and Learning.” It is one of several pieces in his “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”

Strauss alludes not only to Nietzsche’s Zarathustra but also some of the Greek works that Nietzsche references. If you have a chance to read the book, please do. After that has been done it would please Nietzsche, Strauss, the old German and myself if you would do the following. Listen to “Of Science and Learning” while allowing the following snippets to tweak your imagination.”

“We have invented happiness say the ‘Last Men’ (prior to the appearance of the Ubermensch ) – – – and then – – – they blink.”

PLEASE INCREASE VOLUME TO 80% AND THEN START THE MUSIC; CONTINUE  READING

  ELAPSED TIME IN MUSIC                         TIME PERIOD IN YEARS

      0     to    10   Seconds                                 2,000,000 to 800,000 BC

Nothingness, not even a droning sound, there is a void of recognition, no semblance of reception by an ear, or indeed for that matter, the transport of that sense to anything that may bespeak of intellect. Logic and learning have no place to dwell. This silence is the absence of a home where sound, color and touch may join together in meditation.

 

  

    10    to    20   Secs.                                      800,000 to 200,000 BC

 Darkness, the ever present vibrations of the earth, replaces nothingness. The precursor of intellect senses these vibrations yet does not awaken. It is as if wind blows at the curtains of consciousness and the ear hears but the mind remains asleep. The universe is awakening and there is not a single “I” to interpret it.

 

     20     to    30   Secs.                              200,000   to   130,000   BC

The cyclic vibrations of earth grow to a throbbing resonating din. Minds reach that half waking moment when something outside them-selves calls. Yet the dawn has not arrived and darkness disallows the senses to combine into thought. Survival is by instinct and not by intellect. Those minds that can (at the very least) hold on to instinct survive and grow.

 

     30    to    40 Secs.                                    130,000   to    80,000   BC

Color, sound and shards of brightness join together. Something, not yet named ‘hope’, enters into the mind. The intellect senses something larger than itself but remains at a loss as to what to do with it. Like ‘hope’, names have yet to be assigned. Sparks of thought and combinations of senses strum the strings of emotion. Logic has yet to appear.

 

    40    to    60  Secs.                                   80,000     to    40,000    BC

An intermittence of light and serendipity join together. They form minor and disjointed thoughts; thoughts that burn themselves into subconscious memories. Emotions become finer honed and survival of the species is assured. Various color of burnt stones become paint. Intentionally broken and shaped stones become tools. Caves are transformed into symbolic libraries.

 

     1:00     to      1:12 Mins.                             40,000    to    6,000    BC

            Joy and bliss join into a crescendo of cogitation. Thought reaches completeness and the memory is honed. Repetition and mimeses lead to formation of icons.

 

     1:12    to     1:30  Mins.                               6,000   to    4,000   BC

The ascendance of thought creates wonderment. It combines with emotion to form creative ideas. Forethought is applied to technical problems. Synergies of musical and numerical recognition give birth to art, logic, mathematical concepts and symbolic allegory.

 

    1:30    to      1:40 Mins.                                 4,000    BC     to    0  AD

Wonderment metamorphoses. Intelligence takes on the cloak of royalty and elitism  –   –  

 

    1:40    to    1:50  Mins.                                    0      to     400   AD

and then fades back to reality. A longing for the old joy and bliss of complete thoughts (unadulterated by the pressures of state) rises to the surface. The needs of an ever expanding military create specialized fields such as civil engineering, metallurgy, and social control. The feeding of society’s need for pleasure and comfort results in the first “Last Men.”

 

    1:50    to     2:03  Mins                                 400    to    700   AD

Fragments of brilliant light break through the clouds of pestilence and hunger. The lack of a strong singular political philosophy combines with religious extremism. This man-made darkness is extended spatially and temporally.

 

   2:03    to     2:16  Mins.                                700     to     1400   AD

Power and insurrection replace thought. The effete found within factions of various cultures lead to the demise of greatness. East fights east, west fights west, east fights west, urban factions fight other factions, cousins fight cousins. The brilliance of great thinkers is lost as books are destroyed. Science succumbs to might.

 

   2:16    to    2:50  Mins.                                 1400    to    1500   AD

Factions of thought are combined into major political philosophies. Political boundaries are made weak by common needs. Books and the ideas within them are shared by various cultures. Only the confusion of mixing religion with politics creates inter-cultural disharmony. People can agree; organized religion and states can not.

 

     2:50    to    3:05  Mins.                               1500    to    1700   AD

The new power of organized religion makes war with scientific thought. Snippets of battles won and lost are buried in the throes of mind to mind combat. The human bonfires that once consumed heretical thought are replaced by house arrest and excommunication. The inquisition of the morisco in the south and the conservative thinker in the north are replaced by mass migration to the Americas and the Caribbean.

 

    3:05    to    3:35   Mins.                               1700    to    1900   AD

The storms of an intellectual autumn form a mixture of dark shadows and bright rays throughout humanity. Scientific thought is subjected to logical criticism instead of ecumenical belligerence. The light of reality is applied to philosophy. God is pronounced as dead. Science considers him merely ill. The populace refuses to listen to either.

 

      3:35    to    4:18 Mins.                                  1900    to    2000   AD

Philosophy and science establish themselves as the respective heart and mind of humanity. Anthropology attempts to define the hues and intensity of our conceptions while archaeology fights history for the truth. Two world wars within one century prove that organized religion and statedom remain untrustworthy. The individual versus the greater good oppose each other in America. Islamic pride seethes under the yoke of colonialism and empiricism.

 

    4:18    to    4:34  Mins.                                   2000    to    2016   AD

Intellectual suns shine brightly across the earth. The battle for post-modernity turns nations into financial and ideological ruin. Desperate populations select questionable rulers.

 

AN ARCHIPELAGO OF MURDERS

05 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Short Stories

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

.38 Winchester Rim Fire, Attica State Prison, Binghamton Psychiatric Center, Broome County, Chenango County, Clara Blair, Cresson Hill Road, Criminally Insane, Ed Shirley, Iva Mae Munson, Madison County, Marcy State Mental Hospital, Matteawan State Prison, Miranda Rights, murder, Nichols, Philip X. Quinlivan, Richard Munson, State Police, Windsor.

This Short Story is based on factual events

Prologue

Things occur which we expect to have no mirrors, echoes, or similitude. Yet, as we know, things do occur in multiples. Multiple islands form an archipelago. Multiple events form a era. It is said that we each have a double somewhere upon this earth. At other times we unexpectedly meet friends in remote places. It appears to be an enigma that in groups of fifty there are at least two people with the same birthday. Mathematical combinations and permutations explain some of this. On the other hand the phrase “Things occur in threes” has appeared through the ages with little or no rebuttal.

