Family Reunions-Warner Family Picnic

Growing up I remember the highlights of my Summer Vacations were 2 family reunions.  About the 3rd week of July was the Warner Family Picnic which I can remember always being held at Wildwood State Park in Wading River, New York.  About the 3rd week of August was the King Family Picnic that I remember being held at Belmont Lake State Park in North Babylon, New York.  These were always great times with my parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins and extended family.  The amazing food was always packed in picnic baskets (I can still remember my grandparents green woven picnic basket) with care and my mother always made the best chocolate and butterscotch brownies.  It was a time of fun playing with cousins and eating lots of great food. 

I remember trying to put together who extended family members were at the picnics and how we were connected as I got older.  (Really wish I had written down some of the many things I had heard at the picnics over the years.)

I decided to take a look at what I could find out about the Warner Family Picnic first.  Since the picnics were held in the same area over the years I thought I would see what I could find about the picnic in the local newspapers where many of which are now available digitally.  I know the Warner Picnic was reportedly first held in 1921.

Here are some of the articles I found in the local newspapers through Live-brary.com
This is what I found in The County Review from 21 July 1938 under the Baiting Hollow section:
                 

Then there were times that I found something like this in The Northport Journal  from 21 July 1955 under the Local News section:

I never would have thought to search in this newspaper since it isn’t in the area where the picnic was held but it is an area that family lived in.

But the best was when I found one like this in the Mid-Island Mail on July 20, 1938:


The wealth of family information in this last article is wonderful!  Again not a local newspaper but what great information.

As I read all of these newspaper clippings about the previous picnics I have to figure out how all the people mentioned in the newspaper fit in to my family tree.  I recognize a lot of the names but there are some I am definitely not sure of.  It’s also interesting to see that the location was not always at Wildwood State Park.


Now living 3,000 miles away it has been difficult to get to the Warner Family Picnic as often as I’d like.  This year it works that I will be able to go again.  I really look forward to seeing familiar cousins that I haven’t seen in a while and in meeting some of the younger new ones.  I will be sure to make and bring some chocolate and butterscotch brownies using my mother’s recipes.

   I can almost taste them.  YUM! 

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Obituary Sunday-Abigail Betsey Granteer Coolbaugh

I previously wrote a post about the life of my maternal 3x great grandmother Abigail Betsey Granteer Coolbaugh (click on bolded name to read) and a post about her tombstone entitled Tombstone Tuesday-Abilgail Betsey Granteer Coolbaugh.  I was recently able to find a copy of Abigail “Betsey”’s obituary from the newspaper Monroeton Enterprise dated 20 April, 1912. Transcription: Mrs. Betsey Granteer Coolbaugh died at her home on Bridge Street at about 8 o’clock Sunday evening and was buried in the Monroeton cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.  Deceased was born in Canton on the 10th of May, 1823.  She was married to Marvin Coolbaugh on the 27th of October, 1841, and soon afterward accompanied him to Monroeton, where she has since resided.  Mrs. Coolbaugh leaves one daughter, Mrs. Dutton of Elmira, and one son, Arthur Coolbaugh, who has always resided at home with his mother, she having been a widow since 1879.  Through all the hardships and trials of life she always showed a cheerful and hopeful disposition, fulfilling all her duties with patience and fortitude, and has been called to the reward that awaits the faithful and the just. A special thank-you to the Bradford County Historical Society for finding this obituary for me. I find it interesting that my 2x great grandfather Portis Coolbaugh is not mentioned at all in the obituary of his mother.  Portis died in 1910 in Otis, New York.  His brother Francis is not mentioned either.  Francis died in 1895 in Sayre, PA.  From this obituary I now know the married name of Betsey’s daughter and that she lived in Elmira, NY. If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them. Enjoy the journey, Debby