89th Ingalls Reunion meeting minutes
The 89th Ingalls Reunion was held on Saturday, October 14, 2017, at the Asbury United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill. Forty people were in attendance. The temperature was 50 degrees at 7:00 a.m., and it was foggy, then cloudy. It cleared by mid-day, and there was a mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon. The high temperature was around seventy degrees.
The Ruth and T. Merritt Elliott Family of the Ransom Benjamin Ingalls branch hosted, and each table was nicely decorated for the reunion.
Copies of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family were available for twelve dollars each. None was sold. Copies of the 2018 Greenville Local History Group calendar also were for sale for ten dollars each, and three were sold.
Sarah Stevens, the President, rang Jacob Ingalls’ cowbell at 12:00 noon to call all of those present to gather for the group photograph. Since Kay Ingalls Sutton, the Family Photographer, was not in attendance, Bruce Stevens took the photo.
After everyone was seated, Sarah asked Walt Ingalls to give the blessing. The family then enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch.
After the meal, Sarah rang the cowbell to call the meeting to order, and welcomed everyone to the 89th Ingalls Reunion. She thanked Pastor Dale L. Ashby of the Asbury United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill for the use of Carney Hall, Janet Lockwood for helping out in the kitchen for her thirty-ninth year, and the host family.
Those who traveled the farthest to attend the reunion were Carol and Bruce Stevens from Rhode Island and Linda Steinberg from Princeton, New Jersey. The youngest person attending the reunion was Ryan Smigel, eight years old, who attended for the first time. The oldest member present was Shirley Spad, 94.
The Secretary, Paige Ingalls, read the minutes from last year’s reunion, which were approved as written. She sent around the book for everyone to sign, along with a folder of “Ingallsiana.”
Paige also read a letter ("Correspondence") received from Carlton Simons, who enclosed a donation of $50.00 to put towards the reunion this year. She stated that, on behalf of the family, she will send a note to Carlton thanking him for his generosity.
The Treasurer, Alliene Applebee, gave her report:
There was $1,851.29 in the savings account prior to the reunion, which included $0.95 interest earned during the past year.
The day’s income totaled $414.00, from the following--
Dinner Collection $364.00
Donation from Carlton Simons $50.00
Dispersals/Expenses totaling $366.36 were made for--
Printing of the Invitations ("Postcards") $92.56
Postage for the Invitations $123.80
Janet Lockwood’s Services ("Kitchen") $50.00
Church Hall Rental $100.00
The cost of the Meat, Biscuits, Butter, and Decorations was graciously donated by the Host Family.
This left a grand total of $1,898.93 in the savings account, which was an increase of $47.64 from 2016’s reunion.
It was moved and seconded to accept the Treasurer’s report.
The Warren T. and Clarence Ingalls Families volunteered to host next year’s reunion. After a vote, it was agreed to hold the reunion on Saturday, October 13, 2018.
A suggestion was made to add another position to the slate of officers, that of Family Photographer, which was done.
The Officers elected for next year were:
President-- Gary Elliott
Vice President-- Carolyn Myers
Secretary-- Paige Ingalls
Treasurer-- Alliene Applebee
Historian-- Krista Ingalls Haushalter
Family Photographer-- Kay Ingalls Sutton
Krista was not in attendance at the reunion due to attending a baby shower for her daughter Rebecca. In her absence, Paige asked for the report of births, deaths, and marriages to forward to Krista following the reunion.
Paige led the Roll Call of Families, and 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 0
Lucinda Ingalls Hunt Branch 6
Eleanor Ingalls Winegard Branch 3
Diantha Ingalls Smith Branch 0
Joseph Truman Ingalls Branch 2
Ransom Benjamin Ingalls Branch 27
William Henry Harrison Ingalls Branch 2
Thaddeus Warsaw Ingalls Branch 0
Cyrus Ingalls (Westerlo) Branch 0
Sarah asked if there was any “new business?”
--Paige reported that the Jacob Ingalls Family Web site had received an e-mail inquiry from a Micah Ingalls, who wrote that "Our connection to you is probably quite derivative . . . My family (Simeon Ingalls and his wife Eunice (nee Wheeler)) first moved to the Cooperstown/Hartwick, NY area around 1787, where we have lived until now." Gary Elliott volunteered to contact Micah to follow up on his e-mail. [Note: Micah is not part of any of our branches.]
There was no other new business.
The reunion's “entertainment” was a PowerPoint presentation by Gary Elliott, who descends from the Ransom Benjamin Ingalls branch.
The presentation was titled "The AD-MER-ELL FARM: 1949-1978 and Beyond," and Gary gave special thanks for his deceased sister Carol Ann, who had maintained all of the family photographs used in the PowerPoint.
The farm was located on Old Plank Road in Norton Hill, NY. Ransom Benjamin Ingalls bought it in 1860, and his son Truman Ingalls ran it until 1922, when Truman's daughter Ruth and her husband T. Merritt Elliott took it over. Their son Adrian Elliott and his wife Edna Jennings Elliott (also an Ingalls) took the farm over in 1950. They ran it until 1978, when they sold it and moved to the Watertown, NY, area.
Gary's parents, Adrian and Edna, were married on October 6, 1949. They were second cousins. Their first child, Thomas, was born in 1950, and he was the first of nine children born in fourteen years. Gary, the youngest child, was born in 1963, and he moved with the family to the Watertown area at the age of fourteen.
AD-MER-ELL stood for Adrian Merritt Elliott, Gary's father. The farm the family had in the Watertown area was named AD-MER-ELL II.
Adrian also drove school bus for 15 years, including to night basketball games (e.g. up the mountain to Windham and Hunter-Tannersville).
The farm was a dairy farm, and Adrian could milk 21 cows by hand in three hours. By comparison, 150 cows could be milked in a "milking parlor" in the same amount of time.
In 1986, Adrian retired, and his sons David and Bill ran the farm until they sold it in 1991.
Gary received a scholarship for "farm kids" so he could attend college and study journalism. Today, he works for Country Folks Newspaper. It has four editions, and its coverage area extends from Maine to North Carolina.
Gary also spoke briefly about the Jennings Farm in East Durham, NY, which is still in operation. This farm is from his mother's side of the family.
Gary’s presentation was very informative, and those present agreed that, although it can be a satisfying way of life, farming is hard work.
Sarah closed the meeting by inviting everyone to next year's reunion, the family's 90th, on October 13, 2018.