In the unique circumstances which I am about to divulge, there were several mirrors in the events involved. Most of the people that played an unwitting part in these events never met, but were touched by one man who they all knew.

That man was Philip X.

It was the flood of 1936 that Phillip believed was his first memory. There were other memories that he had at an earlier age but Philip could not see those as clearly as he did the flood. He remembers being in an automobile in 1936 and riding down from the hills surrounding the Susquehanna River valley. On the flat lands of the valley water was everywhere. Houses stuck out from the still waters which were the color of mottled jasper.

“Yes, that is what it looks like” he thought; “shiny arrowheads made from brown and tan jasper.”

His grandfather had collected the arrowheads on the riverflats. He taught Philip the different types of flint that were used to make them. The riverflat once held a large Indian village. Now, both the Indian village and the white man’s village were under this brown muddy water. Philip wondered if there was a connection between the flood and the arrowheads. “Did this flood occur because my ancestors were stealing arrowheads from their ancestors?” he wondered. An uncontrollable shiver ran through Philip and he let out a whimper.

“Something is happening to Philip again” said his brother who was seated in the back with him.

Philips mother turned around and looked at him. “Are you all right?” she asked. “You look strange” she added.

The shiver subsided and Philip responded “Yes Mommy, I’m OK. It was the arrowheads.”

Philip’s mother inspected his facial color and scanned him over; twice. She then placed her hand on his forehead. “No fever” she pronounced, whereupon she turned around and assumed her normal position in the front passenger seat. While looking over the flood scene she asked Philip “Arrowheads? What arrowheads? What are you talking about?”

“You know Mommy. The Indian arrowheads and their village is now flooded. Why?” responded Philip with an answer and a question.

“Oh Philip, you say the strangest things. I wish you could explain more clearly so we could understand what you’re getting at.”

The people in the car were silent as they rode along. They were well aware of Philip’s strange questions. An occasional “Oh, look at that!” was shouted as one person would point out a flood spectacle to the others. These punctuations broke the silence as Philip sat quietly in the back seat. He was busy contemplating the arrowheads and the flooded Indian village.

*               *               *

Forty three years later, 1979, a country home in upstate New York housed three adults and several children. The adults consisted of the homeowner and his wife. The third adult was his brother-in-law. The homeowner was a massive man. The brother-in-law was tall and thin but not as athletic as he had been seventeen years ago. Back then he was loading and unloading his truck or tramping through the underbrush and deep woods of upstate New York. He loved the woods and spent most of his free time there.

It was the middle of the night and the brother-in-law was plying his trade at the kitchen table. The homeowner was expected to be sleeping upstairs but his weight betrayed him. The floor boards squeaked beneath his feet.

The brother-in-law quickly abandoned his efforts at the kitchen table. He thought that the rifle sounded quite different inside the house. The bullet followed its intended path and tore through the homeowner’s neck. As it fragmented it tore away a sizeable piece of flesh taking some large veins with it. Somehow the homeowner was able to remain at the top of the staircase.

The brother-in-law fired a second shot. It also hit the intended target. The homeowner fell backward with another deep wound. This time it was in his arm. He could hear the bolt action of the rifle carrying a third cartridge into the chamber. The wounded man knew that retreat was no longer an option. Half falling, half leaping, he descended the stairs and was grabbing at the rifle. His assailant pulled the trigger for the third time. The battle over the rifle had deflected the shooters aim and the bullet sheared off a portion of the larger man’s foot. The rifle fell to the floor as they grappled. The assailant grabbed a large hunting knife that lay nearby. He attacked his brother-in-law with it. He wondered if the huge man would ever fall.

*               *                *

Six years had passed since the flood of 1936. Philip had seen other floods since then but nothing matching that one. Binghamton had been decimated by the waters of the Susquehanna, Chenango, and their tributaries; the Otselic, the Tioughneoga, and the Oeuleot.

Each year Philip wondered about the Indian village that lay beneath his jasper colored flood waters. Something haunted him about it. Other things also haunted Philip. He had night dreams that involved a movie theatre. The theatre had a large stone fortress attached to the back of it. He could not see the fortress unless he went into the theatre, behind the curtain, and up a flight of stairs. A door was located at the top of the stairs. It was lighted and had the word “EXIT” printed in red on the frosted glass. Each time he opened the door the parapet was always there. It had a three foot high stone wall around its outer rim that protected people from falling over the side.

In each reoccurrence of the dream Philip chose not to be protected by the wall. Instead he would climb on top of it and inch his was over to another part of the fortress. A loose stone would sometimes break lose and fall. It seemed like it would take forever for the stone to reach the water below where it would land with a loud splash. Philip would search for a way to climb down by hanging on to outlaying stone footholds. His goal was to locate the source of the water. Large stone tunnels would direct the slow moving water but Philip could never locate the source before the dream ended. He often wondered, when awake, if the dream ended before his search was over or did he simply not remember the end of the dream. Philip was deeply bothered by the enigma of not being able to recall or finish the dream.

Other dreams seemed deeply imbedded in Philip’s mind but these were not sleep induced dreams. These dreams occurred in the middle of the day. They had a deep effect on his ability to concentrate. Philip, in school, looked out the window and would lose himself. He appeared no different than any other boy in his beginning teens. Spring and fall had a typically strong pull in this respect. Most boys in upstate New York would be thinking about fishing and hunting as they looked out the window. Nature called them and they responded in similar fashion. It also responded quite differently at times.

*               *               *

The massive body of the larger man overcame his brother-in-law’s attack. He was able to take the knife from him. He stabbed him time and again until the attacker lay dead on the living room floor. It was only then that the larger man realized that he had been stabbed and shot several times.

As he began to assess his situation he saw two of his infant children standing there. They had observed the knife fight. His eyes drifted to the kitchen. His wife was tied, spread-eagle fashion, to the kitchen table. Cloths line rope tightly bound her wrists and ankles to the table. Her night gown had been ripped open exposing her nude body. The large man, although bleeding profusely from gunshot and knife wounds, was able to crawl into the kitchen. He cut the ropes from one of his wife’s wrists, handed her the bloody hunting knife, and then died.

In this rural community the fire company was the first call in emergencies. The wife called the fire station and the assistant chief was the first one to respond. There, lying on the floor, dead, soaked in blood, were two men; the homeowner and his brother-in-law. The sheriff’s department of Tioga County was notified.

