95th Ingalls Reunion Minutes

The 95th Ingalls Reunion was held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, in Carney Hall of the Asbury United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill. The temperature was 39 degrees F at 7:00 a.m. It was sunny and bright with a light breeze. The high was around 70 degrees F.

A total of forty people were in attendance. Two additional people, Charlene and Ken Mabey, attended as guests. Zoom participation was not offered.

The Warren T. and Clarence Ingalls Families hosted. Festive autumn decorations graced each of the tables.

The Historian, Krista Ingalls Haushalter, displayed various family photograph albums and framed copies of family deeds.

Paige Ingalls, Secretary, displayed a large map on loan from Garth Bryant. If one looked closely, one could see “J Ingals [sic]” noted at the top of the map.

Robyn Hosley, the day’s “Entertainment,” also displayed items of interest related to her presentation on Verifying Your Mayflower Lineage.

Copies of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family were available for twelve dollars each. None was sold. Copies of the 2025 Greenville Local History Group calendar also were for sale for ten dollars each. Nine calendars were sold.

John Randall Ingalls, the President, asked his son Noah to ring Jacob Ingalls’ cowbell at 12:00 noon to call those present to gather for a large group photograph.. It was later posted on the www.jacobingallsfamily.com Web site.

After Noah rang the cow bell again, everyone was seated, and John read Walter Ingalls’ grace that he gave at the 75th Ingalls Reunion in 2003. John’s daughter Clare then called the numbers of the tables for people to go up to the buffet table to get their food. There was a bountiful display of dishes and desserts from which to choose. Alliene Applebee, the Treasurer, passed around the basket while people were eating.

After the meal, Noah rang the cowbell one last time, and John called the meeting to order. He welcomed everyone to the 95th Ingalls Reunion and thanked Pastor Eunice Kim of the Asbury United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill for the use of its church hall; the host family; and Vicky Tripp for helping out in the kitchen for the sixth year. She was given a round of applause.

The person who traveled the farthest to attend the reunion was Heather Stevens from Greenville, SC.

The oldest attendee was Betty McAneny, 97. The youngest person attending the reunion was Noah Ingalls, eight years old.

There was no one attending the Ingalls Reunion for the first time.

The Secretary, Paige Ingalls, read the minutes from the 2023 reunion, which were approved as written. She then sent around the book for everyone to sign, along with a folder of “Ingallsiana.”

Paige also read correspondence received during the past year. Peggy Hohenstein, who was not present last year (but was in attendance again this year), had written to tell us she wished she could have been at the 94th reunion because “The food is always wonderful and the programs fun and informative.” Ken Mabey, who was a guest at the 94th reunion, emailed that “You younger folks have done excellent work with the Ingalls reunion. Your ancestors must be very pleased. I think of [Gerald] and Walter [Ingalls] often. I knew them best as an adult, also Edna Ingalls Adams and her family.” Ken and his wife Charlene were in attendance again at this year’s reunion. Judy Hildebran from Shelbyville, KY, and Carlton Simons from Charleston, SC, also wrote nice notes, and they each sent a check for fifty dollars ($50.00) to support the reunion. They are from the Lucinda Ingalls Branch, and we are grateful for their generosity.

The Treasurer, Alliene Applebee, gave her report:

There was $2,939.22 in the savings account prior to the reunion, with $4.37 interest earned between October 2023 through September 2024, leaving a balance of $2,943.59.

The day’s income equaled $737.00. $567.00 came from the Dinner Collection and $170.00 from the donations sent by Carlton and Ettaray Simons and Judy Gardner Hildebran [see Correspondence section above] and “anonymous,” given at the reunion. There were no sales of Genealogies.

Dispersals/Total Expenses came to $391.19. These were for--

The cost of the Meat, Biscuits, and Butter was graciously donated by the Host Family.

This left a profit of $345.81, and a grand total of $3,289.40 in the savings account.

A motion was made to pay all bills, and it was moved and seconded to accept the Treasurer’s report.

John inquired if there was any “old business” to be addressed? Paige noted that Heather Stevens had recommended the book “The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder” at a previous reunion and wanted to thank her in person, as she was in attendance at this year’s reunion.

John then asked if there was any “new business?”

--He began by noting that a committee is being formed to begin planning for the 100th Ingalls Reunion, to be held in 2029. If anyone would like to volunteer to be part of it, he directed them to speak to Paige. The officers have decided that the 100th reunion will be our LAST reunion, so it is hoped to have a special celebration that year. Without younger family members interested in taking over, it is time to “close up shop.” Although there was some surprise at this news, in the discussion that followed, there was acceptance that this makes sense.

[Note: Those who volunteered to be on this committee were Krista Ingalls Haushalter, Carolyn Dedie Myers, Barb Dietz Purcell, Alliene Applebee, Stephanie Ingalls, and Paige Ingalls. Debbie McAneny Reeth and Karl Rugg also expressed interest in assisting once the date becomes closer.]

--Paige brought up three items:

1) John M. Bewley, a descendant of the Henry Ingalls Branch, who lives in Amherst, NY, sent a Greene County (NY) newspaper resource to be shared at the reunion. His wife Michele received a notice pertaining to it. Paige sent around a few copies of the notice and, if anyone wanted a copy, they were encouraged to take one. A big thank you was extended to the Bewleys.

