The Reed and Berbach Families of New York State - Person Sheet
The Reed and Berbach Families of New York State - Person Sheet
MemoRev. W. A. Wurts “Upon Confession of Faith”
MemoHe died at 1:25 p.m. Saturday afternoon. He had been a patient for 10 days.
BurialHagaman Mills Cemetery, Hagaman, Montgomery Cnty, New York 12086, USA344
FatherIra Brownell DELAMATER (1855-1900)
MotherEmma Frances WILSON (1854-1930)
Spouses
Family ID96
Notes for Wilson Tunis DELAMATER
Memories of Wilson T. Delamater. By James B. Delamater, circa 2008342
Ira B. was my father’s father. He was a blacksmith, born in 1855 and died in 1900 of “consumption” at the age of 45. My father was Wilson T. He was born in 1881, so you see he was 19 when his father passed away. He was the only remaining male member of the family-he had a mother and younger sister-and he never got to finish school. As I remember he and his father’s employees took over the blacksmith shop and I do not know how long they ran it. I know that at one time he had a butcher shop—all my life at home I remember him going to the butcher shop and doing the shopping for meats—he brought home some great meat. All the time we lived in High Mills, N.Y. (while I was up to about 13) he worked as a machinist at the General Electric plant in Schenectady, N. Y . I remember that he had to walk about a mile to catch a trolley car to get to work and back, and since we had really hard winters in upstate N.Y. many an early morning he trudged through heavy snow, ice, and cold. In the summer it was hot and humid.
In about 1925, when my grandfather Frances Benn died, my Mother inherited some money. My father left G. E. and they built a little general store with gas station- (We lived on the highway from Schenectady to Saratoga, N.Y. where every summer there was heavy traffic to the race tack in Saratoga) and we got a lot of tourist as well as local business.
That winter, I think in 1925-26, we went to Daytona Beach, Florida, where a cousin of my Father’s went each year and worked hauling choral rock for road construction. During that winter of 1926 my family and I lived in a tent in florida. We had a wooden floor. That winter there was a hurricane that washed dead people up on the beach. that was the first time I ever saw a dead person. I was amazed when I saw my first dead black man and noticed that the soles of his fee were white. My Father bought a dump truck and joined him. I remember that when we traveled back home I road in the truck with my Dad, while my brother, Wilson, helped our Mother drive the car back home. I remember that as we started home, we passed a car, and my brother said “That’s the first car I ever passed”. While we were in Florida, my Uncle Livingston was building our store and house. A store downstairs where we sold general merchandise, it also had a gas station out front. that's where I learned to changed tires. I changed many tires for people who had blow out and came to the store for help.
We had been living in High Mills in a big two story white house with a nice basement where my Mother stored mountains of canned fruit, vegetables, wild berries, and about everything she got her hands on. My Dad was an avid barrier. The house was next door to the store. They sold that house, and my Uncle Livingston Hess, who was a carpenter, built our store-house. The house was connected to the store, and it was a fine two storied structure with a basement. We lived there until the depression, when they hit hard times, and I guess we lost it. We moved to Schenectady for a short time. My brother was in high school by then, and Martha and I were in Junior high.
When a cousin of my father lost his wife, we moved to their farm house to help them with their children. My Mother had an Aunt Kate (Benn) living nearby in Amsterdam, N. W, and she drove there to care of her aunt. Eventually, her Aunt converted her big house into two apartments-upstairs and downstairs-and we moved into the upstairs apartment so that my Mother could be nearby and care for her. We lived in that house through high school, aand my Mother and Dad lived there until his death.
We children went to Amsterdam High School where we all graduated. During this period my Dad did all kinds of work. For awhile he worked for a realtor who was sending wealthy groups to Texas to inspect citrus groves as an investment. My Dad arranged the travel and escorted the groups. Later he worked in New Jersey, where the husband of one of my Mother’s sister’s daughters was vice president of the Simmons Mattress Co. Incidentally, that niece, my cousin, Gertrude Carlin, is credited with naming the famous “Beauty Rest” mattress.
