Welcome to the Painted Hills Genealogy Society January 2006 News Letter. 
We hope you enjoy reading it.
 

1.SHORT STORY 
Written and Submitted by Charlie Barrett
____________________________________________________
 

             THE GLASS COFFIN

Sylvia (Susan on some census records) Smith was born
on 06 Jan 1837, the second child of Henry and Ann
Smith in the village of Ceres Pa. She grew up among
the pioneers of Ceres. Her father was a lumberman at
the Smith family saw mill. As a child she enjoyed
things a child enjoys and as a young teenager she did
her chores and attended school in the Ceres NY school
house which still stands today. Life was harsh and
chores were far harder in the those days. 

As a young lady she met and fell in love with Humphry
Gordon. They lived for a while in Genesee NY and later
moved out west. The young couple had children and
started raising a family. Sylvia died suddenly on 12
Mar 1877 leaving her husband and family heart broken.
In those days it was common when someone died and the body
was kept at home for the funeral to post someone be
side the coffin around the clock in case the person
was not dead but had just fallen into a coma. Being
buried alive was a big fear in those days. For this
reason, there was a glass cover inside the top of the
casket beside the regular wooden cover. If the glass
cover started to fog up then it was pretty certain
that the person inside was still breathing.
Unfortunately, Sylvia's glass stayed clear.

Sylvia's casket was shipped back to Ceres to be buried
in the Smith cemetery located where the Wayne Paving
off is today. About the turn of the century the new
owners of the old smith farm were letting their
livestock run through the cemetery which angered some
members of the Smith family. An agreement was reached
whereby the occupants of the Smith Cemetery would be
transferred to the Ceres Cumminity Cemetery. This was
an orderly and well executed operation UNTIL the
workmen had gotten down to the last 5 graves to move.
About 30 had already been meved when the Sheriff from
Smethport showed up with an order stopping the move.
The workmen already had piled the last stones together
and thinking that this order would be lifted shortly,
kept the cemetery map. The order was never lifted and
5 got left behind. A husband, his wife and 3 children.
 

I will point out here that Wayne Stevens, the owner of
the business located there now has taken care to
protect the area where the cemetery was located. There
are stories circulating that apperitions have been
seen in the immediate area. 

When the Smith family was transferred, they were
spread through out the Ceres Cemetery as there wasn't
a plot big enough to hold them all. Sylvia was moved
to a grave just inside the main gates. During all the
moves her entire casket was still intact and the glass
unbroken. This was told to me by one of the old timers
who dug graves there. 

Her husband had bought a beautiful pink marble spire
monument for her grave. It was put together in three
pieces one on top of the other. A base on bottom, a
tall spire piece and a round marble ball about 1 foot
in diameter for the top. There was also a short round
pink marble marker for the other end of the grave. All
of these were held together with iron pins in the
center of the pieces. About 20 years ago the pins
rusted away and first the Ball fell and then the tall
spire that it sat atop. The tall spire was put at the
foot of the grave and the short marker was placed on
the base to prevent it falling again and anyone
getting injured. The beautiful pink marble ball was
stolen.

This wasn't the first thing stolen from the cemetery.
In the late 1800's an indian lived in Ceres. There
wasn't anything he wouldn't do to help anyone out.
Those were the days when neighbor would help neighbor
free of charge and not demand $100 an hour for their
work. When he died, the community took up a collection
and bought an expensive carved tomb stone featuring a
picture of the head of an indian chief. About 20 years
later it was stolen.

There are also two tomb stones that are exactly alike
in the cemetery. They sit side by side with the
weeping willows decorating them. The names on both
stones are exactly the same along with the same
parents. Only the dates are different. When a child
died in the old days it was customary to give another
baby the same name. This is a little confusing when a
person does genealogy and comes up with two children
with the same name in a family. Having a second child
grow up was a relief from losing the first child. In
the case of James Wright and Mary Easty the sadness
was twice as bad. The stones read Melissa Wright 1852
- 1853 and Melissa Wright 1860 - 1863. 

In these stone gardens I have learned one thing. There
is a story beneath every stone and in the old days
they were every bit as human as we are today.
 
 

2.FAMOUS PEOPLE FROM THE PAINTED HILLS AREA
Brought to my attention by Charlie Barrett
_____________________________________________

Sidney Rigdon (1793-1876)  Born February 19, 1793, on a farm 
in St. Clair Township, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 
fourth child and youngest son of William and Nancy Briant Rigdon.
From 1847 to his death in 1876, Rigdon resided in Friendship, 
New York, usually in a state of emotional imbalance and 
unhappiness. Buried Maple Grove cemetery in Friendship. 
To read more on Mr. Rigdon go to 
http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/history/people/rigdon_eom.htm
 
 

MEET OUR NEW TREASURER
_______________________

My name is Wendy Phillips, and I am a Military Wife.

My husband, Mark, has been in the US Marine Corps for 12 years.  
Although we have only been married for 3 years, I have known him 
for the majority of his career.  

My life as a military wife had an interesting start.  Three days 
after we were married in our hometown of Randolph, New York, Mark 
received a call from his unit saying that he needed to come back 
to base (Camp Lejeune, North Carolina).  He was being deployed to 
Iraq in less than a week.  Our roller coaster ride had begun.  

Mark is in the Infantry; so keeping in touch with him during the 
time he was deployed was not easy.  During the 6 months he was gone, 
I spoke to him only a few times.  We kept in touch via email while 
he was on the USS Saipan, traveling to Iraq.  After that, we kept 
in touch via snail mail.  I would receive his letters weeks after
 he wrote them.  I would send him boxes of goodies and hope he would 
receive them.  It was hard delivering goods to the front lines.  

Surprisingly, I think I handled everything really well.  My hardest 
day was Nasiriyah.  During my free time, all I did was watch the news.  
Mark's unit had an embedded reporter, so sometimes I was able to watch 
what was happening at the time it was actually going on.  The day the 
units were attacked by friendly fire at Nasiriyah, I saw his unit listed 
as having several fatalities.  My heart sank.  I called my contact on base, 
and she confirmed that no one from his unit had died.  In fact, during the 
entire course of the war, not one person from his unit was killed!

Once he returned, I was able to see what a "normal" military life was like.  
Living on base was great.  Helicopters fly overhead, Humvees and large 
military vehicles join you on the roadways, and men and women are always 
dressed in uniform.  You feel a sense of security when living on a military 
base.  You also carry an enormous amount of pride and respect for those in 
uniform.

A few months after Mark returned from Iraq, we found out that we were expecting 
our first child, and that he had been selected for Recruiting Duty.  We could 
have been sent anywhere in the United States, but we were so happy to find out 
that we got our first choice.  So, two weeks after our son, Aidan, was born, 
we were off to Jamestown, New York.  Mark currently works as the Recruiter for 
a large area of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County school districts.  With his very 
busy schedule (15-17 hour days), I try to keep very busy as well.  Besides chasing 
after Aidan, I decided that I wanted to spend any free time that I had focusing on 
my family genealogy.  That is how I found one of my favorite jobs.  I am now a proud 
wife, a busy Mom, and the Treasurer and Chautauqua County Coordinator for PHGS!

Obviously, our time in Jamestown won't last.  Mark will have new orders in the 
Spring of 2007, so we will either head back to North Carolina, or to California.  
Although I will be far away from home, I plan to continue my jobs with PHGS.  
 
 
 
 

If you have any questions or would like to contribute an article for the News Letter email us at webmaster@paintedhills.org

Happy Hunting, May all your Brick walls be short ones.

Frankie
webmaster@paintedhills.org