The children of Henry and Martha (Corwin) Case were:
I Henry Case, Junior; [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.] described presently.
II Theophilus Case [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]; died October 26, 1716; is believed to have married Hannah ---; and, probably to have had children: William, Ichabod, John [Colonial Laws of the State of New York. Volume 3. Page 372.], and Benjamin [Hall of Records. New York City. Surrogate's Office. Liber 27. Page 360. (Many Probate records, prior to 1800, are kept here, rather than in their proper Counties.)].
III Hannah Case; perhaps daughter of Henry and Martha (Corwin) Case [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.].
HENRY CASE, JUNIOR, son of Henry Case, founder of the family in Southold, Long Island, so far as known with evidence, and of the latter's wife, Martha (Corwin) Case [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.], was born September 5, 1659 [Information given by Ralph Ernest Case, Esquire, grandson of Henry L. and Ann CAtherine (Millspaugh) Case.].
On June 14, 1681, he set forth a statement of property which he had received as part of his father's estate, from his mother, then Martha Hutchinson, who had been Administratrix of this estate (as this document shows), and, thereby, released his mother from all further conveyance to him of his father's holdings. The record follows.
"Know all men by these presents yt I Henry Case of Southold {illegible} East Rideing of Yorkshire upon Long Island haveing given and granted (out of the estate of my father Henry Case, by my mother Martha Hutchinson) who was impowered to take administration of ye sd estate, **taine percells of Land, as namely, A first lott comonage in the Old {illegible} bounds of Southold, and seven acres of Wood land -- more or less -- {illegible} nere the Town on ye north side thereof -- and one acre of Land in old field -- and also a p'cell of meadow at Occabauck -- and likewise grant of ye whome lott after my mothers decease. I doe acknowledge my- {illegible} to be fully contented and satisfied therewith, for my whole childs {illegible} in my said fathers estate, and doe hereby fully, freely and absolutely acquite and discharge my sd mother Martha Hutchinson of all and
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Case Line - page 9
The fact that part of Henry Case' payment for this property, bought from Thomas Mapes, was to be made in shoes seems to make evident that he was a shoemaker, or cordwainer, as a practiser of this trade was called at that time, frequently.
He died in 1664, and was then a young man [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]. No account has come down as to the manner or cause of his death, nor of its exact date. It seems possible that he might have been engaged in fighting on the side of the English against the Dutch. It was in August of 1664 (the year of Henry Case' death), that an English fleet arrived at what, then, was New Amsterdam, -- now New York, -- and demanded surrender of the town and all of New Netherland from the Dutch Governor, Stuyvesant. On September 8, 1664, all came into English possession. This, of course, also put an end to the Dutch claims concerning the English tons on Long Island, which claims had long stirred conflict [History of Orange County, New York. By Samuel W. Eager. 1846-1847. Page 248.]. While, of course, it is only supposition, it may be that Henry Case had served in some way with the English victors. If this were so, and he died away from Southold, in some fight or skirmish against the Dutch, this might explain the lack of details about his death in the Southold records.
The wife of Henry Case was Martha, the only daughter of Matthias and Margaret Corwin [History of Orange County, New York. L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 391-392.]. An account of the Corwin family is given elsewhere in these studies of Case and allied ancestry.
She married for a second husband, Thomas Hutchinson, and had a son, Matthias Hutchinson (named, of course, for her father, Matthias Corwin). In 1694, this son bought, from Henry Case (her son, by her first marriage, to Henry Case, the elder), the homestead at Southold, purchased, as already described, in 1659, from Thomas Mapes, by the elder Henry Case [Kingston, Ulster County, New York. Registry of Deeds. Liber HH. Page 234.].
