Smith Reynolds

Grave of Smith and Matilda Reynolds

The following biographical sketch was taken from a report on the cemetery held at the historical society.

Smith Reynolds was born in 1809 and was a blacksmith by trade. He had a shop on the Bedford Road, just east of New Castle Corners, for many years. He was a jolly and good natured man, always fond of a joke; and cheery in his relations with his fellow men. He was a strong Methodist, and always took a deep interest in the church, and was active in its work. He was the class leader for a long time.

He and his wife, the former Matilda Knapp (his first wife Marietta died in 1846) removed to Brooklyn ca. 1889. Their children were: Theodore of Fordham, Mrs. LeGrand Washburn of Chappaqua, Mrs. George Nye (Etta) of Brooklyn, with whom he lived.

Grave of Marietta Reynolds

In the North Westchester Times of August 11, 1911, the following was written of Smith Reynolds in the article "New Castle Corners History of Interest: Reminiscent Paragraphs by A. J. Q. tell about hte Early History, Settlers, and Business Places."

And there was Smith Reynolds. He was the blacksmith and he was an artist in his line. He often said there never was but one blacksmith that went to h--- and he went for hammering cold iron.

Finally, here is Matilda H. Knapp Reynolds's obituary from 1899:

Mrs. Matilda H., widow of the late Smith Reynolds, an old resident of the village, died at the home of her son-in-law, Mr. C. LeGrand Washburne, at Chappaqua, last week Thursday, Sept. 28th, 1899. She was in her 81st year.

She leaves two daughters - Mrs. (Hessie) C. LeGrand Washburne, of Chappaqua; and Mrs. Ettie Nye, of Brooklyn. Two stepsons also survive her - Theodore Reynolds, in the Home for Incurables at Fordham; and Cyrus, in New York city.

She has for several years made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Nye, in Brooklyn, but came up to Chappaqua during the summer to visit her daughter Mrs. Washburne, and became so weakened by illness as to be unable to return to the city.

The funeral services were held in the Methodist Church, on Monday afternoon, Oct. 2nd, at 3:45. A large number of out of town people attended the funeral services. Rev. William E. Ketcham, of Yonkers, who was a former pastor of the church here, and highly thought of by the deceased, officiated; assisted by Rev. A. T. Civill. Interment in the family plot in the old Methodist burial ground.

1. Smith Reynolds (1809-1897) m. (1) Marietta (1833-1846); (2) Matilda H. Knapp (1819-1899)
1. Cyrus Reynolds (1837-)
2. Henry F. Reynolds (1839-1884) m. Anna T. (1839-1883)
3. Theodore Reynolds (1842-)
4. Hester Reynolds (1851-1920) m. C. LeGrand Washburn (1847-1929)
1. Frank H. Washburn (1881-)
2. Amy V. Washburn (1883-)
3. C. LeGrand Washburn (1891-)
5. Marietta Reynolds (1856-) m. George Nye

24: Susan Emily Woolsey

Grave of Susan Emily Woolsey (source)

There are six Woolseys buried in the cemetery, four of whom died in the 1850s. The grave of the youngest Woolsey is perhaps the most poignant: it commemorates Susan Emily Woolsey, only child of Jonathan and Maria Woolsey, who died in 1859, four years after the death of her father.

Jonathan Woolsey's father, Jonathan Sr., died the year that Jonathan Jr. was born, making him the last of ten children by Jonathan's mother, Susanna Carstang. Susanna's parents were Gideon Carstang (1751-1817) and Catharine Fowler. Gideon Carstang was a descendant of Gideon Carstang, a rope maker born in the 1680s who lived at Philipsburgh Manor, and his wife Catherina Cockefer, a woman of Dutch descent.

In 1850, 25-year-old Jonathan Woolsey Jr., a cartman, was living in Manhattan with his wife Maria, 24. According to the census, they had been married that year. They shared their apartment with 14-year-old Hannah Nickinson, a servant. Their daughter Susan was yet to be born.

In 1851, the succession of Woolsey deaths began with the death of Susanna Carstang Woolsey. Her son Jonathan died in 1855; his grave is inscribed: "By his wife Maria this stone was placed." Jonathan's brother Joseph died in 1858, and finally Jonathan's daughter Susan died in 1859. As always, I wonder if the same disease carried both of them off.