*               *               *

Philip’s daydreams would take him deep into the woods that he loved so much. He would picture himself sitting beneath a large tree with his back against it. Inevitably, in these day dreams, it would get dark and the leaves would start rustling. The imaginary breeze increased and Philip had to seek shelter as the temperature seemed to be getting colder. Among the trees he would find a small church; always without a sign of denomination. Once inside he would kneel and pray for a happy life; something that he felt he would never experience. Then in another pew a pretty young girl would appear. Philip’s young body would respond. He became aroused and experienced a daydream erection. At that very moment a minister would walk to the altar and everyone was requested to stand up. There was Philip in his daydream, standing in church with a large bulge in his pants; and everyone was looking at him. His day-dream was broken by an authoritative voice.

“Philip, Philip” the teacher would call when she saw him in one of his stupors. “Are you with us today?” She then always asked “Philip, would you please read for us?” while stating the page.

Philip started reading while sitting at his desk; quite aware that his erection was real and no daydream at all.

“Philip, please stand while you read so that we can hear you” the teacher would ask. Philip knew that everyone inspected the obvious and giggled about it. He would become quietly enraged and his situation would not subside. He suspected that the teacher also realized what was happening and that she, somehow, received perverse satisfaction from it. He hated the older woman for it.

*               *               *

It was just two days prior to the murder when the home owner was drawn into another threat. The entangled relationships of the people involved need to be clarified in order to paint a clear picture.

We need to go back three years before the 1979 slaying and justifiable homicide. The husband, Ed, who had been murdered, had a sister, Betsy. The sister married the man who was to eventually slay Ed. Then, nine months before the terrible event described above, the sister and her husband, the attacker, separated on an informal basis. The reason for the separation is unknown but a comment from a very close friend is.

“Him and Betsy, they were both a little off. But they were good people.” This friend appears often in the attacker’s history and at the most inopportune times.

For reasons unknown to us, Ed’s sister Betsy decided to move out of the residence. However, her husband, Ed’s brother-in-law, was allowed to continue living there. Two days before Ed was slain Betsy placed several calls to Ed’s house. She threatened to kill him. Apparently Ed took the calls seriously. He contacted the sheriff of Chemung County, where Betsy lived, and filed a complaint against her. Betsy was picked up and jailed the next morning. That night Ed’s brother-in-law formed a plan to be carried out the next morning.

*               *               *

Philip’s school work was very inconsistent by the time he was fifteen years old. Apparently his writing teacher loved the creative stories that Philip would submit for homework. His overactive imagination, daydreams, and night-dreams were excellent fodder for such stories. She gave him an “A”. On the other hand his spelling teacher found that his attributes in that that subject were quite lacking. She failed him. Philips grades in other subjects were, similarly, quite dissimilar. Philip quit school at sixteen.

The woods and rivers are what beckoned Philip. All of his free time (and some that should have been spent at a job) was used for this escape into nature. When he did work Philip could not stay at one place of employment very long. He was fired from or quit several jobs.

Philip’s domestic life was also inconsistent. At times he lived with his mother in Glen Castle. At other times he lived over a laundry in Binghamton. Yet his name could be found scribbled on mailboxes of friends where he would stay for short periods of time. These friends would say that Philip would show up, stay a while, and then leave just as unexpectedly. Sometimes he even lived in his automobile.

There was no one who disliked Philip. He was considered a good friend by many, always willing to help anyone who was in need. His material possessions were few but he would offer the shirt off his back if someone needed it. Several people stated that he was friendly and talkative.

Philip had good friends all over the southern tier and central New York.

*             *               *

Where was the attacker prior to the murder on Bardwell Road in Nichols, Tioga County, New York? For details we would have to ask his friend who identified him as “a little bit off.” For general time frames we can consult the local newspapers between 1962 and 1979.

–    Broome County, NY          County Jail                 Fall of 1962

–    Matteawan State Prison for the Insane, NY         1962 to 1965

–    Judged Mentally Competent                                    1965

–    Broome County, NY            County Jail                   1965

–    Binghamton State Hospital for the Insane               1965

–    Matteawan State Prison for the Insane, NY             1965

–    Madison County, NY          County Jail                    1965

–    Marcy State Hospital for the Insane                        1965

–    Matteawan State Hospital for the Insane, NY     1965 to 1971

–    Judged Mentally Competent                                    1971

–    Madison County, NY         County Jail                    1971

–    Attica, NY                          State Prison            1971  to  1974

–    On parole                                                          1974 to 1979

 

The itinerary above begs more questions than it answers.

 

*               *               *

Philip’s young adult life was spent, as previously stated, in the woods or on a river. He continued living in various parts of Binghamton.  Philip had gained a thorough knowledge of the deep forests and its animals. There were several dozen of these New York State forests within an hour’s drive of Binghamton. These mature forests were the result of depression era plantings by the Civil Conservation Corps. Philip knew the feeding habits of the animals whether they browsed by day or by night. He knew their regularly used trails and understood how their habits changed during the mating season.

Philip developed an excellent knowledge of firearms also. His proudest possession was a Winchester .38 caliber rim fire rifle. It has been said that he could shoot out the eye of a deer and kill it with a small caliber .22 rifle. This feat would be accomplished by waiting until the animal had turned its head to the perfect angle. Philip would put the bullet through an eye socket and into the skull cavity where it would ricochet around destroying the brain. Philip was proud of the fact that he could kill his game with one shot. That way it did not suffer from being wounded and hunted down.

New York State Game Wardens insisted that Philip would do most of his deer hunting late at night; illegally. It would appear that this may be true except for the fact that Philip had no arrest record.

*               *               *

How does one account for such a variety of stays at local and state institutions? It is hard to fathom especially when the attacker had no prior arrests. We must look at the atmosphere of the sixties to understand some of the reasoning and the level of crimes.

The sixties, as we all know, were a period of introspection for the populace of the United States. We were involved in Vietnam and our nation was divided on the morality of that war. The universities were in turmoil, both over Vietnam and also over anything else that the more radical students would feel offended by. The Miranda Rule for warning suspects of rights was fairly new. Some officials thought “What rights should a criminal have?” while others thought “There is no criminality until a conviction is handed down.” Voluntary confessions were accepted and then, at times, not admitted as evidence.

On top of all this New York State was trying new ways to handle inmates of mental institutions. New drugs offered great promise. Many institutionalized citizens suddenly found themselves out on the streets. Who would ensure that they would take their medications after they were released? The plan was patchwork at best. There existed no foolproof plan to keep these people from hurting themselves (or others.)

*               *               *

It was a busy week for the authorities in Broome, Chenango and Madison Counties of New York. Local police, sheriff’s deputies, state police, coroners, district attorneys and state forest wardens were kept up all hours of the night and day. They were attempting to put pieces of a grizzly puzzle together.

In the meantime Philip was enjoying his normal weekend hunts and even found time to date his new girlfriend Clara Blair. Clara’s relatives thought much the same of Philip as his friends did. “Very talkative and friendly,” “Always willing to help anyone in need,” “Somewhat of an exaggerator but very nice person,” “Very quiet and to himself at times.”