He died in 1664, and was then a young man [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]. No account has come down as to the manner or cause of his death, nor of its exact date. It seems possible that he might have been engaged in fighting on the side of the English against the Dutch. It was in August of 1664 (the year of Henry Case' death), that an English fleet arrived at what, then, was New Amsterdam, -- now New York, -- and demanded surrender of the town and all of New Netherland from the Dutch Governor, Stuyvesant. On September 8, 1664, all came into English possession. This, of course, also put an end to the Dutch claims concerning the English tons on Long Island, which claims had long stirred conflict [History of Orange County, New York. By Samuel W. Eager. 1846-1847. Page 248.]. While, of course, it is only supposition, it may be that Henry Case had served in some way with the English victors. If this were so, and he died away from Southold, in some fight or skirmish against the Dutch, this might explain the lack of details about his death in the Southold records.
The wife of Henry Case was Martha, the only daughter of Matthias and Margaret Corwin [History of Orange County, New York. L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 391-392.]. An account of the Corwin family is given elsewhere in these studies of Case and allied ancestry.
She married for a second husband, Thomas Hutchinson, and had a son, Matthias Hutchinson (named, of course, for her father, Matthias Corwin). In 1694, this son bought, from Henry Case (her son, by her first marriage, to Henry Case, the elder), the homestead at Southold, purchased, as already described, in 1659, from Thomas Mapes, by the elder Henry Case [Kingston, Ulster County, New York. Registry of Deeds. Liber HH. Page 234.].
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Case Line - page 8
14th of April 1659,
Thomas Mapes sold to Henry Case the dwelling house, barns, all the whom lott and fences thereunto belonginge late in the occupacon of James Cook and one helfe of all the p'cells of woodland belonging thereunto, and one acre in the Old feild --- three acres of meadow bough of Goodman Benjamin at Oysterpounds. In consideracon of six pounds in hand received --- six pounds more to bee payed by the first of April 1660 in shooes at six pence halfe penny a (sic: a space left blank: the compiler) from the eightes to the twelves: -- nyne pounds thereof to be payed at Michaeltyde (the Feast of Saint Michael, the Archangel, September 29: the compiler) then followinge in shooes at the prize aforesaid, or corne, or boath, and twenty shillings, being the remainder in wampum--right in the purchase of Curchaug and Occabauck for a first Lott.
The whole purchase to stand ingaged for the sixteen pound paymt.
Thomas Mapes
Henry Case
Subscribed in the presence of
Willm Wells
Recorded the 25th of ffebruarie 1661 (1662, modern dating: the compiler)
by me Willm Wells Recorder." [An Act of the New York Colonial Assembly, entitled: "An act for naturalizing Mathias Millsbagh, Jacob Boodstober and others," passed November 8, 1735.]
Thomas Mapes sold to Henry Case the dwelling house, barns, all the whom lott and fences thereunto belonginge late in the occupacon of James Cook and one helfe of all the p'cells of woodland belonging thereunto, and one acre in the Old feild --- three acres of meadow bough of Goodman Benjamin at Oysterpounds. In consideracon of six pounds in hand received --- six pounds more to bee payed by the first of April 1660 in shooes at six pence halfe penny a (sic: a space left blank: the compiler) from the eightes to the twelves: -- nyne pounds thereof to be payed at Michaeltyde (the Feast of Saint Michael, the Archangel, September 29: the compiler) then followinge in shooes at the prize aforesaid, or corne, or boath, and twenty shillings, being the remainder in wampum--right in the purchase of Curchaug and Occabauck for a first Lott.
The whole purchase to stand ingaged for the sixteen pound paymt.
Thomas Mapes
Henry Case
Subscribed in the presence of
Willm Wells
Recorded the 25th of ffebruarie 1661 (1662, modern dating: the compiler)
by me Willm Wells Recorder." [An Act of the New York Colonial Assembly, entitled: "An act for naturalizing Mathias Millsbagh, Jacob Boodstober and others," passed November 8, 1735.]
The Case Line - page 7
Henry Case had settled in Southold, Long Island, before December 15, 1658. On that date, he was granted, by the Town of Southold, a tract of land for his residence, -- "a whom lott of ffower acres." The record of this grant follows,
December 15th 1658.