My Father had a cousin who was a house painter, and Dad joined him for awhile, than went in the business by himself. He was a house painter all the while I was in college. I worked with him painting houses one summer. I learned an important lesson that summer. One time when I became impatient in finishing a job, and suggested that we hurry up and finish so we could get on with another job, he gave me some very good advice: “Jim, if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right”. I believe that was his credo with everything he ever did.
His last job was as sextant in our church, the same church where my Mother was choir director for several years.. Needless to say he was excellent in that job. He died in 1954 at age 74 of prostate cancer. He died in Amsterdam.
Incidentally, though my father never finished ‘school, he became quite well educated. He read everything he could get his hands on—you can say that he was a self- taught man, remarkably fluent. While we lived in High Mills, for example, he served several terms as school Trustee for our school district—well respected by all who knew him.342
Researcher’s note: When a cousin of my father lost his wife, we moved to their farm house to help them with their children. According to personal interviews with James Delamater and Howard F. Reed, this farm was the Harry Reed farm on McQuade Road, Town of Amsterdam, NY (above Cranes Hollow Road.) Howard’s mother, Bertha, died when he was 13. Both Howard and James remembered the Wilson Delamater family living on the Reed family farm for an unspecified period of time, although Howard told the story a little differently. Howard said his father had the Delamater family move in because they needed a helping hand at the time.88,2
1895:
The Records of the Calvary Reformed Church, Hagaman, NY, Vol. II state that Wilson T. Delamater was “Received on Confession of faith, on Feb 27th 1895.” He was baptized when received.108,339
1900:
Wilson lives in Hagaman, New York as of 19 Feb 1900.130
Circa 1920’s - early 1930’s:
He resides in Schenectady “where he was employed by the General Electric Co.”339
Circa 1934:
Wilson moves to Amsterdam where he engages in the “painting and interior decorating business for a number of years.”339
Circa 1942:
Wilson serves as sexton of the First Methodist Church, Amsterdam, New York from which he retires on 1 April 1954.339
1954:
Wilson’s address is 25 Academy St., Amsterdam, New York at the time of his having lived in Amsterdam, New York for the last 20 years.339.
Ira B. was my father’s father. He was a blacksmith, born in 1855 and died in 1900 of “consumption” at the age of 45. My father was Wilson T. He was born in 1881, so you see he was 19 when his father passed away. He was the only remaining male member of the family-he had a mother and younger sister-and he never got to finish school. As I remember he and his father’s employees took over the blacksmith shop and I do not know how long they ran it. I know that at one time he had a butcher shop—all my life at home I remember him going to the butcher shop and doing the shopping for meats—he brought home some great meat. All the time we lived in High Mills, N.Y. (while I was up to about 13) he worked as a machinist at the General Electric plant in Schenectady, N. Y . I remember that he had to walk about a mile to catch a trolley car to get to work and back, and since we had really hard winters in upstate N.Y. many an early morning he trudged through heavy snow, ice, and cold. In the summer it was hot and humid.
In about 1925, when my grandfather Frances Benn died, my Mother inherited some money. My father left G. E. and they built a little general store with gas station- (We lived on the highway from Schenectady to Saratoga, N.Y. where every summer there was heavy traffic to the race tack in Saratoga) and we got a lot of tourist as well as local business.
That winter, I think in 1925-26, we went to Daytona Beach, Florida, where a cousin of my Father’s went each year and worked hauling choral rock for road construction. During that winter of 1926 my family and I lived in a tent in florida. We had a wooden floor. That winter there was a hurricane that washed dead people up on the beach. that was the first time I ever saw a dead person. I was amazed when I saw my first dead black man and noticed that the soles of his fee were white. My Father bought a dump truck and joined him. I remember that when we traveled back home I road in the truck with my Dad, while my brother, Wilson, helped our Mother drive the car back home. I remember that as we started home, we passed a car, and my brother said “That’s the first car I ever passed”. While we were in Florida, my Uncle Livingston was building our store and house. A store downstairs where we sold general merchandise, it also had a gas station out front. that's where I learned to changed tires. I changed many tires for people who had blow out and came to the store for help.