It was a Sunday morning when Philip and Clara left her home in Earlville, Chenango County. The forty-seven year old Clara, mother of four, did not return home that evening. Clara’s family attempted to reach Philip through people he worked with. They were unsuccessful because Philip was out hunting with friends.

Thirty-two year old Philip was hunting that Sunday evening on Cresson Hill Road in Windsor, New York. When he and his friends returned to his automobile they found that a tire was flat. The most likely cause was from a stone puncture on the rough dirt road. A new tire was required for the fix. Walking down the hill they stopped at the home of Richard and Iva Mae Munson. On a previous occasion, and for the same reasons, these hunters had purchased a tire from the Munsons. This time there was no tire for sale. The hunters departed perplexed. Philips hunting companions arrived home at 3:00 A.M. the next morning.

Richard Munson worked odd shifts at the Delaware & Hudson railroad yard. To avoid interrupting his family’s sleep in the middle of the night, when he typically came home, he slept in an old trailer next to the house. Monday was his day off. He awoke, went to the house and had breakfast. His wife mentioned the story about the hunters looking for a tire. Iva Mae, a hard working woman of 41, then asked her husband to go to town and pick up some sugar for some jam she was making. He did as asked and also picked up his three daughters after school.

*              *               *

Philip had decided to sleep in his car that Sunday night. He may have been hunting illegally. Once more he stopped at the Munson home. The husband was in town. Iva Mae may have inadvertently laughed at a crude suggestion that Philip made. Philip placed two clean shots from his prized Winchester .38 rim fire into her head. He then ripped off most of her clothes and, with his hunting knife, slashed a gaping wound across her abdomen. We are not sure where Philip went after that but we are positive of what he did the previous day.

Clara Blair’s body was found in the deep woods at the border of Chenango and Madison Counties. Clara was also shot in the head and had most of her clothes ripped off. It is unclear as to whether either woman was sexually molested but it appears more likely in the case of Clara Blair.

Mrs. Munson’s head wounds were so horrific that it was first thought that she was bludgeoned to death. The Chief New York City Medical Examiner was flown in to advise on the autopsy.

Clara Blair’s body was not discovered for close to a week and her face had rapidly decomposed due to the wounds of the .38 Winchester.

Philip confessed to the Munson murder but not the Blair case. His prized Winchester was recovered after he described where he hid it. The rifle had been disassembled and hidden in two separate locations. It was proven to be the same rifle that Clara Blair was murdered with.

I would be remiss if I did not expand on Philips incarceration at the various New York State and local institutions that were listed above.

–    Philip X. Quinlivan murders Clara Blair, Sept. 9th, Iva Mae Munson, Sept. 10th, 1962

–    Broome County, NY, Jail, September, 1962; Philip arrested for the murder of Iva Mae Munson.

–    Binghamton Psychiatric Center, October, 1962; mental evaluation determined that Philip, because of mental defect, could not understand the charges against him.

–    Philip incarcerated at Matteawan State Prison for the Criminally Insane, NY, 1962

–    Doctors at Matteawan judged Philip mentally competent, 1965

–    Philip returned to Broome County, NY, County Jail ,1965

–    Philip was determined to have had his Miranda Rights violated

–    Philip returned to Binghamton State Hospital for evaluation, 1965

–    Philip found incompetent to stand trial, 1965

–    Philip returned to Matteawan State Prison for the Criminally Insane, NY, 1965

–    Doctors at Matteawan once again determine that Philip is competent, 1965

–    Philip returned to Madison County for trial in the murder of Clara, 1965

–    Philip pleads guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, 1965

–    Philip sent to Marcy State Mental Hospital for evaluation, 1965

–    Philip committed to Matteawan State Prison for the Criminally insane, 1965

–    Doctors again find Philip competent, 1971

–    Philip returned to Madison County Jail for sentencing in Blair case, 1971

–    Philip committed to Attica State Prison for violent offenders, Attica, NY, 1974

–    Philip released on parole, 1974

–    On supervised parole, 1974 to 1979

–    Philip murders his brother-in-law, Ed Shirley, Nichols, New York, 1979

 

EPILOG

The similitude and echoes of this case are many. However they do exist within this true story of the man who created an archipelago of murders.

*          *          *

Both Iva Mae Munson and Clara Blair were older women.

Both Iva Mae Munson and Clara Blair had four children.

Clara Blair was murdered in the back country near Marsh Road.

Iva Mae Munson was murdered in the back country near Marsh Pond.

Philip’s friend was present, with comments, in the news story of 1962.

Philip’s friend was present, with comments, in the news story of 1979.

Errors by various state authorities appear to echo from 1962 to 1979.

Philip commits murder for the third time in 1979.

 *          *          *

I would like to thank the Local History Section of the Broome County (New York) Public Library for the availability of film copies of local newspapers that made this story possible. .

EPINETUS AND THE LACHRYMOSE

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Short Stories

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Canal Boat, Chenango Canal, Chenango County, Chenango River, Chenango Valley, Erie Canal, Greene NY, lachrimosa, lachrymosa, Mozart

another short story of mine moved to this blog

A Supernatural Story

The story of Epinetus Birdsall has been fragmentarily written in several official books. That is typical of those who do not write of themselves. Others write their stories for them. The writers do this in such documents as the United States Census, the Chenango American newspaper, the records of the county poor farm and a variety of town, county and state histories. The story you are about to read is what I know and have surmised about Epinetus.

Henry Birdsall, Epinetus’ grandfather, moved his family from the New York/Connecticut border to a beautiful piece of land in the township of Greene, New York. The year was 1814 and the wagon trip via the half-finished Susquehanna Turnpike was miserable. The trip took three weeks and two fingers from the left hand of his oldest son. His grandson, Epinetus was not yet born. Henry was accompanied on this move by two sons, eight-fingered Henry Jr.  and Horace (who was more artistic than physical). There were also several daughters, and his wife, Abashaby.

Henry’s family cleared their river flat along the banks of the Chenango River. The upland part of their parcel remained virgin forest except for a few oaks which Henry had selected as beams for the home and barn. They were a Quaker family and lived by their own culture. One other family lived within walking distance from them; the Abram Storms. Abram had moved into this newly opened “Indian Territory” a few years previous. Although Abram was not a Quaker, he and Henry formed an immediate bond.

In the following ten years they were joined by two other families; that of Jean Guilliame de Besse and that of Dewey David. Jean Guilliame de Besse was a well educated man from France who had spent his youth in Spain and a few intermediate years as an international shipper. After several episodes of being pirated de Besse had lost his business and his fortune. He settled on the banks of the Chenango with his books, his wife, his beautiful daughter, and a deep love for trapping and fishing. Dewey David seemed more intent on building a fortune as a farmer. David’s namesake son, Dewey D. David, was the workhorse that the elder David used to reach his ambitions. Young David never had a childhood to enjoy.

