81st Ingalls Family Reunion meeting meetings
The 81st Ingalls Family Reunion was held on Saturday, October 17, 2009, at the United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill. Thirty-four attended the Reunion. The temperature was 30 degrees at 7:00 a.m., with gray skies. By the afternoon, there was a mix of sun and clouds. The high was in the mid-40s. It turned out to be a much nicer day than predicted.
The Warren and Clarence Ingalls Families hosted. Alliene Applebee and Barbara Dietz Purcell decorated the tables in a lovely fall motif.
The Historian, Krista Ingalls Haushalter, had the old albums of family photographs available, along with the autograph quilt she is making for the family. Copies of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family were available at a cost of twelve dollars each. In addition, the 2010 Greenville Local History Group (GLHG) wall calendar was for sale.
Gary Elliott, the President, rang the cowbell from Jacob Ingalls’ homestead at 12:00 noon, signaling it was time for the group photograph. After this, Walter Ingalls said grace, and then everyone feasted on the bountiful buffet of food.
After everyone was sated, Gary again rang the cowbell, to call the meeting to order. He acknowledged Reverend Carney for allowing us to use the church hall, thanked Janet Lockwood for helping out in the kitchen for her thirty-first year, and expressed gratitude to the Warren and Clarence Ingalls Families for hosting.
This year’s youngest member was Sophia Grace Ellis, two years old, who was outside of the hall at the time. The youngest member present in the hall was Jacob Parker, age thirteen. The oldest family member present was Shirley Spad, 86. Although Linda Steinberg traveled from New Jersey and Alliene Applebee came from Massachusetts to attend the Reunion, the person who traveled the farthest was Harold Rolls, Eve Elliott’s father, who is a Buddhist monk. He came from Kathmandu, Nepal. Jean Toland joined the family for her first Ingalls Reunion, and both Harold and Jean were welcomed warmly. Jean had hoped to see Jerrene (Jeri) and Ronald Carford at the Reunion, but, due to bad weather in Pennsylvania the past few days, they did not make it. Just for fun, another category was added this year, and the tallest person at the Reunion was Brian Odza, at 6’7”, and the shortest was Sophia Grace, around 2’ tall. Thankfully, no one asked to address the categories of heaviest and thinnest persons!
The Secretary, Paige Ingalls, read the minutes from last year’s Reunion, and they were approved as written. She sent around the book for everyone to sign and a folder with “Ingallsiana,” while she read correspondence received during the past year. Carlton Simons sent a letter dated August 26, 2009, with a photograph of eleven month old Roberta Guild(a?) Hunt. It came from his grandparents, Frederick and Janie (Carlton) Hunt, and he donated it for the family records. Mr. Simons is from the Lucinda Ingalls Hunt branch.
Paige also mentioned the October photograph in the 2010 GLHG calendar, which was of a “Halloween prank” many years ago. Walt then shared a story of his own pertaining to a Halloween “kids’ prank” his father, Stanley Ingalls, and his uncle, Clarence Ingalls, once took part in. It seems the local boys liked to turn over outhouses on Halloween. One year, Henry Tryon, Sr., figured he would outsmart them by sitting in his outhouse all night, so they wouldn’t turn it over. That didn’t stop them, though! The two boys turned the outhouse over so that the door was facing down. Henry looked out the holes at the bottom of the outhouse, and they could hear him yelling, “I know who you are! You’re the Ingalls boys—the long and the short one!” (Clarence was tall, and Stanley was short.) Everyone enjoyed this anecdote of harmless fun from times gone by.
Leslie (Goff) Hosley spoke about an antique basket she’d brought. It was from her grandmother, and everyone had an opportunity to look at it. It is interesting and informative when family members bring heirlooms to share with the group.
Alliene noted that she brought her grandmother Irene (Worth) Ingalls’ ginger snap cookies to today’s Reunion. (Irene was “prankster” Clarence’s second wife.) She related the following anecdote about the cookies, and she suggested this could become a new Reunion tradition. When people bring dishes/desserts made from old family recipes, it would be interesting for the cooks/bakers to share their memories and the special meaning the foods have for them. Here is Alliene’s story:
One time during summer vacation, I was staying with Grandpa and Irene. We were having lunch in the kitchen. Irene had already finished and was cleaning up at the sink. Grandpa and I were sitting at the table chatting about events of the day, when I asked if I could have another cookie. Grandpa’s eyebrows drew together as he looked into the cookie jar. The conversation stopped. The jar was a little low on Grandpa’s favorites.