The Towne in theire meetings then held granted to Henry Case a whom lott of ffower acres, next to the east side of the lott late granted to Richard Skydmore and adjonings to the same, and right of comons as if the same weere a compleate first lott, -- provided hee live on the same the space of three years, otherwise the same to returne to the Towne, they payeinge what his buildings and fenceings is worth when he surrenders upp the same as aforesaid, --" [Clark's and Ruttenber's History, Pages 371-372.]
This lot, whose grant is the earliest positive record of Henry Case in America, lay on the Town Street of Southold, at the east end. On its site, in the early 1880's, resided Mrs. Beulah Goldsmith. [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]
It is considered improbable, however, that Henry Case actually took up his residence on this granted land. A few months after it had been conveyed to him, as above related, by the Town of Southold, he purchased "a dwelling house" at the west end of the Yown Street, his locality, in the 1880's, was the property of Isaac Ackerly. [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]
There follows the record of this said purchase of a home by Henry Case.
December 15th 1658.
The Towne in theire meetings then held granted to Henry Case a whom lott of ffower acres, next to the east side of the lott late granted to Richard Skydmore and adjonings to the same, and right of comons as if the same weere a compleate first lott, -- provided hee live on the same the space of three years, otherwise the same to returne to the Towne, they payeinge what his buildings and fenceings is worth when he surrenders upp the same as aforesaid, --" [Clark's and Ruttenber's History, Pages 371-372.]
This lot, whose grant is the earliest positive record of Henry Case in America, lay on the Town Street of Southold, at the east end. On its site, in the early 1880's, resided Mrs. Beulah Goldsmith. [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]
It is considered improbable, however, that Henry Case actually took up his residence on this granted land. A few months after it had been conveyed to him, as above related, by the Town of Southold, he purchased "a dwelling house" at the west end of the Yown Street, his locality, in the 1880's, was the property of Isaac Ackerly. [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttember. 1881. Pages 22-23.]
There follows the record of this said purchase of a home by Henry Case.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Case Line page 6
There are pages missing and I begin on page 6. The missing pages include foot notes for "History of Orange County, New York, and Newburgh" by E. M. Ruttenber 1875. Pages 28, 113-114.
J Rietstap's "Amorial General".
"History of Orange County, New York" by L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttenber. 1881. Pages 22-23.
"History of Orange County, New York" by Samuel W. Bager. 1846-1847. Page 231.
"Gazetter of the State of New York" by J. H. French. 1860. Page 151.
...however, doubts much that Henry, first ancestor definitely known, of the Case family of Southold, was son of the aforesaid William; though they may have belonged to the same family in England. There does not appear to the compiler to be any evidence that William himself ever was of Southold.
There was a Thomas Case, contemporary with Henry Case, and Charles B, Moore, -- mentioned above as historian of early Southold families, -- seems to think he was, or perhaps was at Southold. He states that this Thomas Case was at Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1661, and at Newtown, Long Island, in 1666 [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttenber. 1881. Page 16.]. Thomas Case was a Quaker, and evidently some of the Case family at Southold were Quakers; so there may have existed a relationship between Thomas and Henry Case, although this is not definitely known. The famous historian of New England genealogy, James Savage, whose Genealogical Dictionary of New England, " published in 1860, remains the best work on the subject, wrote of Thomas Case, as follows, using his customary abbreviated style and his faintly dry mild humor;
THOMAS, Fairfield, rem, to the Dutch a, 1664, and is by Mather wh, is always a liberal in obloquy against adher, of George Fox), call, a villain, Magn, VII, 25. We hear not any reason for such epith, exc, his Quaker, habit, influence among the foll, nam, by the gr, histor, Cae's crew, [Magnalia Christi Americana" by Cotton Mather, written 1693-1697, published 1702], at Southold, L. I. where, he sorrowf, adds, to this day (1699), the sect is kn. He was sev times imprision, for his cause, and by such treatm, not prob, induc, to reject the inward light, and d. 1692, perhaps unm, certain, without issue." [Reverend Mr. Dickson's history of the Goodwill Church (Presbyterian), at Montgomery, New York, quoted, Pages 371-372, in Clark's and Ruttenber's History of Orange County.]
J Rietstap's "Amorial General".