We had been living in High Mills in a big two story white house with a nice basement where my Mother stored mountains of canned fruit, vegetables, wild berries, and about everything she got her hands on. My Dad was an avid barrier. The house was next door to the store. They sold that house, and my Uncle Livingston Hess, who was a carpenter, built our store-house. The house was connected to the store, and it was a fine two storied structure with a basement. We lived there until the depression, when they hit hard times, and I guess we lost it. We moved to Schenectady for a short time. My brother was in high school by then, and Martha and I were in Junior high.
When a cousin of my father lost his wife, we moved to their farm house to help them with their children. My Mother had an Aunt Kate (Benn) living nearby in Amsterdam, N. W, and she drove there to care of her aunt. Eventually, her Aunt converted her big house into two apartments-upstairs and downstairs-and we moved into the upstairs apartment so that my Mother could be nearby and care for her. We lived in that house through high school, aand my Mother and Dad lived there until his death.
We children went to Amsterdam High School where we all graduated. During this period my Dad did all kinds of work. For awhile he worked for a realtor who was sending wealthy groups to Texas to inspect citrus groves as an investment. My Dad arranged the travel and escorted the groups. Later he worked in New Jersey, where the husband of one of my Mother’s sister’s daughters was vice president of the Simmons Mattress Co. Incidentally, that niece, my cousin, Gertrude Carlin, is credited with naming the famous “Beauty Rest” mattress.
My Father had a cousin who was a house painter, and Dad joined him for awhile, than went in the business by himself. He was a house painter all the while I was in college. I worked with him painting houses one summer. I learned an important lesson that summer. One time when I became impatient in finishing a job, and suggested that we hurry up and finish so we could get on with another job, he gave me some very good advice: “Jim, if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right”. I believe that was his credo with everything he ever did.
His last job was as sextant in our church, the same church where my Mother was choir director for several years.. Needless to say he was excellent in that job. He died in 1954 at age 74 of prostate cancer. He died in Amsterdam.
Incidentally, though my father never finished ‘school, he became quite well educated. He read everything he could get his hands on—you can say that he was a self- taught man, remarkably fluent. While we lived in High Mills, for example, he served several terms as school Trustee for our school district—well respected by all who knew him.342
Researcher’s note: When a cousin of my father lost his wife, we moved to their farm house to help them with their children. According to personal interviews with James Delamater and Howard F. Reed, this farm was the Harry Reed farm on McQuade Road, Town of Amsterdam, NY (above Cranes Hollow Road.) Howard’s mother, Bertha, died when he was 13. Both Howard and James remembered the Wilson Delamater family living on the Reed family farm for an unspecified period of time, although Howard told the story a little differently. Howard said his father had the Delamater family move in because they needed a helping hand at the time.88,2
1895:
The Records of the Calvary Reformed Church, Hagaman, NY, Vol. II state that Wilson T. Delamater was “Received on Confession of faith, on Feb 27th 1895.” He was baptized when received.108,339
1900:
Wilson lives in Hagaman, New York as of 19 Feb 1900.130
Circa 1920’s - early 1930’s:
He resides in Schenectady “where he was employed by the General Electric Co.”339
Circa 1934:
Wilson moves to Amsterdam where he engages in the “painting and interior decorating business for a number of years.”339
Circa 1942:
Wilson serves as sexton of the First Methodist Church, Amsterdam, New York from which he retires on 1 April 1954.339
1954:
Wilson’s address is 25 Academy St., Amsterdam, New York at the time of his having lived in Amsterdam, New York for the last 20 years.339.