A Photo From The Shoe Box

Alice Wiggins Aleshire at the gas station

     When George Wiggins and Ida Edwards were married Christmas Day in 1895 it must have seemed like an auspicious beginning to the young couple.  The Wiggins' would have only two children, a boy and girl, somewhat unusual for a rural family in the opening years of the 20th century.  Their son Carl was born in 1905, followed in 1907 by Alice Aurilla; named for her paternal grandmother Aurilla Garner wife of William Wiggins.  Aurilla Garner died in 1906 and so was spared witnessing what would become of her son's family.

     George contracted the dreaded disease consumption (TB) and passed away 3 May 1909 at age 35.  Five months later, his four year old son Carl also died. I've not found a cause for his demise, it could have been the disease that took his father or perhaps not.  Regardless, an already grieving Ida now had to bury her only son.  The census taken in 1910 finds Ida and three year old Alice still living in the rented house on Williams Street in Wolcott, New York they had moved to shortly before George's passing.  The census taken by New York State five years later showed that Ida had remarried and she and Alice were living with her new husband, farmer Marion Haner in Sterling, New York close to Wolcott.

     This second marriage would not last long either, in March of 1925 Ida herself died at the age of 47.  Her obituary refers to her as Mrs. Marion Haynor of Camden, New York and states she died following a "very critical operation".  The New York State Death Index gives her place of death as Buffalo, New York, quite distant from Camden, giving the impression the operation was performed in that city.  

     At 18, Alice had now lost both parents but she was determined to make something of her life.  After graduating from Camden High School Alice enrolled at the Albany School of Nursing, landing a job at an Albany hospital after graduation.  Somewhere in the ensuing years Alice made the acquaintance of Theodore Aleshire of Port Gibson, New York, some 250 miles from Albany.  In 1938 they were married at the home of  her mother Ida's brother, her uncle Leroy Edwards.

     Together Alice and Theodore operated a gas station on Route 31 just outside Palmyra, New York.  The same station pictured at the top of this page.  I bet the A on the sign in the right corner was for Aleshire. The couple would have no children.  Theodore died in 1962 and Alice in 1979 in Palmyra.  The station is still there today though it no longer functions as such, instead it is a residence as it also was in Alice and Theodore's time there.  I can vaguely  recall visiting Alice many years ago with my late mother, whose grandmother Mary Wiggins was the sister of Alice's father George Wiggins, and being charmed by Alice's tiny home filled with antiques.  It was in my mother's shoe box of family photos that I found the shot of Alice with her dog outside the service station.  

     While the gas station still remains, no living descendants of George Wiggins or Ida Edwards do.  I still live nearby and occasionally  my route takes me past the old station, every time it does I think of Alice and my mother and that long ago visit.

It Just Dropped In My Lap

     

     I've been contemplating placing a marker on the grave of my great-great-grandparents James O'Hora and Maria McGarr.  Both came from the same area in Ireland, right on the Carlow/Kildare border and married in Auburn, New York.  All their children with the exception of the youngest were born there in Auburn, that exception being my great-grandfather Edward who was born at the newly purchased family farm in Littleville, New York.

     Years ago while seeking their graves at St. Agnes in Clifton Springs, New York, (that being the closest Catholic cemetery at the time of James' death), I chanced to cross paths with the cemetery caretaker who fortuitously lived next to the cemetery and showed me the records he had, giving the location of the family plot.  He also showed me a card with a sketch of the graves with the designations, Father, Mother, Daughter, Son, Son -- no names other than James O'Hare being the purchaser.  That didn't deter me much, I've seen the surname spelled so many different ways I would have been surprised if it had said O'Hora and after all, the first name was James.

     Father and Mother were easy, that was James and Maria.  Daughter had to be Sarah McGinty who died at her parent's farm at the age of 42, the other three daughter's final resting places are already known.  The two sons gave me pause, James and Maria had four sons, Edward and Michael were buried in nearby St. Rose's cemetery which left Daniel and James Jr.  But Daniel's obituary said he was buried at St. Rose's like his brothers and James Jr. died at age 27 in 1881 before either cemetery had been established.  He was returned to Auburn's St. Joseph for burial.

     I almost began to wonder if it was indeed my family in the O'Hare plot.  I wrote to the secretary at St. Agnes asking for information such as when the cemetery was founded and when the plot was purchased but there was nothing more.  She went the extra mile however, reading through the minutes of old church trustee meetings until she found a reference in 1883 of the trustees asking the diocese for funding for a cemetery.  Not only that, she wrote to tell me one of the trustees who signed the minutes just happened to be James "O'Hore"!  That made me think, James was likely one of the first to buy a plot in the new cemetery, what if he had his son James Jr. re-interred at St. Agnes?  There was only one way to find out--call St. Joseph Cemetery.  I explained to the lady who answered the phone what I was looking for, gave a name and a date and in seconds I had my answer-- "James O'Hore, moved to Clifton Springs".  Yes!

     That left one more son.  There is no cemetery record of Daniel ever being buried at St. Rose, I believe the newspaper was mistaken about that, though there is nothing other than "Son" in St. Agnes records.  But it makes sense he would have been buried with his parents, he had no close relatives at the time of his death and the remaining graves in his brother's plot were reserved for his brother's wife and children.  I believe I have the right spot for James and Maria and thanks to a couple of very helpful secretaries, more details to add to the family story besides.  All because I wanted a marker for Grandma and Grandpa.