"History of Orange County, New York" by L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttenber. 1881. Pages 22-23.
"History of Orange County, New York" by Samuel W. Bager. 1846-1847. Page 231.
"Gazetter of the State of New York" by J. H. French. 1860. Page 151.
...however, doubts much that Henry, first ancestor definitely known, of the Case family of Southold, was son of the aforesaid William; though they may have belonged to the same family in England. There does not appear to the compiler to be any evidence that William himself ever was of Southold.
There was a Thomas Case, contemporary with Henry Case, and Charles B, Moore, -- mentioned above as historian of early Southold families, -- seems to think he was, or perhaps was at Southold. He states that this Thomas Case was at Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1661, and at Newtown, Long Island, in 1666 [History of Orange County, New York. By L. H. Clark and E. M. Ruttenber. 1881. Page 16.]. Thomas Case was a Quaker, and evidently some of the Case family at Southold were Quakers; so there may have existed a relationship between Thomas and Henry Case, although this is not definitely known. The famous historian of New England genealogy, James Savage, whose Genealogical Dictionary of New England, " published in 1860, remains the best work on the subject, wrote of Thomas Case, as follows, using his customary abbreviated style and his faintly dry mild humor;
THOMAS, Fairfield, rem, to the Dutch a, 1664, and is by Mather wh, is always a liberal in obloquy against adher, of George Fox), call, a villain, Magn, VII, 25. We hear not any reason for such epith, exc, his Quaker, habit, influence among the foll, nam, by the gr, histor, Cae's crew, [Magnalia Christi Americana" by Cotton Mather, written 1693-1697, published 1702], at Southold, L. I. where, he sorrowf, adds, to this day (1699), the sect is kn. He was sev times imprision, for his cause, and by such treatm, not prob, induc, to reject the inward light, and d. 1692, perhaps unm, certain, without issue." [Reverend Mr. Dickson's history of the Goodwill Church (Presbyterian), at Montgomery, New York, quoted, Pages 371-372, in Clark's and Ruttenber's History of Orange County.]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Case and Allied Families
This work of recording something about our forbears was started by my Grandfather, Henry L. Case (1831-1922). In 1887 he made a trip from his home in Rowayton, Connecticut to the place of his birth, Cutchogue, Long Island, for the purpose of determining as many facts as possible regarding his family. During this trip he made the sketch which I now own of the old Horton homestead in Southold, Long Island. Immediately upon his return he inscribed, in his own Family Bible, the records which he had copied from other Family Bibles which he had seen during his trip.
When I was in my 'Teens, he interested me in carrying on the research which he had started, He told me things that he could remember, and, when I succeeded in adding some information as the result of a bicycle trip on Long Island, he rewarded me by presenting me with his Family Bible.
Important among Grandfather's reminiscences was the fact that he could remember his Great-grandfather, Gershom Case (1747-1838). Grandfather was seven years old when Gershom Case died, but he told me many times of his memory of "that old man lying there." That is all he could remember, but the impression which the sight of Gershom in his last illness made upon Grandfather seems to have been a deep and lasting one.
Paul Case (1780-1857), son of Gershom, and my Grandfather's Grandfather, was a Cutchogue farmer, and has been described to me by Grandfather, and also by George Case (also a grandson of Paul), as being "a short, wiry man with the typical Case head." The "Case head, " which they mentioned, is broad at the temples and narrow in the jaw. The old chair which I have was made by Paul Case and Carolyn has a teaspoon marked Paul and Susannah Case.
Justus Albern Case (1807-1845), my Grandfather's father, died at the early age of thirty-eight. His son, Henry (my Grandfather), was then only thirteen years old. I have been told that J. Albern and his brothers, Selden, Lorenzo, and William Harrison Case, all played musical instruments and that they constituted a one-family orchestra at the social gatherings in Cutchogue and Peconic. Justus Albern Case's wife Mary Louisa Jennings, lived to a ripe old age and appears in the photograph of four generations which was taken in the parlour of our old home at Rowayton, Connecticut. In it appear Mary Louisa (Jennings) Case, Henry Lorenzo Case and his wife, Ann Catherine Millspaugh, Elmer Erastus Case and his wife, Katie E. Petty, and their two children, Ralph and Forest Case.