Horace Birdsall married Triphosia and had a daughter and one son; Epinetus. The Chenango Canal was built in the early 1830’s when Epinetus was about ten years old. The canal cut through the properties of all four families. The elder David saw the canal as another method of making money. Henry Birdsall saw it as an intrusion upon his culture and his property. Henry’s vision was not disappointed. The canal-men brought vulgar language and habits with them. He was mortified to have his children exposed to this lack of decency.

David opened up his home (as a makeshift inn) to these men and the concubines that seemed to always be in tow. Young David was exposed to this raw part of humanity. Young Dewey David observed these faults of basic-man and they eventually formed a scab on his sensitivity. His childless past had already erased his ego. Young Dewey D. David’s only joy was wringing the necks of the passenger pigeons. His father made him net them in large numbers to be sold in Binghamton.

Epinetus was entering puberty when his Grandfather died. The Quaker culture of the Birdsalls had faded; some of it due to exposure to the canal people and the rest due to lack of strong-willed leadership.

Triphosia and Horace allowed a relative of Jean Guilliame de Besse to take Epinetus on a trip to New York City. It took a few days to make the trip up the canal to Utica. A subsequent short leg on the Erie Canal put them on the Hudson River. The next day they landed in New York. The de Besse relative had some business to tend to in the financial district.

The following Sunday (before leaving New York) the de Besse relative took Epinetus to visit a newly-built stone cathedral. A high mass was scheduled and the two sat quietly and listened to the beautiful organ music which was a prelude to the mass. The entrance hymn was played and Epinetus was entranced by the procession of the priests and alter servers. The mass continued through the readings and Gospel. As the communion was about to be served the organ master played Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Lachrymose.”  The choir joined in and the music, step by step, reached a crescendo that Epinetus could never have imagined. Then the music suddenly dropped an octave in tone and a much slower pace. The music then picked up its tone and its volume; step by step until the crescendo seemed to reach an even higher point.

Epinetus had no idea what was happening to him and neither did the de Besse who was watching over him. Epinetus’ eyes rolled upward into his skull, he fainted and fell to the floor, smashing his forehead onto the oaken pew in front of him.

It was quite some time before anyone could waken Epinetus. They had carried him to the back of the cathedral and laid him on a Hudson-Bay blanket. When he awoke, a stained glass window with the impaled body of Jesus was staring down at him. Epinetus stayed motionless until he was able to gather his wits. The de Besse and a few of the congregation, once assured that Epinetus was over his spell, allowed him to get to his feet. Young Epinetus and the de Besse relative walked toward the dock. They were just in time to catch the boat for the first leg of their return trip.

Neither Epinetus nor the de Besse ever mentioned the fainting spell that occurred during the performance of the Lachrymose. There appeared no need to worry Epinetus’ parents about the single occurrence. Neither de Besse nor Epinetus realized the deep effect that the music had on his soul or his extra senses.

A few years passed before Epinetus was to hear the Lachrymose again. It was a beautiful fall day. Epinetus sat on an old log that lay in the dark woods at the top of the hill overlooking the family farm. He was entering manhood and as he sat there he wondered about the changes he was experiencing. The woods were calm and peaceful.

Epinetus did not realize that young  Dewey D. David was also in the Birdsall woods; seeking to kill whatever wildlife he could. The pigeons were not migrating and young David had no necks to twist and break. But he did spot Epinetus sitting on the log and was anxious to shoot at something. David decided that Epinetus would suffice for this urge.

As David stealthily stalked him, Epinetus was unaware of it. Suddenly Epinetus experienced a very strange feeling. Then, oddly enough he heard, as clearly as if he were in the New York City cathedral, the organ playing the Lachrymose, as well as the choir accompanying it. Note by note the music reached its crescendo. The volume of the choir and organ increased in lock-step with the ascending music. Then – – – that dreadful pause that Mozart had placed on mankind – – – followed by a lowering of the tone and the timing; only to repeat the triple  crescendo of timing, tone and volume once more.

Epinetus’ eyes rolled back into his head as he experienced the Lachrymose for the second time. He neither heard the “crack” of David’s rifle nor felt the pain of the rifle ball that tore a hole in his scalp. Epinetus awoke at dusk. His hair was matted in blood and dead leaves were glued to it. He was able to get to his feet and make his way down the hill. As he approached the family compound he could hear his family calling for him. Luckily the ball grazed his skull and he would survive. His blood-soaked shirt belied the physical damage done to him. It did not lie about the psychological damage.

The truth never emerged about what young David had done to Epinetus. However, over the years people assumed what they believed to be the truth. David’s reputation was born out of known facts. He was involved in several horrible acts of violence that had occurred in 1849 when he rushed to California seeking a fortune in gold. This was followed by the murder of his wife and brother-in-law upon his return to the township of Greene. David saved Chenango County the cost of a murder trial by killing himself.

Epinetus carried on his life encumbered by his experiences and the unexplainable reoccurrence of the Lachrymose. The Birdsall compound was his refuge and he never wandered far from it. It was four years since he had been shot.

One late winter day he heard a deep growling noise coming from the river. He left the barnyard and walked over a small knoll to where he could observe the water. There was no water to be seen. The Chenango River was covered with thick blocks of ice that had broken lose upstream and floated down. This occurred due to an early thaw. Mixed in with the ice were several large trees that had been ripped from the river bank. The ice blocks churned and ripped at the trees. This is what had caused the growling noises that Epinetus had heard. He watched for a long time, mesmerized by the force of the water and ice.

That night the members of the Birdsall family took turns watching the river. The ice had created a dam and this caused the river to rise; threatening their homes. In the morning the river level stabilized and slowly fell. The thaw ended as fast as it started and the river ice froze in place. The trees were captured in the forceful grip of ice.

Later that week Epinetus walked down to the rivers edge to inspect his boat. He had forgotten about it and started to worry that the large ice blocks may have damaged it. Luckily it had been pulled high enough up the river bank and the ice had not reached it. This boat was Epinetus’ connection to the Terwilliger family who lived across the river. He had not seen his boyhood friend, Peter, since the beginning of winter. Epinetus returned to his home and told his father, Horace, that he was going to cross the river-ice and visit Peter. Although his father was anxious about the ice he was happy to hear that Epinetus wanted to get outdoors and away from the family compound. He agreed to Epinetus’ wish on the condition that they checked out the strength of the ice together.