What of Jonathan and Susanna's eight other children?

Catharine Woolsey, the couple's first child, was born in 1806 and died in 1809.

Isaac Woolsey, born 1810, was a boat captain. The year before she died, Susanna was living with him, his wife Marietta Bird, his unmarried sister Mary, and his son Alonzo in Ossining. Alonzo later became a guard at Sing Sing Prison, though not at the same time as Amos Babcock.

1850 US Federal Census

Mary Woolsey, born 1816, married Gilead Holmes, who owned a furniture store. They had two children, Charles and Marietta. In 1870 they were housing their niece, Susan, and in 1880, Susan's father Daniel. Mary died in 1893.

Susanna Woolsey, born 1821, married Valentine Cox, a miller, and lived in Lewisboro. They had five children. Susanna died in 1889. After his wife's death, Valentine moved in with his widowed daughter, Mary Church, and her house full of Churches.

Daniel Woolsey, born 1823, was a shoemaker who married Mary Sands. By coincidence, they also happened to have a daughter Susan Woolsey who was born around 1850. In 1870, Susan was living with her aunt Mary Holmes. By 1880, Susan had moved out, but now Daniel was living with Mary, her husband Gilead Holmes, and their son Charles. Both Daniel and Charles worked as clerks in Gilead's furniture store. However, in 1896, he was admitted to the Westchester County Poorhouse as "sick and destitute." He was recorded as having two brothers living, but the number "2" was then crossed out. Two children were living, though.

I have seen many people - either those buried in the cemetery or their relatives - who were in the Westchester County Poorhouse at one point in their lives. This was a time before nursing homes, hospices, or home health aids, and so many of the people who wound up in the poorhouse were simply old and sick and unable to take care of themselves. They might have had family, but family members might have been ill-equipped to take care of them. Without knowing more details, I can't really judge Daniel's family who were unable to give him a place to live in 1896.

I realized that I've been forgetting to count the most popular given names in each family. So here are the most popular names in the Woolsey family:

Mary/Maria (6)
Susanna/Susan (5)
Catharine (3)
Marietta (2)
Jonathan (2)
Charles (2)
Carrie (2)

1. Jonathan Woolsey (1783-1826) m. Susanna Carstang (1786-1851) in 1805
1. Catharine Woolsey (1806-1809)
2. Joseph B. Woolsey (1807-1858) 
3. Isaac Woolsey (1810-1856) m. Marietta E. Bird (1815-)
1. Alonzo B. Woolsey (1839-1914) m. Carrie M. Ackerman (1841-before 1910)
1. Charles Woolsey (1864-1880)
2. Carrie Edna Woolsey (1874-1914)
4. James Woolsey (1812-)
5. Catharine Woolsey (1814-)
6. Mary Woolsey (1816-1893) m. Gilead Holmes (1824-)
1. Charles Holmes (1856-)
2. Marietta Holmes (1858-1935) m. Marcus Washburn (1853-) in 1887
1. Harold Holmes Washburn (1891-)
7. Sarah Woolsey (1819-)
8. Susanna Woolsey (1821-1889) m. Valentine Cox (1822-1903)
1. Mary J. Cox (1849-)
2. Sarah F. Cox (1851-)
3. Maria L. Cox (1853-)
4. Ellen B. Cox (1858-) m. Francis B. Church (1855-)
1. Susannah Church (1876-) m. Young
1. Mary E. Young (1909-)
2. Clarence E. Church (1878-) m. Catherine Ward (1877-) in 1898
1. Elsie I. Church (1899-)
3. Ernest Church (1880-) m. Frances (1877-)
1. Ellwood B. Church (1904-1974) m. Helen Cone (1905-)
1. Shirley H. Church (1925-)
2. Norma M. Church (1928-)
5. Georgeanna Cox (1859-)
9. Daniel Woolsey (1823-) m. Mary Sands (1823-before 1880)
1. Susan Woolsey (1849-)
10. Jonathan Woolsey (1826-1855) m. Maria (1827-) in 1850
1. Susan Emily Woolsey (1850-1859)