Henry Lorenzo Case (1831-1922), my Grandfather, was ninety-one years old when he died as the result of a fractured hip sustained nearly nine months before in a fall on an icy sidewalk in South Norwalk, Connecticut. The untimely death of his Father, when my Grandfather was thirteen years of age, left the latter more or less at loose ends as a boy with the result that he went to sea at an early age and spent some years as a sailor, mostly on whaling vessels out of New London, Stonington, or Mystic, in Connecticut. He lost the sight of one eye in an accident while unloading iron bars from his ship at night in San Francisco.
My Grandfather met and married Ann Catherine Millspaugh of Oyster Bay when he came up the Sound to try his hand at the new oyster industry that was getting established in western Long Island Sound. They lived in Rowayton for a time and their children were born there. The oyster business flourished but Grandfather had acquired the wanderlust during his years at sea and wonderful tales of the richness of the "west" were heard on all sides at this time. When my Father, Elmer Case, was three years old (1865), Grandfather traded his oyster boat and oyster grounds and just about everything else he owned for a farm in Wisconsin. The family went by train to Buffalo and then by boat to Wisconsin. When they arrived they found that the farm they had bought did not exist and the best the nearly penniless family could do was to rent another and try to make out. Apparently they were nearly starved and frozen that winter and William, then five years old, was desperately ill. They soon returned to Rowayton where the oyster business again gave them a competence for some years.
Grandfather fell ill from some malady that was prevalant among the oystermen called at the time "chills and fever" and because he was unable to cure himself while he worked on the water he bought a farm at Stepney, Connecticut. He lived there for two years selling the produce from his farm in the growing industrial city of Bridgeport. (1872). Then suddenly Uncle John Marcy came to Stepney and offered Grandfather a job as superintendent of the Security Life Insurance Building at 3 Pine Street, New York City. They lived in New York for three years during which time they saw the cables strung for the old Brooklyn Bridge and the first electric arc lights installed as well as the first telephone wires. Dad attended Public School on Church Street.
With the failure of the Security Life Insurance, Grandmother, Uncle Will, Aunt Edith and the furniture were moved back to Stepney and Grandfather and Dad went into the "Salt Business" in Brooklyn. This consisted of buying bulk salt and putting it in small cloth bags for retail sale. When this business got going the family returned and lived in Brooklyn for two years.
During this time my Father (Elmer) then a boy of twelve was sent back to Stepney to sell out the farm equipment. This he did and with the money carefully pinned to his clothing he walked to Bridgeport (19 miles) and took the boat to New York not daring to sleep on the way. Then up from old Fulton Ferry father walked until he found the family's new address by recognizing a quilt airing in a window.
They returned to Rowayton and once more engaged in the oyster business which brought them comfort and security for many years.
Grandmother died from a stroke at the age of sixty-eight, and Grandfather lived for a short time with his son, William, then with my parents, and finally went to Riverhead, Long Island to care for his sister Sarah Marcy. While there he married Mary Mullin and they lived with Aunt Sarah until her death. They then came back to Connecticut, remaining there until his death in 1922.
Elmer Erastus Case, my Father, born in 1862, is hale and hearty at this writing (1941), strong and capable and remarkably young and fresh in his outlook. He showed his ability early when he took the responsibility of selling the farm at Stepney.
He married Katie E. Petty, December 19, 1883. In partnership with his father they built up their oyster business until they owned a considerable amount of "ground", as the oyster beds were called, and, eventually, they bought the oyster steamer "Sirius". Later, the oyster business began to suffer, principally from the effects of poisonous wastes which poured into the Sound from the copper and brass mills in the Naugatuck Valley. They sold the "Sirius" and for a time Dad acted as Captain of other oyster steamers.
