John Senecal, Sr - Obituary

John Senecal, Senior - Obituary

THE RECORD-POST
July 6, 1939

John Senecal, Sr., long time resident of this vicinity died June 29th following an illness, resultant from advanced age. Death occurred at this home of his sister-in-law in Keeseville, where he had lived the past year.

Mr. Senecal was a well known figure in Au Sable Forks and vicinity where he had made his home for the past eighty years.  He was born in Champlain, N.Y., on June 24th, 1849, and soon thereafter moved here.  He owned and actively managed a farm in Swastika ans was also for many years affiliated with the lumber industry.

He is survived by two sisters [sic], Mrs. Edward Disco of Bloomingdale and Mrs. Arthur Rougeau Dudley of Black Brook; and by three sons, John, Jr., and Henry Senecal of Au Sable Forks and George Senecal of Glen Valley.  He is also survived by twenty grandchildren.

The funeral was held at St. Matthew's Catholic church in Black Brook, Rev. Father Doyle officiating, with burial in the cemetery there.  The Misses Mary Bean, Mary Meconi and Mary Deloria, members of Holy Name choir of Au Sable Forks, sang during the service.  The bearers were six grandsons, Raymond and Ernest Senecal and Wilfred and Hector Rogeau of Au Sable Forks, Prosper Senecal of Black Brook and Edward Disco of Bloomingdale.

[sic] should be daughters

John Senecal, Sr. is my maternal great great grandfather.

Wedding Wednesday - Maternal Grandparents

Senecal-Dupray

From THE RECORD-POST, Au Sable Forks, NY, Thursday, June 27, 1935:



Preceding the celebration of a nuptial mass by Rev. Father O'Brien in Holy Name church on Monday morning at 7 o'clock, the celebrant of the mass pronounced the words which made Miss Eulalia Dupray, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Dupray, the bride of Ernest Senecal, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Senecal, the ceremony being witnessed by a large number of relatives and friends of the contracting couple.  The bride, who was given in marriage by her father, was attired in white satin, with hat and slippers to match, and carried a bridal bouquet of white flowers.  She was attended by her sister, Miss Leah Dupray, as bridesmaid, who was attired in pink and carried pink flowers.  The groom had as his best man his brother Raymond.  Following the church service a reception and bridal breakfast was held at the home of the bride's parents, and was attended by only immediate relatives of the happy young couple.  At the close of the reception Mr. and Mrs. Senecal left on a bridal trip to Albany and points in New England and will be absent for a week or ten days.  Upon their return they will make their home in Au Sable Forks.  The popularity of the young couple among their relatives and friends was attested by the large number of valuable gifts they received.

Newspaper Nugget

I thought of all my friends who have common surnames and had to laugh a little at this "nugget" I came across:

The Record-Post
Au Sable Forks, NY
Thursday, June 8, 1944

16,000 Men in Navy Answer Name Smith

     There are 16,000 sailors named Smith and 300 of them have the same first name and middle initial-so the Office of War Information has suggested that home folks spell out all middle names when addressing letters to navy men.
     An estimate that 15 per cent of overseas mail is carelessly or insufficiently addressed was made in the OWI's report on why letters from the United States take detours before reaching the boys over there.
     The Veterans' Administration joined in the plea, asking that dependents who write to that agency concerning veterans identify carefully the serviceman they are writing about.
     The master index of the Veterans' Administration now carries the names of 19 million veterans of all wars, living and dead.  They include more 100,000 Browns, 92,000 Williamses, and 88,000 Joneses.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Sharrow) LaHart - Obituary

Mrs. Elizabeth LaHart

     Solemn requiem high mass services for Mrs. Elizabeth LaHart were held last Thursday morning at St. Matthew's church, Black Brook.  The mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father Bellville, assisted by Rev. Father J.E. Doyle as deacon; Rev. Father George Brisson, sub-deacon; Rev.    Father J.J. Kelly, master of ceremonies; Rev. Father H.J. Brisson and Rev. Father Boulerice.

     Miss Mary Bean was the organist with the choir from Holy Name church consisting of Mary Meconi, Mary Deloria, Marie Lyon and Thomas Nugent.

    Pallbearers were Bert Mousseau, Mose Douglass, Earl Sharrow, August Sharrow, Ben Betters and Henry LaHart.  Internment was in the Black Brook cemetery.

   

    Born November 11, 1881 at Swastika, the daughter of the late Napoleon and Delia Sharrow. Mrs. LaHart had been a lifelong resident of the North Country.  Before her marriage to Oncio LaHart on April 29, 1905,

she had worked for many years at Paul Smith's Hotel and at Loon Lake.  For many years she and her husband had conducted a tourist home at Forestdale, many out-of-town guests patronising them year after year.  Mrs. LaHart had always been a hard-worker and was held in high esteem by all who knew her.

     A shadow of gloom was spread over the hamlet of Forestdale when word was spread of her death on Tuesday, June 9, after a prolonged illness of two years.  During all theat time she had never been heard to complain and conscious to the last made all arrangements for her funeral.