The silence lasted so long, Irene finally said, “Clarence, let her have another cookie.”
Grandpa passed the old ceramic cookie jar, and I picked out another cookie. Conversation resumed, and everything was back to normal, but I didn’t ask for any more cookies that day.
The Treasurer, Kevin Ingalls, gave his report:
There was $1,475.10 in the savings account prior to the Reunion.
Today’s Collection totaled $218.25.
Dispersals totaling $269.96 were made for--
Printing of the invitations ($77.76)
Postage for the invitations ($67.20)
Janet Lockwood’s services ($50.00)
Rental of the church hall ($75.00)
The host families donated the cost of the food, supplies, and decorations.
Unfortunately, the amount collected was $51.71 less than the amount dispersed. Nonetheless, it was moved and seconded to accept the Treasurer’s report.
Gary asked if there was any “old business” to be addressed? Walt mentioned that Jerry Overbaugh, who donated documents pertaining to Ingalls family land indentures from the late 1700s, recently passed away. Those present asked that Walt give their condolences to Jerry’s family.
Next, Gary asked if there was any “new business?” The Walter Ingalls Family volunteered to host next year’s Reunion, to be held on Saturday, October 16, 2010.
The Officers elected for next year were:
President-- Ramona Ellis Fawkes
Vice President-- Julie Fawkes [later changed to Curtis Ellis]
Secretary-- Paige Ingalls
Treasurer-- Kevin Ingalls
Historian-- Krista Ingalls Haushalter
Krista informed the group that our family crest (coat of arms) indicates we are not “royalty,” but, rather, “commoners.” Leslie also brought up information about what each part of the crest means. Krista said she plans to look further into this.
Krista then led the Roll Call of Families, followed by the report of births, deaths, and marriages. The following numbers indicate how many people from each branch were present at the Reunion:
Enoch Ingalls Branch 0
Henry Ingalls Branch 0
John Ingalls Branch 3
Lucinda Ingalls Hunt Branch 2
Eleanor Ingalls Winegard Branch 1
Diantha Ingalls Smith Branch 0
Joseph Truman Ingalls Branch 12
Ransom Benjamin Ingalls Branch 26
William Henry Harrison Ingalls Branch 2
Thaddeus Warsaw Ingalls Branch 0
Cyrus Ingalls (Westerlo) Branch 0
For the “entertainment,” Gary gave a very interesting presentation on the “family farm” and the Ingalls Family. He noted that many of our Ingalls ancestors have been farmers, or closely related to farming, during the past 400 years in America. Jacob Ingalls, the first of our family to settle in the Albany/Greene County area in 1793, was a farmer.
Gary reported that he grew up on a farm, since both his mother and his father came from farming families. His mother, Edna (Jennings) Elliott, was part of the Hedges Homestead in East Durham. This farm came into the Ingalls Family in 1912, when Gary’s maternal grandmother, Bertha Ingalls, married Clarence Jennings. According to Gary’s mother, the Hedges Homestead was originally established as a Patroon System farm, which helped European immigrants become farm owners. Clarence Jennings, who died in 1977, was a nationally recognized and award winning breeder of Jersey Cattle. He also was a founding member of the Greene County Youth Fair, which celebrated its 55th annual fair in 2009. The Hedges Homestead is still in the family and today is operated by Eric and Janet (Westfall) Partridge.
Adrian Elliott, Gary’s father, also grew up on a farm, the Ransom B. Ingalls Farm near Norton Hill. Gary’s grandparents, T. Merritt and Ruth (Ingalls) Elliott bred Holstein dairy cattle. It was a bit of a “scandal” in 1949, when the daughter of a nationally-known Jersey cattle breeder (i.e. Edna) married the son of a breeder of black and white Holsteins (i.e. Adrian)! Both of these farms were awarded Century Awards by the NYS Agricultural Society. Although the Ransom B. Ingalls Farm is no longer in existence, the Hedges Homestead, established in 1825, is headed towards being eligible for a Bicentennial Award in 2025.
In 1978, Gary’s parents moved to operate a larger dairy farm in Jefferson County, NY, until they retired in the early 1990s. Their sons Bill, David, Roger, and Ted worked together as a farm partnership for around a decade, before leaving the family farm. Their younger daughter, Carol, was the Greene County Dairy Princess in 1974, and Gary has been an editor for Country Folks, a newspaper for farmers, for fifteen years.
Gary closed the meeting by thanking everyone who attended. He added that he hoped everyone would return next year, for the 82nd Ingalls Family Reunion.