About 1900 Father started a machine-shop in partnership with William R. Thompson, and manufactured marine gasoline engines, as well as doing a general jobbing business. Soon after the Great War, his partner died, and Father liquidated the business. From then until 1929 he built houses with his son, Forest; but this business suffered from the "Depression", so he went into retirement and has since lived at his old home in Rowayton, Connecticut.
Father is a tall, strong, handsome man with a remarkably erect carriage. He is a forceful character, one who gets things done quickly and efficiently without fuss or stir. He has always been highly respected in the community.
Father and Mother not only provided a home and an example that was always inspiring but they gave us excellent educations and even encouraged us in the hobbies and interests of growing boys, some of which must have been a great trial to Mother. Above all we had to earn whatever money we obtained and were thus taught the value of money and the importance of work.
Ralph E. Case
This work of recording something about our forbears was started by my Grandfather, Henry L. Case (1831-1922). In 1887 he made a trip from his home in Rowayton, Connecticut to the place of his birth, Cutchogue, Long Island, for the purpose of determining as many facts as possible regarding his family. During this trip he made the sketch which I now own of the old Horton homestead in Southold, Long Island. Immediately upon his return he inscribed, in his own Family Bible, the records which he had copied from other Family Bibles which he had seen during his trip.
When I was in my 'Teens, he interested me in carrying on the research which he had started, He told me things that he could remember, and, when I succeeded in adding some information as the result of a bicycle trip on Long Island, he rewarded me by presenting me with his Family Bible.
Important among Grandfather's reminiscences was the fact that he could remember his Great-grandfather, Gershom Case (1747-1838). Grandfather was seven years old when Gershom Case died, but he told me many times of his memory of "that old man lying there." That is all he could remember, but the impression which the sight of Gershom in his last illness made upon Grandfather seems to have been a deep and lasting one.
Paul Case (1780-1857), son of Gershom, and my Grandfather's Grandfather, was a Cutchogue farmer, and has been described to me by Grandfather, and also by George Case (also a grandson of Paul), as being "a short, wiry man with the typical Case head." The "Case head, " which they mentioned, is broad at the temples and narrow in the jaw. The old chair which I have was made by Paul Case and Carolyn has a teaspoon marked Paul and Susannah Case.
Justus Albern Case (1807-1845), my Grandfather's father, died at the early age of thirty-eight. His son, Henry (my Grandfather), was then only thirteen years old. I have been told that J. Albern and his brothers, Selden, Lorenzo, and William Harrison Case, all played musical instruments and that they constituted a one-family orchestra at the social gatherings in Cutchogue and Peconic. Justus Albern Case's wife Mary Louisa Jennings, lived to a ripe old age and appears in the photograph of four generations which was taken in the parlour of our old home at Rowayton, Connecticut. In it appear Mary Louisa (Jennings) Case, Henry Lorenzo Case and his wife, Ann Catherine Millspaugh, Elmer Erastus Case and his wife, Katie E. Petty, and their two children, Ralph and Forest Case.
Henry Lorenzo Case (1831-1922), my Grandfather, was ninety-one years old when he died as the result of a fractured hip sustained nearly nine months before in a fall on an icy sidewalk in South Norwalk, Connecticut. The untimely death of his Father, when my Grandfather was thirteen years of age, left the latter more or less at loose ends as a boy with the result that he went to sea at an early age and spent some years as a sailor, mostly on whaling vessels out of New London, Stonington, or Mystic, in Connecticut. He lost the sight of one eye in an accident while unloading iron bars from his ship at night in San Francisco.
My Grandfather met and married Ann Catherine Millspaugh of Oyster Bay when he came up the Sound to try his hand at the new oyster industry that was getting established in western Long Island Sound. They lived in Rowayton for a time and their children were born there. The oyster business flourished but Grandfather had acquired the wanderlust during his years at sea and wonderful tales of the richness of the "west" were heard on all sides at this time. When my Father, Elmer Case, was three years old (1865), Grandfather traded his oyster boat and oyster grounds and just about everything else he owned for a farm in Wisconsin. The family went by train to Buffalo and then by boat to Wisconsin. When they arrived they found that the farm they had bought did not exist and the best the nearly penniless family could do was to rent another and try to make out. Apparently they were nearly starved and frozen that winter and William, then five years old, was desperately ill. They soon returned to Rowayton where the oyster business again gave them a competence for some years.