     Among the out-of-town residents who attended the funeral services were Miss Josie Sicotte, Sherrington, Quebec; Mrs. Richard Worrell, Rochester; William Ellis, Lake Placid Club; Mrs. Peter LaFountatin, Indian Orchard, Maine; Augustine and August Sharrow, Brooklyn; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Sharrow, Rutland, Vt., and many other relatives and friends.

Published in The Record-Post, Au Sable Forks, NY, Thursday, June 13, 1942

"Lizzie" was my maternal 3rd great aunt.

The obituary states her father is "Napoleon" Sharrow but it was actually Alex Sharrow.  Napoleon PINE was Delia (Paquette/Pockett/Pacquette) Sharrow's second husband.  

David Francis Coughlin - Obit

Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, NY
Monday, June 11, 1984

David Francis Coughlin

JAY-David Francis Coughlin, 75, died unexpectedly Friday, June 8, 1984, at Lake Placid Memorial Hospital.

He was born in Lake Placid on March 20, 1909, the son of Daniel and Agnes (Williams) Coughlin.

He spent most of his younger days near Palmer Hill near AuSable Forks.  For several years, he worked in a defense plant in Worchester, Mass.  He worked for many years as a salesman for Plattsburgh Electric Supply.

Mr. Coughlin was a communicant of Holy Name Church, in AuSable Forks and was a former member of the Jay Fire Department and the AuSable Forks Board of Education.

His first wife, the former Constance Hall of Keene Valley, died in Worchester in January 1946.  His three brothers, Bernard, Daniel and Thomas, died earlier.

Survivors include his wife, Helen (Torrance) Coughlin; three sons, Douglas Coughlin of Hudson Falls, Thomas Coughlin of Ladson, S.C., and David Coughlin (Gilbo) of Saratoga Springs; three daughters, Mrs. Donald (Nancy) Carte of Schenectady, Miss Betty Coughlin of Oscoda, Mich., and Mrs. Robert (Alice) Plumadore of Clayburg; two sisters, Mrs. Howard (Betty) Myers and Mrs. Gerald (Ann) Thompson, both of Plattsburgh; his mother-in-law, Mrs. Beth Torrance of Jay; 17  grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Calling hours were held Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. and will be held today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Zaumetzer-Sprague Funeral Home in AuSable Forks.

The funeral mass will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday at Holy Name Church in AuSable Forks.

Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Donations may be made in Mr. Coughlin's memory to the Holy Name Church Debt Reduction Fund.

I remember this like it was yesterday.  My father had just retired from the Navy (20 years) and we were on a REAL vacation visiting friends and family.  We were on our way to visit my grandparents when we got the news the night before we were to be in Jay that Grandpa had died.  He was getting in a round of golf before we came.

The Calling Hours were a shock to me.  Two days in shifts.  I remember being overwhelmed by the whole thing and the director of the funeral home, Charles "Charlie" Zaumetzer brought me back to their living area to watch TV.  I remember him telling jokes and being very nice to us.  (Of course, quite a few members of both sides of the family went through his funeral home!)

Rest In Peace Grandpa

Happy Birthday Daddy AND Aunt Betty

Today would have been the joint birthday of my father, Thomas Raymond Coughlin (1944-1998) and my aunt, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Coughlin Braunstein (1940-2004).

I always told Aunt Betty she should have asked for another present!! My father did not always remember dates (multiple stories about that!!) and one year I asked him if he had called Aunt Betty for her birthday.  He gave me the blank look and said "Oh yea that's today".  Bless his little heart :)

Here is a photo of Aunt Betty and me in the late 1960's at Santa's Workshop, North Pole, Essex County, New York:

Here are a few of my father:

Me and Daddy late 1960's

Dad washing 1948 Plymouth in 1986

Happy Birthday Daddy and Aunt Betty!!

Newspaper Nugget

I have confessed my love for the Northern New York Historical Newspapers in Website Wednesday.  That love has not diminished but has increased by leaps and bounds!! Not only am I finding information about my family but what was going on in their times.  I also love the difference in writing--not so politically correct!!

So when I see something interesting (or at least I think is interesting) I will post it under my new category "Newspaper Nugget".

In honor of my father's Navy career (but not a Seabee) and for his friends (many of whom were Seabees), here is my first one that I noticed in the June 4, 1942 edition of The Record-Post, Au Sable Forks, New York:

Seabees Chosen Name For New Naval Unit

"Seabees" is the new name chosen to designate the new Naval Construction Regiments, the Navy Department announced recently.  With the name an insignia has been adopted-a flying bee, fighting mad.  On its head it sports a sailor hat.  In its forehand or leg it clutches a spitting "Tommy gun;" in its amidship hand, a wrench, and in its aft hand, a carpenter's hammer.

For more information on the Seabees check out U. S. Naval Construction Force.  Go Navy!!