2) She described having some exciting historical news to report. It related to the large map on display. She learned through research assisted by Garth Bryant that Jacob Ingalls was NOT the first Ingalls to settle in the Greenville, NY, area as our Genealogy states. His father, Joseph Ingalls, Jr., settled here a year earlier, in 1792. Thanks to the Indentures given to us by Jeremiah Overbaugh several years ago and another one also housed at The Vedder Research Library in Coxsackie, NY, she was able to piece together the earliest years of the Ingalls in Greenville.

She noted that the article she has written about this new information will be posted on www.jacobingallsfamily.com. The Town of Greenville Historian also has expressed interest in printing it in the Greenville Local History Group newsletter.

3) As an offshoot of her research, it recently came to her attention that Jacob Ingalls’ brother James’ gravestone is in disrepair. He is buried nearby, in Locust Cemetery, just outside Norton Hill. It has fallen over and will soon be lost in the grass. Jacob and his wife Rhobe’s gravestones also are in need of attention.

She proposed that an ad hoc committee be formed to look into restoring these gravestones as a way to honor Jacob Ingalls and our ancestors at our 100th Reunion in 2029. Sarah Stevens, Robyn Hosley, John McAneny, Stephanie Ingalls, and Paige have volunteered for this committee, which will report back with its findings at next year’s reunion.

--Flora Ingalls Holderbaum also had new business to share:

1) She brought her father Edmund Henry Ingalls’ Civil War musket. It is in “bad shape,” but she has been advised NOT to restore it. It was suggested she contact Jonathan Palmer, the archivist at the Greene County Historical Society’s Vedder Research Library, to see if it is a historical artifact they would like to have in their collection.

2) She also mentioned Henrietta Wright, who married our Ingalls ancestor Lucius Henry Ingalls (see page 25 of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family).

Henrietta’s brother was Elias Wright, who served as a Union soldier in the Civil War and was appointed major of the 1st United States Colored Infantry, June 25, 1863. (Some at the reunion remembered seeing Glory, a 1989 American film that dramatized the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army's earliest African American regiments in the Civil War.) He eventually became a brevet brigadier general. Although he is not an Ingalls descendant, this was very interesting information.

3) In addition, Flora showed the marriage certificate of Calvin Anson Ingalls who married Mary Rockefeller on September 29, 1873. They were her great grandparents and had a big farm located near Lamb’s Corners. She related the story that whenever Calvin had a cigar, he wouldn’t throw it out until it was “down to nothing.”

4) Lastly, she presented a photograph of her father and his two siblings, Helen Hartt Ingalls Story and Alonzo Norton Ingalls, as children.

John next asked for a host family for next year’s reunion, and the Fred and Betty McAneny Family volunteered. After a vote, it was agreed to hold the reunion on Saturday, October 18, 2025.

The Officers elected for next year were:

Historian Krista encouraged those in attendance who had not yet signed the autograph quilt she is making to please see her at the conclusion of the meeting so that they can be a part of it.

Krista then reviewed the births, marriages, divorces, and deaths that she had received over the past year. Of particular note was the passing of Richard Dedie, a stalwart supporter of the reunion through the years.

Krista next led the Roll Call of Families. Connor Hosley assisted her by counting the descendants in each branch as they stood up to be recognized. The following numbers indicate how many people from each branch were represented at the Reunion:

Branch:

Note: Some families are counted twice, reflecting members who are descendants from two distinct branches. This year, 8 members from the Joseph Truman Ingalls Branch also were counted with the Ransom Benjamin Ingalls Branch (8+14=22 total who stood up with the Ransom Benjamin Ingalls Branch).

This year's “entertainment” was a presentation by Robyn Hosley. She is the wife of David Beech Hosley of the Joseph Truman Ingalls Branch. She has traced his family ancestry back to Thomas Rogers, who was a passenger along with his son Joseph, on the Mayflower when it arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December of 1620. They were two of the 102 passengers. Thomas was a signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was a Leiden Separatist and came to America for religious freedom.

Robyn had prepared and printed a comprehensive, many-paged, booklet that her nephew Connor handed out. Her very interesting and informative talk was titled Verifying Your Mayflower Lineage. Those present who are descendants of Truman Ingalls and Abigail Cowell (see page 39 of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family) were pleasantly surprised to learn that they also are related to Thomas Rogers! If they follow the requirements to document this relationship, they can become members of The Mayflower Society. It is not easy, but Robyn is almost done with her research to join. She noted that it has been difficult to obtain various birth, marriage, and death records due to such documents having been lost, burned up in fires, etc. through the years. A PDF of the booklet will be posted on www.jacobingallsfamily.com.

Note: Thomas Rogers is the second Mayflower passenger to be identified as an Ingalls ancestor. The first was John Alden, from whom those in our Henry Ingalls Branch are descended. [Information about this already appears on www.jacobingallsfamily.com.]

A hearty round of applause was given to Robyn for providing such a wonderful presentation.

John thanked everyone for participating in the 95th Ingalls Reunion and invited them back next year for the 96th, to be held on October 18, 2025.