Horace hung on to one of the trapped trees as he tested the ice close to shore. The ice was frozen solid. He directed Epinetus to hang on to the branches of the trees as he walked across the river. Epinetus was smiling from ear to ear; as only a young man would when on an adventure. He was about ten feet from shore when he heard those fearful and dreaded notes of the Lachrymose.  A loud groan escaped from the ice beneath his feet. The whole river shook and moved at the same time. The ice dam was breaking up.

Horace yelled to Epinetus “come back” but it was too late. Epinetus’ spell of the Lachrymose had overtaken him. He had fallen down. The ice started tumbling in various parts of the river. The piece under Epinetus revolved, ever so slowly, and trapped his legs against the tree. Epinetus’ coat snagged on a branch and it kept him from being dragged under. Even in his semi-conscious state Epinetus could still hear Mozart’s black music rising in tone, volume and beat. The choir voices seemed clearer than ever. The music blocked out the pain of ice tearing at his legs. And then that dreadful pause that the genius Mozart had injected occurred once more. Again the voices and organ dropped and restarted, deeper than before. Strangely the escalation of volume and beat that brought the music from darkness had transformed it to a glorious and beautiful height.

Horace realized his son could not help himself. Leaping onto the tree he quickly worked his way out to where Epinetus was trapped between the branches and the ice. The father grabbed his son by the belt and yanked his legs free from the ice that gnawed at his son’s flesh. Once Horace had the coat free from the branch he was able to balance himself on the tree trunk and drag Epinetus back to shore.

The blood from Epinetus’ legs dripped from the tips of his shoes as Horace carried him toward the house. Horace normally did not have the strength for such a task but found a reserve as he half-ran, half-stumbled on the pathway. The crimson trail of fresh blood on the snow went unnoticed until later in the day.

Epinetus suffered no broken bones but had several deep gashes on his legs. One kneecap was exposed. Grandmother Abashaby and his mother Triphosia tended to the wounds with herbal compresses and boiled linen rags. It was early spring before Epinetus was able to walk in the fields and woods again.

Over the years Epinetus had several other brushes with death and each time they were immediately preceded by the dark yet glorious Lachrymose. Epinetus never talked about the phenomena with anyone; not even his parents. The years passed and Epinetus’ physical health had deteriorated from these near-death traumatic experiences. His mental acuteness remained but he became overly fearful.

That particular branch of the Birdsall family eventually dissipated due to the lack of males to carry on the name. Epinetus’ aunts moved to other villages and he could not care for himself. The Chenango County home for the indigent (Preston Manor) took Epinetus into its care in the late 1880’s.

One winter day Epinetus was sitting in the great room of “The Manor” when an aid came in to tell him that he had a visitor. Epinetus was pleased when he saw that it was the same Mr. de Besse who had taken him to New York City fifty years ago. They talked for some time before the subject of the cathedral came up. It was Epinetus who raised the subject.

“Do you remember that time when we went to New York City and I passed out in the cathedral?” asked Epinetus.

“Yes I do” responded de Besse. “Even though you were the one who passed out that was the strangest experience I ever had.” Continuing on he said “When they played that song, which I later determined was Mozart’s ‘Lachrymose’, I felt myself becoming very weak. I still think it strange.”

“Well, Mr. de Besse, you will think it even stranger when I tell you my story” responded Epinetus.

And with that Epinetus launched into the lengthy tales of his experiences and the Lachrymose. He related the Dewey D. David story, the experience when caught in the ice flow and several other similar experiences that I was also privaleged to hear. However, I simply keep them to myself because they are too dreadful to repeat here.

Mr. de Besse kept an eye on the large grandfather clock that stood in the corner. He was mesmerized by the Epinetus’ stories but he knew it would be getting dark in a few hours. The clouds foretold of snow and de Besse had a long trip home to Berkshire. His horses and carriage were in excellent shape but the darkness and snow would double the time his trip would take.

“Mr. de Besse, would you have a cigarette that you could give me?” asked Epinetus.

“Yes. Of course” replied de Besse. “Let us go out on the back porch to smoke. We may bother others” lied de Besse. His real reason to move to the outdoors was for a breath of fresh air. Preston Manor had a large population of people with incontinence problems.  De Besse was concerned that he might not be able to stomach the odor when mixed with the smoke.

“Thank you” said Epinetus as he rose from his chair. He led de Besse through a hallway to the back door. When they had reached the outdoors de Besse removed a silver cigarette case from an inner coat pocket. He opened it and held it out in an offer for Epinetus to take one. Epinetus did so and de Besse took one for himself. De Besse fumbled for a match in a compartment on the side of the cigarette case. He finally removed one and struck it on the side of the metal case. The flame lit up Epinetus’ face. At that very moment both men heard the first strains of the Lachrymose. De Besse saw the fear in Epinetus’ eyes. Epinetus reached out to hang on to de Besse’s coat for support. Both men lost their footing on the ice that covered the top step.

The music played while they hung on to each other and, as if in slow motion, they spun a full half-circle. Their feet seemed to dance as they sought firm footing. Slowly the two men went down together, elbows smashing on the flagstone steps, then their heads bouncing off the sharp corners. Slowly the music played; then sped up note by note until it reached that Mozartian glory, accompanied by the cathedral choir.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs the bright red blood spread out over the ice coating. De Besse’s head was cracked open and gray matter was exposed. Epinetus had blood streaming from his ears and nose, one arm twisted grotesquely under his body. Their music continued for two more refrains and ended only when their hearts, in unison, stopped beating.

I had been watching them from the window of the great room as they had departed for a cigarette. They were discovered some hours later; after darkness had fallen. It was only then that I arose from my chair and went to my room. The music was too beautiful. I could not leave any sooner.

 

 

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky

JOHN BESSAC’S GRANDSON CLOSES THE STORY

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in John Bessac

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Tags

Abraam Storms, American revolution, Anah Bessac, Chenango County, Chenango Forks, Chenango River, Fur Trader, George Park, Greene NY, Henry Birdsall, John Bessac, Madrid, North Fenton, Priest, Privateer, Royal Guard

John Bessac’s grandson Benjamin L. Bessac gave the introduction to this story with a short note. See the bottom of the following post.

https://waldotomosky.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/the-story-of-jean-guilliame-de-besse-1760-1824/ 

It would be proper, I believe, to allow Benjamin L. Bessac speak to us from his notes of July 30, 1863, written in Albion, NY.

My grandfather had eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom all but one survived him. His widow [Anah] died at the city of Hudson on the Eleventh day of February, 1834, aged seventy-seven years.

[One paragraph is set aside for each child. Each paragraph gives the details of each child, their spouses and their children.]