Grandfather fell ill from some malady that was prevalant among the oystermen called at the time "chills and fever" and because he was unable to cure himself while he worked on the water he bought a farm at Stepney, Connecticut. He lived there for two years selling the produce from his farm in the growing industrial city of Bridgeport. (1872). Then suddenly Uncle John Marcy came to Stepney and offered Grandfather a job as superintendent of the Security Life Insurance Building at 3 Pine Street, New York City. They lived in New York for three years during which time they saw the cables strung for the old Brooklyn Bridge and the first electric arc lights installed as well as the first telephone wires. Dad attended Public School on Church Street.
With the failure of the Security Life Insurance, Grandmother, Uncle Will, Aunt Edith and the furniture were moved back to Stepney and Grandfather and Dad went into the "Salt Business" in Brooklyn. This consisted of buying bulk salt and putting it in small cloth bags for retail sale. When this business got going the family returned and lived in Brooklyn for two years.
During this time my Father (Elmer) then a boy of twelve was sent back to Stepney to sell out the farm equipment. This he did and with the money carefully pinned to his clothing he walked to Bridgeport (19 miles) and took the boat to New York not daring to sleep on the way. Then up from old Fulton Ferry father walked until he found the family's new address by recognizing a quilt airing in a window.
They returned to Rowayton and once more engaged in the oyster business which brought them comfort and security for many years.
Grandmother died from a stroke at the age of sixty-eight, and Grandfather lived for a short time with his son, William, then with my parents, and finally went to Riverhead, Long Island to care for his sister Sarah Marcy. While there he married Mary Mullin and they lived with Aunt Sarah until her death. They then came back to Connecticut, remaining there until his death in 1922.
Elmer Erastus Case, my Father, born in 1862, is hale and hearty at this writing (1941), strong and capable and remarkably young and fresh in his outlook. He showed his ability early when he took the responsibility of selling the farm at Stepney.
He married Katie E. Petty, December 19, 1883. In partnership with his father they built up their oyster business until they owned a considerable amount of "ground", as the oyster beds were called, and, eventually, they bought the oyster steamer "Sirius". Later, the oyster business began to suffer, principally from the effects of poisonous wastes which poured into the Sound from the copper and brass mills in the Naugatuck Valley. They sold the "Sirius" and for a time Dad acted as Captain of other oyster steamers.
About 1900 Father started a machine-shop in partnership with William R. Thompson, and manufactured marine gasoline engines, as well as doing a general jobbing business. Soon after the Great War, his partner died, and Father liquidated the business. From then until 1929 he built houses with his son, Forest; but this business suffered from the "Depression", so he went into retirement and has since lived at his old home in Rowayton, Connecticut.
Father is a tall, strong, handsome man with a remarkably erect carriage. He is a forceful character, one who gets things done quickly and efficiently without fuss or stir. He has always been highly respected in the community.
Father and Mother not only provided a home and an example that was always inspiring but they gave us excellent educations and even encouraged us in the hobbies and interests of growing boys, some of which must have been a great trial to Mother. Above all we had to earn whatever money we obtained and were thus taught the value of money and the importance of work.
Ralph E. Case
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
To Begin
Purpose of blog: To share with my fellow genealogists every scrap of information I have collected in my years of research.
I have been doing research on and off for several years and have many notebooks filled with bits and pieces of this and that. My plan is to open those notebooks and type out all that they hold.
The first notebook I plan to open is a manuscript written by a cousin titled "Case and Allied Families". I have done copyright research and find that the copyright has expired. This manuscript covers many Long Island, New York families.
I have been doing research on and off for several years and have many notebooks filled with bits and pieces of this and that. My plan is to open those notebooks and type out all that they hold.
The first notebook I plan to open is a manuscript written by a cousin titled "Case and Allied Families". I have done copyright research and find that the copyright has expired. This manuscript covers many Long Island, New York families.
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