It only remains for me to add a few personal recollections of one of the noblest men I have ever known. I first saw him in the spring of 1816 at my father’s house in Tioga County. He was then in his fifty-eighth year, about five feet ten inches high, straight as an arrow, and perfect in form and features; his face was bronzed by exposure, but his eye was as keen as the eagle’s, and his chestnut hair, without a stripe of grey, hung in curls about his neck. His movements were light and rapid, and his language as polished as that of an officer of the reign of Louis the Grand. He was as courteously polite to the pauper, who begged his bread by the wayside, as he would have been to the proudest monarch on earth. He was a man of unusual physical power, and was endowed with a constitution of iron. It was my good fortune to go with him to his home on the Chenango River, where I remained for some months, following him about on his daily walks about the farm and listening to his instructive and most entertaining conversation. In the cool evenings of that cold summer, when the rambles of the day were over, it was a pleasure never to be forgotten to sit near him by the cheerful fire and listen to the reminiscences of his eventful life – – – a life that had been passed in France, Spain and America, upon the sea and the land, and covering the overthrow of the Bourbon Dynasty, the crash of the French Revolution, the rise and fall of the great Napoleon, and the glorious uprising of this great and, then, happy and prosperous nation; “all of which he saw and part of which he was.” He told me of Louis the Sixteenth, and the good Lafayette, of Rochambeau, and Washington, of Kosciuszko and Pulaski, of the sunny slopes and smiling valleys of his beloved France; of his mother in that beautiful land, who he reverenced almost to idolatry; of Spain, the land of rugged mountains and sparking rivers, immortalized by the song of the Troubadour, and of his wanderings and romantic life and adventures. So the evenings would glide away until the small hours of the night, when he would rise from his chair, and with courteous obeisance, retire. I saw him again in the fall of 1817, a few weeks only, and then for the last time on earth. The disease of which he died had begun its fatal work upon his iron frame; his step was less elastic, his face appeared care-worn and tinged with a shade of sadness entirely unusual. I was about returning to the eastern part of the State to commence my education, and he walked from his house with me to the river and ferried me across. We went up the bank together, and then he gave me his blessing and turned away. May God so direct my footsteps on earth that I shall meet him in the realm above the stars, where the weary are at rest.

When I first became acquainted with Grandfather I noticed a small purple spot or pimple on his chin; when I saw him last it was so much enlarged that in shaving himself he cut around it. This incipient cancer continued to increase in size and virulence until the early spring of the year 1824, when on the 25th day of March he was gathered to his fathers. So passed away from earth JEAN GUILLIAUME BESSAC, the novitiate of the French Catholic Church, the wanderer over the Pyrenees, the member of the life guard to the King of Spain, the soldier of the American Revolution, and aid-de-camp of Count Rochambeau; an affectionate son, brother and father; a wise and faithful counselor and friend. May all of his descendants strive to imitate those virtues which have rendered his memory so fragrant.

[Another page is used to describe encounters with people who knew of John Bessac or his family in France.]

There is nothing I could add to the story of John Bessac. So I close out these posts with a few relevant items that may serve as a summary of this story; in chronological order starting with John Bessacs parents and siblings.

JOHN BESSAC VISITS MOROCCO

 

JOHN BESSAC THE RUNAWAY PRIEST

 

JOHN BESSAC LEAVES A TEARFUL MOTHER

 

JOHN BESSAC PASSES GERONA ON HIS WAY TO MADRID

 

JOHN BESSAC’S FIRST LOVE

 

THE KNIFE FIGHT

 

JOHN BESSAC OFFERS HIS RESIGNATION FROM THE ROYAL GUARD

 

 

JOHN BESSAC SEARCHES FOR HIS BROTHER’S SHIP

 

JOHN BESSAC BECOMES A PRIVATEER

 

JOHN BESSAC INVOLVED IN AMERICAN REVOLUTION

 

JOHN BESSAC THE FUR TRADER

 

 

JOHN BESSAC MOVES TO THE CHENANGO VALLEY

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in John Bessac

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Albany, American revolution, Battle of Oriskany, British, Chenango County, Chenango River, Chenango Valley, Cherry Valley, Cherry Valley Massacre, Continental Army, Cooperstown, General Burgoyne, General Clinton's Dam, General Sullivan, Hanau, Indian Territory, Indian Warfare, Jager, Joseph Brant, Loyalists, Montvalant, New York City, Oquaga, Oriskany, St. Leger, Susquehanna River, Tioga, Tory, Walter Butler, William Butler

John Bessac, in 1809, was offered a place to dwell. It was a peaceful valley plot that his son Lewis had purchased. The Chenango River was at its base and the hills, almost mountains, rose above it for several hundred feet.

The Chenango River Valley As Seen From Between the Mountain Top Trees

This was the first movement of people west of the banks of the Susquehanna River. Prior to John Bessac’s move the American Revolution had turned into a very unconventional and nasty war. There were two army officers named Butler. Walter Butler fought for the British and the William Butler for the Continental Army.

All the territory to the west of the Susquehanna River was questionable territory. The white man had moved in and began farming. But with the American Revolution the territory was muddied; and no one wins when drinking muddied water.

There were farming settlements in Cherry Valley, Oquaga and Tioga. The British saw these territories as fair game for deflecting the war. Their thrust was towards those farmers who had no defense. This was especially true after the Battle of Oriskany. The American Revolution had moved from New York City to the midlands of New York.

The British had decided to split New England in half by taking control of the Hudson Valley. General Burgoyne, “Gentleman Johnny”, drove his forces from Quebec, Canada southward. This was timed with Lieutenant Barry St. Leger’s expedition of about 1,800 men that were a mix of British regulars, Hessian Jäger from Hanau, Loyalists, Indians, and hired rangers. St. Leger’s drive was a surprise attack from the west. They were to meet Burgoyne in Albany.

Between June of 1777 and 1778 General Walter Butler, a Loyalist to the British, had created havoc for the small farming communities. In 1778, he and Joseph Brant, a Mohawk chief, led a company of Tories and Indians in the raid that culminated in the Cherry Valley Massacre. He has been blamed for the deaths of the many women and children that were killed on that occasion.

The battles and massacres between the American’s Continental Army and the British mixture of Hession Soldiers of Fortune, Indians and Torys continued.

General Sullivan’s Expedition, which wiped out all opponents, halted these attacks on defenseless small farming communities. The expedition was a “scorched earth” campaign that flooded the entire Susquehanna Valley.

A dam was constructed by General Clinton’s men at the mouth of Otsego Lake. After several months the damn was destroyed. Indian, Tory and Loyalist settlements were wiped out; if not at first by the flood then with follow up troop movements that burned any remaining homes, Indian lodges and fields of corn.

With the opposition finally beaten the United States opened up the “Indian Territory” west of the Susquehanna River. This included the Chenango River Valley where Lewis Bessac, John’s son had purchased property.

When John Bessac moved to the Chenango Valley he found a previous settler already established. That settler was Abram Storms. Storms had hauled mill stones across the Katskill Mountains; from the Hudson Valley to the Chenango Valley. He had established a grist mill in what was to become Brisban, New York. Storms then started farming in what was known as the Stillwater Area of the Chenango River.

John Bessac learned proper farming methods from Storms. Then another farmer moved his family from the Connecticut/New York border; this farmer was Henry Birdsall.

Bessac, Storms and Birdsall learned from each other. Their farms became prosperous.

John Bessac had found a river, hills and friends that reminded him of his boyhood in Montvalant, France.

John Bessac was a happy man.

JOHN BESSAC and the Right Reverend Bishop

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in John Bessac

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Tags

Bishop, Cadiz, Chenango County, Don Quixote, Greene NY, Jean Guillaume deBesse, John Bessac, Montvalant, priesthood, Revolutionary War, St. Martin, vows

John Bessac was eighteen years of age and had already had experiences that other lads his age only dreamed of.

He had played on the hillsides above the Dordogne River in Montvalant. He had studied and mastered languages at the University of Cahors. Not only that but he had made a voyage to Morocco to save hostages from Hammuda ibn Ali, the Monarch of Morocco.

Then he spent a year in Cadiz, Spain, understanding the ramifications of disease and surgery at the largest hospital in Europe.

All were not pleasant experiences in Cadiz. He lost his brother Rufus due to some strange malady. And John had burned his face and hands saving another lad from a laboratory fire.

However, he did have the opportunity to read several medical theses, “Don Quixote” and also some of Alain-Rene Le Sage’s humorous short stories.

Yes, John Bessac had led a full life by the age of eighteen.

Now it was time for him to take his vows of priesthood.

But John had seen too much. He was full of life and spirit, very fond of his amusements and had a deep desire to continue visiting various parts of the world. How was he to keep these desires buried if he were to enter the life of a priest?

The only counsel he could trust to help him make his case were his two remaining brothers; Baptiste and Bertrand. The bond between the three was strong. Many nights were spent with them as John discussed his problem.

Finally Baptiste and Bertrand agreed to speak to their father about John’s dilemma.

No effort was spared by the brothers to convince John’s father to abandon his plans for John. And it almost worked if it were not for John’s Uncle Louis. Louis was an unyielding arch-catholic and had established close friendships high in the church.

The Right Reverend Bishop of the Diocese wrote a pressing letter to John’s father insisting that John take the vows immediately. That settled the matter for John, whether he agreed with the plan or not.

On St. Martin‘s Day a feast would take place in Montvalant.

Saint Martin Croissants

Immediately after high mass John would be given the vows by the Bishop during a solemn ceremony. The Bishop had laid out his plans well.

The speech prior to the ceremony would discuss the generous nature of St. Martin, the saint of the day, while also picturing him as an equestrian knight.

St. Martin Dividing His Cloak For a Naked and Cold Beggar

The Bishop thought “Maybe that will plant the seed of a more exciting calling to John.”

Life sequestered away in some forlorn abbey did not appear to be one of John’s goals.

The Birdsall Family Cemetery

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Archaeology

≈ 12 Comments

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, 80th year

              Eve, Died Dec. 16, 1837, 63rd 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

08 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Archaeology

≈ 2 Comments

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)

CONCLUSION: To a private archaeology

28 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Archaeology

≈ 13 Comments

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

CLASS AND ETHNICITY: Post 10B of A Personal Archaeology

26 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky in Archaeology

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abstraction of extension, abstractoin of levels of generality, abstracton of vantage point, Archaeology, Benjamin Birdsall, Birdsall, Chenango Canal, Chenango County, Chenango County NY, class, dialectical research, educational, ethnicity, Henry Birdsall, Louann Wurst, NSF, public policy, spatial research, surface artifacts, temporal research, Town of Greene

POST 10B   CLASS AND ETHNICITY (Continued)

An early apology.  I found that I could not cut and past the matrices necessary for this post. Therefore I had to copy my PC screen and past it to the post. This leaves the some of the matrices looking divided. I must ask you to join them together mentally. This should not be too difficult considering that the words within the intersections logically join them together. My deepest apologies in advance.

ABSTRACTS OF EXTENSION

The following set of matrices are those that would assist in breaking down relationships and processes.  The subject of extension must also delve into how people may unconsciously have extended their class/ethics to their children and subsequent generations.To what degree might the agent (person making change) have been willing to:

            I would therefore suggest that the readers review all of the data found in the appendices and then modify or add to the above questions if they so choose.

            COMPARISON

            Social/Ethnicity

            The comparison of the two families with respect to social class and ethnicity is simply that Benjamin Birdsall and his descendants operated in a different social structure than Henry Birdsall and his family.

            Benjamin’s family obviously operated in a wider social structure than Henry. However Henry may have operated at a deeper social level. I am obviously defining a two-dimensional concept of social relations.  I am very reluctant to establish levels of social structure, without establishing depth.

            However, one would establish levels of socioeconomic structure;  Low, Middle,  and Upper Class    (and other intermediate levels if one so chooses).

            Henry’s social level appears to be one of spiritual-kinship and there may be no higher social level when one considers the continuity of humankind. Benjamin’s social level appears to lean more towards a socioeconomic level and therefore, in my opinion, does not have the depth of Henry’s singular social level. Allow me to explain.

            If one is considering ethnic/culteral continuity in Henry’s strategy (albeit unrecognized by him as a strategy), his practices supported that continuity, a continuity that demotes conflict and promotes interpersonal relationships on a purely social and spiritual level.

            If one is considering social/economic continuity in Benjamin’s strategy (and I am sure that Benjamin would have a conscious strategy) his practices supported that continuity, a continuity that faces conflict head on and promotes interpersonal relationships on a mutual-benefit basis.

            Socioeconomic Levels

            Regarding socioeconomic levels Henry appears, from the inventory of personal property established at his death, to have accumulated more than Benjamin. The anomaly in this comparison is that Benjamin’s Last Will and Testament is missing. Any real property would have been listed in that document. Therefore Benjamin’s economic accumulations may have been based in real-estate, and that may well have been quite significant.

            Economic Continuity

            On the other hand Benjamin’s family appears to have expanded their economic holdings while the economic holdings of Henry’s family appear to have dwindled.

            Due to the luck of the draw it also appears that Benjamin’s descendants had a continuity of male heirs while Henry’s descendants leaned more towards female.  The Birdsall name, carried on by Henry’s male heirs, died out within three generations. The Birdsall name, carried on by Benjamin’s male heirs, expanded and grew. This may lead to a perception of economic growth supported by the continuity of the family name. Only additional studies would carry this to a sufficient end.

© Copyright – Waldo Tomosky

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